Has some big weaknesses but is generally and engaging and convincingly brutal war movie in the mould of Private Ryan

Rating: Null/10 (11 December 2006)

Jin-tae and his younger brother Jin-seok both look after their mother and Jin-tae's wife, with the former shining shoes to support them. However when North Korea attacks the South, the Government calls up all available men to join the war. In a sweep of the town square, Jin-seok is taken by the army. On his return to the square, Jin-tae boards the train to try and get his brother off but only succeeds in both of them being taken to the front. Jin-tae appeals to the commanding officer to send his younger brother home and, in doing so, learns that others have won the right for send another home by performing heroically and beyond the call of duty. Jin-tae decides to win his brother's freedom.
Having seen Swiri a few years ago I was already aware that Je-gyu Kang was good at taking Hollywood influences and using them within his Korean films. In this case his influence is clear and, as many others have noted is Saving Private Ryan. In both the scale of the battle scenes and in the narrative revolving around a more personal, small-scale story of brothers the film does seem to have been inspired by this Hollywood film. Others have compared it ad nauseam, seemingly without the ability to view this film on its own terms, so I will try to avoid doing the same. As its own film it is both impressive and deeply flawed. The impressive elements come in the intense battle sequences which are convincingly chaotic and filled with death. Kang has done very well to pull them off .
Ironically the weakest part of the narrative also manifests itself in the battle sequences  specifically where Jin-tae seems so invincible throughout. I know this is the point of the film but the regularity in which he survives the most intense battles and closest combat is a bit distracting. Despite this the narrative still deals with the two brothers well, seeing both of them change across the duration of the war, with the brutality and death taking its toll on them both. This is well brought out by Jang and Won, both of whom are engaging in their characters and deal with the changes well. The support cast round out the unit well and add to an ensemble feel as well as giving emotional attachments beyond the lead two.
Overall then, a solid and engaging war drama. The plot asks us to accept Jin-tae's invincibility to the point that it is not always easy to swallow, but aside from this the story works pretty well. The battle scenes are difficult to follow and the violence comes so quickly that it is hard to follow but then that is the point  for the action to be overwhelming and confusing. Not as strong as it needed to be on the story level but still an engaging war movie that will be of interest to those who liked (if that's the word) Saving Private Ryan.