The Thieves

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The Thieves

Released Oct 12, 2012

2h 16m

Action

Crime

Drama

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71%

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14 Reviews

71%

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1,000+ Ratings

A cat burglar (Lee Jung-jae) and his gang are hired by a devious former partner (Kim Yoon-seok) to steal a $20 million diamond from a Chinese gangster's mistress.

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Anton Bitel

Sight & Sound

it's all very slickly realised... but the sheer number of mood swings, double crosses and narrative twists eventually becomes exhausting, while making it impossible to engage with the protean players or to care much who eventually comes up diamonds.

Nov 30, 2012

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Steve Macfarlane

Slant Magazine

A dazzling heist film that can't help but come off as duly influenced by Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy, South Korea's number one box-office champ of all time is never less than clever.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 12, 2012

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Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

"The Thieves" carves its own niche with moments of romance and stylish mayhem mixed with a more emotionally conflicted, winner-take-all sensibility than its American brethren.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 12, 2012

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... Asia’s answer to the Ocean’s films, a sleek, snappy heist movie with plenty of working parts, eccentric personalities, and convoluted plotlines complicated even more by a confusing flashback structure ...

Sep 8, 2023

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Jae-Ha Kim

Jae-Ha Kim (Substack)

A blockbuster hit in Korea, it reunites Jun Ji- Hyun and Lee Jung-Jae, who had previously shared the big screen in “Il Mare” — the 2000 film that was later remade as “The Lake House” with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.

Rated: 2/4

Jul 31, 2023

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CJ Sheu

The News Lens International

The heist film peaked with Choi Dong-hoon’s The Thieves (도둑들), released ten years ago this month.

Dec 2, 2022

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Steve C

Airplane movie. Not bad.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/25/23

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Dick C

Choi Dong-hoon as director and co-writer with Lee Ki-cheol makes this motion picture, The Thieves, 2012 as his highest box office film... The casting is strong, including Korean actors and actresses, Kim Yoon-seok, Lee Jung-jae, Kim Hye-soo, Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun with excellent actors and actress, Simon Yam and Derek Tsang with Angelica Lee...

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/01/22

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Audience Member

The best Korean movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

Between 2.5 and 3 stars. Characters are very charismatic, but plot becomes a little anarchic, or that was my impression.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

A little hard to follow initially. Watching it a second or third time made it even more enjoyable. I'll definitely watch it a fourth time!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

There's a lot to like about this elaborate and fun heist movie from South Korea, though its screenplay and execution do lack polish at different times throughout.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Choi Dong-hoon

Director

Kim Yoon-seok

Macao Park

Kim Hye-soo

Pepsee

Lee Jung-jae

Popie

Jun Ji-hyun

Yenicall

Simon Yam

Chen

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Synopsis

A cat burglar (Lee Jung-jae) and his gang are hired by a devious former partner (Kim Yoon-seok) to steal a $20 million diamond from a Chinese gangster's mistress.

Director: Choi Dong-hoon
Producer: Ahn Suhyeon, Lee Ja-jun
Screenwriter: Lee Ki-cheol, Choi Dong-hoon
Distributor: Well Go USA Entertainment
Production Co: Legendary Entertainment International (LEI), Korea Image Investment & Development Company Ltd., Sega Sammy Group, Industrial Bank of Korea, Company K Partners Contents Investment Fund, Prosperity Pictures, Hanwha Entertainment Fund No. 1, Showbox/Mediaplex, CJ E&M Pictures, Sovik Global Contents Fund, ISU Venture Capital, CJ Venture Investment, Hansol Venture Capital, Bakugan Zoobles Comics, Miracin Korea Film Company, Boram Entertainment, CJ E&M Film Financing & Investment Entertainment & Comics, Seoul Guarantee Insurance Company, KM Culture Co., Michigan Venture Capital, Sega Sammy Entertainment, Frontier Works Comic, Munhwa Broadcasting Company, KT Alpha, KTB Network, Caper Film
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Original Language: Korean
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 12, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $137.0K
Runtime: 2h 16m

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