There are five Korean movies being released on DVD this week. Let’s start with the biggest…’biggest’ as in size of release and what will probably be the biggest seller, My Way.

My Way stars popular actor Jang Dong-geun along with Japanese actor Joe Odigiri and it is directed by Kang Je-gyu.  Considering the budget spent on the film, it did not do as well as expected in the box office, attracting just over 2 million viewers. However, Jang is a popular actor throughout Asia and the movie is likely to be popular among his fan base. Number of discs: 3/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 15+/ Format: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/ Running Time: 135 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 27,500 KRW/ Available for purchase: July 20th.

Pictured on the left is the DVD for the thriller Howling.  It was directed by Yoo Ha and stars two familiar faces, Song Kang-ho and Lee Na-yeong.  About 1.5 million people saw it in the theater at the time of its release.  Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 15+/ Format: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/ Running Time: 114 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 23,500 KRW/ Available for Purchase: July 16th.

The next movie is Wido, a mystery starring Jeong Chan and Lee Doo-il. It was directed by Kim Gwan-cheol.  The title of the film come from the name of an island here in North Jeolla Province.  The movie had a very limited release –only five screens nationwide (which in my case, adds to the appeal when deciding whether to purchase it or not).  Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean only/ Rating: for mature viewers/ Format: 16:9 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0/ Running Time: 106 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 25,300 KRW/ Available for purchase: July 17th.

Ordinary Days (image left) is an omnibus film directed by Lee Nan and starring Song Sae-byeok and Han Hye-ri.  Like the above film, this movie had a very limited release and six of the ten screens it was released on were in Seoul, so most of us have not had the opportunity to see it yet.  Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: Korean and English/ Rating: for ages 15+/ Format: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/ Running Time:106 minutes/ Suggested Retail Price: 25,300 KRW/ Available for Purchase: July 17th.

If someone were to tell me that I was limited to buy only one film of the five listed here, it would be this final film, Wedding Day.  When I first saw the Korean title, I was disappointed because I have a KOFA release of a DVD with the same title and I wondered why the Korean Masterpiece Collection would choose a film to release that was already available.  But then I noticed the director and I realized that this is the 1977 version of the film– the previous release was from 1955.  I will certainly be buying this and wonder how the two films compare.  Number of discs: 1/ Subtitles: None/ Rating: for all ages/ Format: 4:3 full screen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 mono/ Running Time: 98 minutes/ Suggeste Retail Price: 16,500 KRW/ Available for Purchase: July 19th.