10 Underrated Korean Gangster Movies 2023: Reviews
Here are the best Korean Gangster movies for you to watch this season! Check it out!
Every movie industry makes Gangster movies but nobody makes them like the Koreans. The gangsters in Korean movies are almost celebrated. You get to see and feel the heart of the gangsters and empathise with them. And not to mention, they are so damn cool!
Best Korean Gangster Movies: Quick Summary
| Best Korean Gangster Movies | Director | Editor’s Rating |
| Oldboy | Chan-wook Park | 8.5/10 |
| Breathless | Ik-joon Yang | 9/10 |
| The Man From Nowhere | Jeong-beom Lee | 7.5/10 |
| I Saw The Devil | Jee-woon Kim | 8/10 |
| The Outlaws | Yoon-Seong Kang | 7/10 |
| A Dirty Carnival | Ha Yoo | 7/10 |
| A Bittersweet Life | Jee-woon Kim | 7.5/10 |
| New World | Park Hoon-jung | 7.5/10 |
| The Chaser | Hong-jin Na | 8/10 |
| Tazza: The High Rollers | Dong-hoon Choi | 7/10 |
- Related: Best Korean War Movies
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I spend my Friday evenings with a big bowl of popcorn and a good Korean Gangster Movie to kickstart my weekend (especially now with the never-ending lockdown!). If you are like me, check out this list of the Best Korean Gangster Movies I guarantee you will enjoy watching
Top Korean Gangster Movies
Oldboy
Age Rating: 18+ | Release Date: 15th October 2004 | Run Time: 2h
The first one on this list of best Korean gangster movies is Oldboy!
Oldboy has the kind of fan following that Al Pacino movies have in the West. If you haven’t already watched this movie, you must, cos otherwise you’re missing out on a masterpiece.
The story follows the protagonist as he is kidnapped one rainy night and locked up in a windowless room with just a TV for company. For 15 years, his captors make sure he survives, yet cannot kill himself. Out of the blue he is released and is encouraged to find his kidnappers in five days.
One of the most creative and intriguing storylines I’ve ever come across, this movie has Choi Min-Sik playing the lead role and he’s given it his best performance. His eyes express every emotion he goes through with depth, taking you along for the ride. The acting and the wonderful direction is topped off with the most mesmerising soundtrack.
The movie made over 5 million dollars across the global box office!
Breathless
Age Rating: 18+ | Release Date:16th April 2009 | Run Time: 2h 10m
The next one on this list of best Korean gangster movies is my favorite – Breathless!
Breathless is not for the faint hearted. There is so much stomach churning violence that I simply cannot begin to describe it. But, peel away all the violence and there is heart in the story. Abuse is never an easy topic for anyone to deal with and an extremely difficult topic to express on film.
Breathless is a movie that has managed to show what domestic abuse can do to a person and has balanced this with the appropriate dark humour, emotion and vulnerability under all that steel.
The movie touches the raw truth, something that the society needs to stop hiding from and face. As always, the truth isn’t always pleasant.
This is a powerful film that is not to be missed. ‘Breathless’ has won 31 awards and 8 nominations in several international film festivals. Directed by YANG Ik-june, the movie runs for 2 hours 10 minutes.
The Man From Nowhere
Age Rating: 18+ | Release Date: 5th August 2010 | Run Time: 1h 59m
A Man From Nowhere is one of the best Korean gangster movies I know! There is no one formula to make a gangster movie work, but sign on a sexy, cool, badass male lead and you’re halfway there. Won Bin is one of Korea’s best action heroes and does justice to his role in The Man From Nowhere.
He plays an ex-special agent who finds himself in possession of drugs and a little girl when her mother, a drug smuggler is killed by a gang. Woh Bin presumes that the little girl is dead as well and seeks revenge on the gang.
The storyline has been tried and tested several times but what makes this worth watching is the exceptional direction by Jeong-beom Lee, performance of the actors and the execution of revenge that nobody does better than the Korean movie industry.
I Saw The Devil
Age Rating: 18+ | Release Date: 29th April 2011 | Run Time: 2h 24m
The next one on this list of best Korean gangster movies is a movie that will stay with you for a long time!
I Saw The Devil is not strictly a gangster movie but alls along those lines. A long and much hunted psychopathic serial killer gets away with all the gruesome murders of adults and children. When the killer finally brutally murders Soo-Hyun’s fiance, he swears revenge. The hunt begins.
Like most Korean gangster and action or crime movies, I Saw The Devil makes you cringe in your seat, wince at all the bloody scenes and stirs up an emotion like no other. The movie is very real, with characters you can connect with, feel their pain and empathise.
This is a movie for hardcore action and crime movie fans, one you will neither regret watching, nor will you forget.
Directed by Jee-woon Kim, the movie is starring Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, and Jeon Gook-hwan
The Outlaws
Age Rating: 14+ | Release Date: 3rd October 2017 | Run Time: 2h 1m
The next one on this list of best Korean gangster movies is the Outlaws!
Yoon-Seong Kan’s directorial debut film is very impressive with events taken from the real life Heuksapa Incident.
The criminal underworld of prostitution, gambling and moneylending is set as the backdrop as the plot takes us through the gang turf wars between the gang that runs Garibong-dong in Guro district and the Chinese Heuksapa gang from Yanbian. The leader, played by Yoon Kye-Sang is as ruthless as they come.
The police steps in led by the strong and firm, yet man with a kind heart and strong conscience, Ma Dong-Seok. Ma Dong-Seok has a unique way of maintaining peace and balance in the society which doesn’t always sit well with the others. The stark difference in the way the two men are portrayed is interesting and when they butt heads, is engaging to watch.
A Dirty Carnival
Age Rating: | Release Date: 15th June 2006 | Run Time: 2h 20m
Next up on this list of best Korean gangster movies is A Dirty Carnival
Just because a person is a gangster or a thug, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a soft heart and a family he cares deeply for. A Dirty Carnival has a very intriguing storyline about Kim Byung-Du, played by the Korean heart throb, In-Sung Jo.
He is a small time criminal who has an ailing mother and siblings to take care of. With no father or strong male figure in the picture, Byung-Du is the one the rest of the family relies on.
There’s a lot of financial stress on him which forces him to take up an assignment for a corrupt prosecutor. On the other side, Byung-Du’s friend requests him to consult for the direction of his movie, and that’s where all the trouble begins.
Directed by Ha Yoo, this movie has won 2 awards and 9 nominations in various film awards.
A Bittersweet Life
Age Rating: 18+ | Release Date: 20th January 2006 | Run Time: 1h 59m
You’ll love this movie next on this list of best Korean gangster movies!
What initially drew me to this movie was Lee Byung-Hun, but what kept me hooked was the actor and much more. Lee Byung-Hun is a familiar face, thanks to his exceptional acting in popular Hollywood movies.
A Bittersweet Life has Byung-Hun playing the role of a hotel manager who reports to a crime lord. He is given the responsibility of shadowing the romantic partner of the crime lord and end her life if she cheats on him. Things go from bad to worse when he disobeys his boss’ orders and decides to let her go instead of killing her.
The movie starts off very classy with a strong plot supported by the talented skills of the artists. The second half, however, could be considered quite cliché with the expected chases, fights and other action scenes, but it does not bore you. The scenes of revenge are shot brilliantly, keeping you at the edge of your seat.
New World
Age Rating: 15+ | Release Date: 21st February 2013 | Run Time: 2h 15m
The next movie on this list of best Korean gangster movies has everything the perfect movie needs!
Drama, Action, Crime, Superb shots, realistic storylines. This is what every good Korean gangster movie brings to the table. Pair those with some totally good looking bas-ass actors and you have a loyal audience. New World is all of this and more with a plot that seems like something that’s been tried and tested, but surprises you as you keep watching.
Ja-Seoung is an undercover cop who is instructed to join a project to take down one of Korea’s biggest crime organisations, GoldMoon. Ja-Seoung struggles to choose between following his boss’ orders, fulfilling his responsibilities as a cop and staying loyal to the crime organisation’s leader.
The Chaser
Age Rating: 18+ | Release Date: 19th September 2008 | Run Time: 2h 5m
The next one on this list of best Korean gangster movies is Chaser.
The Chaser is certainly not just another dirty cop movie. This is about an ex-policeman turned pimp who has to now use all of his detective skills to investigate and solve the mystery of his prostitutes who have vanished without paying their dues.
What has me hooked to Korean Gangster movies, and keeps me coming back for more is the various layers of the storyline. For instance, this movie starts off as pretty straight forward, with a super rude, heartless protagonist (or should I say antagonist?) but as the plot develops, it reveals deeper about his personality- to such an extent that at one point, the audience sympathises with him.
The Chaser has everything a good movie should – action, drama, a little bit of comedy and a pace that is necessary to keep the audience engaged from start to finish.
Tazza: The High Rollers
Age Rating: 13+ | Release Date: 28th September 2006 | Run Time: 2h 19m
As we come to the end of this list of the Best Korean Gangster Movies, I’m going to leave you with one that is a fun gangster movie.
Tazza: The High Rollers will have you in splits, yet keep you at the edge of your seat with it’s very stylish, flashy and action filled plotline of a young, budding gambler’s climb to the top. The Korean card game that this movie revolves around is as intriguing as the story itself, with lessons at every point laced with risks a gambler must face as he steps into the dark world.
Movies on gambling is a fairly new concept in the Korean movie industry, but the direction by Dong-hoon Choi does justice to the topic.
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil
This Korean gangster movie was released in 2019 and directed by Lee Won-tae. This movie is claimed to be inspired by real-life events and has a thrilling plot that was well executed by the director. The storyline of this movie focuses on a police officer named Jung Tae-suk and a gangster named Jang Dong-soo. When Tae-suk investigates a crime scene involving a murder he suspects the actions might be that of a serial killer.
Meanwhile, gangster Dong-soo gets attacked by the same serial killer and they both end up fighting brutally. However, the serial killer escapes and locks Dong-soo inside his car. Later Dong-soo is hospitalized and is eventually visited by Tae-suk who offers him a deal to work together and find the serial killer. Although they both have different plans regarding the killer they both comply to work together and find the killer. Moreover, they both end up finding each other as Dong-soo uses the serial killer as bait to murder someone.
This movie contains intriguing plot twists that will keep you entertained throughout the end. The action scenes and the gang rivalry concept are present in the entire movie.
The Man from Nowhere
This Korean gangster movie will leave you not just thrilled but emotionally satisfied as well. The storyline of this movie follows an ordinary man named Cha Tae-sik running a simple pawnshop. Cha is very quiet and he has only one friend who’s a kid named So-mi. So-mi is a little girl whose mother is a heroin addict and she falls into trouble when she steals heroin from a bar she worked at. She keeps the drugs at Cha’s pawnshop but is however kidnapped by a gangster’s henchmen.
They torture her in front of So-mi who reveals where the drugs are kept. When the henchmen threaten Cha he acts cool and avoids them.
However, they kidnap So-mi and insist he deliver the drugs to their place. However, it was a trap set by the gangsters who murdered So-mi’s mother and harvested her organs, and framed Cha as the murderer. He gets arrested but later escapes from the prison and the police find out that Cha was an ex-covert operative for the Army.
There are several twists in this movie that is extremely mind-blowing and exciting to watch. You’d fall in love with this movie and watch it repeatedly as the scenes are meant to capture your heart.
What are the Korean gangster movies on Netflix?
Netflix has an extensive library of movies, TV shows and documentaries that can be enjoyed by anyone in the world. One of the most popular genres on Netflix is gangster movies, and Korean gangster movies are some of the best.
Korean gangster movies are often set in modern day Korea and focus on the intricate relationships between criminals and law enforcement. They are often gritty and violent, but always fascinating.
Some of the best Korean gangster movies on Netflix include ‘Ode to My Father’ (2013), ‘The Wolf Pack’ (2015) and ‘Old Boy’ (2003). If you’re looking for a riveting crime drama that will leave you on the edge of your seat, these are definitely the movies for you!
Apart from these, the other gangster movies on Netflix “The Taking of Tiger Mountain,” “Mother” and “Angels’ Share.” All of these movies are based on true stories and follow the various criminal activities of the Korean mafia.
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