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).

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.

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.

I thought the first few minutes in 2009 had potential but very soon the story turns in to a cliché filled, below average b-movie. The details that annoys me in this film are so many that i can't count them all. I'll try to give you hints to what kind of film it is without giving away the story.1: How's this for an alternative time-line... the Germans had the main character of this story on the beach of Normandie with a submachine-gun and one clip... 2: Why would a Japanese national agency have an English name (JBI.. my god..) and a graphic interface on their computers that makes the HUD in any computer-game look like the first version of donkey kong.. (not a big thing but it's just an example... )3: When you hear violin music in a gunfight it's OK to stop running and shooting... 4: "OK guys: If someone is about to make an important kill everyone stop shooting so we can hear the empty shell bounce.."I could continue on and on but i think you get the picture.. It is impressive though that they singled out a credible event that could have changed history.. it seemed like a good movie for a few minutes but...... Could have been an OK movie in an alternative time-line.. where pathetic predictable crap isn't allowed.