beetle-259-554148 I first heard about Pulgasari when the late Emer Prevost covered it on Reaction & Review. He absolutely HATED the film and just tore it to shreds, saying that the miniatures would've looked like garbage by 1965 standards, the acting was nowhere to be found, among other things.When I watched Pulgasari, I was expecting the worst film ever, something that barely qualifies as a kaiju film. Emer's opinion made me think that the production value was going to be akin to a school play; obvious cardboard furniture, obvious cardboard miniatures, I was basically expecting a kaiju equivalent to Manos: The Hands of Fate. Thankfully, Pulgasari was not THAT bad. The acting is very poor but there are a handful of actors who are trying. The monster costume looks amazing, it's on par with the Heisei Godzilla suits! The animatronics are good, Pulgasari is actually able to show emotion!The miniatures are good, on par with the miniature effects of the '70s.Still I can only recommend this movie for die-hard kaiju fans, those who want to watch every kaiju film ever. Me personally, the chances of giving this movie a second watch is very unlikely.I had made a top 10 list of worst giant monster movies. Pulgasari was number 3, with Godzilla's Revenge at number 2 and finally Gamera: Super Monster at number 1. Having now seen Pulgasari, it's position on the list is still number 3.The fact that Gamera vs Barugon, at the time of me writing the review, has a lower rating than this when it's a far better movie, makes me trust IMDb a little bit less.

AllNewSux Definitely not your average kaiju film and not just because it's North Korean. This movie has some destruction and loads of fire, but about 75% of that comes from the evil government. Yes, some people would call this a "propaganda piece" because how dare you say the peasants are being treated terribly by their feudal monarchy. The government heads make sure to steal from, starve and torture the citizens and what's sad is this is what is happening regularly in North Korea to this very day. I hate to get political here, but that's really what the film is about. The titular character is more of a side story or simply a way to draw a bigger audience. I mean we don't see any creature for over 20 minutes and we don't see any kind of giant monster until 20 minutes after that. Large and small, Pulgasari is on the side of the peasants who revolt against the governor and then the king after they can stand no more abuse. Pulgasari charging the battlefield was easily the funniest thing I saw in this movie, but unlike something like Mothra or some Godzilla sequels, I don't think this is supposed to be humorous in any way...did I mention the torture? Considering this was done in the mid-80s the monster suit is about 15 years behind the times and at times they use rear screen projection which is what they used for King Kong back in 1933! Despite that, it's still a good story of rebellion against forces of evil, I would just question if we even needed the monster? For me the film could stand on it's own as a historical, war, action piece, but I have to admit as a kaiju fanatic it was the picture of the monster that made me want to see the film in the first place and that was probably what the North Korean government was counting on...

franciscowendell I like to watch Kaiju films and this Korean monster movie it's a funny monster movie with great battle scenes. In the beginning I supposed that will be other bad movie, but after some scenes you'll be invited to appreciate the story about poor villain people that fight against a bad king and his cruelty governor. Besides the poor special effects, most of them inside the atmosphere behind the Pulgarasi monster, other great battle scenes with hundred extras acting and fighting, You'll like all the crew efforth to create power and big scenes. This movie was produced by Jong-il Kim and directed by Sang-OK Shin. This is the first movie that I watch directed by Sang-OK Shin, but I felt interested in watch other movies directed by him.

soniaandree Straight away, I saw the movie being similar in the way the set and the actors were playing. The officials' clothes look the same, and the way of acting is also the same. The monster is created from rice and then is set upon eating the iron of the whole province, whilst destroying the government. Not so bad, there's even a moral to the story, which is that the iron-eating monster, whilst helping the villagers being free, cannot (in the end) be controlled either but this is not a reason to censor the movie. Not worth buying the DVD, but good enough to watch, this makes a light evening screening, and it is better to watch with friends.