I'm a Korean native, but having been abroad for so long, my grasp of the Korean language is as good as a 14 year-old. Noticing this problem, the parents decided that I should be exposed to some of the Korean culture, language, etc, while having a good time. Thus, we bought a few korean DVDs, ... Read review
A big, bruising epic of the Korean War,Tae Guk GiorBrotherhoodsmashed box-office records ... more
when it played in South Korea in 2004, almost as though the country needed to re-live the trauma at a 50-year distance. For the rest of the world, this movie looks...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: A Very Good Movie Disadvantages: Might Not Appeal to Non-Koreans
I'm a Korean native, but having been abroad for so long, my grasp of the Korean language is as good as a 14 year-old. Noticing this problem, the parents decided that I should be exposed to some of the Korean culture, language, etc, while having a good time. Thus, we bought a few korean DVDs, this being one of them.
This movie, was brilliant, the only pauses in the movie were when I asked every 20minutes or so, "Dad, what does ... ...leave their seats. Feeling comfortable on the sofa, we watched the DVD.
I am personally not a fan of war movies, simply because, there is very little storyline, mainly lots of explosions, gunfire, a bunch of dead people here, a bunch of dead people there. A lot of war movies, seem to glorify war at times, and the war movies seem to be made, just to retell how the war went. I don't go to the cinemas to get a history lesson, I go to ... more
I'm a Korean native, but having been abroad for so long, my grasp of the Korean language is as good as a 14 year-old. Noticing this problem, the parents decided that I should be exposed to some of the Korean culture, language, etc, while having a good time. Thus, we bought a few korean DVDs, this being one of them.
This movie, was brilliant, the only pauses in the movie were when I asked every 20minutes or so, "Dad, what does that mean?". But otherwise, nobody in the family wanted to leave their seats. Feeling comfortable on the sofa, we watched the DVD.
I am personally not a fan of war movies, simply because, there is very little storyline, mainly lots of explosions, gunfire, a bunch of dead people here, a bunch of dead people there. A lot of war movies, seem to glorify war at times, and the war movies seem to be made, just to retell how the war went. I don't go to the cinemas to get a history lesson, I go to the cinema or buy DVDs to watch a movie with some story, and this one has one.
The cinematography is brilliant here, as well as the sound track. The music that accompanies the scenes were well written and well chosen and complimented what was going on on my TV very well. It works well to create a tense or relaxed atmosphere when needed. The war-scenes are quite realistic, the trenches were as they were, as well as the soldier's uniforms and the old houses and the town, look very very real and just like the way they used to be. In some films, when a soldier's leg gets blown off, it sometimes does not look very convincing, but you can tell a lot of effort was made into this film to get the viewer into it.
The acting was also very good, with all the stars portraying their characters very well.
If you're watching this to learn the history of the Korean War, don't bother, coz other than the basic facts that I already new, (i.e. The Communist North Koreans invaded the South with the support of China and Russia, the South with a much much weaker armed forces is helpless, but fight back, and later on with the help of the Americans, etc.) but details and such are not told in this movie, and rightly so, as it is irrelevant.
Sadly, the female lead in this movie died last year after committing suicide after a bout of depression, may she R.I.P.
Some parts of the storyline, foreigners might not understand. Certain things that they say, they do might be very hard to comprehend as it is a totally different culture and you may wonder "now, why would he do/say that?", and you may feel that it is unrealistic and weird, but during those days that was how it was.
As most DVDs, you can select your subtitles, language, etc. I personally recommend listening to it in korean and reading the english subtitles, because in my experience foreign dubbing almost never comes out right.
If you do buy the DVD, I hope you enjoed it as much as I did.
I will not type up the storyline here, as it is shown already on Ciao, and I will not divulge how the story unfolds as that would be spoiling the fun.
The thing is, the version of DVD I bought was not the two disc platinum version, and I cannot give the details of what was on the discs, my version only contained one DVD, therefore I can only really review the movie.
Advantages: Compelling, impressive, good script, great leads Disadvantages: Slightly predictable
Taegukgi begins with an old man receiving word about about some remains wrongly identified as his own at a memorial site due to be set up. He believes they may be those of his brother and thus visits the site. Whilst there he tells his family the tale of how he and his brother became involved in the army.
In Seoul in 1950, Jin-seok's education is paid for by his brother, Jin-tae's shoe shine shop. War breaks out between South Korea and North Korea ... ...takes on dangerous missions with the aim of being given the reward of sending Jin-seok home. Jin-seok has no idea why his brother is taking these missions and thus assumes he is doing so for glory.
Taegukgi is impressive despite being a little predictable. The strain upon both soldiers and civilians during war is well portrayed. The plight of the soldiers against the enemy and the brothers' friends and family ensure the audience connects with the ...
CloudRuler 16.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Brotherhood (Platinum Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: amazing film ,good acting ,gory,story Disadvantages: subs?
well this is not the sort of film id watch by choice if up late scrolling through chanels however about a year ago out history teacher decided as a reward we would watch it to help us learn about the cold war.We didnt get to finish but it was so good me and some friends willlingly purchased our own copy from the local asda to see how it ends .
It is a very graphic film with limbs organs guts and gore spraying the ground red .But it has a softer ... ...but we still mock one of our friends for crying at the end the acting is very good it is subed normaly but still 1 of my fav films due to its amazing story following to conscripted brothers in the korean civil war as the elder atempts to get the younger sent home buy winning the medal of honor .It follows there growth as 1 becomes ever more heartless and aventualy becomes the thing he hates the most.....a COMMUNIST. ...
sambridge15 02.06.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Brotherhood (Platinum Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: A damn good film! Better then Saving Private Ryan ;) Disadvantages: Its subtitled, so some people may loose intrest
Wow!
This film!
Where to start off? Well, the same place the film does I guess? WWII is just over, and the people of South Korea live modest lives, trying their best to make a living for themselves. However, their peaceful lives are soon turned upside down as the Communist North invades.
After a series of unfortunate events, two brothers are seperated from their family, and drafted into the army. The younger of the pair, barely 18 is still at ... ...himself to see that his brother is sent home, where he can continue his education and look after their family. How he goes about doing this though, is what you'll have to find out for yourself when you watch this film ;)
"Brotherhood" is probably one of my favourite war films of all times. Neither does this film try to glorify war, nor have a simple story line. It depects how both sides in the war behaved in barbaric ways to their enemies, and is ...
Allinthemind 03.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Brotherhood (Platinum Edition) (DVD)
Audio Commentary With Bey Logan And Mike Leeder, Tears Of Fire Making Of Documentary, On Location Featurette, Captains Orders Interview With Director Jung Doo Hung, Battle Plans Animated Storyboard Gallery, The Colours Of War Animated Photo Gallery, Dont Look Back In Anger Documentary Retrospective Featuring Korean War Veterans And Archive Footage, 1950 Relived Historical Black And White Featurette, Honoured In Dispatches Interviews With Acclaimed Cast Members, Brotherhood A Behind The Scenes Featurette, Special Operations Featurette, Trailer Gallery, Fully Animated Menus
Aspect Ratio
21:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
DTS English Korean<br>Dolby Digital 5.1 English Korean
Professional reviews
Review
Amazing battle scenes (Evening Standard, )
Spectacular (Mail On Sunday, )
Powerful, passionate film-making on a truly epic scale. (Time Out, )
DVD Description
Brothers Jin-Seok (Bin Won) and Jin-Tae (Dong-Kun Jang) come from a family whose unremitting struggle with poverty has led them to place all their hopes in Jin-seok, the younger of the two. His older brother Jin-Tae shines shoes in order to raise money to send him to university, while their mother runs a noodle shop; the patriarch has passed away, leaving the little family to fend for themselves. Their precarious aspirations are shattered by the outbreak of the Korean War, when Jin-Seok is drafted and Jin-Tae joins up as well, in order to work for his brother's release. He has neither the influence nor the financial means to send Jin-Seok back home; his only hope lies in the acceptance of dangerous missions that will earn him the Medal of Honour and his brother's release. Jin-Seok, however, does not understand his brother's intentions, and mistakes his valiant bravery for misplaced patriotism and greedy ambition, until finally and tragically he is confronted by the truth. Upon its release, this moving war drama became the highest-grossing film in Korea.
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