Film

The Outlaws

Name: The Outlaws
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Released: 2017
Cast: Don Lee, Yoon Kye-sang, Jo Jae-yun, Choi Gwi-hwa, Im Hyung-jun

Crime
Action
Relentless

A gleefully brutal South Korean action-crime thriller where a hardass cop and local gangsters form an unlikely alliance against ruthless Chinese invaders tearing through Seoul. It's a collision of styles—procedural grit meets operatic violence—anchored by Don Lee's magnetic, wrecking-ball charisma. For anyone who loved the swagger of Korean crime cinema but wants more fists and fewer speeches.

TMDb rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like crime films driven by blunt, muscular set pieces and a hard-edged cop who bends every rule in sight, with the grit of a true-story street war.

Skip it if you want subtle character work or slow-burn tension; this one is loud, brisk and happy to trade nuance for another brawl or chase.

What it asks of you: Two hours of mostly kinetic momentum, with little pause for reflection, so settle in for a steady stream of confrontations rather than a quiet, layered drama.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Handmaiden2016

A masterwork of deception and style from the same era of Korean cinema, with intricate plotting, sensual direction, and a cast that commits utterly. The craft is undeniable.

But It's a slow-burn con thriller that rewards patience more than adrenaline. Genteel pacing will feel glacial if you came for Don Lee's fists.

Deliver Us from Evil2020

Another Don Lee vehicle, equally violent and funny, where he plays a hitman hunting a serial killer. Same star, same deranged energy, same Korean crime-thriller DNA you already know you like.

But It substitutes cops-and-gangsters politics for something darker and more personal. Less about territory, more about madness.

The Night Comes For Us2018

Indonesian action cinema at its absolute peak. Intimate, brutal fight choreography that makes every punch count; a hitman's last job spirals into apocalyptic violence. Pure craft.

But The plot is skeletal. It exists as an excuse for action sequences. If you need character development between the carnage, you'll be frustrated.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Outlaws

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

City Hunter2011

Both are fundamentally about men operating outside the law because the law is corrupt. But City Hunter adds heart and consequence—it asks what vigilantism costs, beyond the next fight.

A South Korean drama that weaponizes superhero-movie plotting—a former soldier becomes an urban vigilante taking down corrupt elites. Action, humor, romance, moral complexity all woven together. The genre DNA that Hollywood eventually copied.

But It's a serialized drama, not a film. Twenty episodes means commitment. The romance subplot will seem indulgent if you only want mayhem.

Twixt2011

A Korean cop-and-gangster drama that explores the same blurred boundary between law enforcement and organized crime. Smart, morally complicated, grounded in character.

But It's methodical and cerebral where The Outlaws is feral. Slower burn by design. No Don Lee to carry you through the philosophy.

Cold Eyes2013

Korean thriller about surveillance, cat-and-mouse games between police and criminals, and the corruption that binds them. Perfectly calibrated suspense with real stakes.

But Surveillance procedurals can feel like watching work being done. Less spectacle, more methodology. Demands your full attention.

A Violent Prosecutor2016

A prosecutor willing to bend every rule to bring down the powerful. Korean legal system corruption meets fist-first justice. Direct, angry, exactly the register you want.

But It's angrier than it is fun. If you want swagger and humor mixed with violence, the tone here is more bitter.

Infernal Affairs2002

The same premise—law and criminality as two sides of the same coin, especially in Asian organized crime—but treated as tragedy instead of spectacle. Where The Outlaws finds humor and kinetic joy in the chaos, Infernal Affairs finds dread.

A Hong Kong masterpiece about a cop embedded in the triads and a triad member in the police. The moral architecture is immaculate: no one is clean, everyone is trapped. Tense, beautiful, lean.

But It's a thinking film first. The violence serves the plot, not the other way around. Philosophically heavier than The Outlaws by design.

Raging Bull1980

Both films are utterly committed to their violent protagonists as charismatic forces. Both find a kind of style and energy in male aggression without ever excusing it. The Outlaws is buoyant where Raging Bull is suffocating, but they're asking the same question: what is a man who only knows how to fight?

Scorsese's monochrome vision of a boxer who destroys everything—a man whose violence is inseparable from his character and his era. Raw, unflinching, absolutely committed to the texture of brutality and ego.

But It's a 1980 American black-and-white film about a deeply unpleasant man. If you want contemporary Korean action, this is maximally alien. No plot to follow, only damage to witness.