Titreenp
SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
designertjp
Hi! In case you haven't read up on your World History, we're still at war with North Korea. We basically signed an Armistice Treaty, back in 1953 to stop shooting each other point blank in the face and on the news of current events. This Instant Classic War Movie, TAE GUK GI (The Brotherhood of War) succeeds in showing us the "true grit" of what urban open head exploding (like watermelons) street by street warfare looks like. Directed by Kang Je-Gyu, this bullet loud numbing graphic war celluloid piece freely tells a heavy one sided story from a South Korean point of view (the North Communists are seen mainly as a small but evil empire). I'm painfully reminded (as an American), in the major scene where the Chinese Army joins the bloody fray with North Korea, that this force multitude of hundreds of red enemy assailants scouring over a hill like army ants, must have been dead similar to what the lone guard Brave Texans (standing tall next to the likes of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie) saw coming at them while defending The Alamo in 1836 against Gen. Santa Ana's 3000 plus Army.TAE GUK GI focuses it's blood smeared camera lens on two Brothers Jin Tae and Lee Jin Seok. One struggles to maintain his humanity and sense of universal justice, in the midst of battle, while the other Brother mentally transforms himself into a fear-no-bullet "Super Saiyan" (like Dragon Ball Z) on the battlefield, in a desperate bold plan to get his younger Brother sent home early (to help survive the Family Name). Other talented Supporting Characters "fly in and fly out" like rice thrown in your face, but they stick in your memory, with their longing eyes, funny remarks, and cold blooded commanders. The Mom, the Wife to be, the soldier comrades, the wry weary Captains, and the Kids, all evolve and revolve around the two South Korean Brothers.On a technical military note, it was interesting to see propeller driven Pre-Jet Age Allied Aircraft "raining down death" with their WWII mounted machine guns (probably still oiled up from fighting the Japanese approx 5 years earlier). And you don't even see the American Allied Army until 2/3rds into the action. What we're fed here is a steady dose of humane mental anguish and desperation to stay sane while absorbing the fateful costs of hunger forced made decisions. All of which bring us to today's Armistice with North Korea. We still look at each other, everyday, with loaded modern guns on each side of a barbed wire fence at the 38th Parallel. How many lives would change, in this generation, between Brothers, Family, and Friends, if one side decides to "open fire" all over again?
gauravmehrotra-hbti
A movie definitely much much better than Forest Gump, Saving Private Ryan and all the other common plays. It engraves all types of emotions of human behavior in a time span of 140 minutes. a totally unpredictable climax with more than exceptional acting esp. from Jin Tae... One completely watching this movie would definitely find himself cleaning tears by the end... Just awesome awesome the best... 10/10 All the incidents are so perfectly interlinked that each has a hidden message as the movie passes. The consequences of crucial signing of the Communist registration by the actress to get a handful of barley really brings tears through the climax..
macrossmanic
I've seen my share of Korean movies and they are in general quite slick and enjoyable. If you are expecting a realistic depiction of the Korean War, you will probably be disappointed by Taegukgi. From the 8.2 rating is seems that some people really enjoy this movie, so I better explain myself. The movie is competent technically, and the fighting scenes are well done. But the story is where it falls short. If you are used to more realistic war movies such as "A Bridge Too Far", then Taegukgi will appear cartoonish and contrived. I am not a soldier, but I really can't image that people will fight like that in a war.
dylanmaunder
was a little disappointed with this movie seemed the whole movie really did turn into a rather big soap opera with rather large and ridiculous plot twists and dialog between the characters, I never felt i related to the characters in this movie a lot of there actions and lines seemed to be random and well very weird or really stupid was rather hard taking the movie seriously when plot twists or fuides happen out of the blue or with no provocation. i do admit i am Australian and watched with movie with subtitals so maybe they stuffed up the translation along the way but i felt the story should have been told better. How ever i do feel combat was rather well done and executed well and was realistic, lot of holly wood movies have every one standing shoulder to shoulder to all fit of screen, well that just does not happen, "yes that right shoulder to shoulder now smile for the machine gunner and wait for the flash that it!!".I would recommend the other South koran film the front line, writing was there and action was also top notch