Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 1, 2019

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase “a human punching bag,” but in one of at least a couple squirm inducing but still undeniably funny moments in The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil, that phrase is depicted in an unusual and provocative manner, as the gangster in this film, Jang Dong-soo (Ma Dong-seok), seems to be enjoying a workout, though there’s a (sorry) “punch” line about it all that is unexpected and may alert some viewers that this blistering action movie isn’t always going to take itself that seriously. The two other characters filling out the titular trifecta are the cop, Jung Tae-suk (Kim Mu-yeol) and the “devil”, in this case not a supernatural manifestation of nefariousness, but a more mundane kind of evil: a serial killer who goes by the nickname of “K” (Kim Sung-kyu), who rear ends unsuspecting “marks” on isolated roads and then pummels and stabs them to death when they get out of their car to exchange insurance information and the like.

The film in fact begins with one of these “hits” (in more ways than one), and it is distinctly more serious and viscerally upsetting than some of what follows. The film takes a while to finally unspool its central conceit, which is that the gangster and the cop are forced to make an uneasy alliance to go after K, after K goes after the gangster and nearly kills him. It’s the stuff of countless films through the years, with two mismatched “partners” learning to work together, but with some nicely staged set pieces and an especially winning performance by Ma (who also goes by the westernized Don Lee), the film is unexpectedly engaging quite a bit of the time.

Interestingly, Sylvester Stallone has evidently already announced a remake of this property, and kind of even more interestingly with Ma AKA Lee evidently attached to play the same role he plays here. There are a few arguable structural flaws that could conceivably be addressed in a remake, but any American version is going to have try pretty hard to match some this version’s action acumen and its occasionally kind of cheeky sense of humor.

The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. There's very little technical data online that I could find (the film's cinematographer Park Se-Seung isn't even credited on the IMDb), but a French site detailing some of the out of competition offerings at Cannes (which this film was) suggests Arri Alexas were used to digitally capture the imagery, and as usual I'm assuming everything was finished at a 2K DI. This is a rather sumptuous looking transfer, considering its down and dirty characters and some of its less than seemly plot mechanics. Some of the cityscapes are bathed in really alluring teal and purple hues that kind of reminded me of the John Wick franchise, and there are other moments that have been graded alternately toward almost sickly green-yellows, and some cooler blues as well. Despite these wide variances in general frame color, detail levels remain strong throughout the presentation. A number of skewed framings tend to place faces and bodies at odd angles, and often not even entirely within the frame, but in close-ups, fine detail is often excellent, offering precise looks at some gruesome injuries and the fineries of fabrics on costumes and other elements like furniture. Some quick editing and generally peripatetic camera moves can give the impression of softness in some of the action set pieces, simply because nothing is stationary within any given frame, and even the frame itself is often in motion.

The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil features a nicely boisterous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Korean (a Dolby Digital 2.0 track is also offered, as tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases). Surround activity is quite noticeable throughout this presentation, aided by a number of outdoor scenes where ambient environmental sounds dot the side and rear channels. But things really burst into impressive life in some of the hand to hand combat scenes, where bone crunching and other sounds of impact surround the listener with some lifelike (if appropriately goofy at times) sound effects. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and a propulsive score by Jo Yeong-wook also sounds clear and full bodied throughout.

The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (1080p; 3:30)


• The Characters (1080p; 1:40)


• Teaser Trailer (1080p; 00:50)


• Trailer (1080p; 1:19)

As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that the supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on the Making Of featurette is essentially a "Play All" button. After the trailer for this film plays, the disc has been authored to move on automatically to trailers for other Well Go USA releases. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's kind of hard to know if you should really be rooting for the gangster and cop in this enterprise, since each of these two characters has a few flaws, but at least they're not marauding around as serial killers. The film might have been helped by a more circumspect approach toward its central villain, but once things kick into high gear there are some impressively staged set pieces and a generally compelling storyline that offers both Ma Dong-seok and Kim Mu-Yeol chances to strut their stuff. Director and writer Lee Won-tae keeps things moving at a brisk pace, so much so that a few lapses in logic will probably pass by without too much notice. Technical merits are solid, and The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil comes Recommended.