Familiar, Clichéd, Overwrought, and WAAAAAAY Over-hyped

Rating: 5/10 (1 October 2004)

I don't think TAEGUKGI is a bad movie. In fact, I love war movies. Maybe that's why I can see all the film's faults, since most people who have seen it (you'll noticed that the bulk of the giddy and over-the-top compliments for the film are from nationalistic South Koreans -- that's never a good sign) seems to looooooove it, I just had to throw in my two cents.
Okay folks, here's the thing. YOU'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE. You've seen it all before in RYAN, in THIN LINE, and done at least 50 times better in BAND OF BROTHERS. Heck, even the TV movie LOST BATTALLION has already done this! So where does that leave TAEGUKGI? Well, not much ground to cover, that's for sure.
And here's my biggest nitpick with the film: if these soldiers got tossed into a train and drove immediately to the battlefield (i.e. NO BASIC TRAINING!!!) how the heck did they learn to fight, shoot, and even lay mines??? I mean, one guy is a shoeshine boy! The rest are just regular civilians! How the heck did these guys go from shoeshine boy one day to Rambo the next??? It doesn't make sense. And NO ONE has mentioned this.
Hey, maybe I've just seen all this before, but don't try to sell me hype and tell me to like it. I've seen this film 100s of times before. Just because it's made by a South Korean guy doesn't mean it's super brilliant and original, guys. Get a grip and wake up.