.: ShaolinTiger - Kung-Fu Geekery :.

When a group of Korean archeologists find a skeleton and identify it, they call the brother, Lee Jin-Seok, who is now an old man, to tell him that they have found his brother's body, who died in the Korean War. We travel from the present to 1950, when the Korean War started. Jin-Seok and Jin-Tae, Jin-Seok's brother, are young men who suddenly find themselves catapulted into a bloody world so different from their quiet, rural lives. As the war progresses, the war begins to poison Jin-Tae's mind. Jin-Seok is lost when he finds that he no longer knows who his brother is.

This is a truly great movie, I've heard a lot about it and have been meaning to watch it for some time. I bought the DVD in Brunei, but honestly the quality there sucks, perhaps it's why they are cheaper than in Malaysia..

It stalled at chapter 9, so I went out to SS2 and got another copy and continued watching.

I thought it might be good, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it really was.

Since its release in 2004 is has climbed into the top 250 movies at number 247, a testament to it's quality as there aren't so many foreign films in the chart.

It's a very gritty and realistic war movie portrayed with a lot of emotion and from some degrees it shows both sides of the story, more of an anti-war movie than a war movie, it's terrifying, shocking and disturbing.

The battle scenes are perhaps some of the most graphic ever shown on the silver screen and the reality of war really hits you in the stomach, it truly shows with war there are no winners, you see the changes in people, the emotional trauma caused, the mass executions carried out by the government on innocent people and the persection.

The story revolves around two brothers (Dong-Kun Jang and Bin Won) and the way the war changes them, the lust for killing and the darkness that takes over when everything around has turned to chaos, it has been likened to Saving Private Ryan, but I personally feel it's a better movie.

It's not just about the action, it has great acting, great character development and it's an emotional roller coaster, in places it's also extremely graphic. A lot of it is based around relationships and the North/South divide in Korea.

Even if you're not a pussy or a fagboy, it's quite probably it'll bring a tear to your eye. I defy any girls not to cry when watching this movie.

At almost 2.5 hours it's a fairly long film, but you get absorbed you don't feel the time passing..

I'd say it's actually one of the best movies I've seen for quite a long time, a diamond in the rough.

Highly recommended, go get a copy from your local Uncle Ho outlet now!

I give it a gripping 9 out of 10