Jangsa-ri 9.15

It's 1950 Korea. The South and their allies have retreated to the Nakoong River. Under General MacArthur's plan, the allies are to retake Incheon to drive the North back. A ship carrying 772 student soldiers head for the beaches of Jangsari a day before the Incheon landing in a diversionary attack.

The movie starts with a reasonable amount of war action. There is actual tension. It's a promising start but two things immediately becomes noticeable. The section with Megan Fox and George Eads is utterly unnecessary. By the end, they are cringeworthy. Megan has never been a great actress but the dialogue is impossible. Even Meryl Streep wouldn't be able to deliver it. It is some of the worst writing ever. They're probably there to sell the movie to the west. It's a fool's errand. The second thing is the injection of bad action and melodrama. This one happens slowly. At first, it's the soldiers bunching up. It's a classic mistake. Filmmakers think that more people equal bigger action. If they're bunched up in a tiny space, it looks like a cheap production trying to maximize its budget. Then the melodrama starts happening. The characters' stories starts getting more outlandish. There is a Mulan. There is a cousin killing which requires a bad character making illogical reasoning. There is bad attempts at humor which destroys the tension. This has elements which worked but the stuff that doesn't work really doesn't work.

Its the korean war spun out in the story of the battle of jangsari-beach. its a bittersweet film with extremely lots of death and misery, and droppings of sentimentalia and heart grieving emotions of angst and fear.

its a classic war movie, made the korean way and style, there are the usual problem differing a south from a north soldier especially in the dark surroundings takes, but all the killings do give some clues which side youre on.

the warbattles are a ravaging kill a kill nonstop, some vfx and cgi are used especially in the naval shoots, and some are good and some not that good. in the end it feels like these men and woman where the forgotten soldiers and left there because the un-forces were far too toothless and badly organized at that front.

if youre keen on war history its a film must see, it felt like a hammerblow to me, therefore recommended

There's a real sense of tragedy and loss inherent in Korean made war films. Like their Russian counterparts, they don't glorify war but show it for what it is, the senseless and wasteful loss of mostly, young life.

Battle of Jangsari is no exception. Its genuinely hard watching bright, young, hopeful lives, wiped away by the efficient industrialised ugliness, of modern warfare. What is also to this films credit is its treatment of soldiers on both sides of the conflict, as human beings. Ordinary people, afraid to die, who only want to return home to their parents and loved ones.

The acting is, in short, mostly excellent, the cinematography outstanding and the approach to telling the story of these young people heartfelt, honest and reverential.

10/10 from me.

The Korean scenes are very gripping, and makes you feel how desperate the soldiers are. The English scenes unfortunately add nothing to the film, but in fact distracts from the main story and decreases tension of the film.

I admit it, I wanted to watch this movie only for George Eads. I like a lot of war movies, though, and this was no different. Apart from learning of a battle I did not know about, I liked how they handled the characterization. The protagonists are kids, and it shows. They are young, they are scared, and they are desperate to survive. The actors make a really good job at delivering emotions and overall the battle is basically a background to the show of very human emotions. Watching it in two different languages (Korean and English), I thought I may get distracted a lot and get bored. I did not, because of what I said above. I wish this movie may have bren shown in Italian theaters, but I guess it's not overly famous. A pity, I say.