Found this on a streaming service ... which is great, since there don't seem to many discs available. Certainly not in Germany - on the other hand it is a shame, because the sequel (which I didn't even know existed, but is showing here on imdb) also isn't available to order anywhere.

That being said, let me go a bit into the movie or story. This is relevant today ... someone else wrote it was relevant a few years ago ... when the US and North Korea where or seemed to go head to head ... nowadays it is Russia and Ukraine. And some of the things depicted here, which seem to far fetched ... but are being used in real life right now! Really horrific stuff in here ... but done in a manner that let you into the world. Like stress relief ... we know it is only a movie - even if some things seem almost too close to the truth.

Also the 2 lead actors are amazing! There is a lot going on and the movie does not really take prisoners - and by doing that, it also displays quite the good hand in executing stunts and action scenes. If you are familiar with Korean cinema, you may already have high expectations when it comes to the thrilling part of the movie - if not, you are in for a ride. Again excuse the puns - now I can't wait to find and watch the sequel. Really curious about that and how it connects or not with this. And if it has the same tone and humor. Poking fun and the relationship between North and South Korea and the insanity of the divided country that is more alike than anything else ... at least its citizens, if you leave politics out of it.

Do the South Koreans ever make thrillers which aren't fantastic? That's the question I find myself asking these days following on from yet another viewing of yet another great movie. This time it's the turn of the ambitious STEEL RAIN, an extremely timely political thriller depicting a near-war between North and South Korea and the USA. The wide-reaching plot is unlike anything you've ever seen before, featuring Kim Jong Un himself in a supporting role and involving a coup by North Korean generals intended to begin WW3. There are two heroes, one of them an honest North Korean soldier (THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD's Jung Woo-sung) and the other a South Korean intelligence officer (THE MAN FROM NOWHERE's Kwak Do-won). The plot is complex and the running time a little overlong, with some slow sections in the middle, but on the other hand there are some phenomenal action sequences which blew me away and which are unlike anything I've ever seen put on film before. I just wish that there were more of them in the film because they really are that good.

I found "Steel Rain" (aka "Gangcheolbi") on Netflix and decided to sit down and watch it without having heard about it prior to finding it. I needed little persuasion to do so, as it is a South Korean movie, after all.

"Steel Rain" turned out to be a rather interesting movie, both in terms of story and also in sheer thrilling entertainment. It was a great story that really had some rather realistic elements to it. And the storyline started out quite nicely and in great pace, and it never really lost its momentum along the way.

The characters in the movie were also quite nicely detailed and brought to life on the screen. Again, lots of realism here and it was characters that you quickly could relate to and bond with. And of course it helped quite a lot that they had gotten together a rather good assembly of actors and actresses to portray the various roles.

The movie offers equal amounts of action, drama and character growth, which turned out to be a great combination. Everything in the movie just turned out great and came together quite nicely as the movie ended.

If you enjoy the South Korean cinema, then "Steel Rain" is definitely a movie well worth spending time and money on.