Epic war drama

Rating: 8/10 (25 February 2020)

June 1950. A Seoul family's peaceful existence is shattered by North Korea's attack on the South and the commencement of the Korean War. The family's two sons, Jin-tae and Jin-seok, are conscripted and end up in the same unit. The older brother, Jin-tae, makes it his mission to ensure his brother survives the war, even if it means putting himself in harm's way. Over time Jin-tae becomes more aggressive and brutal, creating a distance between himself and the timid Jin-seok.
Epic war-drama, showing several months in the lives of men fighting on the front line. Even more epic when you consider the after-plot, set 50 years later! Shows how war changes people and how it's not for the faint-hearted.
Great battle scenes: very grittily shown (i.e. Saving Private Ryan level of realism) plus capturing the perfect confusion and disorientation that is hand-to-hand combat.
The film also shows well the effect war has on families and communities, the paranoia that war fosters and the inevitable casualties.
Not perfect though. The motivations of the two brothers aren't consistent through time and the whole winning-a-medal-to-get-his-brother-home thing seemed very contrived and implausible. Moreover, the younger brother's blaming every death of a colleague a close friend on his brother got irritating very quickly. His general whineyness and timidness (to the point of cowardice) were pretty annoying.
Dialogue is a bit weak too at times, favouring the gung ho variety. Many of the minor actors also over-act, amplifying the gung ho-ness in some scenes.
Still, an engrossing and entertaining movie.