Set in Manchuria in the 1930's, The Good, the Bad, the Weird takes Japanese colonialism and puts a Western spin to it, creating a story line that is action-packed, comedic, and symbolic and making the references to Korean-Japanese tensions more subtle than in previous films we have watched. In the film there are constant battle scenes, scenes of people running/driving/riding away, close up shots of faces in suspenseful moments waiting for something to happen. I found that this continuous stimulation distracted from the undertones of Japanese colonialism. It isn't until the second half of the movie, when everything starts falling apart, that we learn the intentions of all the different parties for the map, the Japanese Army Captain suddenly reveals that the treasure is their last resort to fund the war, the Koreans claim they must destroy the map before the Japanese get to it, and all of a sudden there is a race between all the separate groups. Because this was the first point at which the film clearly distinguishes the characters based on nationalities and intentions, it gave the impression that the crimes committed up until that point were not as serious. For example, Yoon Tae-goo being a thief is portrayed more as comedic than criminal, his fight scenes are often funny with upbeat music playing in the background. This type of filming evoked a sense of sympathy for him, and those he worked with, even though they were committing crimes and Tae-goo isn't even a committed independence supporter. However, the Japanese are constantly shown as "bad" along with Park Chang-yi which makes it seem like no act could be as evil as the Japanese.

In relation to "Escape", The Good, the Bad, the Weird, when referring to the lifestyle of Koreans in Manchuria and Korea at the time, bases a lot of the discussion on land ownership. In the film when discussing what they would do with the treasure, Park Do-won asks Yoon Tae-goo why he would want to buy land if that land has been stolen, to which Tae-goo responds that for "folks like us, it's the same living under the nobility and the Japanese." In "Escape" Choe Haksung claims "there was no free land", he couldn't get any unless he rented it from the Chinese. It is clear in both cases that during this period, owning land was associated with freedom and autonomy, the ability to live not based on dependence of a higher power.