The Yellow Sea is overkill in every sense.
The Yellow Sea(황해)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Korea, United States, Hong Kong · 2010
Rated R · 2h 37m
Director Na Hong-jin
Starring Ha Jung-woo, Kim Yoon-seok, Cho Seong-ha, Lee Cheol-min
Genre Drama, Thriller, Crime
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
The region where the borders of North Korea, China, and Russia come together, forms a sort of modern day wild west, where more than half of the population relies on illegal activity in order to survive. In Yanbian, on the Chinese side of the border, Gu-nam wiles away his days driving a cab and spends his nights getting drunk and gambling. His wife went to Seoul to work and send back money, but it’s been months since he has heard from her. When local crime lord Myun offers to erase Gu-nam’s debts in exchange for a contract killing in Seoul, Gu-nam reluctantly accepts.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Like fellow countryman Park Chan-wook's vengeful epics, this man-on-the-run thriller knows how to deliver a rush; unlike those superior tales of lives on the edge, that's the only trick up its sleeve.
Gushing more blood and possessing more stamina than any number of Hollywood hack-'em-ups, writer-director Na Hong-jin's pulse-pounding, mordantly funny genre piece is at times messily convoluted, yet serious and full-bodied enough to achieve a genuinely tragic dimension.
More startling than an unexpected punch in the noggin, Na Hong-Jin's unusual thriller could have the highest knife count this side of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. A violent thrill-ride to a dark new corner of Asian cinema.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
A rush of a movie from South Korea that slips and slides from horror to humor on rivers of blood and offers the haunting image of a man, primitive incarnate, beating other men with an enormous, gnawed-over meat bone.
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
If anything, Na's film is too much of a good thing, exceeding credibility too often (the punching-bag hero is far too lucky - good and bad - and absorbs a hilarious amount of punishment) in its pursuit of despairing violence. But that's the Korean way, and Na nails down the bottom feeder realism while slouching toward video-game hyperbole.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
A deafening explosion of energy, gruesome violence and chaos.
Users who liked this film also liked
Oldboy
(올드보이)
15 years of imprisonment, 5 days of vengeance...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2003
- Director Park Chan-wook
- Cast Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung, Kim Byung-ok, Oh Dal-su, Lee Seung-Shin
- Genre Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Let the Magic Begin.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2001
- Director Chris Columbus
- Cast Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Harris, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman
- Genre Adventure, Fantasy
- Available on fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
A Bittersweet Life
(달콤한 인생)
Revenge is taken on a high-ranking mobster after he refuses to follow his boss’s orders and spares two people’s lives.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2005
- Director Kim Jee-woon
- Cast Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min, Kim Roe-ha, Oh Dal-su
- Genre Action, Crime, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Chaser
(추격자)
An ex-detective turned pimp hunts a dangerous killer.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2008
- Director Na Hong-jin
- Cast Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Seo Young-hee, Kim Yoo-jung, Jung In-gi, Park Hyo-joo
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
The King's Speech
Find your voice.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States, Australia • 2010
- Director Tom Hooper
- Cast Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Starz Apple TV Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
I Saw the Devil
(악마를 보았다)
Abandon all compassion.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2010
- Director Kim Jee-woon
- Cast Lee Byung-hun
- Genre Horror, Thriller
- Available on Hulu, fuboTV, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, FlixFling, Tubi TV, Popcornflix, Pluto TV, VUDU Free, Peacock, Peacock Premium, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Player
Nameless Gangster
(범죄와의 전쟁)
War against Crime: Golden Age of the Bad Guys
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2012
- Director Yoon Jong-bin
- Cast Choi Min-sik, Ha Jung-woo, Kwak Do-won, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Sung-kyun, Kim Hye-eun
- Genre Crime, Thriller
- Available on Midnight Pulp, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, AsianCrush, Kanopy
Snowpiercer
In 2031, the passengers aboard the Snowpiercer are the only survivors on Earth.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea, Czech Republic • 2013
- Director Bong Joon-ho
- Cast Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell
- Genre Action, Science Fiction, Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Peacock Premium, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Tubi TV, Plex, Plex Player
The Wailing
(곡성)
"Somebody better call the exorcist!"
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea, United States • 2016
- Director Na Hong-jin
- Cast Kwak Do-won, Hwang Jung-min, Chun Woo-hee, Jun Kunimura, Kim Hwan-hee, Heo Jin
- Genre Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Hoopla, fuboTV, Rakuten Viki, Peacock Premium, Kocowa, Hi-YAH, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, FILMRISE, Kanopy
Blade Runner 2049
Thirty years later, there's a new blade runner in town.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, United Kingdom, Hungary • 2017
- Director Denis Villeneuve
- Cast Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Harrison Ford
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Tunnel
(터널)
When all collapsed, only hope remained.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2016
- Director Kim Seong-hun
- Cast Ha Jung-woo, Bae Doo-na, Oh Dal-su, Shin Jung-geun, Nam Ji-hyun, Jeong Seok-yong
- Genre Action, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Hoopla, Kocowa, Hi-YAH, Rakuten Viki, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Plex, Plex Player
Train to Busan
(부산행)
Martial law is declared when a mysterious viral outbreak pushes Korea into a state of emergency.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2016
- Director Yeon Sang-ho
- Cast Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-seok, Jung Yu-mi, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee, Kim Soo-an
- Genre Action, Horror, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hoopla, Rakuten Viki, Peacock Premium, Kocowa, Hi-YAH, Showtime Apple TV Channel, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, VIX , FILMRISE, Kanopy
A Taxi Driver
(택시운전사)
The incredible true story of a South Korean taxi driver who became the most unlikely of heroes.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2017
- Director Jang Hoon
- Cast Song Kang-ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hae-jin, Ryu Jun-yeol, Park Hyuk-kwon, Ko Chang-seok
- Genre Action, Drama, History
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Hoopla, Kocowa, Rakuten Viki, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Peacock, Peacock Premium, Freevee, Kanopy
Parasite
(기생충)
A poor family lies and schemes their way into the employ of a wealthy household — successfully, but with great consequences.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2019
- Director Bong Joon-ho
- Cast Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Chang Hyae-jin
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand