Pohwasogeuro

As I know little about the Korean War apart from MASH I didn't really know what to expect. I was very impressed and surprised at how good 71 is. The true story of the 71 students who defended their line for 11 hours against the might of the communist North is told with passion, humor, and action. It is somewhat clichéd - but this works in its favor - what we get is a Braveheart feeling for a small but very well-made war film.

The two main leads are competent, if a little OTT in their roles, but again by the end this pays off and I really have no complaints - if moving, and exciting war films are your thing then this is definitely worth viewing.

The movie is great because they did not try to make it huge: it was just telling a simple story about 71 young student learning and struggling in the real war.

The main actor: Choi Seung Hyeon (who is also known as TOP in Big Bang) did a great job. He acts impressively with his eyes, showing us how a student knowing nothing becomes to get to fight, to kill for the sake of his own team. Other actors did not show the best of them, especially Kwon Sang Woo. He could do better than that, but I feel that the character he played was not fully described. The music was not very impressive to me, however the effect was quite real and well-done for a Asian war movie. Since this is based on a true story, the end can easily be predicted, but that does not mean it was a boring end. They show us how people die in war: they may have different backgrounds but still can become real soldier once needed.

I have been waiting for this movie to be released in the US ever since I saw the trailer on Youtube.com last month and read all the hype. Plus, one of my favorite Korean actors, Cha Seung Won, is one of the four leads. This guy can do it all--comedy and drama, and he does not disappoint as the North Korean commander in this movie. This is the first time I have seen him on a big movie theatre screen and the camera loves him. DVD rentals on my TV are not quite the same--too bad more Korean films don't get US theatrical releases. Also giving excellent performances were Kim Seung Woo and Choi Seung Hyun--two actors who I first saw in last year's Kdrama, "Iris". Rounding out the lead actors is Kwon Sang Woo--another good performance and my first time seeing him in a theatrical film. All the supporting roles were also very well cast. If one likes war movies, this one is not to be missed--especially since it is based on a true incident during the Korean War. Direction, sets, costumes, music--all were well done. This film merits more than one viewing at the movie theatre.

This movie overall was really well made. The acting was great, the special effects were good, and the movie was easy to follow. Since this was based on a true event, the ending was not going to be a huge surprise. Compared to most American films in the past two decades, this film had a low budget (about $10 Million USD). Most of the critics comment TOP from Big Bang being casted just for pure publicity, but he is a good actor as proved from a past Korean drama he did called IRIS. The sadness of the Korean War and the desperation of the people at that time were wonderfully portrayed. We should take this movie as a harsh reminder of the Korean War and wars around the world in general. You may think that this might never happen… especially to you of all people but the harsh reality is that is can… There is no one to blame for the Korean War; not the soviets, North Koreans, South Koreans, Chinese or the anti communist nations. We only have over selves to blame for war, and no one truly wins one.

I first read about this movie on a Korean site looking up Korean entertainment, it was probably up pretty quick since it has the Korean rapper TOP in it who is in a popular K-pop group Big Bang. Anyways I also managed to watch the trailers on YouTube and it looked promising, and I must say the trailer was better than the actual movie itself after viewing. I felt a lot of the characters went to waste, like the nurse for instance who just treats Seung-hyeon Choi wounds and doesn't appear for the rest of the movie. The movie would have been so much better if it was more engaging and you actually care for the character and you do care a bit but not enough to really worry if they die or live. The film also seems to rely to much on the cinematography since the camera changes constantly but not really effectively. It just constantly switches to TOP's facial expressions a LOT, but I guess it's to please the fan girls while the guys enjoy the action scenes. TOP's acting got better but it's just passable and Kwon Sang-Woo really overdoes it in order to stand out but just comes off as obnoxious, but he did have his moments. Cha Seung-Won did a fine job of playing the charismatic North Korean commander although his scenes are very few, he did a fine job, just not very memorable. I wished it found a way to get more in depth with the characters cause most of them didn't really stand out to me. Another annoying aspect of the film is how the North Korean soldiers fights like retarded drones that is just asking to get shot by running straight into bullets, yeah it's a movie but it got irritating to watch cause of the stupidity. I know they tried to make the final scene all epic, but I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I didn't feel cheated while walking out of the theaters, but was a bit let down. I also noticed there were more girls in the theater seats than guys, I guess TOP makes up for his lack of acting skills in order to get the female viewers to go watch his movie. Like Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner in the "Twilight" movies. Anyways good movie with a average plot and pretty cardboard characters and a lot of stuff blowing up.

7.1/10