The Front Line

"He said our enemy wasn't commies, but the war itself." Toward the end of Korean War Lieutenant Kang Eun-Pyo is sent to investigate a murder on the front lines. He reaches the area called Aerok Hill where the fighting is most intense. Soon after the truth is reveled a cease fire is signed and the two sides rejoice. But the war is far from over. This war movie interested me more then most of the recent ones. The main reason is that my grandfather served in the Korean War and there hasn't been a lot of movies made about that war. I was interested to see the stuff he refused to tell me about. After watching this I can see why. The movie is a Korean movie so the entire movie deals with a platoon of South Korean soldiers and their struggles. I have said before that for better or worse every war movie since it's release is compared to "Saving Private Ryan", and I never thought a movie could top that one. This is as close as I've seen and in some ways may be better. This is far and away better then "Letters From Iwo Jima" but like both of those movies you are so involved with the characters it is no longer a movie of nameless faces dying but people you feel a connection with. This movie makes you feel all kinds of emotions but the last half hour will make you feel things you never knew you could. Another example of how much power a movie has when it's done right. I highly recommend this movie. Overall, one of, if not the best war movie I have ever seen. I give it an A.

Beautiful, without an equal.

The acting, superb. The story, breathtaking. The action, astonishing. The screen writing, unparalleled.

This movie left a deep impression on me. I recommend watching it if you haven't, you'll find yourself going through a roller coaster of emotions, clinching to your chair/couch without being able to leave.

The story is not for the weak-hearted as you see war in it's most true form, the emotions from both sides as the fighting comes to a close. The relationship between enemies, comrades, friends. In the end, making men cry, young & old.

(Blue-ray is recommended if you want to truly see the most subtle touches, I could not view it any other way)

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?

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.

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.