Some Personal Opinions Why This Film is so Beloved...

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2004)

Possible Spoilers*** First of all, major praise goes to Jang Dong Gun's riveting performance. He captured the essence of a nation divided, the immorality of war as your own folks become your enemies, and love for your brother regardless of the situation of the world and/or personal vendetta. The transformation he undergoes and the madness of war he evokes and invokes leaves quite an impact garnering notice.
I knew I was in for something as soon as I saw the archaeological dig of a battlefield starting the film as a grandfather's story is slowly drawn out. The flashback sequence between two brothers is heartwarming as you see the elder brother watching over and sacrificing for his younger sibling and the bond that they have. Being an only child, I wish I had a brother like that. Then the war hits and everything turns upside down as the gut wrenching begins.
The haunting thing about this movie is that the enemy is your own people and they speak your own language and share the same ancestors and genetics. What's more you kill your own kin because of circumstance in a situation of kill or be killed. The simmering conflict between the two brothers deserves special attention because it will hit home as the core message of the movie is made by it. The film made me think of what my parents and grandparents lived through.
-About Saving Private Ryan. To me they were worlds apart in situation, meaning and focus but similar in execution and structure. Just as Saving Private Ryan spoke so resounding to its audience, Taegukgi does the same for its own.