2009: Lost Memories (2002) User Reviews

Interesting, but for the wrong reasons

[swemik · 5/10 · 24 November 2006]

This movie has a semi interesting plot. Not very new or original, neither very bad or too obvious. As usual when it comes to South Korean popular movie industry the craftsmanship is next to flawless. The lighting and the scenery are beautiful, the soundtrack is very sentimental and bordering to über-cheese but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with the slightest experience in Asian movies. The acting is also good though the English dub doesn't seem to even try to do any lip sync and brings down the overall impression. The special effects are functional but not really that spectacular. Also, the action scenes have way to much slow motion for my taste. Though, I guess this is made in order to boost the sense of patriotism. And, this is where I have my main criticism.

It contains about all components of the propaganda the nationalistic parts of South Korean society likes to flatter itself with. Embarrassingly obvious, even more than usual. North and South Korea are united because they really are brothers. No Korean would harm another Korean. Japan is an enemy, has always been and will always be. Japanese people are not to be trusted, not even those you consider close friends. The Korean on the other hand are brave and self sacrificing with a pure heart. The key to the entire plot comes from the superior ancient culture and system of worship from the Korean peninsula. There are so many subtle details that are being pushed in that mean really a lot if you have an understanding of Korean culture, like the Korean main character has become so Japanese he doesn't even eat Kimchi (!).

I agree that the patriotism is so much an undisputed part of Korean culture even today that it should not come as a surprise, and I have enough experience of South Korea to be very aware of this when watching this movie. The problem here is that this script is so saturated with nationalistic propaganda that I feel it being written for this very purpose. It can sometimes lead to (umm...) interesting results, though seldom to properly good ones.

It's the equivalent of the American action movie where all baddies have a "foreign" accent, smoke cigarettes and the bad guy boss has a hint of latent homosexuality. Just translate those components into Korean values. Enjoy it as no-brainer entertainment for killing some time, or more interestingly for understanding the components of Korean nationalism and the grudge toward Japan in a commercial movie production. If you want to see a really good Korean movie, for there are lots of them, pick another one.

What if all you knew was a lie?

[MovieRat-2 · 7/10 · 17 February 2005]

No, we are not talking about another Matrix-esque film where the world is really a virtual reality dream/nightmare...this is a film that takes a serious look at one of the many great "what if's" in history and shows how the world would have been. One of my favorite things about this film is that it shows the extremes of what people will do to either keep that history or change it. Its race against race; father against son; and friend against friend in a race for a nation's identity. Who will win, who will lose, and who will ultimately decide the fate of the world? Fantastic action sequences that seem almost too real. The bloodshed abounds in this film as we see repeated scenes of terrorists face off against police forces in shoot-outs that can only end with the annihilation of one group or the other. The battle scenes are realistic in that you don't see your standard "good guys never miss while bad guys can't hit the broad side of a barn" routine, these are truly horrific battles with a large casualty count from both sides.

The film, however, isn't all about action. The story itself stands on its own as you try to piece together the jigsaw of clues and dead-ends to find out what in the world is the truth. Even when you arrive at the climax of the whole story you are left on one cliff-hanger after another, wondering if this will be the final bullet to decide it all...and at the ending there is no cliff hanging, the writers have thrown you off the cliff and you wonder what awaits you at the bottom.

Despite this nail biting ending, the film had is draw backs: 1) a plot that progresses like a starting train, VERY slow at first before gaining tremendous steam at the end; 2)lots and lots of blood, not for the squeamish; 3)the ending had a loose end that was never explained; and 4)you will want more character background and insight from the two main characters.

A very good film that had plenty of room for improvement.

Ironically, it's not all that memorable

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 7/10 · 19 February 2011]

In an alternate time-line, in the near future(with some nifty tech), a young cop finds himself questioning why he and his men are fighting a group of... well, are they terrorists or are they freedom fighters? The story-line is nice and does get resolved, if there are subplots and events that either don't affect anything or, at least to me with my Western eyes, looked strange and unexplained. Maybe it would help if I knew more about Korea, because this is definitely a jingoistic piece on there, from there. Japan has taken over the aforementioned country, and is suppressing their independence. This leads to some melodrama, and though the two hour, 14 minute running time sans credits would be shorter if these instances were mercifully removed, this does really get to you, you find yourself caring and feeling the impact of bullets, and the grip of tension. The acting is pretty good. I watched this with subtitles, not dubbed, and while I had to read along to understand what they were saying, the power of the way they deliver the lines came through quite clearly. The action is all shoot-outs, it's quite well-choreographed, it's stylized(with slow-motion, and "frame-chopping") and it's cool. This has some well-done visuals. The FX are reasonable. There is a lot of bloody violence in this. The DVD comes with 8 and a half minutes of behind-the-scenes footage and four trailers. I recommend this to fans of Asian cinema, and John Woo type flicks. 7/10

Incredible movie.

[pat00139 · 20 October 2002]

I didn't really know what this movie was about when I started it. I wasn't disappointed. The movie takes place in an alternate timeline where Japan owns Seoul and the rest of Korea. Korean terrorists wreak havoc in a fancy building for some as-yet unclear reason, and it's the job of two cops (one Japanese, the other Korean) to find out what's going on. What follows is one hell of a ride. Make sure you're resting while watching this movie, because you wouldn't want to get hurt.

The first action sequence at the beginning of the movie sets the tone for the rest of the flick. The shoot-out has this incredible intensity and never lets up. The rest of the movie follows suit. You don't really know what's going on at first, but you know it's going to be explained, and that it's going to be worth it. The shoot-outs that follow only top one another, which, after seeing the first 15 minutes, is quite hard to believe. They're so incredible. They might not have the scale as 'Heat' or the budget of 'The Rock' but they sure as hell are as intense (if not more), and as good, if not better, than whatever comes out of Hollywood.

As with 'Shiri', the action in this movie rests on one great story. Throughout the movie, the characters become more and more like real people. No one is a hero, no one is Superman here. The characters are thrust into improbably situations, but they always stay rather believable. When they're not shooting guns, the drama part of the story takes over, and you're actually as impressed with what happens. You feel for the characters, and you're actually kind of glad you don't have to make the decisions they have to make. I could kind of see where some of the relationships were going, and I didn't really want them to go there, but I suppose they had to. The story, on the other hand, is a complete mystery. I never knew where it was going.

This movie actually says something, as well. Just like in 'Shiri', it's not action for the sake of action - it's action for the sake of actually saying something. It's slightly on the nationalistic side, but that doesn't really bother me, the message that the movie portrays is definitely worth the moments spent nationalism. It's really not as bad as some other movies I've seen. The movie is insanely political, I was actually very surprised. No Hollywood studio would have the guts to do something like this. I suppose the implications of the movie are universal, but they chose to have Japan control Korea. It's quite refreshing to see a movie, an action movie no less, with a thoughtful story.

The cinematography is gorgeous. I've seen all of 3 Korean movies and they all had this incredible visual style. This one is obviously included. Most of the movie is shot with a lot of blues and grays. It creates this nice, calm atmosphere among the instances of carnage. Add to that some great, invigorating music (which also reminded of the music in 'Shiri', but that's probably due to the fact that the same composer scored both movies), and the entire mood is perfectly set.

An amazing movie with brains and brawn, everybody should enjoy this movie.

Slick action thriller with iffy script

[simon_booth · 7/10 · 17 February 2003]

The year is 2009, but it's a 2009 in an alternate history to ours, where Japan fought with the US in World War II and won... and still occupies and controls Korea. Most Koreans have accepted the state of affairs after 100 years, but there is still a small band of terrorists/freedom fighters that want to see Korea regain independence.

Our hero is a cop of Korean descent who now works in the Japanese Beaureau Of Investigation, comfortable socialising with Japanese friends and speaking the language as default. After a major attack on an exhibition centre, however, he begins to investigate the terrorists to understand their motives. As he finds out more about their fight, he begins to question the legitimacy of Japanese occupation, and starts to feel the Korean blood flowing stronger in his veins.

Clearly inspired by the box office success of SHIRI in 1999, the producers of 2009: LOST MEMORIES have conspired to produce a slick action thriller with production values that compete fairly well with Hollywood productions of only a few years back. Like SHIRI, the trade off for absorbing some of Hollywood's virtues seems to be acquiring some of its vices too - chiefly, a shallow script with major plot holes and a certain amount of xenophobia. These qualities are worse in 2009 than SHIRI, and to be fair worse than the better Hollywood productions too.

The script for 2009: LOST MEMORIES can hardly be called strong, but it is interesting and not overly predictable, despite the presence of large amounts of cheese (which maybe explains why it's so full of holes?). I did find myself checking the time quite frequently as I watched, but I got through all 130 minutes of the film without feeling too bored. It would have been much harder to say this if it weren't for the action scenes, however, which are of a very high calibre. There are just enough scenes of cool Hong Kong style gunplay to qualify 2009: LM as one of the better action movies of recent years. Also one of the more violent action movies - the body count is huge, and there is no hesitation about showing the damage a bullet can do to the human body.

The production values are mostly very high - some great sets and props (many of which get severely destroyed in the gun fights). Good cinematography, though that hardly needs mentioning for a Korean film these days. The soundtrack is perhaps a little OTT, but then so is the melodrama in the script. Acting is acceptable, though no performance approaches "great".

Overall I was rather disappointed with the film, having heard so many very positive opinions expressed about it. I liked the action, but felt the script could have been a lot better. It's a little too much like a Hollywood movie, which was probably what the producers were aiming for, but isn't what I want when I watch a Korean film. It's bound to be a film that people will be talking about a lot, and may influence the direction of the Korean industry, so any fan of Korean cinema should probably watch it if they haven't already

This movie focuses on its weaknesses rather than on its strengths

[kluseba · 7/10 · 11 March 2014]

"2009: Lost Memories" is a science-fiction-thriller inspired by the famous novel "Looking For An Epitaph" by Bok Geo-Il in 1987 even though the author didn't want to have anything to do with this adaption. One must keep in mind that the novel is more than twenty-five years and that the movie is already twelve years old as well because some things predicted in the plot are mildly amusing nowadays such as the potential reunification of North and South Korea in 2008. Many people argue that this film is too patriotic and that Koreans didn't get over the things the Japanese did to them during their invasion. Obviously, the film depicts Japanese as greedy megalomaniacs that have no respect for Korean culture. It would have been pleasant to see a few more sympathetic Japanese in this flick to give the movie a more open-minded approach. On one side, I can perfectly understand the greed many Asian peoples still feel towards the Japanese. On the other side, Korean and Japanese actors collaborate in this movie and show us that these nations can appreciate each other and perfectly work together nowadays. The reality is obviously not as dark as some government officials want to suggest us and it's a far call from this dystopian movie as well. I don't see this film as a propaganda movie or a political statement and one shouldn't analyze it all too much. It simply is a dystopian film settled in an alternate history where the failed assassination of a Japanese governor leads to a dramatic turn of events where the Japanese would win World War II and still occupy the Korean peninsula in the present.

The plot is obviously nothing really new but fans of dystopian science- fiction movies like "1984", "A Clockwork Orange", "Fahrenheit 451", "Soylent Green", "Rollerball", "Battle Royale", "Equilibrium", "V For Vendetta" and even "The Hunger Games" or "Divergent" should like some parts of this movie. In this film, a mysterious Korean resistance group called "Hureisenjin" steals museum artifacts to open a portal that should help them to travel back in time and change the course of Korean history back to normal. This radical group that is ready to sacrifice itself and the life of others to fight for Korean independence faces an institution called the Japanese Bureau of Investigation where two friends, a Korean and a Japanese cop, try to arrest them. The Korean cop denies and even despises his Korean culture as his father was a cop that betrayed the JBI and abandoned his family to help the "Hureisenjin". The investigation has personal issues for this cop and he soon starts to lose his tempers and his neutrality. When he is about to discover the fact that he is living a big lie in an alternative timeline and that the Japanese manipulated history to control the Korean peninsula, his Japanese superiors suspend him from the case. The Korean cop though continues his investigations that lead him to important historical events that took place in China and Russia. As he gets closer to the secret and is about to change his mind about his origins, he gets attacked by an assailant in his apartment. When his mentor gets killed instead and the cop survives, he gets blamed for the murder by his superiors and realizes that he is the victim of an incredible conspiracy. The cop seeks the help of the "Hureisenjin" and ends up being a key element in their quest to change history back to normal.

The story is intriguing enough to carry this movie but the acting is only of a good average quality. Some characters could have been depicted in a more profound way such as the Japanese cop and his wife or the mysterious female leader of the resistance group. I think that the movie should have focused on the difficult friendship between the Japanese and the Korean cop because this is by far the movie's strongest element. The weird visions and the strange connection between the main character and the female leader of the "Hureisenjin" are rather stereotypical, wooden and ultimately a letdown. Some parts of the movie are a little bit too melodramatic as well such as the slow motion scenes where a young boy gets killed during an assault. It seems to me that the movie focuses more on the predictable and supposedly tear-jerking elements instead of using its true strengths. I must also admit that the atmospheric first half of the movie around the investigation case is much more original and tense than the predictable and lengthy second half where all secrets are quickly revealed. It would have been more interesting to make an out-thought mini-series of this plot than a movie where the intriguing elements are cut off to focus on annoying mainstream passages.

Fans of dystopian movies and all those who are interested in Japanese and Korean cinema will still like many parts of this movie. It's not the masterpiece it could have been but still watchable enough to get entertained rather well. The promising elements in the first half of the plot definitely made me want to read the original novel in the end.

A Good Time Travel Movie

[NIXFLIX-DOT-COM · 6/10 · 27 August 2003]

LOST MEMORIES is the second South Korean time travel movie I have seen. I don't know if there has been others, but I'm only familiar with this one and the romance IL MARE.

Time travel movies are risky, and the plot invariably gets badly convoluted in an attempt to explain everything. Some films just ignore explanations, but the good ones take the chance. LOST MEMORIES uses a more "parallel world" angle, but it's still all about time travel.

Don't let the South Korea/Japan collaboration fool you. The film is all South Korean, with nearly every single Japanese character coming across as incredibly evil. Cartoonishly so, in fact. If not for this, I would have given LOST MEMORIES a better grade. AS it stands, it's just too cartoonish, too crude, and too loud for its own good. Also, the music is quite terrible.

The best part of the film is the leading male, who seems to be channeling Chow Yun Fat. An incredible starring turn, and I look forward to seeing him in other movies.

6 out of 10.

Nice Idea, Shame About the Movie

[nzhikozaemon · 3/10 · 17 October 2005]

I picked up this movie channel surfing the other night and expected it to last until 2am. Much to my personal regret, it went past 3am, and I want my time back.

I caught it from around the beginning and thought it was a Japanese movie somehow on the foreign movie channel - Japanese actors, Japanese dialog (even though the lead still had a bit of an accent). Watching this movie as someone who lives in Tokyo, it was interesting visually to see the Korean take on a "Japanese City" and "Japanese Police" (the "JBI" - gotta love it). I really love the visual style of Korean movies and videos, and have enjoyed more than a few Korean movies (and I have to say, Japan produces a fair too many clunker movies, Korea has a better strike rate).

I'll give the movie credit for being intriguing (you get hooked in wondering "what is this") and even giving an interesting story. Setting aside wetting my pants at the Japanese stereotypes that come through (nationalistic, cold, emotionless, particularly enjoyed his partner wearing kimono on his time off, having a huge house with a rock garden, and a subservient wife who bows and doesn't talk back - oh I WISH!), I was rather looking forward to the stylized action sequences.

This is where I was let down. Now pardon me if I'm wrong, but Mr. Hero is standing here in front of 6 masked bad guys letting off a hail of Uzi fire, yet he seems to find 5 minutes to drop his gun and tearfully look at children/ friends/ loved ones falling over in slow motion as violin music cuts in over the background.

Honestly, can one person here who liked this movie honestly say they actually forgot that the guy is surrounded by guys with machine guns and was pulled into any kind of emotion by the violin music? The nationalism bugged me (just as it would for a Japanese movie) but I know this is the Korean style, so it didn't bother me too much. But honestly, unless you are a hardcore fan of Korean cinema style, I wouldn't bother with this - there are much better examples out there.

Slam-bang action thriller one of the best yet from Korea

[BrianThibodeau · 9/10 · 25 August 2004]

2009 LOST MEMORIES (2002): Fantastic action thriller set in an deliberately-created alternate future in which Korea is just another Japanese state, and Koreans have largely lost their identity. A Korean-blooded, Japanese-named cop slowly realizes that the terrorists he's paid to wipe out are actually Korean freedom-fighters trying to restore the timeline to its proper state.

This film gets slagged nearly everywhere, so I defend it whenever possible. It's a big, loud, arguably overblown "blockbuster" that deals with a very sensitive subject: Korean identity. People have, I believe, unfairly examined and criticized this film on two fronts:

one, it's inherent patriotism, which is an element of Korean cinema that seems to alienate so many non-Korean viewers and yet is a fundamental part of the culture, probably more so than in any other Asian country (let alone much of the world). And two, the historical events behind its "science fiction," which nearly everybody I've read gets wrong. The key plot device of the film is NOT simply that Japan won World War II, but that the legendary Korean patriot Ahn Chung-gun FAILED in his assassination of Japanese foreign minister Ito Hirobumi in China in 1909 (thus, sort of, the point of the title being 100 years later). This single event is extremely important to the Korean culture and not only is their a gigantic memorial named after Ahn, but also a form of Tae Kwon Do. Looking these two names up on the internet greatly aids in understanding the deeper messages this film offers. I give it a 9.

Nice attempt on mystic thriller

[Eglaya2003 · 6/10 · 23 January 2006]

This has been some Asian year so far. Every single TV stations in my country are broadcasting lots of Asian movies. Of course, most of it is an English-dubbed junk, but in just one month, I've seen Crounching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; The House of Flying Daggers; Hero; Bischunmoo; Dolls; Zatoichi; Musa the Warrior; The Returner and now... 2009: Lost Memories.

I was very thrilled when I saw an announcement in the TV guide. The preview seemed to be very interesting and the fact that it was sort of collaboration between Korean and Japanese actors, made me think. I don't know Korean history well, but I realize that its relationship with Japan wasn't very good throughout the centuries. I'm rather baffled by the fact that most Koreans are learning Japanese at school while the Japanese doesn't do the opposite.

About the movie. Well, it really doesn't match Musa the Warrior. Not by a long shot. Yet, it's quite an indent, showing that Korean Movie industry is growing and it can offer us some great movies. What I liked about this movie the most, was that it has been tried to maintain a realistic mood, therefore - all the dialogs, that ought have been in Japanese, WERE in Japanese. Not like in American movies, where Russians, Poles, Chinese, Spanish and Finnish - all talk in English >__< The flow of action itself was rather sluggish, and I saw no point in editing all the action sequences in slow motion. It actually made my mind boggle. And perhaps I'm an absolutely dumb person, but I didn't quite get the real biography of Sakamoto, what he should have been in the REAL story line.

Nevertheless, this movie preaches all the general values: truth, courage, devotion, love of your homeland and respect. Being a Lithuanian I can understand Korean, because our own nation has been under the influence of Poland for centuries.

To put it into account, you have to see this movie, if you are interested in Asian cinema industry, because there is nothing more handsome than an Asian man crying: tears run down his face, eyes are full of grief and sorrow, but not a single face muscle stirs. Amazing.

Mind Numbingly Violent! Dopey Screenplay! Every Problem Solved By Blowing Someone's Head Off!

[liberalgems · 1/10 · 14 March 2007]

Science Fiction is my favorite genre! I view each, and every, film with an open mind. There's a lot going on here about Korean hatred of Japan, which is based on historical events. The story's premise is interesting: Japan sides with us in World War 2 and The Bomb is dropped on Germany, instead. As a result, Korea then permanently becomes a part of Japan. This is similar to what the American government once did to Hawaii.

Yes, we Americans really did overthrow the legitmate government of the Hawaiian nation, in 1898, at the point of a gun, for both economic and military reasons. (A literal example of Gunboat Diplomacy!) Too bad some filmmaker doesn't do a "time machine" movie about freeing Hawaii! But I digress - this could have been a great movie with such an original premise! Alas, it was not to be!

Instead, the constant, and graphic showing of heads being blown off makes this a terrorist war-porn movie under the guise of Science Fiction! Slaughtering people, with cameras carefully lingering over the corpses, is not my idea of a good time. If it's yours, perhaps you should consider seeing a psychiatrist!

This is absolutely the very worst "time machine" movie ever done. It gives Science Fiction a really bad name, and the filmmakers should truly be ashamed of themselves. I will certainly stay clear of any Korean filmmakers in the future!

Unmissable!

[hwarangdo · 10/10 · 7 July 2002]

One of the most imaginative and refreshing movies I have seen for a while. It has all the ingredients of a blockbuster movie + has brains.

Jang Dong-Gun plays a special forces agent who lives in the former Korea, in an alternate timeline where an assassination attempt on a Japanese general went wrong (which it didn't in real life) and lead to the continued colonisation of Korea by the Japanese empire. The year is 2009 and Koreans have taken up Japanese names while the rebels have descended into the filth of the nation. There are still acts of rebellion by a rogue group, but as time goes on hope is beginning to fade for the 5000 year culture. As Jang is assigned to the case of the rogue group, he begins to feel sympathy for them as he descended from Korean blood also. As his sympathy and mixed emotions start to express, his superiors and even his partner & best friend turn their back on him by setting him up. Thus begins an unforgettable adventure.

This is the closest thing Korean or Asian filmmaking has got to true Hollywood blockbuster material. Most of the movie is in Japanese, and the star of the film Jang Dong-Gun shows true versatility by acting in two languages brilliantly. Give this a try!

Great beginning, but loses steam quickly.

[gunmo3 · 6/10 · 17 September 2006]

All the people who complain about all the anti Japanese rhetoric don't understand. As someone who's lived both in Korea and Japan, I could understand the motivations of this movie, but I don't think it is really anti Japanese in the slightest. In fact I find this movie to be very respectful to Japanese. For example... In the opening scenes, the Jongno area of Seoul is shown. It is much more built up and busy than it ever will be in real life. Next, there is the idea that nearly all modern day Koreans don't want independence from Japan. Even suggesting such a thing is ballsy for a Korean movie.

I did however find it funny that Saigo, his wife, and his kid all wear kimonos at home. That's really odd. People only wear them on special occasions (such as the other scenes in the movie where they are seen, the art museum reception, and the obon matsuri.) There's also an error, when they are in the bar/hideout for the first time, you can see a sign saying that fosters beer costs 3000 won. OOPS! As far as the plot goes, the first 10 minutes got me hooked. Ito Hirobumi is not assassinated, history changes so that the Japanese Empire was the ally of the USA during WW2, Japan joins the UN security council and is the first to launch something into space. The 1988 Olympics (usually noted as Seoul and Korea's emergence into the first world)don't happen in Seoul, but in Nagoya, the city Seoul defeated by only a few votes in real history... with no competition from a Japanese controlled Seoul, Nagoya wins hands down. In the 2002 Fifa world cup, Lee Dong Guk is shown cheering after scoring a goal, only scroll down to see he's wearing a Japan jersey. (Lee Dong Guk plays for the Korean national team in real history, Japan's team must be amazing since we can combine the best players from the Korean and Japnese teams and also any players coming out of China's coastal cities... see the map in the JBI office later...). When they show Jongno in the opening scenes, the Governor General building is still there and Kwanghwa mun doesn't exist at all (the building was demolished in 1996 and Gwanghwa mun, which stood in front of the governor general building is still there in real history.) The famous Yi Sun Shin statue isn't there and in its place is a statue of Toyotomi Hideyosi, the one who Yi defeated.

After the first few minutes though, Jang Dong Gun starts to speak Japanese and it's nearly impossible to understand what he's saying unless you can decipher what horribly accented Japanese sounds like. (watched this movie with no subtitles.) The entire rest of the plot is boring and stupid. What originally had lots of potential goes into the toilet. I would have had Jang's character join the independence movement and gain the support of the Korean people and possibly being a martyr for the cause, which causes Japan to eventually buckle under pressure and grant Korea its independence, after falling out of favor with Britain, the US, and France, all former colonial powers that more or less (saying that tongue in cheek)have given up on colonialism. Anyway that doesn't make a good action film I guess. Instead we have time travel.

I guess the statement the film makes is one I agree with. Even though Korea is divided, it's still better to be divided and free (sort of), than united with other people controlling you (sort of). The movie is worth watching for the first 10 minutes alone, especially if you're familiar with Japanese and Korean history, and you've ever been to Japan and the Jongno district of Seoul.

2 hours and 10 minutes! Is this thing going to be over soon?

[electronsexparty · 2/10 · 28 June 2005]

An hour and a half of practically dead air kill an interesting concept in this Korean action-drama. By the last 30 minutes I was looking for a hard surface to bash my head against while yelling at the actors to DO SOMETHING!

*SPOILERS*

Other than that, I laughed quite a bit throughout the film. It wasn't made to be a comedy, but it turned out that way. Even the WTF plot twist earned a chuckle from me. So this Japanese controlled Korea wasn't an alternate universe, but the work of an evil Japanese family/ corporation and some seemingly inept archaeologists? I don't know why the Koreans hated being under Japanese rule so much, it didn't seem any worse than having to worry about Kim Jong Il and communism.

Whatever Korea.

I really liked the two main characters police partners/ life partners dynamic (until the fem partner turned into an EVIL Japanese PIG, of course). Oh, and I can't forget the girl/boy/chimp (what was it?!). It was fun to watch everyone mow down everything with guns, but pause during the mayhem so the heroes could stop and grieve, or take a nap, or... just... stand... there...

And the end. What? Why did...?

Oh, never mind, this movie is just a jumbled mess of WTF moments, sheer hilarity and ZZZ's. Big fans of foreign films or B- Scifi's might enjoy it... but, I doubt it. Rent it to laugh your head off.

Actually Worth the 136 minutes!

[akarp55 · 19 October 2004]

An interesting opening and superb ending make up for a few less than stellar plot transitions as Lost Memories is one Action Drama that I won't soon forget. The music really complements this film and allows the slow motion sequences to make an impact. As for action its fairly standard and the acting is good but not award caliber. A solid Action drama with a few brief Science Fiction moments. Mixing Both Japanese (mostly the first half) and Korean the rest of the way, Lost Memories2009 is amongst a growing wave of multicultural/national Pan Asian films that could find an audience outside of Asia with a bit more exposure.

If a 100 is Perfect 81/100

Well done political fantasy thriller...

[dwpollar · 7/10 · 31 March 2009]

1st watched 3/26/2009 – 7 out of 10 (Dir=Si-Myung Lee): Well done political fantasy thriller from Korea that creates a scenario where Korea in the year 2009 is part of Japan. This happened because a Japanese ambassador wasn't killed in 1909 and the U.S. dropped an atom bomb on Germany instead of Japan, who in this film they were allies with in World War II. This made-up history is presented just as the movie begins and then we are introduced to two friends in the Japanse Bureau of Investigations(JBI for short) who are hunting down a terrorist group who basically want Korea to be it's own nation. Initially, we think this group is "all" bad --- but the main star played by Toru Nakamura starts uncovering things that bother the JBI. A group that they work closely with houses an artifact that looks kind of like what's on the Korean flag that appears to be the focus of the terrorist group instead of just the "terror." He is taken off the assignment because of what he's uncovering and he also starts realizing some things about his own past that link him to this group. The story gets more complicated and bizarre when we find out the artifact has the ability to allow people to time travel. Now, I'm not going to tell a lot more because it will ruin the story for those who want to watch it. Despite the movie's length of almost 3 hours it keeps your interest even if you can't speak Korean(as long as you can read the subtitles). The end does take awhile and this is really the only downfall of this otherwise well-done and well-played action thriller that also is played out very well. For those interested in good foreign films don't miss this one!!

Great premise and aesthetics, but sinks under weight of abusive melodrama and logical inconsistency

[refresh_daemon · 6/10 · 27 September 2008]

2009: Lost Memories has a lot of promise. A sci-fi action/mystery (mild on the sci-fi) set in an alternate universe where Japan sides with the Allies during World War II, Corea never gained independence from Japan and becomes part of the empire. Pretty cool setting, no? In fact, the first half of the movie, despite the occasional logical flub and inconsistency, manages to be quite interesting. And then you hit the midway mark and the film crashes into mindless melodrama and sinks to the point where even its otherwise gorgeous action sequences can't save it.

But, it is quite a pretty film. Lots of wonderfully shot scenes grace this film, even if you can see strong traces of John Woo present in many of them. But this picture is cleaner and slicker than Woo's earlier productions. The sets and costumes are wonderful. The lighting and editing however does run a little heavy-handed. And in fact, the film's preoccupation with aesthetics, instead of strengthening its story, sinks the film. There's also a bit of a mood-killing plot twist halfway through the film as well, which really doesn't help.

In terms of lighting, the film is shot dark and while it definitely makes things seem fairly "cool", at the same time, everything is so awash in blues most of the time that it's hard to keep believing in it. It tries a little too hard to be cool. There's also the obnoxious abuse of slow-motion and extreme close-up reaction shots. Honestly, during an action sequence, I really don't want to see 15-30 second bursts of watching as characters react to other insignificant characters' deaths. It frustrated me to no end. And then there's the logical jumps. Not only is one character's story not tied up, but it conflicts with itself logically and the film probably would have been helped having removed that character altogether.

Because the film couldn't shore up its story and resorted to overenthusiastic melodrama and manipulation, it went from being quite interesting to a bit of a chore. I give it credit for great aesthetics and premise, even if in the end the story becomes chaotic and inconsistent, but the degree of the films abuse of melodrama to substitute for story keeps it from staying afloat. People that can get past story and enjoy the slick presentation and action, might enjoy this. Everyone else should consider giving it a pass. 6/10 (purely on the merits of its aesthetics and premise).

More HK than ROK

[FlorianLaur · 6/10 · 18 November 2020]

I saw the trailer for this movie on my DVD of Swiri/Shiri. It looked interesting enough and came out the same year. Unfortunately, it isn't nearly as good. I'm not quite sure why, it has a lot of action and the story is ok, although there are some things that don't seem very logical (for example how the rebels openly attack an art gala while their target was one artefact. Why not simply steal it in a sneaky way at night, but hand it to one of them who is mixed among the hostages who easily point him out though? Or why do the rebels not protect their underground base with trip wires or anything like that? How can the main character have seemingly hours in the middle of a gun fight to exchange glances, not get hit and basically be ignored for hours if every rebel is shot in seconds? Most people with guns also seem to have terrible aim or can shoot 20 guys with 30 rounds).

There are lots of shoot-outs, but somehow they remind me more of HK-cinema. They seem impressive, but somehow you feel underwhelmed. While Shiri reminded me of Heat sometimes, this movie reminded me more of some Asian B movie with so so action-scenes where quantity goes over quality.

What's positive for me is the beautiful way things are filmed, Seoul(which seems to be Tokyo though) looks beautiful at night and the movie has that nice late 90s grainy look many Asian films had.

All in all not a bad movie and it certainly offers some entertainment, but other Korean movies convinced me more. "Brotherhood" contained themes of patriotism too, but in a less cheesy way. Still, you can see they learned since then and Korean action cinema has evolved a lot. I recommend "Yeolhansi" as the better movie about time travel, but it seems hard to find now.

Korean Hollywood

[Room66 · 4/10 · 19 November 2014]

In Hollywood movies of this genre has long been put on stream.

Relations between the two police-mates carefully studied and discussed from different perspectives.

What's new Korean director could say in this genre familiar to us ?! The main difference from similar Hollywood films is that the police are here for debt ready to sacrifice everything, including the tranquility of the family and his own life. They are not joking at all. Never.

Perhaps the film was conceived as a "Korean answer to Hollywood," but it does not produce serious feelings copy the contrary, I think Korean Hollywood masterpiece in no way inferior.

Interesting plot twists, great game actors (especially Dong-gun Jang who plays Sakamoto), dosage strength, slightly inflated emotions, giving the heroes with guns human qualities.

The film has a lot of action movie, detective, adventure genre, drama, fiction, even the love story, but in short, the genre of the film can be described as a dramatic thriller.

Of course, the film is far from perfect, the special effects are weak, sagging in the story is, quite controversial application fantastic part of the plot.

And yet ... the film received an emotionally rich, albeit slightly delayed. It's true human feelings uncomfortable neighbors with rude fiction genre.

I advise him to look for those who are tired of costume with flying people.

An exciting action-packed drama with some imagination!

[appletree · 9/10 · 22 February 2002]

This movie is the newest success of the rising Korean film industry. It's got drama, plot, action, emotions, and nice acting all rolled into one, on the background of a fantastical assumption on a twist of real history.

Note on the title. The setting is the year 2009, and the film is based on the assumption that Korea is still a colony of Japan, as it had been for the past 100 years, because a single assassination attempt back in 1909, which succeeded in real life, failed and changed the whole course of history for the past 100 years in this alternative story. A Korean-born special agent tries to set the history right, and his colleague, a Japanese-born and a friend of his, tries to stop him.

Although made in Korea, dialogues are about 70% Japanese, and you have to have some knowledge in the history of the two countries to fully understand this movie, but the setting and basis is very imaginative and fascinating, that anybody can appreciate it. The two stars of the movie, Dong-Kun Jang and Toru Nakamura, who are Korean and Japanese in real life, are very fine, and make up a nice team. The action scenes, which are plenty in this movie, are nicely choreographed and serve to contribute to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The Korean film industry is growing, so the next time you catch a Korean movie, it could be this one!

Dross

[kinghell · 2/10 · 31 August 2003]

I think I must have watched the wrong film. So many people have given this rave reviews, saying how ass-kicking it is etc

It was to me, a B movie lavished with an expensive budget. The plot (if it can be describe as such) was risible and must have had about 30 seconds thought put into it while the screenwriter was waiting for his coffee. And just how many sickening cliches can you cram into a single film? We're they going for a world record or something? Jeez.

The action scenes were appalling rife with either pointless John Woo slo mo, or jerky blurry slo mo. This was probably to disguise how generic and badly choreographed they were.

The characters were totally wooden and completely devoid of any sympathy whatsoever, the actors never really needing to concentrate on anything except the dreadful script they'd been given (with the exception of the main guy who had to speak two languages all the way through).

Diabolical soundtrack which would suit any guff-filled B Movie you've ever seen.

Breathtakingly poor camera work.

I could go on but reading the full list would almost be as boring as watching this dross.

Korean studios should make more films like Public Enemy instead of this expensive atrocity.

Meh 2/10

A First Class Asian Thriller!!!

[debutante27 · 9/10 · 22 October 2006]

Hollywood has made loads of Asian remakes recently, and this would probably be another contender for their interest... although an American remake might have to be *extremely* bold. 2009: Lost Memories is one of the best Asian action films I've seen... period.

First of all, get those Hollywood tendencies out of your head. This is a film whose story, far fetched though it may be, seems to convey some very genuine, weighted, and apparent contemporary sentiment about a significant event in modern Asian history. Since the event and players around which the film is centered are indeed VERY real - make Wikipedia your friend ;) - I would urge people from other parts of the world watching this film to try and imagine if something in their own histories had followed a similar plot; to better appreciate the film from the vantage point of the storyteller. DO NOT watch this film if you're only looking for some John Woo style action. It's really not about the action at all.

I'm a typical non-Asian: very limited knowledge of Asian history, and absolutely no implicit understanding of Asian culture, or the mark that such history has had on modern Asian convention. I think this film (among many) offers a few clue-ins about the inward tensions concerning the past between Asians that are completely unknown to the rest of the world. It may seem deliberate as a matter of course to people from the region, most oblivious outsiders would still be guessing.

In short, it is about an alternate reality in which Korea never gained independence from it's status as a Japanese protectorate. Now add time travel... and enjoy the film.

Although it's a little on the long side, it was fun all the way through. The storyline never dropped or suddenly got slow, and there was nothing that could be completely lost in translation as I find is often the case with a lot of other trans-continental cinema. There's PLENTY of gun action for such aficionados. It was coherent, and very suspenseful from start to finish. Even the music played to great effect; perfect at certain instances like you see in film from time to time. All in all, a fully enjoyable feature.

I liked this film, not for the time travel sci-fi, gun fights or adequate special effects, but for letting me see someone else (besides Hollywood) pay homage to their own heroes. In Japan this might be a horror film.

I wish this film was a lost memory

[AwesomeWolf · 1/10 · 25 June 2005]

Version: Korean / Japanese audio, English subtitles.

Its funny how things work out. I submitted a review for 'The Big Swindle' - a 2 hour long Korean heist move - and mentioned that I always seem to find winners while watching random Korean movies. I must have jinxed myself, as I ended up coming across this dud at a friends house. A bad Korean movie? I don't know what to believe in anymore.

"What if?" time! In '2009: Lost Memories', the assassination of Ito Hirobumi (a Japanese official in occupied Korea) was foiled, and the course of history takes a very alternate route. World War Two was never fought in the Pacific and Korea has remained as a Japanese territory until 2009. Masayuki Sakamoto (Dong-Kun Jang) and Shojiro Saigo (Tôru Nakamura) are JBI (Japanese Bureau of Investigation) agents investigating an apparent terrorist attack on a Japanese museum in Seoul. The objective of the attack was the Lunar Soul - or as I like to call it: "The Boomerang of Death", that way it doesn't sound like something stolen from a 'Final Fantasy' game - and it is up to Sakamoto and his plucky little sidekick to find out why the Haruseijin are desperate to steal the Boomerang of Death.

Like a few other Korean films floating around, '2009: Lost Memories' plays heavily to Korean nationalism: Seoul is presented as a very Japanese city, the Japanese characters appear good but are really evil, and vice-versa for the Korean characters. I'm sure '2009' would strike a chord with Korean viewers, but I was left stranded and constantly checking the time. 'Shiri', 'JSA, and 'Phantom: The Submarine' are all based in Korean nationalism. What makes them better than '2009'? Well, for one, they are not totally boring.

'2009: Lost Memories' seem to be lost in between drama and action. The first action sequence is heavy on melodrama. It tries to be powerful, but why should I care when I still don't know the names of the characters, let alone their motivations. The action scenes only get worse from then on. They're all very clunky and shot in slow-motion, and some of them display camera-work so poor that you can only be impressed. Like the rest of the movie, the action is over-powered by the strong orchestral score. Apparently when being shot at from all directions, you will be magically protected by violin music. If you have not fallen asleep by the 90 minute mark, you will be screaming "Yes, the main character cannot be killed by conventional weapons! I GET IT!". I know I was.

What links the drama with the action? Why, it must be the incessant tear-jerking! In dramatical scenes and gun-play scenes alike, '2009' is constantly trying to jerk tears. When people aren't dying, the film is trying hard to present a story that is lacking in logic and fairly predictable. If you're familiar with the history, you may find it hard to suspend disbelief about the whole what-if thing. It is predictable, so you don't need to pay too much attention to figure out what happens next. Most of time the only thing happening next is a cliché or a scene in which the film tries to make the viewer cry. I was so bored that I was crying.

I've seen another Korean movie about time-travel. It was a drama movie called 'Il Mare'. Strangely enough, I liked that, but '2009: Lost Memories' is incredibly boring. 'Nuff said - 1/10

Lost in Space

[diversen · 23 August 2003]

This is interesting.

The movie got enough materials for a good movie. a gripping story, interesting twist of plot, strong casts, nice action sequences, and powerful ending.

Some weaknesses and plot holes can be tolerate, including some low cost special effects and camera manipulations.

But apart from that, the whole combinations succeed on giving full entertainment and just a simple moment for you to think of all the possibillites in this world.

If you have interest in asian movie, try this one. i strongly recommended this one for story telling and action-drama presentation.

Nice evening movie...

Moronic, overlong, devoid of virtue

[jaijaijai73 · 1/10 · 27 October 2005]

This wretched piece of crap is among the worst movies I have ever seen. Almost utterly lacking in action, other than tactically inaccurate scenes of automatic gunfire. After an hour and a half of slow, agonizing, pointless plot wandering, the big secret is revealed: Gasp, the future's been altered by time travel! But you knew that already. "Formulaic" and "cliched" are compliments this stinker doesn't deserve. Every time there's a threat of someone moving quickly, the film goes to super slo-mo, in a sadistic prolongation of our viewing agony. Also, every time there's any sound whatsoever, some limiter or something kicks in, rendering the sound unlistenable. Whatever you do, avoid this movie. You'd be better off staring at your television for over two hours without turning it on. Or beating your head against a wall. Or...