Go-ji-jeon

THE FRONT LINE is a typical addition to the recent wave of South Korean war movies that strive to explore new avenues on a very famous theatre of war. The last two I saw were WELCOME TO DONGMAKGOL and 71 INTO THE FIRE; the former was a politically intriguing exploration of the nature of conflict itself, while the latter was a flag-waving crowd-pleaser.

THE FRONT LINE falls somewhere between the two, refusing to demonise opponents while at the same time providing plenty of gritty war action. The earth-flying battle sequences are by far the highlight of this film as the screen is transformed into a nightmarish and barren landscape of blown-up hillsides, dingy trenches and muddy holes in the ground. This is real warfare, post-SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, throwing you into the thick of realistic action and making you feel like you're fighting at the side of the protagonists.

It's a pleasure to report that the non-battle storyline is every bit as watchable as the scenes taking place on the battlefield. As in the earlier BROTHERHOOD, much of the plot revolves around the developing relationship between two characters whom the war transforms in different ways: one becomes battle-weary and resigned, the other slightly unhinged and with a real killer instinct. It's a poignant, carefully-drawn relationship and one that sustains the running time admirably. Okay, so some of the sub-plots openly copy those of earlier movies (the whole sniper thing in particular) but that doesn't detract from what is a very good recent war movie.

an epic movie about the korean war. same people in the same origin, same ancestor, just because the ideological manipulation by the soviet and Chinese communists, a nation on the peninsula turned into a purgatory during the early 1950s. all the critical important ingredients/elements making a film this great were well provided: great screenplay full of atrocity of killings, sacrifices, ridiculousness of war and battles, stupid ideology, the greatness and the smallness of human natures, great directing, casting, cinematography, locations, stunts, graphic design, editing, sound effects, background music arrangement....and most memorable acting/performance, all well combined and turned this movie into a great viewing experience.

the most important message of this film: the ridiculousness of the war, the stupidity of battling with a non-exist but well manipulated cause. the blindness of human nature, the helpless of being a soldier, an expendable pawn by higher ranking officers and their nations' political and military leaders, the foreign countries' ideology manipulations. all the human lives consumed in wars and battles are just meaningless and forgettable. they are just statistic numbers in history books.

this ridiculously sad war movie only sent you a strong message: for what and what for?

I can't even come up with how to define this movie, and I've watched a lot of war films, but I think this one just has to be the best I've seen that is as serious as it comes to the consequences of war. Besides just the horrific scenes as in any war movie, it has touched and got through to the emotions multiple times in what seems like a never ending battle. The acting is beyond incredible, especially the brothers, and doesn't show that their enemies are the most evil in the planet but that war itself and who leads them are what makes this conflict. They gone as far as showing scenes that you never or rarely expect to see, and it's remarkable because you'll remember this film for it. A great movie.

The war (or specific battles/events during the war) between North and South Korea has been the backbone of quite a few South Korean movies. Most of them really get something good out of this mess. And this movie is no different. Staying mostly on one side, you still get to see "the enemy" and their points of view from time to time. It is superbly cut together and acted very fine.

While I'm not sure about how accurate the movie is by presenting the events (I'm guessing it takes a few creative freedoms), it does not hold back when it comes to punches (or bullets for that matter). The lines between good and evil are really thin. You might argue there are none. The grey area is very big, that is one thing that is very true though. Not the best war movie to come out of Korea, it still is superior to a lot of other war movies.

The main problem with this movie is its runtime and the ungodly amount of side plots. A movie can have multiple side plots, but it must not forget then and remember them only for short amounts of time. These plots ad unnecessary length to the film especially at the end when you just want the movie to end.

Otherwise it was quite good. Combat scenes were quite brutal and captured the horrors of war. The dialogue was bad only a couple of times.

It was weird to not see any actual artillery in the movie. Explosions come mostly from mortars and bombs. It also has a rarely seen rifle granede which is used in one scene.