Synopsis
When two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.
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Cast
- Jang Dong-gunLee Jin-tae
- Won BinLee Jin-seok
- Lee Eun-juKim Young-shin
- Gong Hyung-jinYong-man
- Park Jeong-WooRecruiting Officer
- Jo Yoon-heeJin-seok's Grandaughter
- Lee Young-lanMother
- Ahn Kil-kangSergeant Huh
- Min-ho JangOld Lee Jin-seok
- Dae-Hoon JeongNorth Korean Boy Solider
Recommendations
- 80
Washington Post
A complex film about the minefield of loyalty and betrayal. - 75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
An anti-war spectacle that uses the story of brothers divided by the 1950 civil war as a metaphor for the wounds of the split. - 70
L.A. Weekly
While it comes on like a flag-waver, it actually delivers something more nuanced. Its underlying skepticism about the Korean War seems to have jibed with the current national mood: The picture was, deservedly, a huge hit. - 63
New York Post
Shamelessly contrived and manipulative, Tae Guk Gi packs a visceral wallop. - 60
Village Voice
In the rare moments when a rifle, grenade, howitzer, bayonet, dagger, fist, land mine, or flamethrower isn't being deployed, the film pushes its melodramatic plotline with soap operatic shamelessness. - 60
The New York Times
Far more ambivalent and ambiguous film than Mr. Spielberg's. Both North and South are portrayed as brutal, abusive regimes that use their citizens as so much cannon fodder. - 60
TV Guide Magazine
It's easy to view the story of these brothers as a larger metaphor for the relationship between the two Koreas, which gives the film an added resonance that your typical Hollywood war movie wouldn't possess. - 50
Variety
Kang remains a superb technician, but somewhere the movie forgot to pack any genuine emotion along with its ordnance and K rations.
