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11/11/06
The President's Last Bang (2005)
80 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 30
Fresh: 24
Rotten:6
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Theatrical Release:Oct 14, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: October, 1979, Seoul... A private dinner party for the President and his three closest confidants — his Chief Bodyguard, his Chief Secretary, and the Director of the Korean CIA ... A struggle... [More]
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Reviews for The President's Last Bang
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05/12/06
Top CriticI found it muddled and un-engaging.
04/14/06
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03/04/06
what the film lacks in depth it makes up for in Hong Kong-style punch, with vivid cinematography and powerfully choreographed action.
03/03/06
Top CriticIn the end it's probably best to say, glad I saw it, but not sure I got the most out of the experience. My advice: Do a little history homework first.
01/19/06
The President’s Last Bang has been extremely well made, and its cast deftly walks the thin line between reality and parody. Perhaps the players do it a bit too well.
12/20/05
... the way it brazenly mixes matter-of-fact brutality with the deadpan comedy of the fumbling execution and slapdash cover-up is inspired...
12/12/05
The off-kilter humor is a welcome contrast, and the performances are strong, particularly by Baek as the increasingly unhinged patsy.
12/10/05
The President's Last Bang comes off as all too ridiculously believable.
12/09/05
The gallery of Park's cronies and sycophants are presented as buffoons, but as the violence starts, the narrative thread gets hopelessly tangled.
12/09/05
It's riveting and unsettling, but, as powerful as it is to watch, because of its basic, panoramically broad conception, it may not really stay fixed in the memory.
12/06/05
Although a tad long-winded and plodding, it's vigorously acted and persuasive, leaving the viewer to suspect that Im's account, drawn from historical records, could be pretty close to the truth.
11/30/05
Top CriticIn the end, the film develops an amusing entertainment out of dire circumstances.
11/27/05
This meticulously well-made picture is disarmingly funny at times ... but also subdued and straight-faced, with one eye planted on 1979 and the other on the violent student demonstrations looming in the distance.
11/23/05
A few elements of the film are lost in the translation...[but] for all that, The President's Last Bang is entertaining and swift-moving.
11/23/05
An alchemical brew of balls and technical brilliance.
11/19/05
Im Sang Soo is, film by film, challenging the way modern South Koreans think and behave.
11/18/05
Top CriticA virtuoso slice of sustained black humor.
11/18/05
Top Critic[Doesn't] play as well to the viewer without historical or cultural context.
11/17/05
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