GI Joe: Retaliation’s Australian Premiere with Lee Byunghun

As the Autumn chill took hold, Sydney had a special treat with some hot stars flying down for the Australian premiere of “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” at George Street, Event Cinemas. This famous venue will be the location for this years Sydney leg of the Korean Film Festival, KOFFIA and was a buzz with the red carpet laid out for GI Joe. Among the cast in attendance was Korea’s very own Lee Byunghun, who reprised his role as Storm Shadow from “G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra”. 

We managed to catch up with Lee Byunghun, and he tells us that he was honoured to be able to play Storm Shadow again, and thankful that his character survived the 1st film! Check it out below. 

Lee Byunghun says hello to his Aussie fans!

We were just as grateful to see him star in such a Hollywood blockbuster film that we wanted to share it with our fans. We had a competition to win double passes to the red carpet and premiere for 20 lucky hopefuls. We asked ‘What is your favourite Lee Byung-hun film and why?’ with the favourites being 2005 film “A Bittersweet Life” and the 2009 drama/film “IRIS”. 

Don't mess with these guys!

Many enthusiastic entries praised Lee Byunghun for his versatility in not only action but also drama, comedy and romance; especially when he isn’t always playing the good looking hero… but the good looking bad guy! Read on below to hear about some of their experiences, including getting to meet the man himself!

Edward with the GI Joe team

Winner Edward seemed to have a great night out on the red carpet. See above and below for some images of his experience, where he got to be a part of the GI Joe team and got a nice close-up shot of LBH below! 

Star spotting!

Thanks to Anthony for sharing this quick video of Lee Byunghun inside Event Cinemas, we completely agree with you Anthony! Unable to contain his excitement, Anthony started yelling complements at LBH ... there's nothing wrong with that! 

“Lee Byunghun is handsome” 

Winners J. Lyn and Sussan shared their experiences with us via their blogs, both had a chance to get up close to Lee Byunghun, the man who can induce girls to faint with a simple smile. The lucky girls were able to take some snaps with the star, receive his autograph and were left speechless! 

Sussan with LBH

Sussan was starstruck to find that Lee Byunghun somehow surfaced in front of her while she was waiting, and then saw that Dwayne Johnson ‘The Rock’ was also behind her! And as for J. Lyn, “So anyway, the movie started and I was still up on cloud nine, replaying that scene all over my head - again and again”, we hope you didn’t miss anything vital in the intro! ;) 

Personal Autograph

We are so happy that we made many dreams come true for fans to be able to meet the popular Lee Byunghun, a top actor in Korea well-known for films such as: “Joint Security Area” (2000), “A Bittersweet Life” (2005), “The Good, the Bad, the Weird” (2008) and “I Saw the Devil” (2010) and dramas: “All In” (2003) and “IRIS” (2009).

The winners of our competition had a fantastic time watching the film and seeing the director and cast arrive for the red carpet, as well as relaxing pre-film in the lobby with a live DJ and champagne. Before the film began, viewers were able to see director Jon Chu introduce the cast members (D.J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki, Lee Byunghun and Dwayne Johnson) on stage. 

 

Finally, KOFFIA's Artistic Director Kieran Tully spent a few minutes with Lee Byung-hun, and managed to get some signed goodies for you guys to win! From DVDs to Cinema on the Park T-Shirts, look out for competitions on our social media sites on the future to see how you can win!

Visit Cinema on the Park to find out how to win a shirt of your own!

Here's to more great Korean film content in the future. Follow us on facebook and twitter for more exciting updates in the future. KOFFIA Fighting!