Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War - A True Bromance

"Hey, you got a pen I can borrow?"

Ken Ø says:


Tae Guk Gi is sort of a Korean Saving Private Ryan or maybe Saving Private Ryan is an American Tae Guk Gi. Either way, both movies embed personal stories of survival within a sprawling war epic. Older brother Jin-tae risks his life repeatedly so he can convince commanders to send his younger brother Jin-seok home. It’s a pretty good war movie and you want to care about Jin-tae and Jin-seok. Problem is, the body count is so high and the tragedy of a civil war that to this day still separates North and South makes it hard to care about one or two individuals. But, despite all the carnage the filmmakers do manage to humanize the story and in one dramatic scene actually manage to create a tear-worthy moment. It’s a long way to go, but if you want a quick cry Tae Guk Gi does deliver.

Tissue rating: 2.5 out 5 tissues


MJ says:

In compiling the names of the best tearjerkers that Korean cinema has to offer, we came across Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War. Judging solely by the name, I figured this wouldn't be the typical romance-tragedies that we have come to love for their ability to break our hearts. However, it would hardly be fair to discriminate solely based on the deviation from the (read: my own) preferred subject matter. Besides, it may also offer a well-deserved manly reprieve, if you will, for the gentlemen coerced into… I mean, willingly contributing to this blog.

Having said that, I did my best to keep an open mind watching this movie and to form a personal attachment to its characters... 

In the opening scene of the movie, we learn that one of the brothers (Jin-seok), now a grandfather, continues to live in limbo because he has yet to reunite with the other since they lost each other in the war. In response to an inquiry from an excavation team unearthing the remains of dead soldiers from the Korean War, he enlists the aid of his doting granddaughter to drive over to the site. In a moment of solitude, he weeps over a handsome pair of leather shoes, and we know this is going to be part of the emotional payoff in the end. 

In the closing scene, we see Jin-seok finally reunite with his older brother, Jin-tae, or rather, what's left of him. Next to his charred remains, Jin-seok finds the pen that Jin-tae had given him as a gift, and in this way Jin-tae fulfills the poetically tragic promise of returning it to him the next time they meet. This, along with a flashback explaining the sentimental value of the shoes, was enough to coax a respectable amount of tears from my eyes.

My dissatisfaction with the movie, however, lies in the mind-blowing (literally, brains being obliterated to bits by explosives), gut-wrenching and the nearly non-stop carnage that filled the bulk of the two hours of this film. The allure of war films eludes me -- I hate violence and war, whether real, imaginary, or a depiction of a real or imaginary event. (The few exceptions are Kill Bill-esque type of movies where a righteous woman is doling out a well-deserved ass-kicking, and at best it inspires me to go to the gym the next day.)

I feel ill-equipped to give this movie the appreciation it most likely deserves. The extravagant violence of it all has numbed me beyond comprehension. Call it a defense mechanism, call it PTSD, but please, don't call me for a second screening.

Tissue Rating: 1 out of 5 tissues


Lyn says:

This is a movie of 2 brothers with crossed-purposes fighting within the same army unit during wartime. As the viewers would expect, and which the movie makers wonderfully delivered, it is a story filled with pain, struggle, and frustration, and action scenes containing the horrors of which only wars can produce.

The two brothers in the story are Jin-tae Lee (played by Jang Dong-gun) and Jin-seok (played by Won Bin). As the two brothers lost their father at an earlier age, and their mother became a mute as a result, Jin-tae is forced to take up the roles of both a father and an elder brother to Jin-seok. Because of Jin-tae’s dedication to protect Jin-seok at all costs, and Jin-seok’s determination not to be separated from Jin-tae during the war, the brothers’ relationship with one another fall apart.

Overall the story was well written, and the execution of the movie was quite remarkable. However, the length of the movie given to the story development versus the duration of the climax, was in my view disproportionate and a little disappointing. Sitting through two hours of unending conflict & strife coupled with death and destruction at every other scene, I was looking forward to savoring the bittersweet end as it was sure to enthrall the viewers to experience an overflowing range of emotions. Unfortunately the climax came and went so soon, that all I could do was wipe away my first couple of tears that fell as the movie ended.

Tissue rating: 2.5 out of 5 tissues

What Is A Millionaire's First Love Worth?

When all the money in the world
ain't enough...

Lyn says:

The old adage of not being able to judge a book by its cover can likewise be applied to movies in saying that one cannot judge a movie by its title.

I had reservations about this movie, even up to the point of being reluctant to even watch it, since I thought the title was just preposterous. How different can first love be for us human beings – whether we are old or young, powerful or weak or even rich or poor? And that is exactly what title implied, that A Millionaire’s First Love is so different that they just had to make an entire movie about it.

Though all my misgivings about this movie washed away as it played and I got absorbed in the story.

Kang Jae-kyung (Hyun Bin) is the leading man, portraying the role of subject Millionaire, while Choi Eun-whan (Lee Yeon-hee), is his First Love. When the two characters initially meet, there was an air of utter disdain for one another. But as the story unfolds the two characters continue onto indifference, concern, and care and then ultimately love. The climax of the story is wherein the two have internal struggle in deciding whether they are pursue their love for one another at the consequence of causing Choi Eun-whan’s untimely death.

Overall, the story was quite touching, but for me it was the simple dialogue that brought me to tears. This movie will definitely go down in my recommend list as being a movie well worth watching.

Tissue rating: 4 out of 5 tissues


MJ says:

Watching cocky rich kid Jae-kyung for the first twenty minutes of the movie, I wondered how redemption for his character would be possible. (Of course, I knew it was inevitable, as inevitable as the premature death or handicap of a beloved character in these Korean romantic dramas, but let’s pretend I didn’t.) He seemed nothing short of arrogant, spiteful, and frankly, a little stupid.

Really? You’d prefer to be a grown man who doesn’t graduate from high school? I thought. His thought process was appalling. Say what you want about higher education, but c’mon.

When soft-spoken but strong-willed Eun-whan entered the picture, I knew she was someone special. Gas attendant, teacher’s pet, high school musical producer, good Samaritan, and super-cute to boot. If anyone would be capable of changing Jae-kyung’s heart, it was this Supergirl.

But there’s a catch: Eun-whan has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Perhaps it’s just the nurse in me, but I’m getting teary-eyed just thinking about it.

Jae-kyung’s redemption from overall douchebag to swoon-worthy boyfriend (and only part douchebag) was so instantaneous that it hardly felt gratifying. But no matter, the only things that mattered were their love for each other in a race against time…

And my race to find another box of tissues…

What else can I say. While this movie is far from perfect, A Millionaire’s First Love is money well spent.

Tissue Rating: 4 out of 5 tissues


Ken Ø says:

The first half of the movie mainly focuses on your stereotypical rich kid Kang Jae-kyung. He’s got the fast cars, lives in a hotel and has super annoying friends. But then his grandfather dies and in order to inherit his grandfather’s fortune he needs to transfer to rural high school and graduate. Makes perfect sense, but for some reason, he’s determined not to graduate high school. Of course he goes out to the school situated in a small village filled with quirky characters. The high school has about 6 students in total and apparently the only thing they need to do to graduate is put on a play. 

Somehow in the midst of all this nonsense there’s a really touching, sweet and yes, sad story. It involves Choi Eun-whan, a cute girl who made a couple odd appearances earlier in the movie. Turns out she and rich boy have a past. It also turns out she’s going to die. Now we have something. Without giving too much away, their past is revealed as the clock ticks down on Choi Eun-whan’s life. She makes several trips to a hospital and we get the sense she can kick the bucket at any moment. There are some very touching scenes between them and several sad moments as they grow closer and remember their past connection. However, I couldn’t help wonder why they kept treating this girl in a rural hospital when I’m sure there are some super top-notch hospitals in Seoul. I’m no doctor, but it sounded like what she had could be treated. Oh well, I guess if she doesn’t die in the end it’s not very sad. 

For me, it didn’t generate any waterworks, but it was sad. My overall rating (tissue meter) reflects this sadness quotient rather than a literal need for tissues. 


Tissue Rating: 3 out of 5 tissues

How Sad is Sad Movie?

If it's so sad, why is everyone smiling?

MJ says:

I had high hopes for our flagship movie pick. Sad Movie appeared on several best sad Korean tearjerker lists and we thought that it would be a more than appropriate first entry in our homage to heart-wrenching and tissue-depleting Korean dramas.

On the surface, Sad Movie appeared to have all the requisite elements needed for a successful cry-fest, times four. Sensory disability? Check. Terminal illness? Check. Premature death? Check. Ill-fated love? Check, check, check, and check.

AND, it stars my all-time favorite leading man (next to my husband, that is, ahem), Jung Woo-sung, or "Chul Soo" of the A Moment to Remember. Sure, I didn't recognize him at first, clean-shaven and fifteen pounds heavier than when he played the gruff yet super-sexy architect -- but I would almost blame that on the frustrating streaming video quality we first suffered through on dramacrazy.net, before finally finding a watchable version on youtube.

So what was the problem?

I think the movie was too ambitious in its scope, and most of the characters and plot lines were too underdeveloped to make me really care about them. 

Don't get me wrong: I watched this film twice and weeped substantially on both occasions; the second time even more so, in anticipation for those climactic scenes. The two story lines most interesting to me that of the mother and son, and of course, the firefighter and his girlfriend.  When the little boy ran into his mother's hospital room only to see her writhing violently in agony, I became teary-eyed. When Su-jeong bawls as she watches a video of her deceased boyfriend sign "I love you forever" before being swallowed in flames, I blew through half a dozen Kleenex Plus Lotion. 

But I couldn't bring myself to care for the demise of the relationship between Jung Ha-suk and his Debbie Downer of a girlfriend. I can't fault his entrepreneurial spirit, but as a boyfriend he seemed awfully childish, annoying, and oblivious. His girlfriend is right to cut off ties if she didn't love him anymore, for whatever reason, but her low-energy/slow-death manner of delivery was equally aggravating. 

I also couldn't jive with Su-eun's story. Maybe if we had watched a DVD-quality rip then I would be able to comprehend the severity of her burn scar, and likewise her painful timidity, but it looked like she barely had a blemish on her. Not to mention the fact that she's got a very nice figure (though my husband claims she has a "duck's ass", I think she just works out a lot), a pretty face, and a wonderful personality by all accounts. (Okay, I know it might sound hypocritical when I say that I want to lock myself in the apartment whenever one of those monster zits on my nose, but no one is really looking for me to do a spread in Elle Korea with a Calvin Klein model.) 

So you mean to tell me this hot chick can't get a date?

To close… is Sad Movie a moment to remember? Not really. But I'll watch it over America's trite feel-good equivalent Valentine's Day any day.

Tissue Rating: 2.5 out of 5 tissues




KEN Ø says:



Sadly, Sad Movie just wasn’t very sad. It wasn’t for a lack of trying though. Four sad stories are packed into this one movie: Dying mother and son, firefighter and girlfriend, deaf sister of firefighter’s girlfriend who was rescued from a fire from said firefighter but now has a scar (really a blemish) on her left cheek trying to get with cute artist boy and finally unemployed guy turned self-employed guy and his Debbie-downer grocery checker girlfriend.


The stories try and weave together, but only manage to bump into each other and get in each other’s way. Individually, two or three of the storylines could have been really interesting and really sad though. The mother and son story had a lot of sadness potential. On its own it actually could have been an entire sad movie. Also, the deaf sister with the blemish had a charming story that ended oddly not sadly. If that storyline were developed more it too could have been a major tear jerker.


Four stories for the price of one turned out to be a case of more is less.


0 tissues.



Lyn says:

4 short sad stories rolled into one movie, does not in itself make the movie a Sad Movie.

For fans of Korean dramas, we all know that there can be no happy ending for any of the characters in the movie. The question then is – how much we would feel for the characters as they undergo their trials and inevitable loss?

The movie contained 4 different angles of relationships, to ensure that the audience relates to the characters of the movie in one level or there other. Thus we have: the mother and son, the blissful couple, the struggling couple, and finally the couple that didn’t quite make it.

In general, I don’t think the watchers of drama movies look for complicated plot lines or even several plots in this case, but rather a display of intense emotions as the story unravels.

Out of the 4 stories however, there were 2 stories that were practically flat-lined from start to end. Undeniably all of the characters circumstances' were very unfortunate, however, I felt as if there was a lack of connection between the audience and the characters in the stories of the struggling couple and the couple that didn’t quite make it.

What could’ve been – if all the stories were developed just as much as the mother and son and the blissful couple, must be the biggest regret of the movie-makers and audience alike.

Tissue rating: 2 out of 5 tissues