Review of Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004) by David W — 23 Nov 2010

From the first few minutes I knew this was going to be a good film. But I never expected it to be one of the greatest war films of all time. A harrowing tale of Brotherhood in the Korean War, back in 1950.

The 12.6 million dollar budget is relatively meager to other war films, yet it uses every dollar wisely, with the director Je-gyu Kang effectively directing it to make it look as polished and epic as films such as Saving Private Ryan.

This film is now my favorite war film of all time, and definitely one of the greatest Korean films ever made. To not see it would be a crime to movie-goers, as they are missing out on an epic tale of bravery, sadness, and hark, brutal war.

The violence is shocking, yet never hinders the message of the film, which does so by depicting the shocking depravity of war, with so much violence that by halfway through you don't know who is the true evil side, with both sides committing terrible acts of violence due to the name of war.

With superb acting, action scenes topping American war films with a third of the budget, and the two brothers played fantastically, as they fall out from the bond of brotherhood, and turn against each other due to the horrors of war, this film is not just a cinematic masterpiece, it is a work of art that deserves to be seen, and seen again.