TAE GUK GI-BROTHER HOOD OF WAR (Blu-Ray)

More than gore and explosions, it takes you thru the Korean War through the experience of common citizens unwillingly tossed about by the tides of history. As in reality, there is no one side that’s completely just. The brutal fighting between the 2 brothers reflected in part the nature of this fratricidal war.

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"Tae Guk Gi" centers around the story of two close-knit brothers who are conscripted into the South Korean army at the start of the Korean War. After enduring numerous battles and personal hardships that severely strain their relationship, the brothers find themselves on opposite sides of a battlefield, and are forced to fight each other, as well as the enemy, in order to survive.Although "Tae Guk Gi" has often been compared to "Saving Private Ryan," its storyline also contains elements of "Flags of our Fathers" (issues surrounding the "war hero") and "Letters from Iwo Jima" (intensely close-up and personal nature of combat). The most memorable scene of this film, however, was when the brothers were literally torn from their family, dragged onto a train, and sent to the front. No draft card or induction ceremony (and we dont see the brothers going through basic training). I think this blending of civilian and soldier distinguishes "Tae Guk Gi" from most American war movies, where a clear break exists between a soldier's civilian and military life. Perhaps the closest resemblance to this blending in America occurred during the first year of the Civil War, when Northern farmboys and factory workers were hastily given a uniform and rifle, organized into regiments, and sent down to Virginia to fight Confederates (this first group was pretty much all volunteers, however).Like many (recent) American war movies, "Tae Guk Gi" portrays the chaotic, gory, and deeply personal nature of war, experiences that those of us who've never been in combat will never really know. But it also dramatically illustrates the blurring between civilian and soldier that frequently occurs during war. General William Tecumseh Sherman was ultimately referring to this blurred boundary when he said that "War is Hell." General Robert E. Lee's equally profound statement, however, perhaps better sums up the powerful emotional appeal of this film: "It is well that war is so terrible -- lest we should grow too fond of it."

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War  is a long movie, but it needs to be, as it spans the three years of the Korean war.While the title includes "The Brotherhood of War," it's important to understand that the "brothers" here are allegorical. There are simply too many unbelievably miraculous escapes, amazing coincidences, and serendipitous meetings between the two brothers. These occasions detract from the film, as alert viewers think: "Oh, come on -- really???" But on reflection *after* the film, you should think, "Well, of course, since this isn't meant to be a tale about two actual brothers, but rather the family of Korea."The brothers are portrayed ably by the actors in this film. The subtitles do not distract as dubbing would. The film uses a realistic "cinema verite" effect which is actually getting old. There are numerous grisly scenes upon which the camera dwells a bit too long at times.There are the usual War Movie Standards -- the grinning dumb soldier, the hard case sergeant, the heartless officer, the beautiful girl and idyllic life back home. OK, filmmakers feel compelled to drop this stuff in to frame this as a war movie (Or do they? Maybe it's time creative, able directors drop some of the worn-out cliches with us since the forties?)Overall, this is Korea's "Platoon" -- a survey of ALL the horrors of war as experienced by a small group of highly unfortunates. It's well made, will acted, long, but somewhat laden with cliches.

It's hands down one of the greats war films I have ever seen a must watch. I was about 14yo when I first saw this film it literally brought tears to my eyes. I got lucky coming across this one it's actually pretty hard to find.

This has good actors and the plot is well done. However, some of the action sequences are up-close & personal where you see just one person at a time. The problem with these types of sequences is the rapid movement of the camera from one person to another for many seconds or minutes at a time. I got a headache trying to follow this and had to stop the movie to rest my eyes. There are other sequences that were good and typical war scenes with views of more people and locations.I could not watch this movie in its entirety at one setting because of some camerawork done during battle scenes. It was interesting and well done otherwise. The problem is that when I really like and am interested in a movie I usually like watching it all at one sitting. Otherwise I lose interest and then don't finish the movie for days or weeks.

Great movie I remember seeing this movie years ago but could never find it in stores.

The only reason I purchased this movie is because I enjoy watching Min Sik Choi from Oldboy act. I knew he had a small part in this and I wanted to see it. With the movie being over 2 hours and 20 minutes long I noticed I had forgotten my initial reason once I began watching it. The movie is an amazing one. I was interested all the way through. From the very beginning it was good and I still wasn't sure how it was going to end until it was over. The movie makes you go through a whole bunch of emotions throughout and it kept me amazed at how great this movie was. I couldn't imagine how anybody wouldn't enjoy it.When I finally noticed Min Sik Choi in his small part and remembered that was my reason for buying this movie in the first place I was so into the movie already that it just made it that much better. This is by far one of the best films I have seen and I have seen a lot of good movies. I can't think of anything I didn't like about it. It was a movie I will not forget. I would give it a higher rating if I could.

Amazing movie! A lot better than some American ones. A good drama story and war movie! 5stars

Saving Privat Ryan gehört mit zu meinem Lieblingsfilmen, obwohl ich generell Antikriegsfilme nicht mag ( besonders die aus Hollywood, weil es nur die vermeintlichen Guten und Bösen existieren). Aber nicht bei Brotherhood. Hier wird gezeigt, dass es sowohl aus Südkorea als auch Nordkorea die '' die Bösen '' vorhanden sind. Der Film verdeutlich sehr wie alle im Krieg zu leiden haben.Auch ist die Brutalität ziemlich hart, die allerdings meiner Meinung nach nötig sind, um den Film realistisch darzustellen.Brotherhood regt zum nachdenken an und hat mich auch emotional getroffen. Das macht einen echten Antikriegsfilm aus.Wer mit Geschichte und asiatische Dramatik was anfangen kann, den kann ich diesem Film wärmstens empfehlen.Übrigens ist die Bluray-Version in einer sehr guten Qualität.

Il film narra la storia di due fratelli durante la guerra di Corea. Personalmente ho apprezzato molto le scene di battaglia che risultano essere molto realiste, storicamente accurate e la contestualizzazione della guerra con tutti i suoi aspetti devianti. Deve essere stata una guerra terribile ed ancor oggi le tensioni non sembrano sopite. Le cose che non mi sono piaciute sono più che altro legate alla recitazione di alcuni attori secondari e, a mio modo di vedere, l'esagerazione eroica di certi personaggi. Tuttavia è un male comune a molti film quindi esprimo solo un giudizio personale.Ne consiglio l'acquisto.

Ich beziehe mich auf folgende Punkte: Ton, Bild, Inhalt.TonDer Ton ist sehr stimmig gestaltet, die Synchronisation passt zu den Figuren und der Klang der Schlachten hört sich sehr gut an.BildDie Bildqualität ist gut gemacht und setzt alles zusammen mit Musik/ton gut in Szene, zusammen genommen sind Kämpfe sehr stimmig und eindrucksvoll gestaltet.InhaltAm Anfang sieht man einen alten Koreaner, welcher einen Anruf von einer Ausgrabungsstätte bekommt, er hofft dort jemanden zu finden, den er dort verloren hat...Erzählt wird die Geschichte von 2 Brüdern, welche vor dem Ausbruch des Koreakrieges ihr Leben leben und plötzlich in einen Krieg reingezogen werden, dessen Ausmaß keiner anfangs versteht.Man sieht die Entwicklung des älteren Bruders, welcher Sondermissionen übernimmt, damit sein junger Bruder von Fronteinsätzen möglichst verschont bleibt und nach Hause geschickt werden kann, wenn er sich genug beweist. Mit der Zeit wird die Kluft der Brüder immer größer, denn auch wenn er nur seinen Bruder schützen will, wird er selbst unbewusst immer brutaler, fanatischer und rücksichtsloser.Dies spannt die Beziehung der Brüder an und stellt sie auf eine harte Probe, während der Krieg immer erbarmungsloser wird und die Menschlichkeit stetig abnimmt, denn jeder will den Tag lebend überstehen.Man sieht sehr gut in dem Film, das in diesem Krieg (fast in jedem) jeder fanatisch werden kann und zu Verbrechen im Stande ist, das es sowas wie "Gut" und "Böse" nicht gibt.So werden in Nord aber auch Südkorea die Menschen gegen die jeweils andere Seite aufgehetzt, zu regelrechten Hass erzogen, das aus ehemaligen Freunden Feinde werden.Jede Seite will überleben und die meisten sind gezwungen zu kämpfen, müssen sich bekriegen und die Aggression steigt stetig, Aktion-> Reaktion.Vorurteile sind so stets präsent, seien es "Kommunistenschweine" oder "Imperialisten", dies dürfte hier zu Lande vielen bekannt vor kommen, auch wenn der Krieg WEst vs Ost nicht statt fand, so sind auch heute noch Vorurteile bei uns zu finden.-------------------------------------Ich persönlich kann den Film empfehlen, da er den Schrecken des Krieges nicht einseitig zeigt und relativ neutral bleibt, denn keiner hat eine reine Weste.

Meiner Meinung nach ist "Brotherhood" einer der am besten gemachten asiatischen Filme und der beste koreanische Film den ich kenne. Man muss warnen: er ist extrem brutal, doch eben dadurch wird er realistisch und zeigt die Hölle des Koreakriegs. Gut finde ich auch, dass keine Seite pauschal als die "gute" oder die "böse" dargestellt wird. Stattdessen wird gezeigt, wie beide Seiten unglaubliche Greueltaten begingen.Die Geschichte der beiden Brüder, die gegen ihren Willen in den Krieg gegen die Kommunisten gezwungen werden ist berührend, ohne kitschig zu werden. Die schauspielerische Leistung ist top und (ausnahmsweise!) ist die deutsche Synchronisation auch sehr gut (was bei asiatischen Filmen meistens nicht der Fall ist). Ich kann diesen Film jedem, der sich für Geschichte und Kriegsfilme interessiert empfehlen.Die Bluray Qualität ist top, sowohl in Bild als auch Ton. Im Vergleich zur DVD merkt man schon einen sehr großen Unterschied in der intensität der Farben und der Schärfe des Bildes (auch das ist leider nicht immer selbstverständlich).