Review of 71: Into the Fire (2010) by Caesar M — 20 Jan 2013

Pohwasogeuro (71: Into the Fire in English) is an under-seen and relatively unknown South Korean war movie that deserves a bigger audience to view it. It not only paints a picture on the horror of war, deliver on huge set-pieces, but above all makes you feel patriotic.

Pohwasogeuro (71: Into the Fire) tells the true story story of student-soldiers trying to protect a middle school during the early days of the Korean War. As far as historical accuracy goes I can't say much for this was the first time I ever seen anything based on this event. The story is well written with a huge portion of the movie itself is actually dedicated to developing the characters. There's also a sense of urgency for the heroes we follow. Whereas a majority of war films would have us follow a trained soldier, in this film we don't follow to many which brings a sense of urgency often missing from this genre. It's because of this we care about our students soldiers for they are not the best trained, not the most professional, or even the most intelligence. They are, however, cooperative putting aside their differences to fight together for a common cause. Some area of the plot do go underdeveloped, like the protagonist relationship with his mother, but the aspects that are developed do help this film. This war film doesn't focus on the war itself, but instead on the people who fought in them and giving us soldiers we could relate too.

No war movie (at least from the one I've seen) is without big battle set-pieces. This certainly delivers on that with plenty blood, explosions, and destruction for anyone who watches war movies just for the spectacles. Some will be disappointing they is not a whole of allot fighting til the final act, but it's the lack of fighting that help the film focus on it story. The production design is top notch. Clothing and locations all look like from the era it takes place it in. It contains good acting, especially from the cast that portrays the students soldiers. The direction for the most part is good. Some area could have improved from a better direction; like a scene when a soldier kills a child is not talked about much and is a key moment that is brush aside.

Pohwasogeuro (71: Into the Fire) is a South Korean war movie that has quality drama and big battle scenes that be compared to Hollywood war films. If you're fan of war films you should this check this out.