Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

krbargen The President's Last Bang Written and Directed by Sang-soo I'm Overall, it was just a story about one of the men in the government who reported to the President, forgive me I don't know politics, felt that it the government had dictated the country too long needed to seek a democracy or something different than dictatorship. So he took it upon himself to be the hero and kill the president and eliminate the problem. But complications arose that would naturally and the man along with his crew were all put to death. I'm not sure if the main problem was the script or direction but the story didn't have any real dramatic emotional pullers. Usually in trying to make a point about something it's overdone, in a suspending disbelief type of way sometimes, to really make your point and pull the audience in, but it seemed that this movie was lacking in this area and was almost washed out in dynamics and plot twists. Overall, other than creating a more dynamic plot twist or dramatic events stirring the emotions of the audience, the direction and production of the film was average to professional level film with nothing especially significant. All the editing, cinematography, sound, and acting were all professional yet not extraordinary. I would give the film a 4-5 out of 10 since it lacked a good storyline, the single more important part.

Chris Knipp US release: fall 2005. Shown at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, October 2005 After Park Chunghee became President of South Korea by military coup in 1961 he made major contributions to the country's industrialization and economic development – but became a dictator by altering the constitution and declaring martial law. He must have had many enemies, and there had already been other assassination attempts by 1979, the moment depicted in the film, when Kim Jaegyu, his KCIA chief, shot him and several of those closest to him at a private bacchanal held at a palatial KCIA safe house. The events are depicted from Kim's point of view. "The President's Last Bang," which is brutal in its unreflective, intense, present energy, is half political film and half violent actioner. It amply shows how corrupt and cynical Park was; how much Koreans at this point enjoyed kicking, punching, and slapping their subordinates in front of others; their abusive and demeaning treatment of women; and their penchants for smoking and chewing gum. After the killings – which went on to include military guards and even cooks – there was a brief period of chaos, also well covered in the film. Kim expected to get away with it, but he and his closest accomplices are soon apprehended. Director I'm includes humor amid the horror, showing the clumsiness and confusion and sheer incompetence of some of the participants. It's interesting to observe how impulsive and improvised the shootings were, and how often the ruling class shifts in their conversation to the Japanese language to be more elegant or avoid being understood by underlings. The film is effective technically and illustrates South Korean cinema's growing sophistication, but it may leave non-Korean viewers cold; the film-making style feels as hard and brutal as the events.

chivalry_is_dead I'm-Sang Soo's "President's Last Bang" is an awesome piece of cinema, a throwback to the paranoid political thrillers of the 70s like "The Conversation," "The Parallax View" and "All the President's Men." The film revolves around the true story about an assassination attempt made on President Park Chun-hee and its aftermath.Saw this at Telluride and was blown away by the pitch black comedy, Kim Woo-hyeong's incredible super 35mm cinematography, and the fluid tracking shots.The director described this film as in the vein of "Goodfellas" and the "Godfather" trilogy.For those who are fiending for more quality Korean cinema after "Oldboy," this is definitely worth seeking out.

Jamester I saw this recently at the Toronto International Film Festival to a packed house with the director present. I liked it.It comes across as a fictionalized account of the events leading up to the the 1979 president's assassination. It was believable, suspenseful, and occasionally funny, if you can imagine that! This was the work of someone who really cared to bring a defining historical moment into the modern psyche, to raise some important questions about Korean society.In my mind, this is what movies should be about -- defining moments of time. And crafting a story that allows the viewer to be drawn into the circumstances, to be shown a view of how things may have happened without being dogmatic or overly judgmental. Kudos to the director to crafting an even-keeled drama that, I suspect is accessible to a large international audience.