On 31 January 1968, 31 North Korean commandos infiltrated South Korea in a failed mission to assassinate President Park Chung-hee. In revenge, the South Korean military assembled a team of 31 criminals on the island of Silmido to kill Kim Il-sung for a suicide mission to redeem their honor, but was cancelled, leaving them frustrated. It is loosely based on a military uprising in the 1970s.
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Reviews
Memorable, crazy movie
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
Firstly I must say that nearly there is no woman in the movie. Thats make this movie more strict and harsh. As you know the story, this is a hard movie also. You must have nerves like steel to watch this movie without getting upset. I get some stress while watching the movie and after watching it. Because everybody shouting each other and beating each other realistically and periodically.This is a good movie. A good story. You cannot guess the end of the movie that has a surprising ending. Most of the emotions in the movie is at the tops. Acting is very very good. Effects are also okey,not the best but very good for a foreign movie.Finally I think,war movie lovers must see this movie.Others with strong nerves also will like this movie. Better to watch before "call of duty".
For a movie that was the most seen in its native South Korea for most of 2004, it was a huge disappointment. Shows that Hollywood is not the only place where people can make over-emotional, melodramatic movies. The film was over 130 minutes long but not a lot actually happened and everything that happened was pretty much what one expected, the plot was that transparent. Granted if one himself was Korean, one would perhaps get into it more, but for me it didn't do much anything. Suffice to say that as the case tends to be with Korean cinema, the plot revolves around the relationship between the northern and southern parts of the peninsula. South Korea decides to recruit and train an elite assassination squad from death-sentence prisoners to kill Kim Il-Sung.A tedious plot doesn't bother me much if the characters are good but unfortunately that is not the case this time around either. They are stereotypes and most of the acting is mediocre and too often just over the top as it tends to be in Korean cinema. Too much time is spent on the numerous montages and the characters remain distant, one dimensional cardboard cuts. They should've spent more time establishing the characters and less showing us how tough and cruel the training and the soldiers are.One thing it does remind us of, is that a lesser of two wrongs is still wrong.
You'll know what I mean when I say sad film, just watch the ending. It is a film where we see the dark side of Kym Park Chung Hee's regime during the 70s. A very important leader he was in helping South Korea as it is today but he abused human rights which was the reason why he was criticized as well. I think this is what the film here paints.The film depicts a group of prisoners who are on death row and just when they are about to be executed, an assassination attempt occurs but fails miserably on Park Chung Hee. So the government gathers these groups of death row prisoners and trains them up so they go into North Korea to execute Kim Il Sung. However as the political climate changes so does the mission and you'll see why this is a sad filmI really wished he had....... I won't mention it because it is a spoiler!
I start to watch this movie two days after I watched Brotherhood of War. I believe that Korean movies can be very good. Silmido was a disappointment for me. My rating probably should be lower but movie defend itself by one thing. It is based on true story... Korean history even. What is interested in this movie ? Relations between soldiers and group of bandits. The way they became soldiers and patriots. And here is the weak point of the movie for me... The reason they want to realize the plan created by authorities. They don't want to free themselves they want to free all SouthKorean. So if You asked if watch or not to watch I say watch if You have enough time and did not watch Brotherhood of War :). OK,OK... There was tear in my eye during the final scene. But I m human after all.