Natural City

An extremely fine Korean sci-fi film, unfortunately betrayed by marketing tags comparing it to "The Matrix" & "Bladerunner". This film survives quite well on it's own merits. The acting is uniformly superior to anything you will find in "The Matrix". The two male leads are impressively charismatic, their rocky but devoted friendship an important part of the storyline as one friend falls deeply over the edge as the lifeline of his love-interest, the mechanical Ria, comes to it's end. So this is also a love story. A lot of the best communication between characters is wordless which gives you an idea of the acting quality. The production, fight scenes & storyline are decently done. There's plenty of action, some of it beautifully choreographed. The love story is profound: It makes me wonder why some of the best love lines in cinema have been utterred by androids. I really can't understand why the producers never tried releasing this as a major release in the USA. There is a lot of candy here, & not because it's so bad. This is one movie of hi-fi sci-fi that I can watch from beginning to end without fatigue, as I have already multiple times. That's rare for me. There are visions here that give me the shivers. The villains are Sunday cinema amusing without being silly as well in a pleasureable way. It's a beautiful story on many levels.

Very wierd and interesting movie, have never seen blade runner though (which is what this movie is compared to), a little hard to follow at first but a good sci-fi thriller!!

I watch many Korean films, I really should be a professional at rating these films. I enjoy all the genres of K-movies mostly drama and action or action/thriller and some horror. With that being said I would like to say that sci-fi K-movies are not as a familiar drama to me. This film had great visuals a story similar to blade runner but with a more emotional twist. Old Boy co-star Yu Ji-Tae plays a cop named R that lives in a city in the midst of a colony war involving humans and androids. He runs into a prostitute that may be the mental host for his new found android Ria who is nearing the end of her three year life span. As a fan of Korean cinema I am always making an effort to share these films with many friends of mine, most of them find no intrest in foreign films, especially my star trek obsessed best friend who abhors Korean films. I recommend this for anyone interested in gritty sci-fi films and this one has an emotional twist to it. Enjoy.

If viewed with no preconceptions then natural city is pleasantly surprising, the plot tends to drag in places but when the action kicks off this movie definately delivers.

First the good news: I can understand the majority of high ratings in other reviews. This film looks fantastic and those used to Hollywood big-budget fare will not find it wanting. The cinimetography is wonderful, and there are moments of simple, unadalterated beauty woven into the dark, rainy atmosphere. The scenes of the protagonist's cyborg sitting on a bench at the beach (within a hologram) are enchanting. Everything from her pose on the bench to the vibrant color that so contrasts with the rest of the film is profoundly affecting. The special effects are first-rate, yet exist to provide an environment, not become the focus of attention. Speaking of focus, that's the good and bad of this film. The acting is superb, but you can't concentrate on their faces because you have to read the subtitles. Dialogue dubbing has improved dramatically in recent years, and this film is begging for an English surround track. That said, there are other problems. First, the gist of the plot is that a cyborg hunter cop is stealing AI chips in an attempt to extend the life of his expiring cyborg girlfriend, whom he has fallen in love with. Not a problem in iteself, but there is absolutely no indication for almost the entire film of any affection between them. Only in a flashback sequence at the end do you see any signs of the love they supposedly share. For the most part, she just sits around looking blankly at the ground. Second, Natural City falls victem to the bad idea of filming the combat scenes too close. I don't understand why filmmakers do this, but all you see is twirling black-clad bodies that take up the entire frame, with no sense of their surroundings, then a quick cut to someone getting offed. Back up a little, please! So, a mixed bag of the great and the bad. I want to rate it higher because of it's undoubted quality, but the lows sadly beat the highs. An English (or substitute your language of choice) track so you can watch the talented cast, better framing of the fight scenes, and a more genuine portrayal of the protagonist's relationship with his cyborg (this is the whole purpose of the movie, remember) would have made this an easy four stars. As it stands, it's a great visual and acting treat made sour by some poor decisions.

This Blade Runner wannabe is a complete dud. The bloody fighting at the end is completely unnecessary. It is one of the worst Korean movies I have watched. What a waste of my life.

A lot of movies try to reinterpret the vision and content of Blade Runner. They try to subsume some of its greatness, to operate on the same vistas, to charge the drama with the same kind of liveliness. This movie has got to be the best of the lot. It goes so far as to tell a story, and had Blade Runner never existed this movie would be excellent. But the regular nods to Blade Runner make this movie more memorable and enjoyable to watch several times over because there are so many things going on in the cinematography while the story is playing out.

Fans of Asian cinema and Korean SciFi will enjoy this one. Great visual design and a hard-boiled manga-noir approach wrapped in Blade Runner-esque package.

Toutefois, la qualité de l’image est décevante

This was an excellent cyberpunk movie from South Korea, with a good story, and good balance of action and drama. There were some incredible beautiful scenes, beautiful both in the visuals as well as the emotion. This is a must watch for fans of cyberpunk and Blade Runner.

anche se non troppo originale in quanto ricorda molto Bladerunner. Sicuramente da vedere per gli appassionati di SF.

Bien heureux de retrouver le cinéma asiatique Bien différent de blade runner.

Mittlerweile habe ich den Film mehrfach gesehen. Mehrfach im TV, dazu als DVD-Version von der Computer Bild Spiele 7/2006 (nur deutsche Tonspur drauf). Und jetzt habe ich dazu (von amazon.de) die DVD 2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION. Alle, die Asia Filme mögen, können bedenkenlos zugreifen. Ist für mich ein High-End Film, für die damalige Zeit um das Jahr 2004. Ich denke, dass man niemals den Fehler machen sollte, Filme nach Erwartungen zu kaufen bzw. zu sehen. Auf dem DVD-Umschlag steht zwar drauf »Inspiriert durch Ridley Scotts "Blade Runner"«, aber es ist eben keine Blade Runner Kopie. Der Regisseur Min Byung-Chun sagt: »Die Idee zu "Natural City" kam mir bei der Lektüre eines Zeitungsberichts. Es ging darum, dass sich ein 70-jähriger Mann das Leben genommen hatte, weil sein Hund gestorben war.« Hier gibt es kein Happy-End à la Hollywood und auch kein Disney-Feeling. Und wenn man genau hinschaut bzw. genau die Standbilder betrachtet, dann sieht man in den Kämpfen das Blut spritzen. Und im Gegensatz zum kitschigeren Blade Runner gibt es hier kein eindeutig festgelegtes "Good Guys-Bad Guys" Schema. Ansonsten hat man hier bei NATURAL CITY wie bei BLADE RUNNER einen Science Fiction Thriller zu erwarten, keinen reinen Action-Film. Die Handlung spielt hier im Jahr 2080. Die Extras auf der zweiten DVD sind empfehlenswert. Ich wußte eben nicht, dass es sich beim Hologramm um ein Adonis-Röschen handelt. Bei mir war kein Stahlschuber bei. Bildqualität: Gut. Mag jetzt nicht die Qualität von DAS FÜNFTE ELEMENT REMASTERED DELUXE EDITION erreichen, habe aber schon viele viel schlechtere Filme gesehen.