# Korean war films (& Korean War films)



## DaveCinzano (Dec 21, 2012)

Currently giving _The Front Line_ AKA _고지전_ a go: a young officer from field security is sent to investigate a slovenly outfit on the Eastern Front during the 1953 ceasefire; there he meets up with a friend he's not seen for three years. Something odd is in the air.

Previously I've seen _Taegukgi_ AKA _Brotherhood_ AKA _태극기 휘날리며_, which was alright in a_ 9 Рота_/_Hamburger Hill_ kind of way, and _R-Point_ AKA _알 포인트_, which was more a ghost story and not really my cup of tea.

So any recommendations? I have both _Welcome To Dongmakgol _AKA _웰컴 투 동막골_ and _71: Into The Fire _AKA _Pohwasogeuro_ knocking around to have a crack at, and _My Way _AKA _마이 웨이_ definitely looks interesting. What about DPRK-made films?

Thanks.

(As for non-Korean Korean War films, _Pork Chop Hill_ would probably be the bar for me - anything less than that doesn't seem worth it.)


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## butchersapron (Dec 21, 2012)

Welcome to Dong is great, 71 is well done cliche, Taebaek Mountains is well worth the time, War of the Arrows is a great _sort of war_ film.


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 21, 2012)

Ta.


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## hiccup (Dec 21, 2012)

No M*A*S*H?


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 21, 2012)

hiccup said:


> No M*A*S*H?


_M*A*S*H_ was a TV show.

Perhaps you were thinking of _MASH_?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

I have Brotherhood, R Point (didn't do anything for me) and obviously Welcome to Dongmakgol.  Oh, and JSA which isn't strictly a war film though.

I have these to watch

The Front Line
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006GDKW7G/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00

and

My Way
http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Way-DVD-Jang-Dong-Gun/dp/B008LSAKY4/ref=pd_sim_d_h__58


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> _M*A*S*H_ was a TV show.
> 
> Perhaps you were thinking of _MASH_?
> 
> View attachment 26437


 

I have Seaason One and Two of M*A*S*H sitting here.  Bought them last year.  Still haven't watched them


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## butchersapron (Dec 21, 2012)

Sort of war related and definitely worth the time is The Road Taken/The Choice which is a dramatisation of the worlds longest serving political prisoner the Korean Communist Kim Sun-myung who was arrested in 1951 for fighting for the north- _offered_ the chance to recant (offered via beatings and torture) and be released he refused to for 44 years. He was finally released in the 90s. _Without recanting._


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

Sounds interesting


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## RegularPoster (Dec 21, 2012)

...


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## hiccup (Dec 21, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> _M*A*S*H_ was a TV show.
> 
> Perhaps you were thinking of _MASH_?
> 
> View attachment 26437


 
No, I was definitely thinking of M*A*S*H


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## butchersapron (Dec 21, 2012)

RegularPoster said:


> Fnar


Specialist interest that one


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

RegularPoster said:


> ...


 
That's a good one.  Where can I get it?


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## Dandred (Dec 21, 2012)

butchersapron said:


> Sort of war related and definitely worth the time is The Road Taken/The Choice which is a dramatisation of the worlds longest serving political prisoner the Korean Communist Kim Sun-myung who was arrested in 1951 for fighting for the north- _offered_ the chance to recant (offered via beatings and torture) and be released he refused to for 44 years. He was finally released in the 90s. _Without recanting._


 
Did he go back (was he allowed / did he want) to the North?


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## spitfire (Dec 21, 2012)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> snip/
> 
> My Way
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Way-DVD-Jang-Dong-Gun/dp/B008LSAKY4/ref=pd_sim_d_h__58


 
That's a good movie. Well worth a watch.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

spitfire said:


> That's a good movie. Well worth a watch.


 
Well it's currently wrapped up and sitting underneath the Christmas tree


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 21, 2012)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Well it's currently wrapped up and sitting underneath the Christmas tree


Present to yourself was it? You'd better stop talking about else you'll ruin the surprise!


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Present to yourself was it? You'd better stop talking about else you'll ruin the surprise!


 
Think so. I bought one but b/f''s sister bought me one as well. I had to wrap them both up. Can't remember which one I bought for myself 

Actually, I didn't buy it, as b/f bought it, but I bought it for me for him to buy for me


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 21, 2012)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Think so. I bought one but b/f''s sister bought me one as well. I had to wrap them both up. Can't remember which one I bought for myself
> 
> Actually, I didn't buy it, as b/f bought it, but I bought it for me for him to buy for me


 


WAR IS HELL


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> WAR IS HELL


 
I have to buy my Christmas presents on his behalf.  He doesn't know how to use internet


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 21, 2012)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> He doesn't know how to use internet


 
You fell for that? Hats off to the chap :Cool:


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> You fell for that? Hats off to the chap :Cool:


 


Doesn't even know how to switch laptop on


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 21, 2012)

"I'd love to do some housework, but that vacuum cleaner is a thing of almost magical mystery to me, sorry"


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> "I'd love to do some housework, but that vacuum cleaner is a thing of almost magical mystery to me, sorry"


 
He does the vacuuming and the washing up


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 21, 2012)

Mein Gott, so it's not a cunning ruse?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 21, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Mein Gott, so it's not a cunning ruse?


 
Nope


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## DaveCinzano (Dec 22, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> Currently giving _The Front Line_ AKA _고지전_ a go...


 
Well, that was cheery


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## Gramsci (Dec 24, 2012)

The Coast Guard written and directed by the Ki-duk Kim not quite a war film as its about soldiers guarding the coastline from supposed invasion by the north. As with a lot of Korean war films the background is the split between north and south and the militarisation of society.

A Korean friend told me that the film is accurate and a lot of the coastline near border is closed off with barbed wire.

Ki duk Kim is controversial director. His films are pyschodramas.


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## Gramsci (Dec 24, 2012)

DaveCinzano said:


> (As for non-Korean Korean War films, _Pork Chop Hill_ would probably be the bar for me - anything less than that doesn't seem worth it.)


 
Just looked at the link for that film and it sounds like the later Hamburger Hill is the same plot almost.


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## krtek a houby (Dec 24, 2012)

Seen JSA, Dong, R Point and have a copy of Brotherhood to watch.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 24, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Seen JSA, Dong, R Point and have a copy of Brotherhood to watch.


 
Brotherhood is great


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## Captain Hurrah (Dec 24, 2012)

Does anyone know where the film of the northern franchise (novel, film, opera), _Sea of Blood_, can be found with English subtitles?


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 25, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Seen JSA, Dong, R Point and have a copy of Brotherhood to watch.


I like JSA a lot apart from the terrible english bits.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 25, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I like JSA a lot apart from the terrible english bits.


 
That's the one thing absolutely everyone complains about


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 25, 2012)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> That's the one thing absolutely everyone complains about


It really does ruin it a bit. It takes you out of the film. The scenes don't even really seem that important. It's like they are just showing off, except they aren't because they are shit. 

Isn't there a line where someone says "Hey your english is really good" and she explains why she is so amazing at speaking english, except she isn't.


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## krtek a houby (Dec 26, 2012)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I like JSA a lot apart from the terrible english bits.


 
Yeah, I feel the same about the B movie style American actors in Dong


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 26, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Yeah, I feel the same about the B movie style American actors in Dong


I see it quite a lot in Japanese films too, where they get what appear to be western non actors to do english speaking parts. I don't know if they have told them to talk slowly and labored or if they are just shit.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 13, 2013)

spitfire said:


> That's a good movie. Well worth a watch.


 
Just watched it and really enjoyed it.

Didn't know it was loosely based on (or inspired by) this guy


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## butchersapron (Apr 12, 2013)

Boy Partisans/Teen Guerrillas is now up at kg



> One of the first North Korean movies, filmed during the war (released 1951). It is a propaganda image about young boys who decide to form guerrilla unit after Americans temporarily take over on of the cities conquered by communists. They are sabotaging the enemy and spying on them. There are also some greedy followers of  Li Syng Man who by the same time happens to be former collaborators of Japan, now in the service of USA carrying out executions of civilians for them. Film features bloody Americans murdering children and women and young boys saying talking in phrases from communist manifestos.


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## Bakunin (Apr 13, 2013)

Gramsci said:


> Just looked at the link for that film and it sounds like the later Hamburger Hill is the same plot almost.


 
Similar battle, actually.

'Hamburger Hill' is located in the A Shau Valley in Vietnam. It was designated 'Hill 937' by the US military and taken by the 101st Airborne Division ('Screaming Eagles') after 11 days of extremely heavy fighting in May, 1969.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hamburger_Hill

The film is excellent, by the way.


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## butchersapron (Oct 14, 2015)

Captain Hurrah said:


> Does anyone know where the film of the northern franchise (novel, film, opera), _Sea of Blood_, can be found with English subtitles?


Pot for subs now started on KG - for a new rip just uploaded that looks quite decent considering.


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