Shiri

Despite inconsistancies in presentation between Koreans speaking Korean and others accompanied by sub-titles, the Making Of documentary is excellent, maybe because it does not follow a conventional line and is rough around the edges.

What comes across is the feeling that Shiri has broken new ground, laying itself open to innovation and fresh ideas. Korean cinema has been held back by a shortage of investment and lack of vision - they are not the only ones - so that the incentive to meet Hollywood half way in the field of big budget action pics was not there.

Director Je-Gyu Kang, who looks rediculously young and is dressed like an investment banker at the weekend, was determined to change the preconception of no-can-do. All he had was enthusiasm and self-belief and a dedicated crew, who was prepared to try new things and take risks. The stunt coordinator, the sound man and the person in control of the music speak of their experiences in making what became a breakthrough movie - at one point it looked as if Shiri would break Titanic's box office records.

The filmographies (director, two actors, one actress) are dull and factual. Mark Wyatt's notes are, in essence, a film review - why bother, when you have The Wolf? Asia Extreme trailer reel is quite fun. It includes The Happiness Of The Katakuris, Sympathy For Mr Vengeance, The Snake Of June, Nowhere To Hide and Dark Water (check iofilm's Films A-Z for reviews). When I Dream uses the actors who play Agent Ryu and assassin Hee in an exquisitively evocative music video. Romantics will watch this over and over.

All in all, this is a DVD you should not let slip away.