Many commentators focus on this movie as a comedy and are disappointed. Don't be fooled by the ones who say it's like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Only one scene is like that--when the soldiers taunt each other and try to out-do the other's insults. They use every obscene word and gesture that they can think of. The English subtitles even use cursing with the words, "Christ" and "hell." Makes me wonder about the translation.
(Spoiler--unless you already realize that some characters will die in a war movie) This is not a Comedy in the traditional sense. It's a Tragedy, mostly. There is a lot of humor, but in the end, this is a story about dying for a questionable cause. A serious issue is raised amidst the joking: War--what is it good for...? In the movie, they are fighting for "it." What "it" is, creates a lot of misunderstandings and humor, but makes you think at the end. What should we be willing to die for--what is "it?" One hero keeps saying, the tiger leaves his pelt and a man leaves his honorable name. In the end, his wife reminds him that tigers are killed for their pelts, and men are killed for names.
That's not a joke.
P.S. The sets and costumes are great. The acting is good, as far as I can tell, not knowing Korean. Of the two main generals, I think the actor Jin-Yeong Jeong as gray bearded General Kim Yoo-sin (Shilla army) did a better job of conveying the gravity of the situation. I was not convinced as much by the performance by actor Joong-Hoon Park as the black bearded General Kye-Baek (Baekche army).
Rating: The movie has A LOT of obscene language and some violence.
(Spoiler--unless you already realize that some characters will die in a war movie) This is not a Comedy in the traditional sense. It's a Tragedy, mostly. There is a lot of humor, but in the end, this is a story about dying for a questionable cause. A serious issue is raised amidst the joking: War--what is it good for...? In the movie, they are fighting for "it." What "it" is, creates a lot of misunderstandings and humor, but makes you think at the end. What should we be willing to die for--what is "it?" One hero keeps saying, the tiger leaves his pelt and a man leaves his honorable name. In the end, his wife reminds him that tigers are killed for their pelts, and men are killed for names.
That's not a joke.
P.S. The sets and costumes are great. The acting is good, as far as I can tell, not knowing Korean. Of the two main generals, I think the actor Jin-Yeong Jeong as gray bearded General Kim Yoo-sin (Shilla army) did a better job of conveying the gravity of the situation. I was not convinced as much by the performance by actor Joong-Hoon Park as the black bearded General Kye-Baek (Baekche army).
Rating: The movie has A LOT of obscene language and some violence.