3 Extremes II (2002)

Three Extremes took you to the edge, now Three Extremes II pushes you over with three more nightmarish tales of terror from Kim Jee-Woon (A Tale of Two Sisters), Nonzee Nimibutr (Nang Nak) and Peter Chan (Producer of The Eye, The Eye 2 and Three Extremes).

WARNING! Don't BUY THIS!

Wow, this was 3 Extremes 2? *sigh* It wasn't so entirely bad that I fell asleep through it, but it was somewhat a waste of money. The first story, Memories (Kim Jee-Woon) was about a lost lady which was boring, but one of the better out of the three. The second story, The Wheel, was about these cool looking dolls, but it didn't make much sence and the third one was the best! If you do end up buying this, you'll want to look forward the third one. Going Home was about a creepy guy that's basically living with his dead wife whom he thinks will come back to life soon..It was a pretty good story. Now, this was nothing compaired to 3 Extremes. We all know how "strange" Cut was right? Well, I'd rather watch Cut 3 times instead of these movies. That's how much I missed the original. So let's just keep it at that. The directors, bless their hearts, gave what they could. And it just wasn't enough to knock 3 Extremes out of the water. Better Luck next time. Even though I vented on how not good this movie was, I still have this in my collection and I highly doubt i'll be selling it any time soon. I keep it for "Going Home". Blah. November 14, 2007

Two Good Short Films and a Great One

As others have noted, this was the first omnibus film in the *3* series produced by Peter Chan. While the Korean and Thai sections do not quite reach the standard of "Dumplings" and "Cut" in the second film, they are not too far off the mark and are certainly not horrible films as others have said.

"Memories" would probably take this viewer at least two more viewings to get hold of what is supposed to be going on. It is not, however, boring. "Wheels" seems to me more poetic than anything. Rather than suffering from the lack of a coherent story, the film establishes an atmosphere of dread, building on human fears of both fate and the unknown.

"Going Home", producer Peter Chan's directorial contribution to this film won numerous awards in Asia and rightly so. From the tight (and taut) story to the cold and bleak mood set by Christopher Doyle's always excellent photography to the performances of the actors (Was that Leon Lai? Wow!) this film is as good as it gets.... To me, Miike's "Box" from the second film is both far superior to the other segments in *3 Extremes* as well as to anything in this film but that is because it is a work of pure genius. "Going Home" is a great film by any standards, just not as great as Miike's film.

All in all, I award this film four and a half (five) stars. October 23, 2007

DISAPPOINTING BUT FOR "GOING HOME"

This is a movie comprised of 3 different shorts. The first story is one about a distraught husband in search of his missing wife and the missing wife trying to find her way home. It is very predictable. I knew from the onset what had happened to the wife. It is pretty much a waste of time. The second story concerning puppets is absolutely absurd. I found it insulting to my intelligence. However, the third story, "Going Home," almost redeems the dvd. I have never seen anything like it. It is a story about a man who has lost his son, and a man who is waiting for his wife of three years to revive.

The policeman father goes in search of his missing son and happens to knock on the door of the elusive Mr. Yu. When Mr. Yu denies having a daughter, the father's suspicions are alerted because his son has often talked of seeing Mr. Yu's daughter -- a tiny little 3 year old dressed in red.

The third story stars the amazing Eugenia Yuan (The Eye 2). In both movies this woman says very little but when she does, she grips your heart. She is incredible. As I watched the third story, I half-believed the husband was going to actually revive his wife, but at times I wondered if he was just insane.

The last minutes of this story are shocking and even heart-wrenching. To me it was worth the price of the DVD just to see Eugenia Yuan's performance. There really is no other actress like her.

This DVD is a gamble. The first two stories are silly, but the last one is intriguing. If you can purchase this DVD for a reasonable price you might want to, just so you can watch the third story. But that's up to you.

August 24, 2007

Deep, but simply not as good as original.

My greatest contribution to people wanting opinions about this flick is that it is several steps down in interest from the original '3 Extremes' with work from three different directors. Like it's predecessor, it is certainly better than most American and European horror. But, in trying to weave interesting and evocative stories, these writer / directors loose their audience. At least they lost me. If I want complex, highly symbolic plots with lots of dream sequences, I'll watch Fellini or Bergmann. Horror films are supposed to grab you by the short hairs and not let go. These three barely raised my eyebrows.

The first, 'Memories', totally lost me to boredom. The second, 'The Wheel' is another essay in the evil puppet / doll genre. The third, 'Going Home' is the most novel, but it was still hard to connect the two main themes, and if I have to think about a horror plot, I suspect the filmmaker is trying too hard and missing the point of horror. March 12, 2007

Haunting and Lyrical

***Please note that the reviews for 'Saam Gaang' (Three.../3 Extremes) and 'Saam Gaang Yi' (Three... Extremes/3 Extremes II) are all mixed together. My review is for 'Saam Gaang', released in 2002.***

Peter Chan's 'Going Home' makes this collection worth watching. A haunting examination of loss and and the clash between Eastern and Western ideologies, 'Going Home' paints an elegiac portrait of isolation and longing in modern day Asia. The cool colors set a mood of emptiness and despair, while the understated performances are poetic in their simplicity. The child actor who plays Cheung is simply amazing; his emotions are utterly convincing and it's easy to forget that he's acting.

Unfortunately, the other two pieces, 'Memories' and 'Wheel', leave much to be desired. 'Memories' somehow manages to be tense and predictable at the same time, so I have to give the director credit for at least being able to instill some sense of terror in the audience. But ultimately, the hackneyed plot is yawn inducing, though the scenes are shot beautifully.

Finally, that leaves 'Wheel', a confusing mess if there ever was one. Throughout the short, I kept wondering if censorship was the reason I hadn't been scared yet.

All in all, most would probably be happier renting Saam Gaang. Although regardless of your decision, I am sure that 'Going Home' will spark some thought-provoking conversation on the dangers of globalization and the dilution of culture to Americanization. July 25, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...