SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Leofwine_draca RING is most famous Japanese horror film of all time, so this South Korean version of the same story has its work cut out. The narrative framework and scope of the storyline is almost exactly the same as in the Japanese movie, although there are a few differences, some of them crucial. One of the most notable things about this movie is that it sits more in the mystery/thriller genre, only hinting at horror in the occasional scene rather than dwelling on it as in the other movie.Sadly, it turns out to be a disappointing watch, doubly so if you know the Japanese version off by heart. Where Hideo Nakata excelled in creating protracted sequences of drawn-out dread, THE RING VIRUS feels stately and slightly dull in comparison. Yes, there's a moment involving a television but it's nowhere near as petrifying as when Nakata did it. The cast and crew go through the motions of the story in a linear fashion without it ever fully engaging the senses; scary this isn't. Director Kim Dong-bin lacks the technical flourishes and sense of style that other Korean directors have brought to their work; the resultant film is passable rather than effective.

refresh daemon This film is the first remake of the Japanese film Ringu, which was later remade into the Hollywood film, The Ring. If you measure it alone or in comparison with the novel, it stands a passable affair, but you can't really leave aside some comparisons with Ringu as The Ring Virus takes several key elements from Ringu while also re-incorporating a few elements of the novel back into the movie. In the end, some of this gets all jumbled and it leaves a couple plot holes as well as weakens believability at times.I noticed right away that The Ring Virus generally takes a different aesthetic approach. While Ringu had a lot more natural/fluorescent lighting, generally casting the film in whites, greens and blues, The Ring Virus accepts warmer tones from incandescent lights and thus adds more yellows and oranges to the palette. Furthermore, the camera takes more dynamic movements and positions in The Ring Virus, although this is not necessarily a good thing. In some way, the Corean remake looks a little busier than the Japanese version and the overall look doesn't seem as oppressive as the original. Nonetheless, some of the shots are still taken directly from its predecessor.The story itself is primarily like Ringu. A female reporter finds a tape, which upon playing, curses her with seven days to live and she begins a desperate search for a way out of the curse. While the overarching story is essentially the same, the details and characters have changed. The partner in crime in this instance more closely follows the novel, as we find a medical researcher with no relation to the protagonist joins the case. Furthermore, the story of the ghostly villain has changed as well and thus her reasons for her vengeful ways have also changed. The story is infused with more sexuality and less paranormal science than Ringu.Unfortunately, many of these changes, even if more closely following the book, fail to work. First of all, the supporting character of the researcher doesn't come across nearly as brilliant as he is presented as being and there appears to be some remnant of Ringu's ex-husband in him as he has some unexplained bouts of clairvoyance. Also, because he has no relationship to the protagonist, its hard to believe that he would bother to join in her quest and endanger himself. In the book, he is at least a friend of the male protagonist (the sex of the protagonist got swapped in Ringu). I do have to admit that expansion of the ghost's story does lead her to be a more interesting character, but it doesn't save The Ring Viruses from the weaknesses in the details of the story. Add in a couple plot holes and a lack of attention to detail and The Ring Virus fails to impress.I found myself yelling at the screen during the course of this film and slapping my head in disbelief. Maybe if I hadn't seen Ringu first, this effort would seem less curmudgeon and while it does bring some interesting elements to the story, overall, the weaknesses in the direction and the story make it a slightly less than adequate affair. It might be an interesting first watch of the various Ring movies or an interesting comparison viewing, but otherwise, I think you'd be better served trying one of the other versions of the Ring story. Problematic. 5/10.

Rasen The most important thing you need to know is this is a film called 'The Ring Virus' not 'Ring'. This is a Korean remake but with new material which focuses more on Koji Suzuki's original Novel 'Ring'.A mysterious video tape causes the death of 4 teenagers all at the same time on the same day. One of the victims aunt decided to investigate and soon finds herself in a race against time to find the source of the video tape.This film chose a more plot driven story than the suspense of the other versions. However the scenes change fast and characters seem to just appear at new locations sometimes leaving you wondering why they have gone there. I have read the book so I found the film easier to follow. Another nice addition to this version of the story is a deeper background about the character Sadako (or in this film Eun-Suh). Without giving too much away I felt it was nice to see the inclusion of her 'secret', that was left out of both the American and Japanese adaptations of the novel.The camera work is average and also very repetitive of the Japanese film (sometimes using identical shots) but there are moments that work better in this film and some moments that fall flat. I would only recommend this film to people who are fans of the ring series and would like to see the novel brought to screen more accurately or would simply like to see another adaptation of the story. This film should not be viewed as an introduction to the ring series but more as a supplement.Overall, I enjoyed this film but couldn't help feeling it could have been better. But don't let people tell you its rubbish or that the 'new' plot themes ruin the original story because they don't and the new story lines are from the original novel and the true version of the story anyway.

masalsky This is "The Ring Virus" made in Korea and not the original "Ring" (Ringu) made in Japan, even though the reviews here are a mix of the 2. Don't be fooled! Ringu is a great work of horror, but this remake is horrible!I'm not sure why anyone would take a great horror film and remove all of the elements that make it scary or creepy. Apparently, no one will go see a film in Korea unless they add in some ridiculous sexual twists to the plot? Skip this and go right to the original. Even the English language remake is far far superior to this.