Hello and welcome back to another Top Korean Movies content by EonTalk. Today, we’ll be looking at the “Top 20 Korean Movies by their Ratings.”
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Also, before going into the list, I’d just like to clarify the criteria that I used to rank the movies. First, I got the list of top 100 Korean movies by box office numbers from the “Korean Film Council,” and amongst the top 100 films, I looked up the audience scores and critics scores on Naver, the Korean search engine. After compiling the data for both the audience and critics scores, I combined the two ratings by averaging them, and got the list of the Top 20 Korean movies with the combined average of the two scores. Furthermore, movies that did not have either an audience score or critics score were not considered when compiling this list. *Sidenote: This list is based on the video “Top Rated Korean Movies” on the EonTalk YouTube channel, and was compiled on May 2nd of 2020.
Now then, that being said, let’s get right into the reveal of the Top 20 list.
#20
Coming in at #20 was the comedy that took the nation by storm last year, <Extreme Job>.
<Extreme Job> starred Ryu Seung-Ryong, Lee Ha-Nee, Jin Sun-Kyu, Lee Dong-Hwi, and Gong Myung, and was released on January 23rd of 2019. The film had an Audience Rating of 9.2, a Critics Rating of 6.8, to have a combined Average Rating of 8.
#19
At #19 was the Korean historical drama, <The Throne>.
Released on September 16th of 2015, <The Throne> starred Song Kang-Ho, Yoo Ah-In, and Moon Geun-Young, and had an Audience Score of 8.49, Critics Score of 7.54, having an Average Score of 8.015.
#18
#18 was a 2016 movie titled <The Age of Shadows>.
Released on September 7th of 2016, <The Age of Shadows> was an action, drama that starred Song Kang-Ho and Gong Yoo, and had an Audience Rating of 8.57, Critics Score of 7.5, and a Combined Rating of 8.035.
#17
Coming in at #17, <Nameless Gangster: Rules of Time>.
This was a great crime/drama, starring Choi Min Shik and Ha Jung-Woo. Released on February 2nd of 2012, <Nameless Gangster: Rules of Time> had an Audience Score of 8.63, Critics Rating of 7.5, combining to an Average of 8.065.
#16
At #16 was my personal favorite crime/thriller, <New World>.
Starring Lee Jung-Jae, Choi Min-Shik, and Hwang Jung-Min, <New World> wasn’t only a great crime/thriller, but also had great action and frequent humor points that kept it from being too serious. Hwang Jung-Min was just amazing in the movie. The film was released on February 21st of 2013, and had an Audience Rating of 8.92, a Critics Rating of 7.22, and a Combined Rating of 8.07.
#15
Next, <Silenced> took the #15 spot.
With a great main cast of Gong Yoo and Jung Yoo-Mi, this drama film was released on September 22nd of 2011, and had an Audience Score of 9.27, a Critics Score of 6.92, with a total combined Average Score of 8.095.
#14
#14 was a comedic film that I highly enjoyed: <Exit>
This action/comedy truly showed the acting potential of Jo Jung-Suk and Girls Generation’s Yoona, and had me laughing and at the edge of my seat throughout its duration. <Exit> was released last year on July 31st, and was featured on the Best Korean Comedies video on the EonTalk YouTube channel. <Exit> had an Audience Score of 8.99, a Critics Rating of 7.23, having a total Average of 8.11.
#13
The #13 movie is a fairly old, but a legendary Korean film, <Tazza: The High Rollers>.
This is the first of the “Tazza” series, and had a stunning lineup of Cho Seung-Woo, Kim Hye-Soo, Baek Yoon-Shik, and Yoo Hae-Jin. The movie was a crime-drama, but also had great comedy and thrill as well. Released on September 28th of 2006, the first Tazza film had an Audience Rating of 9.17, Critics Score of 7.17, and a combined Average of 8.17.
#11 (1/2)
The #11 spot was a tie, as the average score of the next two movies were the same. The first was the action/drama <Secret Reunion>.
Starring the amazing Song Kang-Ho and Kang Dong-Won, <Secret Reunion> released on February 4th of 2010. The movie had an Audience Score of 8.86, Critics Score of 7.55, and an Average of 8.205
#11 (2/2)
The other #11 movie was an amazing mystery/thriller film, released on May 12th of 2016, <The Wailing>.
Starring Kwang Do-Won, Hwang Jung-Min, Kunimura Jun, Chun Woo-Hee, and Kim Hwan-Hee, <The Wailing> is one of the best Korean thrillers, as mentioned on my Best Korean Thrillers video, and was one of the few Korean movies that got a lot of global recognition. The film had an Audience Rating of 8.23, a Critics Rating of 8.18, Averaging a 8.205
#10
The #10 Korean movie that had the highest score was the Korean historical drama <Masquerade>.
Although this movie was a historical drama, it had lots of humor as well, differentiating it from traditional Korean historical movies. Starring Lee Byung-Hun, Ryu Seung-Ryong, and Han Hyo-Ju, <Masquerade> released on September 13th of 2012, and the movie had an Audience Score of 9.24, a Critics Score of 7.27, and a combined Average of 8.255.
#9
At #9 was another legendary Korean thriller that really defines the genre, <The Chaser>.
Starring Kim Yoon-Seok and Ha Jung-Woo, <The Chaser> was my #3 favorite Korean thriller on the Best Korean Thrillers list. Released on Valentine’s Day of 2008, the movie had an Audience Rating of 9.09, a Critics Score of 7.5, leading to a total Average of 8.295.
#8
The #8 Korean movie with the highest rating was another movie that has had massive global reach, <The Host>.
Starring Song Kang-Ho, Byung Hee-Bong, Park Hae-Il, Bae Doona, and Go Ah-Sung, <The Host> was not only an action/thriller/science fiction, but also had great humor and really takes the audience on an adventure. As with other Bong Joon-Ho films, it’s really hard to categorize the film into a single genre. The movie was released on July 27th of 2006, and had an Audience Score of 8.62, a Critics Score of 8, and a total Average of 8.31.
#7
Coming in at the #7 spot was the only romance-drama on this list, <Architecture 101>.
<Architecture 101> had an amazing cast lineup of Uhm Tae-Woong, Han Ga-In, Lee Je-Hoon, and Suzy, and was released on March 22nd of 2012. With an Audience Rating of 9.5, and a Critics Score of 7.19, the combined Average of <Architecture 101> was 8.345.
#5 (1/2)
Moving along, the #5 highest rated movie was another tie between two amazing movies. The first movie of the tied #5 spot was <Dark Figure of Crime>.
Starring Kim Yoon-Seok and Ju Ji-Hoon, <Dark Figure of Crime> released on October 3rd of 2018, and was an amazing crime/drama based on true events. The movie really showcased the acting abilities of Ju Ji-Hoon. For more info, be sure to check out my written review of the film! The movie had an Audience Score of 8.58, Critics Score of 8.14, for a total Average Score of 8.36.
#5 (2/2)
The other tied #5 film was the 2013 film titled <The Attorney>.
Starring Song Kang-Ho, Kim Young-Ae, Oh Dal-Soo, Kwak Do-Won, and Lim Si-Wan, <The Attorney> was released on December 18th of 2013, and had an Audience Rating of 9.29, a Critics Rating of 7.43, and a total Average Rating of 8.36.
#4
The #4 film on the list of top Korean movies by ratings was an amazing crime-action-drama, <Veteran>.
With one of the best casts of Hwang Jung-Min, Yoo Ah-In, Yoo Hae-Jin, and Oh Dal-Soo, <Veteran> was released on August 5th, and had an Audience Score of 9.24, a Critics Rating of 7.5, for a total combined Average of 8.37.
#3
The third most highly rated movie out of South Korean cinema was not only the oldest film on this list, but also the only war film. The #3 spot goes to the movie <Welcome To Dongmakgol>.
Starring Jung Jae-Young, Shin Ha-Kyun, and Kang Hye-Jung, <Welcome To Dongmakgol> was released on August 4th of 2005, and recorded an Audience Score of 8.9, Critics Rating of 8, and a total Average of 8.45.
#2
With only two movies left, which movie came second to the highest rated movie in Korea? The #2 spot goes to the 2017 film <1987: When the Day Comes>.
<1987: When the Day Comes> was released on December 27th of 2017, and had a wondrous cast of Kim Yoon-Seok, Ha Jung-Woo, Yoo Hae-Jin, Kim Tae-Ri, Park Hee-Soon, and Lee Hee-Jun. The film had an Audience Score of 9.31, Critics Score of 8.08, with an Average of 8.695.
#1
And now, just the #1 movie left. Which Korean movie was loved the most? Which film had the highest rating amongst the many amazing Korean movies? The #1 movie that had the highest combined rating of audience and critics scores was the recently crowned Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Film, and Best Directorial Work, <Parasite>.
Released last year on May 30th, <Parasite> has an amazing cast of Song Kang-Ho, Lee Sun-Kyun, Cho Yeo-Jeong, Choi Woo-Shik, Park So-Dam, Lee Jung-Eun, and Jang Hye-Jin. <Parasite> is a very hard movie to give a genre for, as it’s not only a drama, thriller, mystery, and comedy, but has so many more layers to it. I guess it’d be best to just give it a genre of “Bong Joon-Ho.” <Parasite> had a very high Audience Rating of 9.07, equally high Critics Rating of 9.06, combining to an Average of 9.065.
Conclusion
That concludes today’s post on Top Korean Movies by Ratings. If you love content such as this, be sure to check out my videos on Top Korean Movies, such as the Top Korean Movies by Total Audience, Most Memorable Korean Movies, Best Korean Comedies, and more! If you love the content I’ve been creating, your support on Patreon would be very much appreciated. Thank you to everyone that read til the end, and I’ll see you guys in the next one!
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Disclaimer
Please keep in mind this review is composed of solely my own opinions, and should be taken with a grain of salt. I am in no way a professional writer, nor have I majored or studied journalism. This is for informative entertainment purpose only, representing my personal views. I do not own the images and/or videos used in the review. No copyright infringement intended.