The Grand Heist ~ It’s Grand If You Steal From the Bad Guy

“The Grand Heist” is a 2012 Korean film, categorized as Action, Romance, Comedy, Historical Fiction, and Costume and Period Drama; available on many popular free streaming platforms. The title’s literal translation is “Gone With the Wind”.

♦ To Pull Off a Heist You Need a Great Team!

In “The Grand Heist”, it’s 18th century Joseon and during this time, ice is as valuable as gold and it is harvested from frozen rivers. There are strict laws governing how laborers are to be treated, how people can receive the ice, etc. After the ice is harvested it is placed in royal storage and distributed throughout the year. Ice is so valuable there are even guards to protect both laborers and the ice and to enforce the laws. They even have guards. Baek Dong-soo, a trained soldier and chief guard of the royal ice storage.

Of course, whenever a commodity is valuable and there are laws regarding its distribution there are always thieves. In this instance, it’s a corrupt nobleman who wants to have exclusive rights to all of the ice. The corrupt nobleman figured out a way to have Baek Dong-soo ousted from his position as the chief guard because his diligence in carrying out his duties was interfering with the nobleman’s criminal operations.

Duk-Moo is the illegitimate son of a nobleman and is not allowed to have a government position because his mother is a concubine and not a lawful wife. Instead, he works as a bookseller. Duk-Moo’s father is the public officer in charge of the “Seobinggo” (ice warehouse). He also needed to be removed from that position because by doing his job, he was interfering with the corrupt nobleman’s control over the ice distribution process. By having control of the ice distribution he could violate labor laws and make laborers work under oppressive conditions. He could also control the price of the ice and make the commodity extremely expensive. Both Baek Dong-soo and Duk-Moo’s father were ousted from their positions and exiled.

A group of thieves know the laws are already being violated so they decided to steal ice blocks from the royal storage. But there is more than just ice in the royal ice storage. There are important documents related to the royalty and the successors to the throne and also great wealth. To successfully pull off a heist, there’s always a mastermind. The genius behind the idea for “The Grand Heist” is Duk-Moo. He recruited Baek Dong-soo and the other members of the team.

For this particular mission, there was a genius behind the genius, Jang Soo-Gyun. He advised Duk-Moo because he knew people who were experts in performing certain tasks and he knew a lot about the dealings of the nobility and royalty – their crooked and righteous ways.

Main Characters:

• Duk-Moo (played by Cha Tae-Hyun, “Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds”, “Brain Works”, “Police University”)
• Baek Dong-soo (played by Oh Ji-ho, “Chuno (Slave Hunters)”
• Jang Soo-Gyun (played by Sung Dong-Il, “RV: Resurrected Victims”, “Miss Granny”, “Han River Police”, “Ghost Doctor”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 6.2 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.8 out of 10 stars
• Letterboxd: 3 out of 5 stars
• Amazon customers rated this film 4.5 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is 8 out of 10 stars.

One reviewer described “The Grand Heist” as “Mission: Impossible meets Ocean’s Eleven”. I agree. That’s an accurate description.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

KDrama Review: The Grand Heist | Deceptively Blonde

The Grand Heist (South Korea, 2012) – Review | AsianMovieWeb

History, comedy, icy chill meet in ‘The Grand Heist’ | The Korea Times

‘The Grand Heist’ 2nd top-selling homegrown film for 2012 | The Korea Times

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

AsianCrush. “The Grand Heist | Official Trailer [HD] | Korean Period Heist Action.” YouTube Video. YouTube, August 21, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oZfiHFiYZ4.