Tough as Iron

Gang Cheol (whose name means "iron" in Korean{{cite magazine |last=Lowe |first=Justin |title=Tough as Iron: Film Review |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/tough-as-iron-film-review-648559 |access-date=17 May 2015 |date=15 October 2013}}) was once a legendary street gangster in Busan,{{cite news |last=Song |first=Soon-jin |title=Busan Films on the Rise |website=Korean Film Biz Zone |url=http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/news/features.jsp?blbdComCd=601024&mode=FEATURES_VIEW&seq=244 |access-date=17 May 2015 |date=20 January 2014}} but he put away his fists and cleaned up his act for the sake of his mother Soon-i, who has dementia. Things are going well for him; he now works as a stevedore at a loading dock and is pursuing a relationship with Soo-ji, a free-spirited woman from Seoul vacationing in the port city. But Soon-i is diagnosed with kidney failure and needs an expensive organ transplant that he cannot afford. Knowing that Cheol is desperate for money, local gang leader Sang-gon proposes that Cheol come work for him and his brother Hwi-gon. At first Cheol refuses, but when his debt-ridden best friend Jong-soo gives the deed to Cheol's house to Sang-gon as collateral for a private loan, he's left with no choice but to get dragged back into Busan's criminal underworld. Cheol is ordered to kill a visiting Japanese Yakuza boss whose death will enable Sang-gon's ascension within the Korean branch of the mob organization.

• Yoo Ah-in as Gang Cheol
• Kim Hae-sook as Kim Soon-i
• Kim Jung-tae as Sang-gon
• Kim Sung-oh as Hwi-gon
• Jung Yu-mi as Jo Soo-ji
• Lee Si-eon as Jong-soo
• Shin Jung-geun as Yagami
• Bae Seul-ki as Go Jae-sook
• Jang Tae-sung as Lee Byeong-hee
• Kim Byeong-seo as Poloti
• Kim Seo-kyeong as Chyurining
• Choi Young-sung as Adidas
• Song Young-chang as Hwan-gyu
• Kim Hyun-sook as Organ broker
• Go In-beom as Police substation captain
• Lee Jeong-heon as Director of internal medicine department

Tough as Iron opened in South Korean theaters on October 2, 2013.{{cite web |title=Tough as Iron (2013) |website=The Chosun Ilbo |url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/10/04/2013100401266.html |access-date=17 May 2015 |date=4 October 2013}} It grossed {{USD|7,889,145}} on 1,209,363 admissions.

It also received a limited theatrical release in the United States (October 11, 2013) and Japan (May 2014).{{cite news |last=Conran |first=Pierce |title=TOUGH AS IRON Set for US Bow |website=Korean Film Biz Zone |url=http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/news/news.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=2704 |access-date=17 May 2015 |date=5 October 2013}}{{cite news |last=Jin |first=Eun-soo |title=Tough as Iron to get Japan release |newspaper=Korea JoongAng Daily |url=http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2984897 |access-date=17 May 2015 |date=14 February 2014}}{{cite news |last=Conran |first=Pierce |title=TOUGH AS IRON Heading to Japan |website=Korean Film Biz Zone |url=http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/news/news.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=2926 |access-date=17 May 2015 |date=19 February 2014}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Official website|http://kangchul.interest.me/}} {{in lang|ko}}
• [http://cj-entertainment.com/movies/130823-001/tough-as-iron Tough as Iron] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324033116/http://cj-entertainment.com/movies/130823-001/tough-as-iron/ |date=2016-03-24 }} at CJ Entertainment
• {{kmdb film|13498|Tough as Iron}}
• {{IMDb title|3153628|Tough as Iron}}
• {{hancinema film|Tough_as_Iron|Tough as Iron}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tough as Iron}}

Category:2013 films

Category:2010s Korean-language films

Category:South Korean action drama films

Category:Yakuza films

Category:2010s Japanese films

Category:2010s South Korean films