Prisoners of War

I guess I have Korean director Kang Je-Gyu to thank for sparking an interest in Korean films. No it wasn't any of the masters of old who got me hooked, but my first foray into Korean cinema on the big screen was actually to watch his Shiri, and while some may be of the opinion it's nothing more than a standard action thriller fare, it got me hooked, and to wonder just what more is out there in Korean cinema. And Kang went on to direct only 2 more films over a twelve year period, the first being the war movie Taegukgi, and now My Way.

So in a way, that makes it three films in a row that he's dabbled with men in uniform, exploring themes like brotherhood and friendship in blockbusters starring some of the biggest names in the industry. And in My Way, he teams up with Korea's Jang Dong-Gun, and Japan's Joe Odagiri who play rivals in Cain and Abel style, the former being a young boy working in the latter's family during the Japanese occupation of Korea, only for a terrorist incident to forever scar their potential friendship into deep hatred between the men, especially for Joe's Tatsuo against Jang's Joon-Sik. And their rivalry extends to their love for running long distance, almost always on par in countless of marathons they participate in.

The story written by Kang, Na Hyun and Kim Byung-In then centers the narrative against the run up to the Second World War, with the premise having to build up and culminate in Normandy during D-Day. So that takes the men, now in army fatigues with Joon-Sik being one of many Koreans forced to conscript in the Japanese Imperial Army, and under the arrogant, merciless leadership of Tatsuo in what would be convenience to further the two men's rivalry, especially when one is put in a lowly position, and the other having life and death powers over the man he loved to hate. The trio of writers managed to pack this film with enough incidents befitting any war movie, from POW imprisonment, disobedience of orders, torture and the likes, and playing on the theme of Karma, having what went around coming around to perpetrators. Not a very subtle approach though.

With a war setting, expect plenty of theatres of battles across different territories and under various banners and allegiances, such as the Japanese, Soviets, and Germans even, and you can tell where the money went into recreating their realism from uniforms, weapons and vehicles, together with the recreation of the Normandy invasion. Don't expect too much accuracy though if you think that D-Day and other battles, were won/lost in a few minutes, but one does get impressed by the effort to ensure that each battle got portrayed on as large a canvas possible, making it feel that the series of events the characters find themselves into, are far larger than their individual. There are times though that the editing and leaving of material on the cutting room floor had led to episodes being spliced together rather haphazardly, so that's a bit of a pity.

It's steeped in testosterone, if not for China's Fan Bingbing playing a bit role here as a sniper with vengeance against the Japanese at the top of her mind, and of course with her potential of opening up this film to the Mainland market. Other supporting acts include the good friends of Joon-Sik, such as Jong-Dae (Kim In-Kwon) who probably was the only supporting character given enough time for character development, and being somewhat of an in- between of the two men, offering a view of what each of them had, or could have, become. And this character alone demonstrates how adaptable Man can be when faced with circumstances that calls for that fine balance between morals, ideals and the basic need for survival. Recommended!

For the budget this movie was made on Hollywood could never come close to making such a well done movie. The cost in South Korean Won was 30 billion which is 26 million in US currency. There was never a dull moment in the movie which is over 2 hours long. The acting was pretty much spot on. The battle scenes were awesome very brutal and bloody but not over the top like some of the war films Hollywood puts out. I watched it in English 5.1 the sound quality and dubbing was excellent which is rare in this type of movie.This will be on my favorites list for sure. Ranks up there with Flags of Our Fathers,Saving Private Ryan and Letters from Iwo Jima. Just an FYI the new Batman had a budget of 500 million est.

My heart felt every second of this movie and finally become awe stack. the script and cinematography are awesome.The love,hate relationship of two childhood friends and the cruelty of war are manifested so properly.It is a awesome choice for war movie loving people.thumbs up the "MY WAY team".

War films are released left and right, but usually all feel like another rehash with little to nothing new to them. With the Asian film market they are well-known for their epic period pieces and have delivered some really well done war films. The latest of this genre My Way coming out of Korea takes a unique take on the war film. While they have proved the ability to make a great war movie, will this new twist with the story manage to create something memorable or just be another loss on the battlefield? My Way follows a Korean and Japanese marathon runner that are thrust into a bitter rivalry that follows them off the track and onto the battlefield as they are forced to enlist. This is not only a good war film it is easily one of the best to come along in quite a while. As it advertised, it is very much like Saving Private Ryan, but way better. The story is a bit out there at times but is amazing to watch. It has taken the true story of a Korean body found on the beaches of Normandy and created and amazing journey around it. The performances are all really well done and only enhance the overall experience. There are times in war movies that they try to deliver a well-crafted story to make a better film, but end up sacrificing the war aspect. Here they not only didn't ignore it, they deliver on a massive scale. With a film running almost two and a half hours, it delivers almost non-stop violent bloody action that takes you directly onto the battlefield. While it is a long film, it never really feels like it. The story moves at a breathtaking pace with a brilliantly executed pace and beautifully violent visuals that will not soon be forgotten.

My Way has not only created a brilliant war film, it takes you on a journey of redemption and emotional pain. There are so many levels to this film that it's nearly impossible to touch on them all. If you are a fan of this genre then you have to give this movie a shot. It is not just a movie; it's an experience of cleverly written and executed filmmaking that will entertain on numerous levels.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-dallas/bobby-blakey

This is my first review. I'll make it short. Someone else mentions the shaky camera. That annoyed me for the first 15 minutes or so, (reminded me of that annoying zoom on Iris) but then I forgot all about it and enjoyed what was a great war movie that every film buff should try and see.

I'll give it 9/10. Hell no, make it a 10/10, that other point just because Kim In-kwon was in the cast and he was fantastic as usual. (I hope the South Koreans appreciate what a highly gifted actor he is. I grew up loving the likes of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford etc. I know what I'm talking about, i.e. screen charisma AND great acting skills).

Taro Yamamoto as Noda was another character played very well. For some reason he reminded me of Doug Hutchison's character Percy from The Green Mile. (It annoyed me I'd seen him before but couldn't recall where so I had to look him up. He was the card cheater in Kaiji and one of the older kids on Battle Royale.)

Back to the point. My Way = Epic movie. I loved it.