Yeonpyeong haejeon

I absolutely fell in love with the characters, and how they interacted with one another. The film was a little slow moving in the beginning as we get to know the characters, but it was all good. The climatic battle scene was hard-hitting and quite emotional. A maritime war movie well done!

This is a realistic tragic story of an attack on a South Korean ship by the North. It's not a heroic battle type war movie. It's actually a massacre at sea which is unusual to see on screen. There is a rather slow part showing the background of the characters. During the attack it's hard to distinguish who is who sometimes. Bad directing. Still the story is quite moving because of the tragic loss of life for such a frustrating conflict.

We start by getting to know the men of the 357 Patrol ship of the South Korean Navy. A good bunch of men who, being human, kid around, have fun and generally work very hard and then let off tension as any normal person does, be it sneaking a feast on the bow or cheering on their hometown soccer team. We get to meet their families as well and see just how much those people back home mean to them.

We also see what a bunch of punks the North Koreans are. OK, sure, they're not about to be shown as sympathetic characters, but why should they be? They started this entire incident, as they often do. Punks. And when you compare the ships, you see the difference between a modern free society and a backwards one being run by some little runt with something to prove. But I digress.

This movie was filmed magnificently and very believably. We (in the Western Hemisphere)often see movies made in other nations and feel they look a little cheesy compared to our slick productions. That's a bit condescending, but I'm sure many who may read this know what I mean. We get to know these guys and like them. They're good people and the ships new Commander starts out a bit of a hard nose, but even he sees that, this likable bunch will do anything for someone they both respect and like and mutual admiration and affection between officers and crew truly brings them all together.

Then disaster, and for what? Muscle flexing of the worst kind and this entire sequence, the battle sequence is both exciting and heartbreaking as we see those we've gotten to know being shot up by...well, the bad guys. It's very well done and riveting.

I was not fully aware until the end that this was indeed a true story and yup, I teared up. I teared up for the men of 357, I teared up for their families and the horror they all faced in their different ways. I also teared up for the world that we must tolerate nations like North Korea who seem to simply exist only to provoke, incite and threaten. They have no meaning otherwise and this movie, should I say, this story is proof.

It's a wonderful movie on a number of levels. I've reviewed this movie from a soapbox, but this movie tells truth in a very dramatic fashion and tells it well. For a history lesson and for a lesson in national terrorism and current events, this movie is a must see.

Extremely displeased that both Japan and South Korea would act as hosts for the 2002 World Cup, the government of North Korea is determined to tarnish these athletic games at all costs. So in order to do that they decide to ambush a South Korean gunboat named Chamsuri 357 in the Yellow Sea. This film essentially covers that battle but first devotes some time developing some of the characters involved in the conflict with one key sailor by the name of "Park Dong-Hywok" (Hyun-Woo Lee) featured most prominently. Other notable characters include the commander of the boat "Captain Yoon Young-Ha" (Mu-Yeol Kim) and a shipmate of Park Dong-Hyeok by the name of "Staff Sergeant Han Sang-Kook" (Goo Jin). Now as far as the overall movie is concerned I thought that the director (Hak-Sun Kim) did a reasonably good job in setting the stage which greatly increased the emotional impact of the human component at the end. On the other hand, I thought that the actual battle scene was much too prolonged and I likewise didn't care for the manner in which the sporting events were so randomly mixed in either. In any case, I thought that this was a good film for the most part and have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Most people in the West probably haven't heard of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong, a maritime incident of war that took place between North and South Korea in The Yellow Sea in 2002. The so called 'Northern Limit Line' is a maritime boundary that sets the national borders between the two countries and both North and South Korea have different ideas of exactly where is starts and ends. The North has a history of testing the south and making frequent incursions over the boundary with its navy, presumably to test the resolve and readiness of the The South Korean Navy. One such incident involved 2 North Korean Warships which were challenged by 2 South Korean Warships. Just as it looked like North Korea was retreating it opened fire and thus began the above named battle.

The film tells the story primarily from the perspective of the crew members of South Korean patrol boat PKM 357. It's Captain, Lt. Cmdr. Yoon Young-ha (A superb performance from Mu-Yeol Kim) and several of the other crew who bore the brunt of the fighting during the incident. The film establishes the background of many of these key characters including in some cases their relationships outside of work, their families, partners and so on. These crucial scenes create the very humanity of each character so you feel fully connected to them emotionally when the events unfold further on. The film also gives some considerable screen time towards outlining the complex nature of the rules of engagement that the South Korean Navy have to tread on a daily basis. The film also covers a number of mistakes made in the lead up to the incident, including the failure to detain a North Korean intelligence officer who was disguised as a fisherman and passed on information about South Korean ship movements. The film is all the more poignant when one see's the real footage of the memorials of those who died at the end of the movie. Reminding us very firmly that this is not fiction and war causes pain and misery for all concerned.

Clearly a passionate subject for the films first time feature director, Hak-sun Kim, the film was shot in 3D thanks to a grant from the SK Arts Council but Crowd Funding still had to be sought to ensure the films completion when other investors backed out. So its to the credit of everyone involved that not only was the film completed by that the film itself is such a tremendous achievement. Hak-sun Kim does an incredible job with the action scenes and the blend of the CGI effects work is effective and not distracting as can often be the case these days.

Obviously this is a film told from the South Korean perspective though from reading factual accounts available on the incident I find it hard to believe the film stretches to far from the truth. Incidents of this type between nations are far more common that we are led to believe and NLL underscores the tragedy that always follows such events. This is a gripping, extremely well made film and it comes with my strongest recommendation.