The Host (2006)

[Scott]

THE HOST (2006) - Ah, come on. It's an ok film that has a CGI monster that's somekind of giant mutant fish/tadpole. I'm sure we lost some of the translation and some of the meaning at the end with goverment type protest in Korea. The light comedy is ok, I was expecting a lot more from the bow and arrow girl. The beginning was neat with the "what's that on the bridge" scene which lended a bit of momentary mystery, but the whole film just doesn't work. I don't want to give away the poor ending. Hate to say it, but maybe another version might be better, but then again if you make a film that works then it wouldn't be the same movie. Sorry for the rough review.

(6 out of 10 Stars) Fair effort from Korea.



[youtube=425,350]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qa_ZlCa0t_Y&mode=related&search=

[indianasmith]

Your karma may take a major hit from that review . . . this movie has a lot of fans on this board.  I'm kinda with you, though.  The monster was cool, but the movie lost a LOT in translation.  If I had it to do over again, I would watch it with subtitles and not dubbing.  I will go see the American version, though.

[Snivelly]

The American version will absolutely suck.  Period.  I don't care how great the monster looks or how many explosions there will be, Hollyweird will ruin this film.

The movie is much, much better in subtitles, but then what movie isn't?  And the monster itself and whether or not it's "cool" really isn't the whole point of the movie, it's how the people react to what happens.  The family involved is severely dysfunctional, and we're supposed to be disappointed in how they attempt to save the girl and kill the monster.   

[The Burgomaster]

I thought this movie had a really good first half, but ran out of steam in the second half.  Pretty good, but not great.

[Joe]

watch it with subtitles (which you should have done in the first place) then get back to me.

[horseshoe crab]

The monster was beautiful and its first appearance is extremely well done, but so much of this movie didn't work. When people point out all the things that are supposed to make this different or better than a regular creature-feature, I see a bunch of stuff that reached but never came close to getting there.

[Dennis]

I enjoyed this movie, even though the idea of man made pollution resulting in the creation of monster has been done many times this one was a cut above most. The little girl's family trying to save her and kill the beastie when the government would do nothing is something I can relate to. The dialogue and music in the English language version of the film seemed to be to be just a little off, probably something gets lost in translation. The story is good, the FX are also good. Oddly enough I found the end to be upbeat and hopefull. All in all this is a film that is worth watching, I think that I'll probably buy the DVD of the South Korean version.
As for the American made version, I will definitely see it, you never know, it might be good too.

[Andrew]

I liked this one, but the film had a couple of problems, most of them at the end.  The huge killer bug bomb that the American government wants to use on the creature, despite the public outcry, was a little too overdone.  I think that Scott had it about right, I'd call it a weak 4 in my book, which would be a 7 on his scale.

The monster design was something I loved.  It was great to see a creature the size of a rhino running amok.  Also, the scenes with the girl and the boy trapped in the larder were chilling, once you understood what was going on.

[Joe the Destroyer]

The only thing I didn't like about this flick was the fact that, in my opinion, the beginning and end were solid, but the middle was a little long.  Other than that, I really liked it.

[dean]

I thought it was a great movie, but suffered in a few parts, namely the lame ending that I didn't really like altogether too much [I refer, of course, to the giant roach bomb concocted]

It just seemed like it was forcing a political point too much [which is normally fine but this was just silly] and that the plan was just ridiculous.  Of course, that suits the movie, and I still give it a 3.5/5, but still...

Other than that the 'den' was a creepy place to be, and the monster's original rampage was just brilliant.

[Pilgermann]

I was lucky enough to see this in the theater and I enjoyed it.  It's not brilliant or anything but I think it's a very good film.  I liked the fact that it was more than just a monster movie.

[Scott]

It's an original in the giant lumbering fish/tadpole monster catagory.

[Dennis]

One thing that I noticed is that there seem to be several fish (?) growing from the creature and that one falls off during the final moments of the film, Could this be laying the ground work for a sequel ? If this is so will the Korean film makers do a better job with it than their Hollywood counterparts? It would be nice if they did.

[Snivelly]

It's an original in the giant lumbering fish/tadpole monster catagory.

LOL!  Karma point.     I might disagree with your opinion here, but your humor I will applaud.

[Scott]

It's an original in the giant lumbering fish/tadpole monster catagory.

LOL!  Karma point.     I might disagree with your opinion here, but your humor I will applaud.

Well.......I have to applaud you Snivelly for your Skydiving quote.