In 1978, director Shin Sang-ok was kidnapped* and taken to North Korea by Kim Jong-il, then the son of the country's leader. Shin resisted being in North Korea and after two escape attempts, he was re-educated and learned why he was in the country: He was to make several films for the movie-loving soon-to-be despot of the nation. The last of these films was this giant monster epic in which there's a hidden message: the monster is really Kim Il-sung, who has betrayed the people's revolution for his own gain. In the past of Korea, life is tough. An old and imprisoned blacksmith makes a small doll and in his last moments, demands that the gods create someone to help the oppressed. When his daughter's blood gets on the doll, it comes to life and begins eating iron and steel, growing in strength with every meal. Despite aiding the people against a governor, the king sends so many men and kills so many people that Pulgasari voluntarily chooses to die to save everyone. He is reborn when the blacksmith's daughter - who has lost her father and fiancee to the king - bleeds over the grave, bringing the monster back to life. The problem is that even after he kills the king, Pulgasari's hunger will never end. The villagers willingly give him the tools they need to thrive and he always wants more, so our heroine hides inside a metal bell and allows the creature to devour it. Their psychic connection causes him great pain and his stomach explodes. The crazy thing is this movie has Toho effects. When they were hired, they thought they were going to China, not North Korea. They were well taken care of, as when special effects artist Teruyoshi Nakano said he missed Japanese beer, his entire hotel fridge was fully stocked the next day. Even crazier, if that's possible with the whole origin of this movie, Pulgasar was sold in Pakistan as Zombi 34: The Communist Bull-Monster, which affirms to me that a movie can have any story and work within the Zombi numbering system. *They also took actress Choi Eun-hee, who was his ex-wife and forced them to remarry. They stayed married afterward, even after coming to the United States. After two years of hiding in Reston, VA, Shin and Choi moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as Simon Sheen, directing 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up. I did not make that up.
20 Reviews
The world's only North Korean kaiju flick?
Leofwine_draca15 May 2015
PULGASARI is a hoot for lovers of demented, low budget cinema. It's the one and only North Korean kaiju movie out there, a film that's been inspired by the likes of GODZILLA and YONGGARY, although I think plot-wise it has most in common with the Japanese DAIMAJIN trilogy.
The story is a straightforward one in which the poor are presented as a righteous, oppressed people and an evil general and his army are the out-and-out villains. A humble blacksmith is captured and starved to death by the villains, but not before he's created Pulgasari, a tiny humanoid creature who eventually grows into a lovably, Baby Godzilla type beastie.
After a time, Pulgasari becomes the city-stomping giant monster that kaiju cinema loves, although given the budget there's little destruction on offer here and the effects are lacking to say the least. But the story with its uniquely North Korean slant is a solid one and the novelty value alone is enough to keep you watching. It's good fun!
The story is a straightforward one in which the poor are presented as a righteous, oppressed people and an evil general and his army are the out-and-out villains. A humble blacksmith is captured and starved to death by the villains, but not before he's created Pulgasari, a tiny humanoid creature who eventually grows into a lovably, Baby Godzilla type beastie.
After a time, Pulgasari becomes the city-stomping giant monster that kaiju cinema loves, although given the budget there's little destruction on offer here and the effects are lacking to say the least. But the story with its uniquely North Korean slant is a solid one and the novelty value alone is enough to keep you watching. It's good fun!
Funny monster movie with great battle scenes.
franciscowendell18 July 2013
I like to watch Kaiju films and this Korean monster movie it's a funny monster movie with great battle scenes. In the beginning I supposed that will be other bad movie, but after some scenes you'll be invited to appreciate the story about poor villain people that fight against a bad king and his cruelty governor. Besides the poor special effects, most of them inside the atmosphere behind the Pulgarasi monster, other great battle scenes with hundred extras acting and fighting, You'll like all the crew efforth to create power and big scenes. This movie was produced by Jong-il Kim and directed by Sang-OK Shin. This is the first movie that I watch directed by Sang-OK Shin, but I felt interested in watch other movies directed by him.
A movie from behind the DMZ!
giammarcoken22 September 2001
Since I began living in South Korea several years ago, I have always been curious about what life and art would be like in the isolated North. The educational channel in South Korea (EBS) has a weekly show that gives us clips of North Korean newscasts, movies, music, dramas and animation.
When South Korean president, Kim Dae-jung visited North Korea last year in the first step toward normalizing relations and possible (albeit future) unification, we learned that the North Korean supreme leader is something of a movie fanatic. He has been secretly receiving western movies and monitoring South Korean tv dramas. It is not surprising to learn that he apparently ordered Pulgasari be made. Like every other artform from the North it can only be broadcast or shown if it matches the philosophy of the state. Pulgasari is a metaphor. The evil king represents the feudal government of the Chosun Dynasty which ended at the beginning of the 1900's. The monster, Pulgasari represents capitalism. It arrives apparently to help the people, but soon grows out of control. The heroes in the movie are the peasantry, the common people who must fix everything that people with power have wrought.
Nobody can claim that Pulgasari is state-of-the-art. Even by rubber monster standards, this movies special effects are poor. It does help to consider that the budget for this movie was probably around what we spend on lunch in a year. But for me, the true fascination of a movie like this is the chance to see how another culture, living under a completely different philosophy, sees the world.
When South Korean president, Kim Dae-jung visited North Korea last year in the first step toward normalizing relations and possible (albeit future) unification, we learned that the North Korean supreme leader is something of a movie fanatic. He has been secretly receiving western movies and monitoring South Korean tv dramas. It is not surprising to learn that he apparently ordered Pulgasari be made. Like every other artform from the North it can only be broadcast or shown if it matches the philosophy of the state. Pulgasari is a metaphor. The evil king represents the feudal government of the Chosun Dynasty which ended at the beginning of the 1900's. The monster, Pulgasari represents capitalism. It arrives apparently to help the people, but soon grows out of control. The heroes in the movie are the peasantry, the common people who must fix everything that people with power have wrought.
Nobody can claim that Pulgasari is state-of-the-art. Even by rubber monster standards, this movies special effects are poor. It does help to consider that the budget for this movie was probably around what we spend on lunch in a year. But for me, the true fascination of a movie like this is the chance to see how another culture, living under a completely different philosophy, sees the world.
Rita Repulsa Wants Her Monster Back.
markrschulz29 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Seldom have I watched a movie that fails so completely in all that it attempts to do. There could be a good reason for this, however; the director and two leads were abducted from South Korea by Kim and then forced to partake in this schlock whilst the Dear Executive Producer Kim Jong Il ran the show. This was ten years before he became the ruler of North Korea. I guess he runs his country on the same principles as he ran the production of this movie. (Un)fortunately the kidnapping victims escaped before the movie could be completed, which could explain much of the disjointed nature in the latter part of the film. Quite bizarrely, the director's 'punishment' was to have his name removed from the credits, until he SUED the film company to have it re-instated, although heaven only knows why.
The movie opens in a nameless village somewhere in Chosun Dynasty era Korea. A peasant girl is fetching water from a well. She is a kind and selfless young woman, as indicated by her desire to see the old people fed first at dinner time. Her father is the town blacksmith and makes many tools for the farmers. All is not well in the idyllic village, however. An evil king sits on the throne and a great rebellion/war is brewing. He has his army appropriate all the metal in the kingdom in order to forge weapons. It emerges that the leader of the bandits/rebels lives in this particular village and has hidden a weapons cache near the blacksmith's forge. The first of many 'epic' battle scenes unfurls as Korean People's Army soldiers forced to act as extras fight it out dressed as wicked royal guards slavishly obeying the king and virtuous peasants defending their right to bear pots and pans. Yawn.
The rebels are routed and arrested, and the blacksmith is then drafted to make weapons out of the confiscated metal, but allows the village people to take back their items when the army leaves. The army comes back and discovers the iron gone and this leads to his imprisonment and torture. As a form of protest, he decides not to eat and begins to starve. His daughter, Ami, tries to get him to eat rice balls by throwing them to him through the bars of the jail. He is a man of principle, however, and refuses to eat even this food prepared by his loving daughter. Instead, he makes a little figurine of the rice balls and clay and makes a dying wish to some unseen force to give it life and help the peasants. He then dies and the obligatory wailing so prolific in North Korean films starts. Once Ami, her brother, her mother, the village, the bandits, and their dogs have recovered from the loss, wiped their tears away and shouted 'aigoo' for the last time, the little sculpture finds its way to Ami. She pricks herself whilst sewing and some blood splashes onto it, bringing it to life. Pulgasari is born, and from this point on the movie never lets you forget that his name is PULGASARI! Every time PULGASARI gets screen time there is an annoying peasant/bandit/king/vizier/random extra shouting 'It's PULGASARI!', 'Hey, PULGASARI!', 'LOOK OUT IT'S ' or 'HERE COMES ' Only the heinous abomination that is 'The Outlaw of Gor' can rival the number of times the lead character's name is repeated as part of the movie dialog.
So moving on, Pulgasari starts out small, he eats the needle Ami was using, then he eats the door hinges, then he eats the scrap metal in the forge. He grows bigger and bigger under Ami's control, since it's her blood that infused him with life. I immediately saw a problem with this monster; the peasants' woe is due mainly to the fact that the king wants all their metal for weapons, but their newfound hero eats the same metal. The rest of the film uses made for TV effects reminiscent of 'Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' as Pulgasari stomps his way through Feudal Korea MiniTown, killing the king and liberating the peasants. Stuff happens along the way but the rubber suit is more convincing than the plot and character development. Predictably, the monster continues to eat metal, and becomes a burden to the peasants. Ami sacrifices herself by hiding in the village's bell before Pulgasari eats it. Pulgasari and Ami die. Roll credits on the ninety minutes of my life that cannot be taken back; a horrid mess of a movie that cannot be unseen.
Reflecting on the didactic nature of the several North Korean films I have watched IE: Peasants Good/Powers that be Bad, I'd have to say that there you could interpret this as a young Kim Jong Il giving the middle finger to an establishment that had molded him from a young age to take over from his father, despite his wishes of film making glory. In 'The Flower Girl' we see how the peasants are oppressed and need the Korean Liberation Army to free them, it takes food, lives and money (metal) to support in order to drive out the Japanese Imperialists (the evil king taking the peasant's resources) but once in power, the KLA and the Communist Party continue to take all of these things from the peasants, eventually requiring the peasants to die in order to rid themselves of the scourge that they themselves have helped feed. The irony would be delicious, but I think that it's actually just a ham fisted attempt to knock capitalism; yet another aspect of this movie that fails with unintentional, yet hilarious results.
The movie opens in a nameless village somewhere in Chosun Dynasty era Korea. A peasant girl is fetching water from a well. She is a kind and selfless young woman, as indicated by her desire to see the old people fed first at dinner time. Her father is the town blacksmith and makes many tools for the farmers. All is not well in the idyllic village, however. An evil king sits on the throne and a great rebellion/war is brewing. He has his army appropriate all the metal in the kingdom in order to forge weapons. It emerges that the leader of the bandits/rebels lives in this particular village and has hidden a weapons cache near the blacksmith's forge. The first of many 'epic' battle scenes unfurls as Korean People's Army soldiers forced to act as extras fight it out dressed as wicked royal guards slavishly obeying the king and virtuous peasants defending their right to bear pots and pans. Yawn.
The rebels are routed and arrested, and the blacksmith is then drafted to make weapons out of the confiscated metal, but allows the village people to take back their items when the army leaves. The army comes back and discovers the iron gone and this leads to his imprisonment and torture. As a form of protest, he decides not to eat and begins to starve. His daughter, Ami, tries to get him to eat rice balls by throwing them to him through the bars of the jail. He is a man of principle, however, and refuses to eat even this food prepared by his loving daughter. Instead, he makes a little figurine of the rice balls and clay and makes a dying wish to some unseen force to give it life and help the peasants. He then dies and the obligatory wailing so prolific in North Korean films starts. Once Ami, her brother, her mother, the village, the bandits, and their dogs have recovered from the loss, wiped their tears away and shouted 'aigoo' for the last time, the little sculpture finds its way to Ami. She pricks herself whilst sewing and some blood splashes onto it, bringing it to life. Pulgasari is born, and from this point on the movie never lets you forget that his name is PULGASARI! Every time PULGASARI gets screen time there is an annoying peasant/bandit/king/vizier/random extra shouting 'It's PULGASARI!', 'Hey, PULGASARI!', 'LOOK OUT IT'S ' or 'HERE COMES ' Only the heinous abomination that is 'The Outlaw of Gor' can rival the number of times the lead character's name is repeated as part of the movie dialog.
So moving on, Pulgasari starts out small, he eats the needle Ami was using, then he eats the door hinges, then he eats the scrap metal in the forge. He grows bigger and bigger under Ami's control, since it's her blood that infused him with life. I immediately saw a problem with this monster; the peasants' woe is due mainly to the fact that the king wants all their metal for weapons, but their newfound hero eats the same metal. The rest of the film uses made for TV effects reminiscent of 'Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' as Pulgasari stomps his way through Feudal Korea MiniTown, killing the king and liberating the peasants. Stuff happens along the way but the rubber suit is more convincing than the plot and character development. Predictably, the monster continues to eat metal, and becomes a burden to the peasants. Ami sacrifices herself by hiding in the village's bell before Pulgasari eats it. Pulgasari and Ami die. Roll credits on the ninety minutes of my life that cannot be taken back; a horrid mess of a movie that cannot be unseen.
Reflecting on the didactic nature of the several North Korean films I have watched IE: Peasants Good/Powers that be Bad, I'd have to say that there you could interpret this as a young Kim Jong Il giving the middle finger to an establishment that had molded him from a young age to take over from his father, despite his wishes of film making glory. In 'The Flower Girl' we see how the peasants are oppressed and need the Korean Liberation Army to free them, it takes food, lives and money (metal) to support in order to drive out the Japanese Imperialists (the evil king taking the peasant's resources) but once in power, the KLA and the Communist Party continue to take all of these things from the peasants, eventually requiring the peasants to die in order to rid themselves of the scourge that they themselves have helped feed. The irony would be delicious, but I think that it's actually just a ham fisted attempt to knock capitalism; yet another aspect of this movie that fails with unintentional, yet hilarious results.
Rubber suit demolition Chosen style
Atavisten8 April 2007
As the workers have a hard time rebelling against the oppressive (pre colonized) Chosen regime they get unexpected help from the gods. Bulgasari awakens to life from a figure of clay and rice with the drop of blood from Ami and is thereby under her authority. This secret weapon was exactly what they needed in order to kill the king, but it grows out of control. Whether this monster represents capitalism or not is anyones guess, I didn't notice anything that pointed towards that conclusion in the movie, but there's always the juche discourse to look it in the light of. After all Kim Jong-il is listed as a producer. With that in mind, I got a little bit anxious by the ending.
As a movie it is OK. The script is very simple and the characters are, like the weapons, like cardboard cutouts. Some of the berserker smashing the temples (cultural revolution style?) however, were quite impressive. All the shouting and wailing were not. I wonder if there's a movie were the title of it is repeated more often than in this.
As a movie it is OK. The script is very simple and the characters are, like the weapons, like cardboard cutouts. Some of the berserker smashing the temples (cultural revolution style?) however, were quite impressive. All the shouting and wailing were not. I wonder if there's a movie were the title of it is repeated more often than in this.
Kidnapped by North Koreans Films Director Makes Turkey in Revenge
dbborroughs6 May 2004
Warning: Spoilers
My MIND! MY MIND!!!!!! I CAN'T STAND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sure years of therapy will erase the scars left by this movie, but I don't have that much time.
Okay lets start with a plot run down and I'll bleed from there...
I'll be brief-
A blacksmith who won't make weapons to stop a rebellion is pitched into jail and starved to death. As a legacy to his children he leaves a small metal doll which comes alive when one of the blacksmith's daughters gets a drop of blood on it.
The monster eats metal and begins to grow.
The rebels battle the government with the monster. The monster grows bigger and bigger and even after the rebels win the monster still goes on eating and growing until some way has to be found to destroy the beast....
Its a weird twist on the Daimajin films from Japan.
The monster is one of the stiffest rubber suits I've ever seen outside of a bondage film and is screamingly funny to look at. You can see how the head piece sits on the body. The actor playing the monster at times looks like a boxer warming up for a fight weaving and rocking in a jerky style that brought giggles to this viewer.(Those of you into bondage may want to see about getting one for yourself since it severely limits movement and is probably torturous to wear)
The "blue screen" work is laughable, simply because the film stocks don't match.
The destruction scenes are surprisingly good and well done, in many ways better than most Godzilla films. The collapse of the buildings seems to be very realistic.
The battle scenes while epic in scale are laughable simply because many of the weapons,say the boulders are, obviously cardboard or plaster. There are thousands of people on screen for some scenes and it looks good but they are often simply running to and fro.
The film is supposedly a North Korean fable about the evils of capitalism and what ever else Kim Jong-il deemed it to be about.
My question is who did they think this film is for? It looks like a TV series blown up to feature size. The level of the story seems to be that of a second or third grade mentality, especially in its humor but it has real animals being carved up, torture, nasty battlefield death and ideas that no child would grasp or care about. Its a childrens film made for adults.
This is one of those its so bad its...something movies. Its a mind warp and complete mess. I like bits of it and other bits leave me with slack jawed disbelief. Frankly I was thinking that if it was suppose to be a tongue in cheek sort of thing then I could consider it a good joke film, but since the film is serious and meant to "mean" something then its a disaster.
AND LEST YOU ASK IF I'M CERTAIN ITS SERIOUS---- The South Korean director was kidnapped by the North Koreans to make movies like this for them. Luckily he eventually escaped.
Do I think you should see this movie?
First how much do you love giant monsters?
Second how drunk can you get and still see the screen clearly?
I don't think you really need to see this unless you want to laugh your ass off with drunken buddies or if you really need to see every rubber suited giant monster movie ever made.
Either way DO NOT WATCH THIS ALONE, you'll need someone to help you pick up your jaw off the floor.
(And no its not one of the worst films I've ever seen, just one of the most inept)
I'm sure years of therapy will erase the scars left by this movie, but I don't have that much time.
Okay lets start with a plot run down and I'll bleed from there...
I'll be brief-
A blacksmith who won't make weapons to stop a rebellion is pitched into jail and starved to death. As a legacy to his children he leaves a small metal doll which comes alive when one of the blacksmith's daughters gets a drop of blood on it.
The monster eats metal and begins to grow.
The rebels battle the government with the monster. The monster grows bigger and bigger and even after the rebels win the monster still goes on eating and growing until some way has to be found to destroy the beast....
Its a weird twist on the Daimajin films from Japan.
The monster is one of the stiffest rubber suits I've ever seen outside of a bondage film and is screamingly funny to look at. You can see how the head piece sits on the body. The actor playing the monster at times looks like a boxer warming up for a fight weaving and rocking in a jerky style that brought giggles to this viewer.(Those of you into bondage may want to see about getting one for yourself since it severely limits movement and is probably torturous to wear)
The "blue screen" work is laughable, simply because the film stocks don't match.
The destruction scenes are surprisingly good and well done, in many ways better than most Godzilla films. The collapse of the buildings seems to be very realistic.
The battle scenes while epic in scale are laughable simply because many of the weapons,say the boulders are, obviously cardboard or plaster. There are thousands of people on screen for some scenes and it looks good but they are often simply running to and fro.
The film is supposedly a North Korean fable about the evils of capitalism and what ever else Kim Jong-il deemed it to be about.
My question is who did they think this film is for? It looks like a TV series blown up to feature size. The level of the story seems to be that of a second or third grade mentality, especially in its humor but it has real animals being carved up, torture, nasty battlefield death and ideas that no child would grasp or care about. Its a childrens film made for adults.
This is one of those its so bad its...something movies. Its a mind warp and complete mess. I like bits of it and other bits leave me with slack jawed disbelief. Frankly I was thinking that if it was suppose to be a tongue in cheek sort of thing then I could consider it a good joke film, but since the film is serious and meant to "mean" something then its a disaster.
AND LEST YOU ASK IF I'M CERTAIN ITS SERIOUS---- The South Korean director was kidnapped by the North Koreans to make movies like this for them. Luckily he eventually escaped.
Do I think you should see this movie?
First how much do you love giant monsters?
Second how drunk can you get and still see the screen clearly?
I don't think you really need to see this unless you want to laugh your ass off with drunken buddies or if you really need to see every rubber suited giant monster movie ever made.
Either way DO NOT WATCH THIS ALONE, you'll need someone to help you pick up your jaw off the floor.
(And no its not one of the worst films I've ever seen, just one of the most inept)
More Alexander Nevsky Than Godzilla
AllNewSux11 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Definitely not your average kaiju film and not just because it's North Korean. This movie has some destruction and loads of fire, but about 75% of that comes from the evil government. Yes, some people would call this a "propaganda piece" because how dare you say the peasants are being treated terribly by their feudal monarchy. The government heads make sure to steal from, starve and torture the citizens and what's sad is this is what is happening regularly in North Korea to this very day. I hate to get political here, but that's really what the film is about. The titular character is more of a side story or simply a way to draw a bigger audience. I mean we don't see any creature for over 20 minutes and we don't see any kind of giant monster until 20 minutes after that. Large and small, Pulgasari is on the side of the peasants who revolt against the governor and then the king after they can stand no more abuse. Pulgasari charging the battlefield was easily the funniest thing I saw in this movie, but unlike something like Mothra or some Godzilla sequels, I don't think this is supposed to be humorous in any way...did I mention the torture? Considering this was done in the mid-80s the monster suit is about 15 years behind the times and at times they use rear screen projection which is what they used for King Kong back in 1933! Despite that, it's still a good story of rebellion against forces of evil, I would just question if we even needed the monster? For me the film could stand on it's own as a historical, war, action piece, but I have to admit as a kaiju fanatic it was the picture of the monster that made me want to see the film in the first place and that was probably what the North Korean government was counting on...
Doesn't Translate As Well to World-Wide Audiences
Uriah439 January 2015
Filmed in 1985 by a director (Sang OK Shin) who had been kidnapped by North Korea, this movie is about a monster who is created by a blacksmith just prior to his death to help his village against an evil king. Now from what I understand Kim Jong Il (the eventual leader of North Korea) was an avid movie buff and wanted Sang OK Shin to produce a film along the lines of "Godzilla". This movie is the final product. Unfortunately, this movie doesn't translate as well to world-wide audiences as its famous predecessor did. That's not to say that this movie is necessarily bad but it clearly had some weaknesses. For starters, the special effects were quite poor and the movie had some scenes which could have definitely been trimmed here and there. Along with that the movie I saw was filmed in Korean but had English subtitles. I only mention this because this is a film that is probably best suited for young children and subtitles simply won't suffice for that particular audience. Be that as it may I rate the movie as slightly below average.
Even in the world of giant monster movies, truth can still be stranger than fiction
jamesrupert201411 January 2024
A tiny figure made from a starving prisoner's rice and empowered by a drop of his daughter's blood grows into a towering metal-eating creature that aids a group of desperate farmers who are rebelling against a tyrannical king. The film was produced in North Korea by future 'Dear Leader' and movie-buff Kim Jong Il, and directed by prominent South Korean director Shin Sang-ok, who had been abducted out of Hong Kong and into the Hermit Kingdom by the North Korean secret police. As kaiju films go, 'Pulgasari' is not too bad. The 'suit-mation' costume is as good as those in most of the later Showa-era Godzilla films (and better than those in the rival Gamera canon) and, although the optical special effects integrating the creature and the 'real world' are weak (especially when its catching cannonballs in its mouth), the battle scenes are epic (apparently the North Korean army provided a host of extras), and the scenes in which the monster tears down palaces and fortresses are quite well done (the miniature work is on par with the better Showa-era Japanese kaiju films). The story, acting and script are pretty typical for the genre but the ending is quite good. It's interesting to speculate what exactly the 'message' was, but as a political metaphor, the transition of the monster from saviour to threat could easily be taken as an indictment of Kim Il Sung (Kim Jong Il's father and North Korea's supreme leader at the time the film was made). The film was rarely seen outside North Korea but now, like so many cinematic obscurities, it's available on-line (and with English sub-titles). Worth watching for both itself (for kaiju fans) and for its provenance (for anyone).
Creature Feature
richardchatten7 December 2020
Yet another movie the story of whose making is far more interesting than the film itself. One of the world's craziest dictators abducted this film's director and his wife to make a film that resembles an episode of 'Monkey' crossed with 'Godzilla' on a decent budget; which also serves as a public information film advising it's malnourished people that if there was more iron in their diet they would grow up big and strong like Pulgasari.
One of many earlier films it reminded me of was Cavalcanti's 'The Monster of Highgate Ponds' (1961); and apart from it's occasional gory violence it could pass for a co-production between Toho, the Children's Film Foundation and Irwin Allen.
One of many earlier films it reminded me of was Cavalcanti's 'The Monster of Highgate Ponds' (1961); and apart from it's occasional gory violence it could pass for a co-production between Toho, the Children's Film Foundation and Irwin Allen.
excellent Kaiju movie made in Korea
jagerhans16 October 2008
first of all, its unfair to compare this movie with a Hollywood product: this is an eastern "man-in-rubber-suit" monster movie made in north Korea and must be evaluated as such. and in his niche this is one of the very best. for the originality and meanings it deserves to be put on the same level of Honda's Godzilla of 1954. it sports believable effects, real mass scenes (ok they were soldiers drafted to act in a movie but nevertheless it's better than what i've seen in "Gappa") and believe it or not a plot that is less nonsense than the usual Gamera - Rodan - Godzilla - Gappa stuff we got used to. at least all the story is more fantastic than Sci-Fi and this places everything on a completely different perspective. "comedy" episodes are laughable but i suppose that asking to a North-Korean movie to meet the standard humor tastes of a western audience is way too much. the interpretative key of the story revolves around the goods and evils of capitalism ,one may appreciate or not the intentions but go find another Kaiju with more sense than "the Japanese are still scared after the atom bomb, poor souls", and "the Japanese scientists save the world". Pulgasari is finally less nationalistic than the average Japanese movie, and this is outstanding for a product of a dictatorial country, isn't ?
Bambi Meets Godzilla redux
Bernie444416 January 2024
In the days of feudal Asia, the crops are not so good, and farmers are facing a takeover by Jong-Un Kim ... oops the self-proclaimed king (Yong-hok Pak.)
The farm Jugend becomes rebels and with the help of the local blacksmith physically challenges the king.
The king offers the blacksmith employment by supplying his army with weapons. Naturally, the blacksmith refuses. While he is imprisoned his last dying, wish is to make a revengeful "iron eating" Pulgasari.
Eventually, the king may meet the same fate as Bambi Meets Godzilla .
The big question is will any of the good guys survive?
Or will the world go to the peasants?
The film was loosely based on the legend of the Bulgasari.
The value in the movie is not the movie it is self but the historical value.
On the orders of Kim Jong-il, the South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok (1926-2006) and his wife, famous actor Choi Eun-hee, was kidnapped to North Korea.
After three years in prison, Shin was united with Choi, and the two were instructed by Kim Jong-Il to make films for him to gain global recognition in the film industry. After making various films for Kim Jong-Il, including Pulgasari in 1985, in 1986 Choi and Shin escaped from North Korean caretakers to a US embassy while in Vienna.
The Lovers and The Despot.
The farm Jugend becomes rebels and with the help of the local blacksmith physically challenges the king.
The king offers the blacksmith employment by supplying his army with weapons. Naturally, the blacksmith refuses. While he is imprisoned his last dying, wish is to make a revengeful "iron eating" Pulgasari.
Eventually, the king may meet the same fate as Bambi Meets Godzilla .
The big question is will any of the good guys survive?
Or will the world go to the peasants?
The film was loosely based on the legend of the Bulgasari.
The value in the movie is not the movie it is self but the historical value.
On the orders of Kim Jong-il, the South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok (1926-2006) and his wife, famous actor Choi Eun-hee, was kidnapped to North Korea.
After three years in prison, Shin was united with Choi, and the two were instructed by Kim Jong-Il to make films for him to gain global recognition in the film industry. After making various films for Kim Jong-Il, including Pulgasari in 1985, in 1986 Choi and Shin escaped from North Korean caretakers to a US embassy while in Vienna.
The Lovers and The Despot.
Behold, the evils of dictatorship!
ericstevenson31 August 2016
A lot of people here might not be familiar with one of my favorite pages on the entire Internet, Wikipedia's list of unusual articles. It's just a collection of weird stuff that this very movie happened to be featured on. I actually first heard about this film when watching a segment with Lewis Black on "The Daily Show". It's very hard to talk about this film at all without explaining its backstory. It was actually made when Kim Jong-Il kidnapped a movie director. Yep, this guy was actually a fan of movies and probably would have himself made a good Bond villain in real life. For a propaganda film, this didn't really have that much that was offensive in it.
It's still a pretty dumb movie as it features a toy monster that comes alive when blood gets on it. The monster grows when eating iron. It's very silly, but it's really no dumber than most of the films in the Gamera series. North Korea is known for knockoff products, but this really wasn't one. It seems like every country has done a kaiju movie. Pulgasari is actually a mythical figure so it's no Godzilla ripoff. The colors in this film are just plain gaudy. Some of the action scenes really aren't that bad. It is very hard to enjoy something that was forced. Imagine if people could kidnap those who worked on their favorite franchises like "Pokémon" or "Doctor Who". George Lucas would be cliché. It's still a shame the Kim family has yet to be put to justice. Oh, and this is all the fault of religion, according to Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher. Yeah, it's hard not to get political when talking about this. **
It's still a pretty dumb movie as it features a toy monster that comes alive when blood gets on it. The monster grows when eating iron. It's very silly, but it's really no dumber than most of the films in the Gamera series. North Korea is known for knockoff products, but this really wasn't one. It seems like every country has done a kaiju movie. Pulgasari is actually a mythical figure so it's no Godzilla ripoff. The colors in this film are just plain gaudy. Some of the action scenes really aren't that bad. It is very hard to enjoy something that was forced. Imagine if people could kidnap those who worked on their favorite franchises like "Pokémon" or "Doctor Who". George Lucas would be cliché. It's still a shame the Kim family has yet to be put to justice. Oh, and this is all the fault of religion, according to Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher. Yeah, it's hard not to get political when talking about this. **
Incredible BackStory - Fun Monster Movie
shark-432 March 2002
The backstory to this movie is pretty darn incredible - made in North Korea by the country's dictator - the director and two lead performers were actually kidnapped from S. Korea after they refused to work on this movie with the dictator. Seriously - not kidding. As for the movie itself - it is pretty good in many ways. The story itself works as an old village myth - an iron eating monster comes to life to save poor farmers and villagers from a cruel warlord. The effects are cheesy and silly but some of the battle sequences are impressive for no other reasons then you can tell there are literally thousands of people fighting in these scenes. After all the CGI effects of recent time - it was refreshing and stunning to see so many actual people being used in a big battle. Then again, they probably didn't have much choice. I guess if the dictator of a country tells you to be in his movie, you are in the movie!!
Not as bad as I was expecting!
beetle-259-55414812 April 2018
I first heard about Pulgasari when the late Emer Prevost covered it on Reaction & Review. He absolutely HATED the film and just tore it to shreds, saying that the miniatures would've looked like garbage by 1965 standards, the acting was nowhere to be found, among other things.
When I watched Pulgasari, I was expecting the worst film ever, something that barely qualifies as a kaiju film. Emer's opinion made me think that the production value was going to be akin to a school play; obvious cardboard furniture, obvious cardboard miniatures, I was basically expecting a kaiju equivalent to Manos: The Hands of Fate. Thankfully, Pulgasari was not THAT bad. The acting is very poor but there are a handful of actors who are trying. The monster costume looks amazing, it's on par with the Heisei Godzilla suits! The animatronics are good, Pulgasari is actually able to show emotion!
The miniatures are good, on par with the miniature effects of the '70s.
Still I can only recommend this movie for die-hard kaiju fans, those who want to watch every kaiju film ever. Me personally, the chances of giving this movie a second watch is very unlikely.
I had made a top 10 list of worst giant monster movies. Pulgasari was number 3, with Godzilla's Revenge at number 2 and finally Gamera: Super Monster at number 1. Having now seen Pulgasari, it's position on the list is still number 3.
The fact that Gamera vs Barugon, at the time of me writing the review, has a lower rating than this when it's a far better movie, makes me trust IMDb a little bit less.
When I watched Pulgasari, I was expecting the worst film ever, something that barely qualifies as a kaiju film. Emer's opinion made me think that the production value was going to be akin to a school play; obvious cardboard furniture, obvious cardboard miniatures, I was basically expecting a kaiju equivalent to Manos: The Hands of Fate. Thankfully, Pulgasari was not THAT bad. The acting is very poor but there are a handful of actors who are trying. The monster costume looks amazing, it's on par with the Heisei Godzilla suits! The animatronics are good, Pulgasari is actually able to show emotion!
The miniatures are good, on par with the miniature effects of the '70s.
Still I can only recommend this movie for die-hard kaiju fans, those who want to watch every kaiju film ever. Me personally, the chances of giving this movie a second watch is very unlikely.
I had made a top 10 list of worst giant monster movies. Pulgasari was number 3, with Godzilla's Revenge at number 2 and finally Gamera: Super Monster at number 1. Having now seen Pulgasari, it's position on the list is still number 3.
The fact that Gamera vs Barugon, at the time of me writing the review, has a lower rating than this when it's a far better movie, makes me trust IMDb a little bit less.
The movie is more known for its production background, shame though because the movie itself is potential
euroasiangenetic24 November 2018
We all know the story, Shin Sang Ok was captured by North Koreans with his ex wife to make great films, that's all the movie is known for, but what about the movie itself?
A carpenter who is expert in sword making refuse to melt all the people's iron and he is in prison. While there he is dying, in his last breath with rise and mud he create a figur Pulgasari. His daughter takes it and with a drop of her blood she makes pulgasari alive. He destroy the evil empire, but larger he gets gen more hungry he gets and might danger his people.
The story is brilliant, Ofcourse since it was made in North Korea, the budget is what it is in those communist states of the 80s. And since North Korean film industry started like 1979 so it's no wonder it's very much behind in technology. But for what it is, it's amazing movie not the strongest but worth to look at as the 1001 movies must see, 6/10.
A carpenter who is expert in sword making refuse to melt all the people's iron and he is in prison. While there he is dying, in his last breath with rise and mud he create a figur Pulgasari. His daughter takes it and with a drop of her blood she makes pulgasari alive. He destroy the evil empire, but larger he gets gen more hungry he gets and might danger his people.
The story is brilliant, Ofcourse since it was made in North Korea, the budget is what it is in those communist states of the 80s. And since North Korean film industry started like 1979 so it's no wonder it's very much behind in technology. But for what it is, it's amazing movie not the strongest but worth to look at as the 1001 movies must see, 6/10.
Not so bad, good to watch if you like Monkey, for example.
soniaandree8 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Straight away, I saw the movie being similar in the way the set and the actors were playing. The officials' clothes look the same, and the way of acting is also the same. The monster is created from rice and then is set upon eating the iron of the whole province, whilst destroying the government. Not so bad, there's even a moral to the story, which is that the iron-eating monster, whilst helping the villagers being free, cannot (in the end) be controlled either but this is not a reason to censor the movie. Not worth buying the DVD, but good enough to watch, this makes a light evening screening, and it is better to watch with friends.
"What A Horrible World!"...
azathothpwiggins21 July 2021
PULGASARI is a North Korean film, directed by an abducted South Korean. It's plot concerns villagers forced by their Overlord to turn all of their iron tools into weapons for the war effort. Instead, the villagers hide their tools, causing their oppressors to round them up.
Through supernatural means, the titular creature is conjured. To be honest, the story of the monster is interesting, as is its way of enlarging itself. The motive for the monster's arrival is completely different than in the original, lost film, BULGASARI. Here, instead of simple revenge, the monster arises in order to conquer the devilish king and his minions, for their oppression of the masses.
Fans of giant rubber monster movies should enjoy this one. There are also some big, human battle sequences. As with all such films, it takes quite a while before the monster really gets going.
This movie is also worth seeing for its historic and political value...
Through supernatural means, the titular creature is conjured. To be honest, the story of the monster is interesting, as is its way of enlarging itself. The motive for the monster's arrival is completely different than in the original, lost film, BULGASARI. Here, instead of simple revenge, the monster arises in order to conquer the devilish king and his minions, for their oppression of the masses.
Fans of giant rubber monster movies should enjoy this one. There are also some big, human battle sequences. As with all such films, it takes quite a while before the monster really gets going.
This movie is also worth seeing for its historic and political value...
See also
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