When people hear the name Choi Min-sik, they immediately think of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy. This feature gave Choi international fame and made him even more successful, but his acting credits go beyond one of the best revenge movies ever. He's a superstar in South Korea and played diverse characters, from serial killers to national heroes.
Choi Min-sik is versatile and often delivers performances that sweep away the rest of the cast while simultaneously supporting and giving them space to do their magic. Rotten Tomatoes rated his best work, and though many might not agree with some rankings (particularly Oldboy), seeing Choi is attractive in any role.
10 'Lady Vengeance' (2005)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 76%
Lady Vengeance is the third movie in Park Chan-wook's Revenge Trilogy. It was preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy. Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae) is released from prison after a long sentence; she returns to the outside world after years of plotting revenge on the man who set her up and caused her to be imprisoned.
Choi plays the man Geum-ja is after, and he is despicable. Choi's prowess in portraying bad guys solidified after Lady Vengeance, but this didn't damage his career. He's a chameleon; in Oldboy, he's the antihero everyone roots for but gets no redemption in the Revenge Trilogy's final installment. Lady Vengeance is difficult to watch but has a fairly satisfying ending.
9 'The Quiet Family (1998)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 80%
Choi Min-sik and Song Kang-ho team up in this black comedy horror about the Kang family and their mountain lodge, where hikers stop to rest. Soon, most hikers who visit the lodge end up missing or dead, often with the Kangs' indirect (and sometimes direct) involvement. Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris was loosely based on this film.
Choi delivers an amazing performance as the slightly clumsy and unaware family uncle. The Kangs are followed by bad luck throughout the movie, with most accidents leading to bigger disasters. Fans of Martin Scorsese's After Hours or the Coen Brothers' Fargo and Burn After Reading would enjoy The Quiet Family just as much.
8 'Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War' (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%
Interestingly, Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War is one movie where Choi Min-sik falls into the background. The movie's premise describes real-life events of the Korean War in the 1950s, with an added dramatized story of two brothers going to war together.
The younger brother gets enlisted, and the older follows, sheltering his kid brother from battle. As close as they used to be, their brotherly rivalry doesn't disappear even during the horrors of war. Choi Min-sik plays a North Korean general and appears briefly but adds more professionalism to an already well-made war film. Tae Guk Gi is one of the better war movies from the 2000s.
7 "I Saw the Devil" (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
Following his string of antagonistic roles, Choi Min-sik dives into I Saw the Devil with full force. He plays the serial killer that the main character (played by Lee Byung-hun) chases throughout the film. Choi has many faces, and he shows another ruthless one in this outstanding horror movie that leaves people up at night.
Lee is Kim Soo-hyun, a happily engaged National Intelligence agent; one day, he learns his fiancée was gruesomely killed. Soo-hyun realizes she was killed by Jang Kyung-chul (Choi) and starts a violent cat-and-mouse game with him. Though this is another excellent but complex movie about revenge that Choi Min-sik stars in, it's a story that doesn't end well for anyone in it.
6 'Oldboy' (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%
Oh Dae-su of Oldboy is among the most popular antiheroes people love to cheer for. Choi Min-sik's layered performance as Dae-su is one of a kind, while the movie itself is uniquely South Korean. Park Chan-wook made Oldboy the perfect revenge movie, though it has one of the most devastating endings in cinema history.
Besides the dedicated and heavy performances by Choi, Yoo Ji-tae, and Kang Hye-jung, Oldboy is often an example of a directing masterclass, with an unforgettable long take that inspired many other filmmakers afterward.
5 'Heaven: To the Land of Happiness' (2020)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%
Inspired by the German movie Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Heaven: To the Land of Happiness sees Choi Min-sik and Park Hae-il as a terminally ill man and an ex-prisoner, respectively. The two embark on an adventure that soon becomes a search for happiness and a sort of final recluse from the struggles of life.
Though somewhat difficult, this movie is heartwarming and provides interesting takes on life. Choi and Park's chemistry as an action drama tandem is palpable; they bounce off each other perfectly, though Choi carries the film with his performance. Though this movie wasn't yet officially released, viewers and critics at numerous film festivals mainly had words of admiration for it.
4 "Chi-Hwa-Seon" (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%
Sometimes translated as Painted Fire and sometimes as Drunk on Women and Poetry, Chi-Hwa-Seon is a turbulent historical drama about the real-life painter Jang Seung-up, one of the most renowned artists of the 19th century. The story focuses on the last decade of his life when he discovers his artistic prowess and an affinity for alcohol and courtesans.
Choi Min-sik delivers the role of a hedonistic man with perfection. The movie spares no details about Jang's life, from his heavy alcoholism to developing his identity through art; he uses painting as a tool of self-discovery in the middle of a turbulent and unsure time. Chi-Hwa-Seon also focuses on the Korean state in the middle of a conflict with China and Japan.
3 'The Admiral: Roaring Currents' (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
In The Admiral: Roaring Currents, Choi Min-sik leads an incredible ensemble cast into battle. This epic drama was based on the historical Battle of Myeongnyang when the Korean Joseon navy fought the Japanese navy. The fierce and strategic Yi Sun-sin led the Korean navy, impressing his superiors with archery and leadership skills.
Choi Min-sik plays Commander Yi, accompanied by actors like Ryu Seung-ryong, Ryohei Otani, and Park Bo-gum. The Admiral is still the most-watched and highest-grossing film in South Korea, which is no surprise. It's one of the biggest epics hailing from the country and one of the best and most exciting depictions of real-life events.
2 'The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale' (2015)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
Another historical epic about the Joseon period, The Tiger, is a thrilling action drama that Choi Min-sik easily carries. This story takes the Japanese occupation of Korea as the undertone for the hunt for a great tiger, but the story is essentially simple. Man-duk (Choi) is a revered hunter who spared a giant one-eyed tiger while still a cub years ago.
Now that the Japanese army is ever present in Korea, they wish to hunt down the one-eyed tiger and end his reign of the territory. Man-duk reluctantly joins the hunt, becoming a legend in the making. The Tiger is a visually incredible piece about history, the fight for dominance, and freedom.
1 'Nameless Gangster' (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
A couple of legendary South Korean actors, Choi Min-sik and Ha Jung-woo, join forces in Nameless Gangster and deliver exceptional performances as Busan's most prominent crime lords of the 1980s and 1990s. They star as Choi Ik-hyun, a small-time customs officer on the take, and Choi Hyung-bae, a dishonest salesman. They bond over their last name and come together to run a large corruption ring.
This movie reflects the state of affairs on the southern coast of Korea when Busan was the prime location for gangsters. Much like The Drug King with Song Kang-ho, Nameless Gangster follows the rise and fall of some shady characters that somehow end up charming. That might be due to Choi and Ha being charismatic leads, making their likability palpable.