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Tae Guk Gi - The Brotherhood of War Editorial Review:
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 cost. In the searing crucible of battle, fate intervenes, forcing their bonds of faith, love and trust to be tested time and again in this suspense-filled, action-packed war drama.
Customer Reviews:
The Time When Korea Was Dividing Itself
I'm no war buff, but I know a good war film when I see one. Full Metal Jacket, Das Boot, and The Thin Red Line are a few that I truly admire, and while Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War is somewhere near the bottom of my list of favorites, it is still a surprisingly good war film. It's set during the Korean War, and it shows how it affects the lives of two brothers (and the people around them) as they are forced to join the infantry and fight against their enemies. As a Korean myself, I was deeply moved by this movie. It not only shows some gut-wrenching violent content, but also the chaos that Korea and its people experienced before it was officially divided. It reminded me of all the sacrifices made to keep Korea away from communism, and while it wasn't a complete success, I'm still thankful that one half is not subjected to communism. Like many other war films, this is a dark & brooding film, and it should not be watched with an empty stomach. If you love Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Saving Private Ryan, and Das Boot, then you will no doubt love this one.
Grade: A-
Probably one of the best films on the Korean War
THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR (2004) Directed by Je-Gyu Kang.
Two Korean brothers---one a rough house, the other an intellectual, are drafted and sent to the front when the Communists invade South Korea in 1950. There---in what is basically the plot of CITY FOR CONQUEST---the tough brother becomes an efficient and ruthless soldier so he can get his brother sent home so he can learn to play the piano.....ah...go to college and become a writer. Unfortunately the tough brother has no understanding nor cares about the issues at stake and when he believes that his brother has been killed by a wicked South Korean general, he joins the Reds so he can now kill South Koreans. However his brother is not dead and.............
The Korean War told from the point of view of the Koreans. A violent yet well done film about that war.......and possibly one of the best of the few made on the subject. The film covers the period from the initial invasion to the beginning of the stalemate period when it became a series of bloody battles for hills. There is CGI but it is not too appalling. The equipment is very nice and the history is pretty good. The film was probably made by a liberal who would not dare portray the North Koreans and Chinese in a positive light however much he may have wanted to---and they are rat bastards here---so he steals from Oliver Stone and also portrays Anti-Communists as being murderous too with only sensitive intellectual types like the brother being wise and good.
Still it is only a mild prostitution to assure positive reviews and overall this is a good and moving film.
Recommended.
Good stuff, but overwrought
Tae Guk Gi started off well enough, introducing us to a story of two brothers and their family and the effects the Korean War had on them. The action is good too; it brings up situations that you don't usually see in war movies. What causes the movie to unravel is the melodrama. It's piled on like so much syrup, and the film buckles under the weight as it plays out. It's like the battle around them ignores their personal dealings so the characters can put on a show! If anyone saw them hugging out there on the field, someone would just shoot them both and keep running! It started ok, but then twisted into an action movie instead of a war movie. By the end, it was less a respectable war film and more like Pearl Harbor! The sappy drama and music had me laughing by the end!
Don't get me wrong, this story could have made a great movie, and it gets credit for being one of the few about the Korean War. But if a war movie unintentionally makes you laugh, it's not that good.
A great war film. Definitely worth seeing.
War films are very personal and always subjective. Naturally, Americans will have more interest in watching films about Americans fighting in a war. That doesn't mean, however, that foreign war films such as this don't offer a perspective that Americans can't identify with. This is a great war movie by any standards. Although Koreans will undoubtedly find this movie most compelling, it also offers much to other nationalities and cultures.
In addition to vicious and realistic battle sequences, this movie, perhaps unintentionally, provides deep insights into the core Korean values of family and education. The movie is about two brothers. The older brother willingly sacrifices himself (both economic opportunities and his own life) for the sake of his younger brother. The older brother is most proud of his younger brother's accomplishments in school, where he is an excellent student. Towards the end of the movie, the last lines are about going to school and finishing education even when Korea has been decimated and people have nothing left to eat or roofs over their head.
One oversight of this movie is it leaves no mention of the heroic American sacrifices in the Korean war. Over 36,000 Americans gave their lives in that horrible and brutal war. 137,000 South Korean soldiers also gave their lives. I felt the American involvement and sacrifices deserved at least a few lines of recognition and respect. But this movie was created when George W Bush, who was the most hated man in the world, was the US President.
This movie will leave you in tears. The music is very touching and so right for this film. The production budget for this film rivaled many Hollywood films and was highest in Korean cinematic history. This movie easily falls into one of all time best Korean films.
Fantasic war movie - one of the best!
I had heard nothing about this movie before watching it - in fact, only renting because it looked like it may have had some good action scenes. This movie blew me away! Everything, from the characters to the storyline to the action was absolutely outstanding. In particular, I was amazed at how well the action scenes were put together and how realistic they were. The war scenes were truly masterpieces!
Beyond the battles though, this movie did an outstanding job of capturing the horror and internal strife the Korean war caused for Koreans. My only complaint was that the young brother could be exceedingly annoying, and in a total war like Korea was, his misguided optomism could have had deadly consequences.
Other than that, this movie is definitely one of the top 5 war movies around!
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