Brotherhood of War - Taegukgi (2004) Online
In 1950, in South Korea, shoe-shiner Jin-tae Lee and his 18-year-old old student brother, Jin-seok Lee, form a poor but happy family with their mother, Jin-tae's fiancé Young-shin Kim, and her young sisters. Jin-tae and his mother are tough workers, who sacrifice themselves to send Jin-seok to the university. When North Korea invades the South, the family escapes to a relative's house in the country, but along their journey, Jin-seok is forced to join the army to fight in the front, and Jin-tae enlists too to protect his young brother. The commander promises Jin-tae that if he gets a medal he would release his brother, and Jin-tae becomes the braver soldier in the company. Along the bloody war between brothers, the relationship of Jin-seok with his older brother deteriorates leading to a dramatic and tragic end.
Credited cast: | |||
Dong-Gun Jang | - | Jin-tae Lee | |
Won Bin | - | Jin-seok Lee | |
Eun-ju Lee | - | Young-shin Kim | |
Hyeong-jin Kong | - | Yong-man | |
Yeong-ran Lee | - | Mother Lee | |
Kil-kang Ahn | - | Sergeant Huh (as Kil-Kang Ahn) | |
Jin Jung | - | Sergeant Lim | |
Jae-hyeong Jeon | - | Yong-seok | |
Min-ho Jang | - | Old Jin-seok Lee | |
Yun-hie Jo | - | Jin-seok Lee's grandaughter | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Won-hee Cho | |||
Min-sik Choi | - | North Korean Captain | |
Do-Hee Go | - | Young-Guk Kim | |
Taek-ha Hwang | - | Platoon Soldier #2 | |
Dae-Hoon Jeong |
To recreate the battle at Doo-Mil-Ryung, the scene required 15,000 bullets, 3,000 extras and 500 stunt experts. Instead of rifles being fired, fist fights were the main focus of the scene and all of the cast were specially trained. The shoot lasted three weeks with about 50 minor accidents a day on average, but the scene was finally wrapped without any major accidents.
The second film to sell over 10 million tickets in South Korea after breaking the highest grossing record set earlier by Silmido (2003).
The South Korean briefing in 1951 just before one of the characters escapes to North Korean lines mentions an attack on Hills 931 and 851. This is a reference to the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge, which occurred in September and October 1951.
Official submission of South Korea for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 77th Academy Awards in 2005.
No other UN soldiers are seen in the film other than South Koreans, despite the very large role that they played in the war. Likewise, the Chinese, who would be the principal Communist force after late 1950, are only seen once or twice in the entire film.
Body Count: 531
The M4A3E8 Sherman tanks seen in the film seem to be mock-ups built on M32A1B3 Armored Recovery Vehicles, which were based on the M4A3E8 chassis but 'armed' only with a large winch for recovering disabled heavy vehicles. This is evidenced by a small slit in the front of the vehicle, which only the M32 series have in the Sherman family. Their hulls and Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension system seem to be genuine. These mock-up Shermans are, nevertheless, highly realistic and detailed, and have appeared in several other Korean War films and television series filmed in South Korea.
One of four South Korean movies screened at the 2006 International Fajr Film Festival in Iran.
Korean pop star/actor Jae-Joong Kim appeared in this film as an extra. He is best known as a lead vocalist for the pop groups 'TVXQ/DBSK/TOHOSHINKI' and JYJ.
The actor who plays the North Korean captain in the Pyongyang battle scene called in sick and was replaced with another actor with similar features.
The protagonists of the film, brothers Lee Jin-tae and Lee Jin-seok, are assigned to the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army's 1st Infantry Division.
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