''Veteran'' () is a 2015

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...

written and directed by

Ryoo Seung-wan Ryoo Seung-wan (born December 15, 1973) is a South Korean film director. Early life Ryoo Seung-wan was born in 1973 in Onyang, a small town in South Chungcheong Province. With the choice of domestic films mostly limited to propaganda and hostes ...

. It drew 13.4 million admissions, making it the 5th all-time highest-grossing film in South Korean cinema history. ''Veteran'' also won the Casa Asia Award at the Sitges Film Festival.

Plot

Seo Do-cheol is a merciless

police detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

, who investigates the suicide of a truck driver named Bae, where he learns from Bae's son that Jo Tae-oh, the sadistic third-generation heir to powerful conglomerate ''Sinjin Group'' has assaulted Bae as Bae protested against the conglomerate for back-payment . Do-cheol personally begins the investigation. Threatened due to Do-cheol's interference, Tae-oh uses his influence and makes Do-cheol to handle another case. He also tries to bribe Do-cheol's wife with the help of his conglomerate's SVP Choi Dae-woong, but she refuses, where Do-cheol threatens Tae-oh after learning this. Do-cheol takes the help of a reporter to publish the news, but to no avail. Tae-oh hires a logistics contractor named Jeon to finish Do-cheol and also makes the Internal affairs to interrogate him, but is timely saved by his team leader Oh. Do-cheol escapes a murder attempt by Jeon, where a cop gets stabbed. Using the opportunity, Do-cheol and his team discover the evidence and gets approval for the investigation against Tae-oh, but Tae-oh's father and the conglomerate chairman Jo makes Dae-woong to take the blame. With his team's help, Do-cheol learns that Bae was killed after he tried to seek revenge for assaulting him, and was made it as a suicide. After inquiring Dae-woong, Do-cheol learns that Tae-oh is headed for

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Tae-oh throws a party before leaving where Tae-oh meets his former girlfriend Jeong Da-hye (who is pregnant with his child) and tries to kill her when she abuses him. Do-cheol prepares a plan where they plant a false case against Tae-oh for assaulting his girlfriend, where the cops fight with the bodyguards to arrest him. After an intense car chase, Do-cheol and Tae-oh engage in a

hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...

where despite brutal injuries, Do-cheol manages to arrest Tae-oh, who is produced for a trial at the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

along with Dae-woong and are sentenced to prison. Do-cheol recovers from his injuries in the hospital and returns back to duty.

Cast

Hwang Jung-min Hwang Jung-min (born September 1, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He is one of the highest-grossing actors in South Korea, and has starred in several box office hits such as ''Ode to My Father'' (2014), ''Veteran'' (2015), ''The Himalayas'' (2015 ...

as Seo Do-cheol *

Yoo Ah-in Yoo may refer to: * Yoo (Korean surname), also spelled Ryu or Yu, a Korean family name * YOO, the IATA code for Oshawa Airport See also * You, a pronoun {{Disambig ...

as Jo Tae-oh *

Yoo Hae-jin Yoo Hae-jin (born January 4, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Career As a child, Yoo Hae-jin would often slip in through the backdoor of a cultural center near his home to watch events that were being held there. After seeing a play in eighth gra ...

as Choi Dae-woong *

Oh Dal-su Oh Dal-su (born 15 June 1968) is a South Korean actor. Career Oh Dal-su began his acting career in theater in Busan, and since 2001 has been the head of theater company ''Singiru Manhwagyeong'' ("Mirage and Kaleidoscope"). His rich experience ...

as Team leader Oh *

Jang Yoon-ju Jang Yoon-ju (born November 7, 1980) is a South Korean model, television personality, singer-songwriter and actress. Yoon-ju began modeling in 1997 when she was 17 years old, and became one of the most successful Korean fashion models, with a c ...

as Miss Bong *

Kim Shi-hoo Kim Si-Hoo (born Kim Young-Joon on 2 January 1988) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Films Television series Awards and nominations References External links * * * * South Korean male film actors South Korean male televis ...

as Detective Yoon *Oh Dae-hwan as Detective Wang *

Jung Woong-in Jung Woong-in (; born January 20, 1971) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film * ''Drive'' (TBA) as Na Jin-soo * '' Seoul Vibe'' (Netflix Film/ 2022) as Chief Prosecutor * ''Child for Children'' (2022) as Seung-won * '' The Prison' ...

as Driver Bae *

Jung Man-sik Jung Man-sik (; born December 11, 1974) is a South Korean actor. His name is also romanized as ''Jeong Man-sik'' or ''Joung Man-sik''. Filmography Film Television series * '' Jungle Fish 2'' (KBS2, 2010) * '' Athena: Goddess of War'' (SBS, ...

as Chief Jeon *Song Young-chang as Chairman Jo *

Jin Kyung Jin Kyung (born March 27, 1972) is a South Korean actress. Career Jin made her stage debut in 1998 and spent ten years in theater, before becoming active in film and television. She won Best Supporting Actress at the 50th Baeksang Arts Award ...

as Joo-yeon *

Yoo In-young Yoo Hyo-min (born January 5, 1984), professionally known as Yoo In-young (Hangul: 유인영), is a South Korean actress. Yoo began her entertainment career as a commercial model before making her acting debut in 2005. Yoo is best known for her r ...

as Jeong Da-hye *

Park So-dam Park So-dam (born September 8, 1991) is a South Korean actress. She came into popular recognition in the 2015 film ''The Priests'' and the TV series' ''Cinderella with Four Knights'' (2016) and ''Record of Youth'' (2020). She achieved internationa ...

as "the youngest" *

Lee Dong-hwi Lee Dong-hwi (born July 22, 1985) is a South Korean actor and singer. He gained recognition through his role in the critically acclaimed television series ''Reply 1988'' (2015–2016). Lee starred in the film '' Extreme Job'' (2019), the secon ...

as Yoon Hong-ryeol *Bae Sung-woo as Used cars business owner *

Chun Ho-jin Chun Ho-jin (born September 9, 1960) is a South Korean actor. Early life Chun studied chemistry at Inha University but dropped out to pursue acting. His father Chun Gyu-deok was among the first generation of professional wrestlers in the countr ...

as Regional investigation unit senior superintendent *

Jang So-yeon Jang So-yeon (Korean:장소연; born Seo Eun-jung on 28 January 1980) is a South Korean actress. She is alumni of Sookmyung Women's University, Department of English and Chinese. She made her acting debut in 2001, since then, she has appeared i ...

as Driver Bae's wife *Kim Jae-hyeon as Driver Bae's son * Park Jong-hwan as Team leader Yang *

Uhm Tae-goo Uhm Tae-goo ( ko, 엄태구; born November 9, 1983) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his supporting roles in many critically acclaimed films, such as '' Coin Locker Girl'' (2015) and ''The Age of Shadows ''The Age of Shadows'' (; lit. ...

as Jo Tae-oh's bodyguard *Park Ji-hoon as Security manager *

Jo Yeon-hee Jo Seon-joo is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as '' One Thousand Won Lawyer'', ''Mr. Queen'', ''One the Woman'' and '' Black Dog: Being A Teacher''. She also appeared in movies ''The Houseguest and My Mother'', ...

as Contract worker *

Shin Seung-hwan Shin Seung-hwan is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Web series Television show Web shows References External links * * * Shin Seung-hwanat Daum Shin Seung-hwanat Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is ...

as Reporter Park *Yeo Ho-min as Director Kim *Lee Ye-won as Jo Tae-oh's hair stylist 2 *Park Ji-yoon as News reporter (voice) *

Ahn Gil-kang Ahn Gil-kang (born August 24, 1966) is a South Korean actor. He frequently appears as a supporting actor in director Ryoo Seung-wan's films, such as '' Die Bad'' (2000), '' Crying Fist'' (2005), ''The City of Violence'' (2006), and '' Dachimawa L ...

as Jurisdiction police chief ( cameo) *

Ma Dong-seok Ma Dong-seok (born Lee Dong-seok on March 1, 1971), also known as Don Lee, is a South Korean–American actor. With his breakout performance in '' Train to Busan'' and subsequent leading roles, he has become one of South Korea's most successful ...

as Big guy with sportswear (cameo) *

Kim Eung-soo Kim Eung-soo (; born February 12, 1961) is a South Korean actor. Kim lived in Japan for seven years, where he studied filmmaking at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image The , formerly known as the Yokohama Broadcasting Technical School, is a ...

as Adviser Jeong (cameo)

Box office

''Veteran'' opened in South Korea on August 5, 2015. It grossed () from 2.75 million admissions over its first five days of release. By November 6, it had grossed from 13,411,343 admissions and is currently the 5th all-time highest-grossing film in Korean cinema history.

Sequel

Ryoo Seung-wan and production company ''Filmmaker R&K'' confirmed that they agreed to make a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

, which was supposed to hit theaters within two to three years of announcement. It was reported that Hwang Jung-min and Oh Dal-su will reprise their roles, and actor

Jung Hae-in Jung Hae-in (born April 1, 1988) is a South Korean actor. He first made an appearance in AOA Black's music video for "Moya" in 2013 and officially debuted through the TV series ''Bride of the Century'' the next year. He gained recognition for his ...

is also being considered to succeed Yoo Ah-in as the antagonist. It began filming as ''Veteran 2'' in December 2022 with the cast of Hwang Jung-min, Oh Dal-su, Jang Yoon-ju, Oh Dae-hwan, and Kim Si-hoo.

Remake

A Chinese remake starring

Sun Honglei Sun Honglei (; born 16 August 1970) is a Chinese actor. Early life Sun was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, on 16 August 1970. Sun developed an interest in acting and performances at a young age. He often skipped school to learn breakdancing on the ...

was scheduled for release in China in 2017. Eventually, the remake ''The Big Shot'' was released in 2019 and starred

Wang Qianyuan Wang Qianyuan is a Chinese actor who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. He won Best Actor at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival for his role in the movie, ''The Piano in a Factory ''The Piano in a Factory'' () is 2010 Chine ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{Ryoo Seung-wan 2015 films 2010s crime comedy films 2015 action comedy films South Korean action comedy films South Korean crime comedy films Police detective films Films shot in Busan Films directed by Ryoo Seung-wan 2010s Korean-language films South Korean films remade in other languages CJ Entertainment films 2010s South Korean films