Greetings from Lithuania. "The Tower" isn't anything special nor original. The story was told already, and like i said it's nothing original. But as a flick for one evening it will do just fine. It has pretty cool special effects, actually, they were he only reason i watched it in the first place. The acting wasn't good, especially in the first half hour of the movie, some of actors were just horrible, way overacting and shouting at the screen. Later, when the mood and setting changed, acting was starting to be better. Overall, this is enjoyable flick if you can close your eyes at the horrible acting in the beginning of the movie, and enjoy the ride of this disaster flick. It has nice special effects, nice settings and some nice pacing. For one evening it will do just fine.

Korean cinema, not too well-known outside of film festival circuits and high-minded movie lovers. THE TOWER, however, might just bridge that gap and introduce to the world what Korea has to offer. THE TOWER is pretty much one of those old disaster flicks, THE TOWERING INFERNO comes to mind, that's been updated. On Christmas Eve, a 100-story apartment building is celebrating the holiday season. However, trouble ensues when a passing helicopter crashes into it. Now residents are trapped by fires, without electricity, as rescue workers struggle to get them out before the tower collapses. Like in all disaster films, we're introduced to a large cast. Most of whom wind up dying. Of the main characters, they include a security guard desperately trying to reach his young daughter, heroic firefighters (one who'd prefer to put himself in danger rather than be home with his wife), and a group of Christians desperate for a miracle. The film is beautifully shot and directed, and every performance is spot-on. At turns heart-rending, tragic, comic and pulse-pounding, the viewer will not be let down. So if you haven't seen it yet, go rent it now and add it to your holiday list.

THE TOWER is nothing more than a modern-day remake of the Irwin Allen disaster classic THE TOWERING INFERNO, updating the storyline with modern technology and modern effects but dealing with exactly the same type of logistical intrigue and scared survivors drama. It's slightly melodramatic, as is the case with a lot of Asian cinema, but it's also highly efficient with it. It may not be up there with the best of the genre, but it's better than the comparable likes of AFTERSHOCK and THE SINKING OF JAPAN.The narrative takes on a familiar construction with the first half hour building the characters before letting rip with a major accident, then working its way through a series of alternative disaster scenarios. Survivors are fried, dropped, blown up and put into various perilous situations, and it's all handled with more than a modicum of efficiency by director Kim Ji-hoon. It's also well paced and technically efficient, with decent CGI adding to the peril and some well-placed comic relief offsetting the more dramatic moments.Is THE TOWER original? Not a jot. Is it as good as the original? Not by a long shot. Is it entertaining? Oh yes. It may be no classic, but as modern disaster cinema goes this is one of the better ones you'll find out there.

The Tower: A 2012 Korean disaster movie.SPOILERS AHEAD!Story Summary: It's a Korean movie about a high rise tower going up in flames…What more do you really need to know?This movie hearkens back to the days when Hollywood made self contained disaster flicks on a regular basis; i.e. "Poseidon Adventure", the "Airport" (not "Airplane") movies, and the like…and, of course, the obvious comparison being "Towering Inferno". There's not a whole lot of variances afforded when you make a film like this…After all, it's a disaster film in a ship, building, plane, or what have you, so, it's basically just try to mitigate the damage ,save as many people as you can, and see who (if anybody) makes it out alive. What you can do though, is try to have the viewers invest in some of the characters, provide an engrossing film with a decent enough story, some nice pacing & action, and, not make your stunts & effects look like crap…Does this film succeed on those fronts?...Yeah, pretty much.Everything centers around the buildup to the Christmas celebration at the fabulous Sky Towers buildings. The first 30 minutes of the film or so are devoted to introducing the people who'll be the integral players in the disaster to come, they include; various hotel & building employees, some guests and love interests, the firemen who show up on the scene, some side groups, and the kid (gotta have a kid involved; this is a mandatory disaster movie rule). There's some ominous foreshadowing about high winds and a busted sprinkler system along the way, but screw it; let's send in the helicopters to drop fake snow on the buildings to appease our VIP guests as planned…What could possibly go wrong here?OK, it's holiday party time!…Where are those snow dropping helicopters?...Oh, here comes one now!…Uh-oh!...What was that about the strong winds and a bad sprinkler system again?...From there, this is Disaster Movie 101, and, it's pretty entertaining for the most part.This movie is what it is…it's basically a popcorn action flick with little room for much else. The entire cast does a fine enough job, but there's not much for them to do past the ¼ mark other than run for their lives. There are some decent action set pieces where the characters have to escape the flames while traversing various floors & elevator shafts, navigate sky walks & scaffolding before they collapse, etc...This is all done with a fairly solid mix of live action, stunt work, and CGI. You also get your standard dose of Korean melodrama along the way (of course), but, it's not really any more melodramatic than those old American disaster flicks mentioned above; this movie really does play just like those films, except it's more modern and from a different country.Bottom Line: It works well enough overall!...If you're looking for a fantastic story & dialogue driven Korean film, then, this ain't for you!...But, if you want to just chill and watch a decent action/disaster flick from Korea, then, this will probably fit the bill!I think it's in the 6-7, out of 10 star, range!...Eh!…I'll give it 7 stars!