Rules Of Dating DVD Review (Region 3)

[Seth Gecko]

<P STYLE='text-align: center'><FONT STYLE='font-size: 18px'><IMG SRC='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/images/RulesOfDating/RulesOfDatingR3.jpg' ALT='RULES OF DATING DVD cover artwork' ALIGN='RIGHT'>RULES OF DATING</FONT><br>Reviewed September 2005 by <A HREF='search.php?do=process&query=Seth Gecko&showposts=1&forumchoice[]=107&forumchoice[]=197' target='_top'>Seth Gecko</A>.</P><P><B>The Movie : 5</B></P><P>The title of this movie, “Rules of Dating” is a bit of a misnomer, as there are no rules really, more the differences of views between our two main characters. Indeed, the movie title is named by the subtitles as "to do or not to do" which is a much more accurate description.</p><P>Lee, a teacher, is in a long standing relationship, but has a wandering eye when it comes to the opposite sex. He doesn't want love from them, nor is he looking for any spiritual connection, rather intense physicality in a motel, car or wherever he can. Choi, a trainee teacher, is tutored by Lee and, like him, she is in a relationship but is engaged to be married soon. However, unlike Lee, she doesn't believe in sex without love and spurns his initial advances, much to his dismay and frustration. However, we soon learn, during this cat and mouse struggle, our characters aren't quite how they appear. </p><P>Well I suppose you'd call this a romantic movie, possibly a comedy, but having watched it, it's not quite so easy to label it. It has its own unique charm, but I can't say I hated or enjoyed it, as to be blunt, it's really quite weird and hard to elaborate without spoilers. Maybe it has a lot to do with the Asian cultures, but I can't think of a love story that involves a rape allegation. This makes me sound negative, but as I said, it is quite weird. </p><P>Acting wise, our leads are superb and engaging, with lee being both being unsympathetic and sympathetic during the movie, indeed when we see his change in attitude towards Choi, we know how he feels even when he isn't displaying it to her, due to typical male behaviour. Choi, is shy and coy with an air of innocence to her, yet she slowly develops into a character that we begin to hate, yet we understand and sympathise with why she changes into this person. Asian movie fans will certainly recognise her from "Oldboy" and she is certainly prettier here than I recall from the aforementioned film. </p><P>The only real problem I have with this movie is its inherent peculiarity, which I’ve alluded too. maybe I should say that it's a love story in the same way that "True Romance" is a love story, as I can't honestly think of anything else that I can compare it with - don't misunderstand me, this isn't a drug fuelled, violent love story. It’s just far removed from a Hanks/Ryan love story. </p><P>A small word of warning, there is a sex scene or 2 in the movie and while neither are exceptionally graphic, you may wish to bear this in mind when watching. The other thing, be aware that the camera isn’t the steadiest in the world either – in fact it can be quite disconcerting.</p><P>So, as I said, I neither hated nor loved this movie. It may well be a comedy, but if it is, I didn't get it and if it is a generic Asian romantic movie, then I guess I'm not quite used to this side of their cinema. Having said that, it does end ambiguously upbeat (thinks "As Good As It Gets") and may well give you a warm, fuzzy feeling, but prepare to go "Eh?" a lot. </p><P><B>Picture : 7</B></P><P>This is a really nice transfer. Shot and presented in 2.35:1 and complete with anamorphic transfer, we have striking colours, deep black levels and no obvious edge enhancement. It doesn’t suffer from grain, no haloing is evident and the colours don’t bleed which is nice as there are some very intense reds on display during this movie – Choi’s taste in clothes for example. The only real complaint is the print does show some dust and scratches, which although mostly aren’t too bad, sometimes there’s the occasional one that isn’t forgivable, which is a shame really.</p><P STYLE='text-align: center'><IMG SRC='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/images/RulesOfDating/RulesOfDatingR3_1.jpg' ALT='RULES OF DATING'></P><P><B>Sound : 6</B></P><P>Shockingly for an Asian cinema title – no DTS track! However, the Dolby Digital track here is perfectly fine for this movie – indeed I don’t think a DTS track would make an iota of difference. Dialogue is clear and easily understood, even if I don’t speak Korean, although as an aside the subtitles aren’t always correct in what they show. Sonically, it doesn’t rely on too much surround wise, but when we have a musical interlude, it comes across loud and distinct creating an excellent ambience – and as the music is very romantic (think Italian restaurants), the strings are very easily distinguishable and sharp – it works very well. </p><P STYLE='text-align: center'><IMG SRC='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/images/RulesOfDating/RulesOfDatingR3_2.jpg' ALT='RULES OF DATING'></P><P><B>Extras : 5</B></P><P>On the first disk, we have a commentary track, but no prizes for guessing it’s in Korean and therefore I can’t even tell you who’s participating! Disk 2 is full of extras however, but not only is the menu in Korean, but so are the extras – however the only 2 I can work out from the titles are OST, which relates to the music and Staff, which I assume is Biographies. Having said that, there’s certainly plenty here!</p><P STYLE='text-align: center'><IMG SRC='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/images/RulesOfDating/RulesOfDatingR3_3.jpg' ALT='RULES OF DATING'></P><P><B>Trivia</B><br><P>For user information we use Bitrate 1.4 to scan the disk for the video bitrate, which also calculates the average bitrate. Below is a graph illustrating the bitrate of the disk, including the average bitrate reading. This disk averaged at 7.96 Mbps.</p></P><P STYLE='text-align: center'><IMG SRC='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/images/RulesOfDating/RulesOfDatingR3_BR.jpg' ALT='RULES OF DATING'></P><P><B>Verdict : 5</B></P><P>It’s interesting is the best way to describe this movie, as I’m not convinced it’s funny, although I did smirk twice while watching it. It’s certainly not dull but it’s more cerebral than I believed it would be, looking into the dynamic of relationships – and this is not your typical one. It’s hard for me to recommend this, but it’s harder for me to condemn it as there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with it – it could just be me. If you like Asian cinema and you “get” their comedies or the loose synopsis I’ve given makes you curious then give it a shot.</p><div ALIGN='CENTER'>Review Disc Supplied by <a href="http://global.yesasia.com/assocred.asp?W7QIPXOV+/en/prdTransfer.aspx/pid-1004034956" target=”_blank”><img src="http://www.wvip.co.uk/images/dvd/SuppliersLogos/YesAsia.jpg" Align="absmiddle"></a><br>Please support us by using our review sponsors.</div><TABLE border='0' CELLPADDING='0' CELLSPACING='2' WIDTH='100%'><TR><TD COLSPAN='2'><B>RULES OF DATING (2005)</B></TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Genres</TD><TD><A HREF='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/dvdreviews.php?include=exact&searchfield=genre&search_for=COMEDY' target='_blank'>COMEDY</A>, <A HREF='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/dvdreviews.php?include=exact&searchfield=genre&search_for=ROMANCE' target='_blank'>ROMANCE</A></TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Director</TD><TD><A HREF='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=director&search_for=JAE-RIM HAN' target='_blank'>JAE-RIM HAN</A></TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Stars</TD><TD><A HREF='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&search_for=HYE-JEONG KANG' target='_blank'>HYE-JEONG KANG</A>, <A HREF='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&search_for=DAE-YEON LEE' target='_blank'>DAE-YEON LEE</A>, <A HREF='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&search_for=GRINA PARK' target='_blank'>GRINA PARK</A>, <A HREF='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&search_for=HAE-IL PARK' target='_blank'>HAE-IL PARK</A>, <A HREF='http://www.avforums.com/dvdreviews/dvdreviews.php?include=all&searchfield=stars&search_for=YEONG-HWA SEO' target='_blank'>YEONG-HWA SEO</A></TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65'><B>Region</B></TD><TD><B>3</B> <FONT>(KOREA)</FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Supplier</TD><TD><FONT>CJ Entertainment. Released Wednesday 24th August 2005</FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>SRP</TD><TD><FONT>$29.99</FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Discs</TD><TD><FONT>2</FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Format</TD><TD><FONT>DVD9</FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Time</TD><TD><FONT>120 mins.</FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD VALIGN='TOP' WIDTH='65'>Chapters</TD><TD><FONT>13</FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Picture</TD><TD>Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1&nbsp;</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Sound</TD><TD>Korean Dolby Digital 5.1</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Subtitles</TD><TD>English, Korean</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH='65' VALIGN='TOP'>Case</TD><TD>Amaray in Slipcase</TD></TR></TABLE><P STYLE='text-align: center'>If you would like to comment on this review, please reply below.</P>