It's NOT Saving Private Ryan

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2006)

Taegukgi, a film displaying events during the Korean War, has been drawing a lot of comparisons to Saving Private Ryan, and rightfully so. However, in no way should anyone believe that this film blatantly copies or steals from Saving Private Ryan.
Obviously, the use of the shaking hand held camera is taken from Saving Private Ryan, but this is because Ryan's trend setting use of the camera style became the new wait to exhibit realism in a War film. Just as the CGI boom and certain action styles was seen in many action after the Matrix and other films, without using the hand held camera, the audience won't believe in the film. Also, people cite the use of gore and violence is too similar to Saving Private Ryan. But, the director of Taegukgi often makes violent action films. And, did Saving Private Ryan establish that warfare was a violent and bloody event? I don't think so.
Instead, Taegukgi does something which Hollywood War films often do not. The great character development and story of the two brothers and their family is above and beyond any Hollywood character development. Yes, we know the characters in Saving Private Ryan, but the direct statement of the film is the importance of the mission. We learn snippets about the lives of each soldier, but they could be any fill-in, really. In classical War films, each platoon was always filled with someone from the "big city" (New York), small town America and a minority character (usually either Jewish or Hispanic). Hollywood still does this, although not at the same degree. But, Taegukgi is really a film about a family and how they are effected by a war, not really about the War itself.