My Top 40 Korean Movies
by babydoyz | created - 16 Nov 2013 | updated - 26 Feb 2018 | PublicMy personal favorite Korean movies
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1. Memories of Murder (2003)
Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho
Votes: 215,883 | Gross: $0.01M
2. My Sassy Girl (2001)
Not Rated | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young man sees a drunk, cute woman standing too close to the tracks at a metro station in Seoul and pulls her back. She ends up getting him into trouble repeatedly after that, starting on the train.
Director: Jae-young Kwak | Stars: Cha Tae-hyun, Jun Ji-hyun, In-mun Kim, Song Wok-suk
Votes: 50,453
3. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Lim Ji-eun
Votes: 75,066 | Gross: $0.05M
4. Sunny (2011)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama
Seven girls become good friends in high school, then events pull them apart for 25 years. When one of the friends lies dying in a hospital, she wishes to see each of them one last time.
Director: Kang Hyeong-cheol | Stars: Yoo Ho-jeong, Shim Eun-kyung, Jin Hee-kyung, Kim Min-yeong
Votes: 6,549
5. Oldboy (2003)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Kim Byeong-Ok
Votes: 634,827 | Gross: $0.71M
6. Veteran (2015)
Not Rated | 123 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A honest cop seeks justice for a common man against all odds. A rich boy seeks revenge on the cop.
Director: Ryu Seung-wan | Stars: Hwang Jung-min, Yoo Ah-in, Yoo Hae-jin, Oh Dal-su
Votes: 7,743 | Gross: $1.20M
7. 1987: When the Day Comes (2017)
Not Rated | 129 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In 1987 Korea under an oppressive military regime, the unlawful interrogation and death of a college student ignite ordinary citizens to fight for the truth and bring about justice.
Directors: Jung Sung Ho, Joon-Hwan Jang | Stars: Kim Tae-ri, Yeo Jin-goo, Ha Jung-woo, Park Hee-soon
Votes: 6,798
8. The Handmaiden (2016)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong, Moon So-ri
Votes: 172,195 | Gross: $2.01M
9. Il Mare (2000)
105 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
In 1999, a voice actor moves from Il Mare, a seaside house, and leaves a Christmas card in its (magical) mailbox. An architecture student receives it in 1997, and a friendship separated by 2 years begins.
Director: Hyun-seung Lee | Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Jun Ji-hyun, Mu-saeng Kim, Jo Seung-yeon
Votes: 9,454
10. The Host (2006)
R | 120 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-Bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona
Votes: 132,562 | Gross: $2.20M
11. The Way Home (2002)
PG | 80 min | Drama
This is the story of a 7-year-old boy, Sang-woo, born and raised in the big city, and his mute grandmother, who has spent her whole life in a small rural village.
Director: Jeong-hyang Lee | Stars: Yoo Seung-ho, Eul-boon Kim, Hyo-hee Dong, Kyung-hyun Min
Votes: 5,889 | Gross: $0.44M
12. The Quiet Family (1998)
101 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A family opens a mountain inn where their first guest commits suicide. Suddenly all their guests befall horrible fates.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Park In-hwan, Na Moon-hee, Song Kang-ho, Choi Min-sik
Votes: 5,991
13. Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy
An idle part-time college lecturer is annoyed by the yapping sound of a nearby dog. He decides to take drastic action.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Bae Doona, Lee Sung-jae, Kim Ho-jung, Byun Hee-Bong
Votes: 10,305
14. The Chaser (2008)
Not Rated | 125 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A disgraced ex-policeman who runs a small ring of prostitutes finds himself in a race against time when one of his women goes missing.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Seo Yeong-hie, Kim Yoo-jung
Votes: 72,679
15. A Taxi Driver (2017)
Not Rated | 137 min | Action, Drama, History
A widowed father and taxi driver who drives a German reporter from Seoul to Gwangju to cover the 1980 uprising, soon finds himself regretting his decision after being caught in the violence around him.
Director: Hun Jang | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hae-jin, Ryu Jun-Yeol
Votes: 31,118 | Gross: $1.53M
16. Scandal Makers (2008)
108 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A radio DJ/entertainer in his 30s suddenly learns he may be a grandfather, thanks to a young girl who has a baby son and claims to be his daughter.
Director: Kang Hyeong-cheol | Stars: Cha Tae-hyun, Park Bo-young, Il-Kwon Ahn, Kim Chae-yeon
Votes: 4,384
17. Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005)
Not Rated | 133 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Soldiers from both sides of the Korean divide live among villagers who know nothing of the war.
Director: Kwang-Hyun Park | Stars: Jeong Jae-yeong, Shin Ha-kyun, Kang Hye-jeong, Ha-ryong Lim
Votes: 7,534
18. A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't follow his boss's orders.
Directors: Jung Doo Hong, Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min
Votes: 42,894
19. The Yellow Sea (2010)
R | 136 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the attempt to kill a professor goes wrong, a series of violent events are triggered which force a taxi driver to run for his life.
Director: Na Hong-jin | Stars: Lee Yoo-mi, Ha Jung-woo, Lee Hee-joon, Kim Yoon-seok
Votes: 22,939
20. The Good the Bad the Weird (2008)
R | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The story of two outlaws and a bounty hunter in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jung Woo-sung, Yun Je-mun
Votes: 37,914 | Gross: $0.13M
21. Mother (2009)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yun Je-mun
Votes: 71,536 | Gross: $0.55M
22. A Man Who Was Superman (2008)
102 min | Comedy, Drama
A snobbish producer makes a documentary about the extraordinary behavior of her neighbor who believes himself to be Superman.
Director: Yoon-Chul Jung | Stars: Hwang Jung-min, Jun Ji-hyun, Kang Ae-shim, Gil-seung Bang
Votes: 2,223
23. Masquerade (2012)
Not Rated | 131 min | Drama, History
A look-alike commoner is secretly hired to take the place of a poisoned king to save his country from falling into chaos.
Director: Chang-min Choo | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Ryu Seung-ryong, Han Hyo-joo, Kim In-kwon
Votes: 7,433 | Gross: $0.92M
24. The City of Violence (2006)
92 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After their childhood friend is murdered, a two-man martial arts army beats a path to the perp.
Director: Ryu Seung-wan | Stars: Ryu Seung-wan, Lee Beom-su, Kim Byeong-Ok, Baek Dong-hyeon
Votes: 4,770
25. Guns & Talks (2001)
120 min | Action, Drama, Comedy
Four unlikely assassins genuinely care about their customers and victims, meanwhile a prosecutor is on their trail.
Director: Jin Jang | Stars: Shin Hyeon-jun, Shin Ha-kyun, Won Bin, Jeong Jae-yeong
Votes: 1,902
26. I Saw the Devil (2010)
Not Rated | 144 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A secret agent exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases.
Director: Jee-woon Kim | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Gook-hwan, Chun Ho-jin
Votes: 146,003 | Gross: $0.13M
27. Silenced (2011)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
Based on real events, this film depicts the story of a school for the hearing-impaired where young deaf students were sexually assaulted by the faculty members over a long period of time.
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk | Stars: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Kim Hyeon-soo, Kim Jee-young
Votes: 21,604
28. Late Blossom (2011)
118 min | Drama, Romance
The lives of two couples who live in the same neighborhood.
Director: Chang-min Choo | Stars: Lee Soon-jae, So-jeong Yun, Song Jae-ho, Kim Su-Mi
Votes: 563
29. The Fake (2013)
101 min | Animation, Drama, Thriller
A convict returns to his home town to again torture his family, face his neighbors and try to destroy the local religious fanatics and their plans to keep money from the village people.
Director: Yeon Sang-ho | Stars: Kwon Hae-hyo, Park Hee-bon, Yang Ik-joon, Kim Jae-rok
Votes: 867
30. A Hard Day (2014)
Not Rated | 111 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After trying to cover up a car accident that left a man dead, a crooked homicide detective is stalked by a mysterious man claiming to have witnessed the event.
Director: Kim Seong-hun | Stars: Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Jin-woong, Jeong Man-sik, Shin Jeong-geun
Votes: 16,576
31. The Beauty Inside (2015)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A South Korean has a different person's body, changing every morning to a body "borrowed" for a day - man, woman, old, child and sometimes a foreigner. "He" works as furniture designer. He loves a girl. She loves him for the beauty inside.
Director: Jong-Yeol Baek | Stars: Han Hyo-joo, Park Seo-joon, Juri Ueno, Lee Jin-wook
Votes: 7,906 | Gross: $0.11M
32. One Fine Spring Day (2001)
106 min | Drama, Romance
A sound engineer falls in love with a radio show host after they work together on a project capturing natural sounds.
Director: Hur Jin-ho | Stars: Lee Yeong-ae, Yoo Ji-tae, Sang-hui Baek, Park In-hwan
Votes: 1,836
33. Wanee & Junah (2001)
115 min | Drama, Romance
Wanee, a young animator, and Junah, a scriptwriter, are lovers leading a peaceful life together. And one day, an old friend of Wanee's pays her a visit and unearths Wanee's hidden memories of her first love, her stepbrother.
Director: Yong-gyun Kim | Stars: Kim Hee-seon, Ju Jin-mo, Cho Seung-woo, Choi Kang-hee
Votes: 437
34. Save the Green Planet! (2003)
Not Rated | 118 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Byeong-gu believes that the world is on the verge of an alien invasion, and sets out to save the world.
Director: Joon-Hwan Jang | Stars: Shin Ha-kyun, Baek Yun-shik, Hwang Jung-min, Lee Jae-yong
Votes: 8,699 | Gross: $0.01M
35. Poetry (2010)
TV-PG | 139 min | Drama
A sixty-something woman, faced with the discovery of a heinous family crime and in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, finds strength and purpose when she enrolls in a poetry class.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Yun Jeong-hie, Lee Da-wit, Kim Hee-ra, Ahn Nae-sang
Votes: 13,519 | Gross: $0.36M
36. Blades of Blood (2010)
R | 108 min | Action, Drama
During a turbulent time when politics, rebellion, and invasion come to a head. A clash stirs between two swordsmen in a violent struggle to seize control of the country they love.
Director: Joon-ik Lee | Stars: Hwang Jung-min, Cha Seung-won, Han Ji-hye, Baek Sung-hyun
Votes: 870
37. Children... (2011)
Not Rated | 132 min | Mystery, Thriller
The film is based on a true case from the early 1990s that is known among Koreans as the "disappearance of the frog children." In 1991, five elementary school students told their parents ... See full summary »
Director: Kyu-maan Lee | Stars: Park Yong-woo, Ryu Seung-ryong, Sung Dong-il, Sung Ji-ru
Votes: 2,952
38. Barbie (2011)
R | 97 min | Drama
Soon-Young lives with her mentally handicapped father and younger sister Soon-Ja. When an American man and his daughter Barbie arrive for an adoption, the family must decide who is to let go, Soon-Young or Soon-Ja?
Director: Sang-woo Lee | Stars: Lee Cheon-hee, Kim Sae-ron, Ah-ron Kim, Cat Tebo
Votes: 305
39. Bareuge salja (2007)
102 min | Action, Comedy
Things get out of control when Doman, an eager and saintly traffic cop, is asked the play the role of the bank robber in a robbery intervention police training program.
Director: Hee-chan Ra | Stars: Jeong Jae-yeong, Son Byung-ho, Lee Young-eun, Ko Chang-seok
Votes: 2,168
40. The Truth Beneath (2016)
PG-13 | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
THE TRUTH BENEATH follows a mysterious 15-day scandal of a politician and his wife as their daughter goes missing just before the national elections.
Director: Lee Kyoung-mi | Stars: Son Ye-jin, Kim Ju-hyuk, Han Cheol-woo, Kang Deok-Joong
Votes: 1,665
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