Coast Guard

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User Ratings: 2,398

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Movie Info

Kim Ki-duk's Haeanseon (The Coast Guard) is set on the South Korean coastline. Kang Han-cheol (Jang Dong-gun) is an eager military private who wants nothing more than to shoot a North Korean spy. The villagers in town are at odds with the military presence because they claim there are no more spies. One night Kang sees two people on the beach who turn out to be a local girl and her boyfriend engaged in sexual intercourse. Kang shoots the young man and is celebrated by his fellow officers even though the villagers are outraged. The Coast Guard was the opening film at the Pusan Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Rating:

R
Genre:

Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:

Kim Ki-duk
Written By:

Kim Ki-duk
In Theaters:

Sep 6, 2005 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Aug 9, 2005
Runtime:

92 minutes
Studio:

Palisades Tartan

Watch it now

Vudu

Cast

Jang Dong-gun
as Private Kang

Park Ji-ah

Jeong-hak Kim

Yoo Hae-jin

Dong-Kun Jang

Ji-a Park

Hye-jin Yu

Gu-taek Kim

Jin Jeong

Kang-woo Kim

Tae-woo Kim

Yeong-jae Kim

Yun-jae Park

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Critic Reviews for Coast Guard

There are no critic reviews yet for Coast Guard. Keep checking Rotten Tomatoes for updates!

Audience Reviews for Coast Guard

Mar 26, 2009

Not Ki-Duk's worst, but not his best either.

Marcus W Super Reviewer
Dec 27, 2008

not one of KKD's better ones but enjoyable if you're in a twisted mood.

steve c Super Reviewer
Sep 19, 2007

COAST GUARD (2002) directed by Ki-Duk Kim starring Dong-Kun Jang, Jeong-hak Kim, Ji-a Park
The Coast Guard is Ki-Duk Kim's very first disappoiting movie. It does have his usual visual poetry that only him seems to be able to handle and there are lots of good shots but the film just feels pointless and sometimes a bit too much commercial.
Its about a coast guard - of course - who accidentally kills a civilian one night, cause the highest honor for a coast guard is to kill a spy. He will lose his mind after that and will end up more violent than before until starting to kill anyone really, just like they were all spies.
There is a subplot involving a mentally challenged girl who lives nearby the platoon and she kind of likes to have sex with any random guy. She gets pregnant and there isnt much more to that bit of the plot that happens. Its already more interesting and that part has the Ki-Duk feel and some nice music but it has no reason to be in the film and just like everything else it has no point.
Its a bit strong to say there is no point, Ki-Duk Kim often has a social commentary and The Coast Guard is no exception. Its an interesting comment about how those guard are treated but it becomes repetitive after a while and it takes way too much screen time. A real let down from my one my favorite directors.

Hugo S Super Reviewer
May 12, 2007

Kim-Ku Duk's sparse, poetic and surreal film about the human cost of the North-South Korean border tensions is at times among his best work and and other times among his most unfocused. The photography is very beautiful throughout, and the first half is very strong, if not exactly original. The second half, however, is both heartbreaking and maddening, beautiful and confused. The surreal overtones begin to take over and the film, through its two main characters, descends into madness. Eventually, the film loses its way and it often feels like what happens could be happening anywhere, to anyone, which makes the border setting superfluous. Still, even ammongst the flaws there is much beauty to behold. Kim-Ki Duk is certainly an artist with a sure hand who always makes the film he wants. It is up to the audience to decided if it is also the film they want. It would make an interesting companion piece to JSA (Joint Security Area) as both are very different takes on the same situation.

Eduardo C Super Reviewer