Naver has had a specific movie info site at movie.naver.com for many years now. It has been my go-to resource for seeing what's playing in theaters these days, as well as movie reviews and info on nearly any movie from the past. I've long advocated its use as an authoritative place to find the Korean titles of English movies.
You're given options for downloading any reviews you left on the service, since those apparently won't be carried over to the new general searches.
Now to be fair, all the same information is there. I just don't like the way it's presented. The font and poster are too small, and not enough eye-catching prominence on the audience score.
But if I search it on the Naver Movie site, I get a list of movie titles:
What a treasure trove of titles. Here are the Korean titles, their meaning, and the actual English titles:
I love the tag line of this poster:
And from there, just click the movie you're interested in and you can be shown local showtimes and theaters. For example here are some upcoming Puss in Boots showings:
You can specify your desired locations in Naver's MY극장 settings too.
I'm logged out right now, so clearly these recommendations are not my ideals, just for the record.
Not bad. Let's hope this site stays simple and functional.
But sadly, Naver is shutting it down in favor of providing searched movie info in its normal general Naver searches.
Naver Movie site shuts down
Thus when you visit the site today, you get a pop-up alert warning you of the impending sunsetting of the service, set for March 31, 2023.
You're given options for downloading any reviews you left on the service, since those apparently won't be carried over to the new general searches.
Just for posterity, here is what the old movie.naver.com site looks like at the time of this posting, showing a carousel of popular box office hits and current showings:
When you searched for a movie, the page it brought up was a clear and informative mix of information.
For example, here I searched for the critically acclaimed and highly memorable 1995 film "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" (apparently released in 1996 in Korea).
I can see that the Korean title was "못말리는 드라큐라" or "Unstoppable Dracula" or "Dracula Out of Control". A synopsis is there, scroll down for actor profiles and trailers, and most of all I liked how the audience score was clearly highlighted with the basic cast and directors, etc.
Compare that to the layout that this info will presumably have from now on, under the current basic Naver search results:
Now to be fair, all the same information is there. I just don't like the way it's presented. The font and poster are too small, and not enough eye-catching prominence on the audience score.
Why I am sad: Losing the ease of movie title search
But those are silly complaints. What I miss is the easy ability to find similar titles in the drop-down search menu of the old site.
Let me give you an example. This movie is called 못말리는 드라큐라. Clearly this was titled during that golden era of translating English titles into Korean, before they made the horrible mistake of just transliterating most of them. That's a funny, goofy title. I wonder if other crucially important English movies were translated in this way.
If I just search 못말리는 on Naver's basic search, I get a whole list of random non-movie related results, including comic book names, snack foods, chicken restaurants, etc.
But if I search it on the Naver Movie site, I get a list of movie titles:
What a treasure trove of titles. Here are the Korean titles, their meaning, and the actual English titles:
- 못말리는 섹스 아카데미
("Unstoppable Sex Academy") - National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze - 못말리는 섹스 아카데미 2
("Unstoppable Sex Academy 2") - Dorm Daze 2 - 못말리는 결혼
("Unstoppable Marriage", Korean movie so literal title) - 못말리는 부시
("Unstoppable Bush") - Bush Wact - 못말리는 첩보원
("Unstoppable Informant") - The Man Who Knew Too Little - 못말리는 로빈 훗
("Unstoppable Robin Hood") - Robin Hood: Men In Tights - 못말리는 람보
("Unstoppable Rambo") - Hot Shots! Part Deux
What a fabulous list. I might never have known that Hot Shots Part Deux was known as "Unstoppable Rambo" in Korea if it wasn't for the movie focus of the Naver Movie search bar.
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| "Unstoppable Rambo" movie poster. Image: JR7 Evergreen's blog |
I love the tag line of this poster:
대책없는 사나이 찰리 쉰의 액션도발!
This must be the idea behind Rambo being "unstoppable." It's a kind of joke: he literally can't be stopped. Even when he's being a complete dumbass. 대책 is "countermeasures" according to the dictionary but could be a response, afterthoughts, concern for the consequences, formulating a response, dealing with, etc.
He doesn't have these thoughts or considers what he's doing. He shoots first, asks questions later. And of course 사나이 is a cool guy, badass, tough guy. He's going to provoke a high level of action right in your face, no concern for consequences! Charlie Sheen is here to kick ass and chew bubble gum and he's all out of bubble gum!
Somehow this line gets the point of the movie better than any English description could.
More on the new Integrated Naver results
Anyway, you can still see an auto-curated list of currently playing movies just by Navering "영화" (or even the English word "movie") and seeing the results:
And from there, just click the movie you're interested in and you can be shown local showtimes and theaters. For example here are some upcoming Puss in Boots showings:
You can specify your desired locations in Naver's MY극장 settings too.
I understand their purpose here. For one thing, the movie.naver.com site never had a mobile version, so it was uncomfortable to use a phone.
And more importantly, the new integrated search results will include a lot more personalized info and interactive features. Really, I think it's just a way for Naver to dig deeper into understanding you as a customer and track your interests. You can Naver for "영화추천" (movie recommendations) and it can suggest movies based on your previous choices and what kinds of genres, stars, etc you've already shown interest in.
I'm logged out right now, so clearly these recommendations are not my ideals, just for the record.
While that level of personalization might be great, I will miss the serendipity and clarity of the original Naver Movie site.
Alternative: Daum Movies
If, like me, you preferred the old Naver Movie site with its simplicity and specifics, you're in luck. The Daum Movie site still functions in basically the same way. I'll probably be using this from now on for quick title translations.
Here's an example of a search there for "Dracula dead and loving it"
Not bad. Let's hope this site stays simple and functional.
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