My Way

Greetings again from the darkness. Was anxious to see a big-budget Korean take on WWII, and overall came away impressed ... despite the shortcomings and annoyances. My history with Korean films have been limited to small, intimate stories told with quiet manner, and frenetic action flicks with sub-standard stunt work. Director and co-writer Je-kyu Kang attempts to combine an intimate story of two young men with an epic war film with a record body count and excruciatingly frequent number of cuts/edits.

The movie starts off by showing us how the lives of two boys first intersect. Jun-shik Kim (by Dong-gun Jong) is a farmer's son whose dad works on the estate of Tatsuo Hasegawa's (Jo Odagiri) grandfather. A wide class difference separates the boys, but their love of running generates a severe feud ... a rivalry that won't die easily. All of this takes place in Japan-occupied Korea, and it's clear early on that the filmmaker sets out to defend all Korean actions.

Inspired by a real life 1944 photo that shows a Korean soldier being captured while wearing a Nazi uniform, the back-story here is as strange and complex as any you have seen ... unfortunately, it is handled with the manipulative touch of a sledge hammer. As their marathon-running rivalry reaches a crescendo, both boys are drawn into the Japanese Army, albeit via substantially different routes. Tatsuo is an officer, while Jun-shik is an enslaved line soldier. Their bitter rivalry does not stop for a little thing like WWII and it leads to many moments of near insanity.

What really is impressive about the film is the three main battle scenes, especially the storming of Normandy Beach. If you have seen Saving Private Ryan, then you know the model ... however, this one takes it even further. It is intense, loud and brutal. The question of whether the rivalry can survive capture by Russians and then Nazi's, or whether survival instincts take over is really the heart of the story.

As terrific as the battle scenes are, it is impossible not to mention the hyper-editing that lasts most of the film's 142 minutes. It is hard on the senses and makes the action difficult to follow ... which is a shame for a film that offers so much realism in war scenes. Still, it's not an easy film to watch and we care enough about the two characters to put up with the eyeball attack we get in most scenes.

For the budget this movie was made on Hollywood could never come close to making such a well done movie. The cost in South Korean Won was 30 billion which is 26 million in US currency. There was never a dull moment in the movie which is over 2 hours long. The acting was pretty much spot on. The battle scenes were awesome very brutal and bloody but not over the top like some of the war films Hollywood puts out. I watched it in English 5.1 the sound quality and dubbing was excellent which is rare in this type of movie.This will be on my favorites list for sure. Ranks up there with Flags of Our Fathers,Saving Private Ryan and Letters from Iwo Jima. Just an FYI the new Batman had a budget of 500 million est.

My heart felt every second of this movie and finally become awe stack. the script and cinematography are awesome.The love,hate relationship of two childhood friends and the cruelty of war are manifested so properly.It is a awesome choice for war movie loving people.thumbs up the "MY WAY team".

While waiting from Hollywood or American cinematography to blasts away with an adventure of epic proportions heres comes this outsider. The cheesy story of two friends that lives an entire life in war and madness brings out the best in the latest Asian cinematography. Great story,amazing war battles never seen before,enough depth in the characters to make a movie worth seeing,a tight and emotional little jewel from Korea that comes as an outsider to win this year our cinematic addictions of what movies is all about. This movie is Epic in all levels and a definitely miss-not for the cinefils that respects theirself. The word Epic redefines it's self,so simple.

This is my first review. I'll make it short. Someone else mentions the shaky camera. That annoyed me for the first 15 minutes or so, (reminded me of that annoying zoom on Iris) but then I forgot all about it and enjoyed what was a great war movie that every film buff should try and see.

I'll give it 9/10. Hell no, make it a 10/10, that other point just because Kim In-kwon was in the cast and he was fantastic as usual. (I hope the South Koreans appreciate what a highly gifted actor he is. I grew up loving the likes of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford etc. I know what I'm talking about, i.e. screen charisma AND great acting skills).

Taro Yamamoto as Noda was another character played very well. For some reason he reminded me of Doug Hutchison's character Percy from The Green Mile. (It annoyed me I'd seen him before but couldn't recall where so I had to look him up. He was the card cheater in Kaiji and one of the older kids on Battle Royale.)

Back to the point. My Way = Epic movie. I loved it.