SOUTH KOREA: SOUTH KOREAN VERSION OF SCI-FI FILM 'GODZILLA' IS BREAKING BOX OFFICE RECORDS

Record ID: 386683

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: SOUTH KOREAN VERSION OF SCI-FI FILM 'GODZILLA' IS BREAKING BOX OFFICE RECORDS
  • Date: 1st July 1999
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT) (REUTERS) (ACCESS ALL) WIDE VIEW OF SEJONG CULTURAL CENTER IN SEOUL TWO HUGE MOVIE POSTERS READING "YONGGARY" THREE-METRE TALL IMAGE OF "YONGGARY" IN FRONT OF SEJONG CULTURAL CENTER LONG QUEUE PEOPLE WAITING TO SEE "YONGGARY" CROWD INSIDE SEJONG CULTURAL CENTRE
  • Embargoed: 16th July 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Reuters ID: LVA1822FA9VCBW2Z4ZOSSC6SXGX5
  • Story Text: A film about a dinosaur is breaking box office records in South Korea.The film is South Korea's version of Godzilla and movie-goers love it.
    The high-tech "Yonggary is a sci-fi film about a dinosaur -- and it's marked the beginning of a new era in the country's cinematic history.
    The premiere earlier this month (July 17) drew 120,000 viewers - the largest in Korean film history for a film opening.
    Local media reported that "Yongary" has beaten Hollywood blockbusters such as "Episode: The Phantom Menace", "Tarzan," and "Wild, wild West," at the box office in South Korea.
    The monster movie received international attention at the Cannes film festival last year where a two-minute preview of "Yonggary" was shown - it clinched $3 million in export deals.
    "Yonggary" cost about $10 million USD to make over the past two and a half years, the largest budget ever for a Korean film.
    In the movie, Yonggary is a giant dinosaur who has been brought back to life by humans.Yonggary rampages through Los Angeles, but in the end becomes friends with the humans and helps them fight aliens trying to take over earth.
    "Yonggary" is a big hit with children.
    "It's real fun.The most interesting part was the fight between two dinosaurs," said 11-year old Park Kun-woo.
    Other movie-goers see it as a step in the right direction for South Korea's film industry.
    "It shows big progress for Korean movies, it's great.
    I really enjoyed myself with the big scale and the good fighting scenes," said 21-year old Hwang Young-shin.
    Movie-goers seem to like the high-tech computer graphics and special effects, but critics are mixed.Some say it's an expensive, shabby imitation of Hollywood movies, and other say it's entertaining despite flaws.
    "The fact that they've developed their own technology in computer graphics without any guidance from overseas is noteworthy and confirms that there's a possibility South Korean movies can succeed," said film critic Cho Hee-moon.
    Cho said "Yonggary" might not catapult South Korean cinema to the top in one go, but it was an excellent start.
    Western actors were hired to help market the film overseas.
    Harrison Young, who starred in the Oscar-winning film "Saving Private Ryan", plays a prominent paleontologist in "Yonggarry".
    "Their target was international film markets.So the actors, all Westerners, speak English in the movie," Cho said.
    Other film critics pointed out less-than-perfect special effects, a weak plot and flat characters.
    But the movie is immensely popular.
    The director, 41-year-old Shim Hyung-rae and "Yonggary"
    have become stars - both appearing in tv commercials.
    And over some 700
    "Yonggary"-inspired products, ranging from underwear to roller blades, are selling briskly.
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