Description
In the powerful tradition of Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers comes this box-office hit from Korea.From the director of Shiri comes the epic tale of two brothers. Jin-tae, a shoemaker, has worked tirelessly to provide money for the younger Jin-seok to go to college. But each of their hopes and dreams are shattered when both are forced to join the army against their will. Torn away from home and family, Jin-tae vows to protect Jin-seok despite the dangers–and the c… More >>
This is possibly one of the cheapest knockoffs of “Saving Private Ryan.” It copies what Spielberg perfected, but takes it to another level that it becomes completely pretentious and fake. The shaky camera movement during the battle scenes do not feel genuine. Instead, the director enhances it as if to suggest that Spielberg’s war was not real or brutal enough. This is possibly one of the worst war films I have ever seen.
Rating: 1 / 5
Well, for those of you do not know what Tae Guk Gi means, it is basically the name for the South Korean flag. Its stupid how they had to change the title to the brotherhood of war. Anyways, this movie is alrite, its not that great. With the innaccuracy, this movie doesnt present a good movie, but the overwhelming drama, its kind of makes up for the inaccuracy of the movie. Along with Jang dong goon, and Won bin, this movie is alrite and i did enjoy some parts of the movie. Other then that, the ending quite reminds me of SPR (Saving private Ryan). By the way, next time you watch a korean movie about the past times, please notice the accuracy of the movie based on history. This movie wasnt made for history, but purely for entertainment. plus, when people get shot in this movie, they tend to move that if they were cazy or if there in a shock then they fall down, still moving crazy.
Rating: 3 / 5
This isn’t a review of the entire movie – just the first 45 minutes or so. That was my limit for this (almost) comically earnest tale of brotherly love and heroism. For those who suggest that there’s no such thing as overacting in Korea, please.
Interested in much better acted (and more intelligent) somewhat recent Korean films? Try Chunhyang (2000), or The Host (2006).
Rating: 2 / 5
I had great expectations for this film and although it was a nice try it can not be compared with Spielberg’s masterpiece. The film is full of action and is very realistic from the point of costumes and weapons used but the battles are pictured like a hailstorm of violence where nobody can see a thing. The story is good with a little over-reacting in some cases. It is really unbelievable that new directors have learned nothing from “Saving Private Ryan” and have not attempted to use the same tricks and effects which were very simple but genious.
Rating: 3 / 5
Before I launch into what is going to be a very harsh review, I want to say that I DO understand how this movie did so spectacularly well at the Korean box office. The Korean War ripped entire families apart and anything with such deep patriotic themes is bound to be successful. It would be as if someone made a movie about 9-11. No matter how bad the movie is, people will flock to see it. It will be that mental and emotional connection that people will identify with and weep to.
So this review in no way discounts what may be your emotional connection to the war.
Kang Je Kyu (SHIRI) has been described as the Korean Spielberg in many Western reviews of this film. The parallels between TAEGUKGI and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN have been beaten to death.
I must STRONGLY disagree with this assessment though.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN was bookended by two extremely well shot and edited war sequences that were graphic and raw and shocked audiences with their realistic depiction of war. They were effective because they plunged you into the war-as-hell motif from the get go and also reminded you at the end of the brutality and the randomness of death. In between, there was 2 hours of character development, so that when you finally get to the second battle scene, you care about the characters so that the war becomes not just raw, but also suspense inducing because of the initial setup.
(for the record, I was not a fan of SPR…I did not think that apart from the 2 battle sequences, that it was an effective film, but I do understand what Spielberg was trying to do).
With TAEGUKGI, you get the complete opposite.
We start off with an approximate 10 minute sequence that introduces us to the characters. We meet the current day Jin Seok, who is summoned to a Korean War site to identify items found. Then we are in the idylllic 1950’s Seoul and we meet Jin Tae (played woodenly by Jang Dong Gun), who shines shoes and forewent his education for the sake of his younger brother, Jin Seok’s schooling(another one-note performance from current flavor-of-the-week Won Bin). We also meet Jin Tae’s fiancee, Young Shin (Lee Eun Ju, in about 7 minutes of total movie screentime).
These opening scenes are somewhat charming as we see the love between the 2 brothers and the sets are really good. The actor who played the older Jin Seok is also very touching.
However, the movie quickly falls apart after the brothers are separated from their family.
We are “treated” to battle after battle as Jin Tae tries to protect his younger brother, who has a heart condition, from the war. This one-man Rambo takes on entire SQUADRONS in kamikaze missions in order to win the coveted Hero’s Medal so that he can send his younger sibling home.
This goes on for about, oh I don’t know, TWO HOURS. Relentless battles are really boring. And especially when they are all filmed with handhelds, resulting in myopic seizure since the screen is constantly shaking.
In between battles, there will be maybe 5 seconds of real dialogue, which was badly written and cliched as well as badly acted.
I swear, I groaned everytime a character said “let’s go fight them!” And the culmination was a really REALLY ridiculous Jang Dong Gun (why is this actor so famous? HE CAN’T ACT!) with a pointy beard and all, fighting on the side of the North Koreans. To further demonize the North Koreans, his eyeballs are rolled to the back of his head, ala THE EXORCIST. You *really* expect his head to start spinning…I kid you not.
There is absolutely no characterization or motivation for these characters. Scenes are dropped in and characters take actions that leave you scratching your head in confusion.
Now, why would I give this movie 2 stars out of 5? Isn’t that a bit generous considering what I just said?
The extra star comes from the last scenes, when the present day Jin Seok returns to the site and realizes that his brother died on the battlefield long ago and was not actually alive in North Korea. There is a very very powerful scene in which all the pain and anguish of the families who have lost members due to the separation of North and South Korea comes full circle. This scene was like something out of a better movie and for this and only this, am I awarding the extra star.
This movie is important for all Koreans and Korean Americans to see because it supports the Korean film industry and with the US limited release, if there is enough support, there will be a much better chance of BETTER movies being ported over to a wider audience.
However, this movie, is one from a cinematic POV, that I cannot recommend.
Rating: 2 / 5