Seoul-ui bom

A gripping political thriller that reconstructs South Korea's 1979 military coup with urgency and clarity. "12.12: The Day" doesn't hold back, diving into the raw power struggle as General Chun Doo-gwang seizes control. Director Kim Sung-su crafts a taut, tightly edited narrative with sustained intensity. It's not just a historical retelling, but a high-stakes, real-world drama that echoes the chaos and tension of a nation in crisis.

I have recently been watching one after the other terrific Korean movie. Why? Because unknown to many Western movie goers (me included until recently) the Korean movie industry is without a doubt one of the very best creators of intense, true to life dramas. They dont come much better than this!

This movie is all about Korean politics and war history. Not knowing anything about Korea's history didnt prevent me from being thoroughly impressed by this storyline though about ONE exceptionally brave and patriotic army commander who single handedly tried to stop a military uprising against the government. Not kiddin'.

What intense drama! What glorious characters. What evil and wicked treachery. What a sad and demoralising final. What a blast to watch!

Highly recommended for the fans of Korean cinema and also for those who are into fierce and unrelenting, war dramas.

Based on true events, 12.12: The Day, released in the end of Nov 2023 and has very quickly become the highest grossing film of the year over there; will likely end up being the best Korean film of 2023 as well. It has broken into the top 9 of all-time Korean box office.

12.12: The Day is a historical action drama set in 1979. Following the assassination of President Park in, military factions wrestle for control during a violent coup in this tense South Korea. The film focusses on the 12 December 1979 military coup and the related conflict between the military leaders. If you've watched the film 'A Taxi Driver', the Gwangju uprising depicted in it was a response to the military coup in 'The Day'

If you like military/war dramas or political thrillers, you have GOT to watch this film. The cast did a stellar job of conveying the sense of urgency and turmoil in a nation's trying times. I don't know enough Korean history, but based on the plot of the film, there are clear protagonists and antagonists; the plot is written so well, the scheming is SO convincing, the idiots are such idiots played so well, that you want the good guys to win and the bad guys to lose even if you don't know the language and not relate to the national story being told.

The film is brilliantly shot, and the sound design deserves special mention for keeping the intensity and the sense of urgency high throughout the film. It takes off in the first five minutes and there are no lows in the film after that. Sit down, buckle up and you're in for a thrilling ride. As someone who didn't know the history behind the events, the destination of this ride was.... anticlimactic but because these are real events, it added a certain value to my viewing experience. Don't miss this one.

The best Korean movie in the last year and one of the best movies I have ever seen , After I finished it I watched "A taxi driver 2017 " its events after four months of the events of 12 12 the day to see what's the impact of these 9 hours and what they did in a whole country for 8 years , it was horrific and people suffered alot this time .

The direction is great, make me nervous until the end, director kim sung su is one of the best Korean directors especially after this movie , the screenplay was great too , it shows alot of events happend in only 9 hours without any false and with alot of tense .

The acting is amazing from all actors but Hwang jung min is in another level, The scene in the bathroom is crazy , I think all the awards best actor this year are done.

This is probably the best film that I have seen in the last 12 months.

Maybe the best film I have seen in the last 5 years or more.

It is a type of movie that is completely wrong for me. I like small, indie and foreign movies, with a good but simple story.

This is a massive production, with dozens of major roles and a series of scenes / events over the course of a day.

It has an edge of the seat urgency to it, that pulls a person along, through the 2 + hours of the film.

I have done some quick Googling to try to confirm the accuracy of the events. It sounds like the film captures a strong sense of the events of the day, without being historically accurate.

The story, the acting and the production are excellent. The leads are unbelievably good, especially the actor portraying the evil Chun Doo-gwang character.