Asian monster flick D-War tore up the box office in its native South Korea this past summer. Slightly retitled to Dragon Wars by distributor Freestyle Releasing, the film did surprisingly well in the US, grossing more than $10 million, making it the most successful Korean picture released in America. (Total worldwide box office was $66 million, according to Box Office Mojo). It didn't screen for critics, but I saw it anyway, propelled by a childhood love for Godzilla and his monstrous friends.

Director Shim Hyung-Rae's film is incredibly cheesy and nonsensical, but strangely satisfying if you're a fan of monster movies in general and keep your expectations just barely above zero. Unfortunately, the lead characters, played by Jason Behr and Amanda Brooks, are wan and colorless, in part because their roles are so thinly written. Happily, B-movie greats Robert Forster and Chris Mulkey are on hand to juice things up. Most of the production budget was evidently spent on the special effects, which would have been state of the art ten years ago. It's the kind of movie that made me roll my eyes and mutter to myself throughout. Yet days later I found myself quoting some of the more outrageous lines and scenes to others. The DVD includes a featurette entitled "5,000 Years in the Making," storyboard to screen "animatics" and conceptual art gallery.

Japanese auteur Takashi Miike has made dozens of films in almost every conceivable genre (the remake of his horror flick One Missed Call was just released this weekend), but Big Bang Love -- Juvenile A is, I believe, his first foray into the homoerotic prison drama genre. Mark Schilling of The Japan Times noted that it "differs from much of his previous work (especially his recent commercial outings) in its theatrically stylized sets, complex narrative strategies and basic tone." The DVD includes an interview with Miike, "behind the scenes special," an image gallery, trailers and program notes.

It has the greatest, most literal title since Snakes on a Plane, but hopefully Dragon Wars won't be as disappointing. The South Korean movie -- which features American actors, settings and dialogue -- has already made a ton of money back home, and it's due to open in the U.S. on September 14. I shouldn't have to tell you what it's about, since the title explains all you need to know, but here goes a try: an evil, giant, serpent-like creature arrives in Los Angeles with an army of soldiers and monsters in order to find an ancient 'gift', which is located inside a 20-year-old girl, who is the reincarnation of a Korean who possessed the 'gift' 500 years ago. The 'gift' is some sort of magic that will turn the serpent-like creature into a dragon. A local reporter, who happens to be a reincarnated warrior who protected the girl centuries ago, now has to stop the ancient creatures and save her. Makes no sense to me, and so it probably makes less sense to you, so let's just say it's about what the title says: dragon wars.

Anyway, if you're really curious and want to know more specific information about the crazy, hard-to-follow plot, MTV Movies Blog has some helpful visual aids that provide some background about the different creatures we'll see in the movie. There seem to all be paintings rather than screen captures, and include Dawdlers, Dragons, Bulcos, Imoogis and Evil Imoogis. The Evil Imoogie, named Buraki, is the serpent-like creature mentioned above that attacks L.A. Apparently Buraki really, really wants to become a dragon, which is shown as being similar to the long, Eastern-styled dragon familiar via Chinese mythology. Meanwhile, the Bulcos, described as mutated birds, look more like the Western type familiar to fantasy fans. The Dawdlers are the coolest looking, though, mainly because they rocket launchers attached to their backs make me think of Dino-Riders. Admittedly, I'm probably more confused after looking at these renderings, but at least I'm intrigued. Despite the crazy plot, I think Dragon Wars (formerly, and also, known as D-War) is going to be another cool monster movie from the country that gave us The Host.

The dragon rules in South Korea. D-War continues its box office dominance, according to Variety Asia Online, earning $42.3 million so far, good enough to place it at #10 in the country's all time list. For a monster movie, D-War has inspired passionate feelings. A poster in the koreanfilm.org discussion forum points to two articles: one from The Korea Herald (reprinted at HanCinema) claims filmmaker Shim Hyung-rae "appealed strongly to Koreans' patriotism and sympathy, inserting a popular Korean song, Arirang, to the emotional ending credit, where he explains how difficult it was to produce a film like D-War in a country where he had to convince many skeptics about his ambitious dream to enter Hollywood." Hmm, I wonder which American directors might want to try that one?

Another article in The Hankyoreh says that the film "is particularly gaining popularity with fans on the Internet," with fans posting "exuberant messages" in support of both director Shim and the film. Shim has spent most of his career as a TV comedian and there is speculation that he's been "bullied" by mainstream filmmakers. When independent filmmaker Lee Song-hee-il posted a negative review on his blog, supporters overwhelmed it with comments, causing him to shut it down. I found one more article at donga.com that confirmed the points in the other two stories, with the writer adding his opinion: "Critics, as usual, gave bad reviews to the movie. But the film is selling just 'off the shelf.' Its awful CG effects and G-rating has fueled its commercial success." (Note: I'm not sure if "awful" is an accurate translation from the original Korean text.) As noted earlier by Monika Bartyzel, D-War will be released as Dragon Wars in the US on September 14.

Local audiences are also supporting May 18, which has now accumulated nearly $36 million in box office receipts. As I mentioned last week, it's based on the massacre in Gwangju, South Korea in 1980; films based on recent, politically-charged events, such as Silmido and Tae-Guk-Gi, have proven to be consistent draws in the country.

China has been saved by an unlikely hero. Boston-bred Donnie Yen is the star of Flash Point, which opened wide on 500 screens and earned a cool $1.9 million, according to Variety Asia Online. In the US, that total would be a disaster, but it "thrilled" Virginia Leung, a senior distribution manager quoted in the story. The weekend earnings would jump the film to #19 on Box Office Mojo's list for the year so far. From all appearances an insane action picture made with the trademarked hyper-kinetic Hong Kong style, Flash Point will play in the Midnight Madness section at the upcoming Toronto film festival. Yen and director Wilson Yip will team again for Painted Skin, due to start filming later this year.

In South Korea, as Monica Bartyzel informed us earlier this week, monster movie D-War just missed beating the record-setting opening five-day numbers established by another monster flick, The Host. That builds on the success of another more serious local film, May 18, which opened the previous week and is based on the massacre in Gwangju, South Korea in 1980.

Other countries in Asia have been infected by Transformers fever, proving once again that bad taste recognizes no national boundaries. As reported by Variety Asia Online, Transformers opened this past Saturday on 600 screens and took more than $5 million from the hard-working people of Japan. No doubt rubbing his hands together in evil glee, the distributor estimates the film will top out at $59 million. Smaller in populace but no less subservient than anyone else in the world to the lure of a big dumb Hollywood action movie, Malaysians made Transformers the biggest film in local history, racking up more than $5 million over five weeks, while Michael Bay's baby has become the biggest non-sequel in Singapore box office history.

Many of us at Cinematical have written about just how great the Korean, record-breaking horror flick called The Host is. It is no perfect film, but it has heart, laughs and this funny way of sticking with you. I still smile every time I think of the over-the-top gymnasium scene (check out the DVD to see what I'm talking about). While we're lucky enough to be able watch it from our own comfy couches starting tomorrow, some people are seeing it for the first time. The film has made its way into India, and grossed a respectable 8.39 million Rupees ($208,000) in its first week there on 62 screens, selling 72,500 tickets -- something to note since it seems to be the first Korean flick released in the country.

The success of this Korean flick doesn't seem to be some one-of-a-kind feat, and another film is hot on the killer tadpole's tail. Variety has reported that a new monster movie, D-War, has grossed a super-solid $20.3 million in South Korea after only give days -- just missing the record-breaking opening for The Host. Unlike the other, D-War is a Korean flick with U.S. actors, and it follows a Korean legend about a giant snake that's got its sights set on Los Angeles. The film, which stars Jason Behr, Amanda Brooks and Robert Forster, is going to be released stateside on September 14 under the name Dragon Wars. Horror might be struggling, but monster movies are going good and strong.

Did you see The Host? I didn't think so. Despite it being one of the better-reviewed movies of the year (92% fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes, and at Cinematical both James and Jeffrey liked it, to varying degrees), what was most commonly called 'a Korean monster movie' failed to cross over to a broad audience outside South Korea, where it smashed box office records. It was by no means a complete failure -- it earned more than two million dollars in its US release, a very respectable amount for an arthouse picture -- yet something limited the word of mouth. Was it the unusual mixture of genres, the hairpin curves shifting from dysfunctional family comedy/drama to horror and then back again? Were people expecting more rampaging by the monster? Were the Korean cultural references and political satire too confounding? Was it the subtitles? I saw it with two very different festival audiences (Fantastic Fest in Austin: mostly Caucasian; AFI Fest in Los Angeles: mostly Asian), and both received The Host rapturously. As a big fan of the film, I'm as baffled as anyone else.

Perhaps people will respond differently, and in greater numbers, when the next Korean monster movie, D-War opens in late August and Los Angeles is terrorized by a giant serpent. Freestyle Releasing certainly must hope so; it's planning to put that sucker out on 1500 screens, according to Variety. D-War stars Jason Behr, Amanda Brooks, Robert Forster (yay!) and Chris Mulkey; with the latter two personal faves on board, it can't be all bad. The budget was originally reported to be $70 million, though Korean producer/distributor Showbox now says that price included start-up costs for a local effects house. Even at a reported $32 million, the budget is three times what Showbox forked out for their previous monster movie (you guessed it: The Host). Frankly, the trailer on the Korean site looks pretty cheesy; still, it's in English, it looks to have some camp appeal and late August is traditionally a dead time at the box office, so maybe the kids will check it out. May the best monster win.