Finding out recently that a poll was to be held on IMDb's Classic Film board for the best titles of 2003,I felt that it would be an excellent time to take a close at what was taking place in Korean and Japanese cinema at the time.Searching round for titles on Amazon UK,I stumbled across a film that appeared to be a very gritty Action Thriller,which led to me jumping straight on the Tube.The plot:Ever since failing to capture the terrorists who killed his wife and cut off one of his fingers, police officer Jay has found himself being stuck with the task of keeping guard at the city's major Tube station. Determined to capture all pick-pockets red handed,Jay finds himself questioning his chosen path,when he runs into a woman called Kay who is a new thief on the scene.As he attempts to find out more about the mysterious Kay,Jay's (paternal) blossoming romance is stopped in its tracks,when a gang of terrorists jump on and hijack the train.Getting on the Tube just at the last moment,Jay soon discovers that this Tube journey will be one that goes back to the worst moments in his life.View on the film:Making his debut,writer/director Woon-Hak Baek gives the film a firm stylish sheen,with Baek smartly using wide angles so that the cast (which includes beautiful Doona Bae as Kay) rough'n'tumble stunts can be clearly seen,whilst also giving the movie a metallic appearance,which helps to create a sly man v machine sub-theme.Despite displaying a good eye for stylish visuals,Baek sadly shows that he is unsure about how hard he should press down on the titles Thriller moments,with Baek using a 'pause' effect so that the viewer can feel the impact of every hit,which disappointingly leads to the Action-Thriller moments feeling very stop-start.Matching the tone set out in his directing,Baek initially makes the screenplay's appearance to be one which will offer a wonderful fast paced Action-Thriller experience,with Baek using the romance between Jay and Kay (whose Eng Sub versions may have been named after the Men In Black!) to give the title a striking off-beat feel.As the tube starts to cross its near 2 hour journey,Baek tragically misses a number of 'stops' which would have allowed the movie to end on an up-hill high note.Instead,Baek decides to overly extend every one of the possibly thrilling twists well beyond there natural stopping point,which leads to this Tube journey being one that ends up going on permanent strike.

Korea is one of the few nations in the world where people watch more local films than imports. Korean movies have a firm place in the north Asian market (enjoying a lot of success in China). However they have their eyes firmly set on the International market (or should I say America).In the last 2 years there were 4 attempts to hit this market (Wonderful Days, Natural City, Bichumundu (I don't really remember the spelling) and The tube). The tube was actually the first made but was delayed because of the Daegu (also spelt Taegu) subway disaster which killed over 300 people and closed the Daegu subway system for just over 8 Months.Wonderful days was an OK effort and Natural city didn't really make any sense and Bichumundu was in the style of crouching tiger, hidden dragon and was very successful in the Chinese market.The tube or should I say THE TUBE is interesting combining over the top Hong Kong style action rather than over the top American style action (the previous reviewer obviously had only seen American action films). The back story is too unbelievable to really grab the audience, but once the story moves into the subway it carries itself off well. It could have used a better bad guy though but then most movies these days have bad guys who do bad things because "they are bad guys..OK...they do bad things".The love story is very Korean (crazy girl forcing himself on an over serious guy).But this is not really a good introduction to Korean cinema which is still trying to find its own international voice while attempting to make lots of money. Check out 2 cops, memories of murder, the classic and my wife is a gangster.Here is a warning, one of the two main characters dies. This is not a spoiler, it is a Korean movie and even the comedies have tragic endings, and the dramas have tragic beginnings, middles, ends and lots of tragic side stories. I won't tell you who dies, but don't forget your tissues.Oh, and please watch the subtitled version, the people during the American voices just can't read the subtext of a Korean movie though the person who voices Kay is the exception.

Although TUBE is beautifully shot its still a weak hodge podge of every mainstream American action flick of the past 15 years. What's worse is that its derivative of the VERY derivative Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bey standard summer crapola. There are some great unintentional laughs at the expense of the lame love story but mostly this is a corny & predictable mishmash of SPEED, Armageddon, THE ROCK, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT & THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE. The writers of the last film should sue for 1) completely ripping off their plot & 2) for doing such a bad job at it. If you want mindless & fun action rent anything by Tsui Hark but avoid this time waster.

Hugely enjoyable action flick in the vein of "Speed" and "The Rock", which sees a brilliant criminal take control of a busy rush hour train before making seemingly impossible demands of the local control tower. He didn't bank on one particular passenger, however: a renegade cop with a score to settle with the man who killed his fiance years earlier.TUBE really is a thrill ride of a film, superior to just about anything Hollywood has offered in this genre since "The Rock" and certainly comparable to Korean smash-hit "Shiri". The latter takes itself much more seriously, though: TUBE has as many witty one-liners as gun battles and explosions and doesn't lose the audience with complicated back stories or distracting subplots. Acting is stellar from all the main cast and the director does an incredible job in giving this the look and feel of a movie with ten times its relatively small budget.So, if you're after an entertaining two hours without having your mind working overtime, you'll go a long way to find a better flick than TUBE. It's the closest thing to "Die Hard" we're ever likely to see nowadays - highly recommended. **** / *****