The Good, the Bad, the Weird is a 2008 South Korean Western action film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Kim Jee-woon, and starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung. The film is an homage to the 1966 Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and is set in Japanese-occupied Manchuria during the late 1930s.

Plot

In the desert wilderness of Manchuria in 1939, months before the beginning of the Second World War. Park Chang-yi, "The Bad"—a bandit and hitman—is hired to acquire a treasure map from a Japanese official traveling by train. Before he can get it however, Yoon Tae-goo, "The Weird"—a thief—steals the map and is caught up in the Bad's hijacking of the train. This involves the slaughter of the Japanese and Manchurian guards and various civilians. Park Do-won, "The Good"—an eagle-eyed bounty hunter—appears on the scene to claim the bounty on Chang-yi. Meanwhile, Tae-goo escapes, eluding his Good and Bad pursuers. A fourth force—a group of Manchurian bandits—also wants the map to be sold at the Ghost Market. Tae-goo hopes to uncover the map's secrets and recover what he believes is gold and riches buried by the Qing dynasty just before the collapse of their government. As the story continues, an escalating battle for the map occurs, with bounties placed on heads and the Imperial Japanese Army racing to reclaim its map as it can apparently "save the Japanese Empire".