Similarly to many Korean stars, from actors or singers, Lee Byung-hun began his career by auditioning for the famed Korean commercial television station, KBS. He first drew attention with the action K-drama Asphalt Man and romantic film The Harmonium in My Memory, but made his breakthrough with Park Chan-wook’s film Joint Security Area.
Lee went on to star in a variety of different genres across South Korea cinema, but has also found his stride in international (mostly Hollywood) projects as well, even if he was sometimes met with racism. That said, he was one of the first South Korean actors to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. New generations of fans will likely recognize him as the Front Man in the ever-popular Netflix original series, Squid Game. Let’s take a look at Lee Buyng-hun’s best movies and TV shows, ranked.
12 Ashfall (2019)
CJ Entertainment
Ashfall, also known as Mount Paektu, is a disaster-action movie starring Lee Byung-hun, Ha Jung-woo, Ma Dong-seok, Jeon Hye-jin and Bae Suzy in the leading roles. It centers around an active volcano located on the China-North Korea border, which erupts and causes chaos all across the Korean peninsula. Lee plays the character of Lee Joon-pyeong, who is part of the Korean People’s Army in North Korea as a spy. For those who know next to nothing about Baekdusa, this movie provides a deeper dive into the geopolitical aspects of it.
11 Addicted (2002)
ShowBox
A few years later remade into an American film called Possession, Addicted is a South Korean thriller film starring Lee and his co-star Lee Mi-yeon. It focuses on two brothers Dae-jun (Lee) and Ho-jun, whose close relationship doesn’t falter even when Hojin decides to live with his wife Eun-Su. After Dae-jun falls into a coma and wakes up from it, he claims to be his brother Hojin. Although Eun-Su is skeptical at first, she slowly starts welcoming the possibility.
10 Memories of the Sword (2015)
Lotte Entertainment
For lovers of Korean romance period dramas, Memories of the Sword is the perfect choice for you. As the title suggests, the drama is heavily focused on martial arts sequences as well. It’s a story of three swordsmen: Poong-cheon, Seol-rang, and Deok-gi (Lee), who led an uprising during the Goryeo era. When Deok-Gi betrays one of his partners, a young girl sets out to revenge the betrayal and the death of her mother years later. The amazing cast does their best with what they have, especially Lee, who does an incredible job expressing emotion without saying a word.
9 Joint Security Area (2000)
Directed by Park Chan-wook and based on the novel DMZ, Joint Security Area was the highest-grossing film in Korean cinema history at the time it came out. It stars big names such as Lee Young-ae, Lee Byung-hun, and Song Kang-ho. The plot revolves around two North Korean soldiers who get killed in the Joint Security Area at a North Korean border house. When Sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok (Lee), the shooter, flees back to South Korea, he claims he killed them in self-defense. The North Koreans, on the other hand, claim it was a pre-mediated attack. The fragile relationship between the two Koreas start depending on this special investigation. In the movie, Park subtly hints at the fact that someone is benefiting from the North-South divide, but it sure is not the Korean people.
8 The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)
Marking the second collaboration between actor Lee Byung-hun and director Kim Jee-woon, and also the second time Lee and Song Kang-Ho co-star together, The Good, the Bad, the Weird is a Western action film. It is also inspired by the 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western The Good, the bad and the Ugly. Lee plays a bandit and a hitman nicknamed “The Bad,” who is hired to acquire a treasure map from a Japanese official. He clashes with two outlaws in the 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry over the treasure map begins. What makes it truly fun is that they don’t care about the time period it’s set in — situations just happen, and it works.
7 Master (2016)
Starring Lee Byung-hun, Gang Dong-won, and Kim Woo-bin in the lead roles, Master is an action crime film. The narrative centers around an intellectual crime investigation team, who goes after company One Network, which is involved in a massive fraud case. Lee plays the character of President Jin, a con man of the One Network fraud case. Lee’s conmanship is portrayed so vividly that you’ll end up wanting to throw something at your TV screen.
6 I Saw the Devil (2010)
Making its premiere in the United States at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, I Saw the Devil is an action thriller film starring Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik in the leading roles. It follows a NIS agent Kim Soo-hyun (Lee), who embarks on a revenge quest to catch a serial killer that brutally murdered his wife. It’s a violent revenge thriller which is incredibly hard to watch at times, but fantastically depicted.
5 The Man Standing Next (2020)
The Man Standing Next is a South Korean political drama directed by Woo Min-ho and starring Lee Byung-hun, Lee Sung-min, Kwak Do-won, and Lee Hee-joon. Set in 1970s Korea, it center around high ranking officials of the Korean government and the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) during the presidency of Park Chung-hee, 40 days before his assassination in 1979. Lee’s character is based on Kim Jae-gyu, who served as the eighth KCIA Director from 1976 to 1979.
4 Mr. Sunshine (2018)
tvN
As the third highest-rated drama in Korean cable television history, Mr. Sunshine stars Lee Byung-hun and Kim Tae-ri in the leading roles. Set in 1900s Hanseong (present-day Seoul), it follows activists fighting for Korea’s independence. The drama is praised for its captivating cinematography and storytelling, as well as the portrayal of strong women characters. But it has also received criticism for sticking to stereotypes, depicting Japanese characters as the villains and Americans as the heroes.
3 Three…Extremes (2005)
Lionsgate
Three…Extremes is a horror anthology film, from three different East Asian countries: China, Japan, and South Korea. The South Korean one, Cut, is directed by Park Chan-wook and stars Lee Byung-hun in the leading role as a filmmaker. The filmmaker and his wife get captured by an extra who has starred in all of his movies. They get tortured and played with because of the extra’s jealousy of the director’s wealth.
2 A Bittersweet Life (2005)
Written and directed by Kim Jee-woon, A Bittersweet Life is a neo-noir action drama film starring Lee Byung-hun as Sun-woo. His mob boss instructs Sun-Woo, the hitman, to kill his cheating mistress and her new man, but he spares their life. He then becomes the target of his own boss. It’s a complicated angsty relationship gangster tension plot-twisting ride of a tragic violence that received a standing-ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.
1 Masquerade (2012)
Last but not least, we cannon finish this article without mentioning the period drama movie Masquerade. As the ninth highest-grossing South Korean film, it swept the 49th Grand Bell Awards, winning in 15 categories. Lee Byung-hun stars in a dual role as the bizarre King Gwanghae and the humble acrobat Ha-sun, who stands in for the monarch in case he’d get poisoned by his enemies. You get easily swept up in the characters and the fast-paced story and the mystery.
