The Front Line

Great acting ,sets and costumes.One of the best war films I have seen for a while ,the story is also really good .

THE FRONT LINE is a typical addition to the recent wave of South Korean war movies that strive to explore new avenues on a very famous theatre of war. The last two I saw were WELCOME TO DONGMAKGOL and 71 INTO THE FIRE; the former was a politically intriguing exploration of the nature of conflict itself, while the latter was a flag-waving crowd-pleaser.

THE FRONT LINE falls somewhere between the two, refusing to demonise opponents while at the same time providing plenty of gritty war action. The earth-flying battle sequences are by far the highlight of this film as the screen is transformed into a nightmarish and barren landscape of blown-up hillsides, dingy trenches and muddy holes in the ground. This is real warfare, post-SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, throwing you into the thick of realistic action and making you feel like you're fighting at the side of the protagonists.

It's a pleasure to report that the non-battle storyline is every bit as watchable as the scenes taking place on the battlefield. As in the earlier BROTHERHOOD, much of the plot revolves around the developing relationship between two characters whom the war transforms in different ways: one becomes battle-weary and resigned, the other slightly unhinged and with a real killer instinct. It's a poignant, carefully-drawn relationship and one that sustains the running time admirably. Okay, so some of the sub-plots openly copy those of earlier movies (the whole sniper thing in particular) but that doesn't detract from what is a very good recent war movie.

an epic movie about the korean war. same people in the same origin, same ancestor, just because the ideological manipulation by the soviet and Chinese communists, a nation on the peninsula turned into a purgatory during the early 1950s. all the critical important ingredients/elements making a film this great were well provided: great screenplay full of atrocity of killings, sacrifices, ridiculousness of war and battles, stupid ideology, the greatness and the smallness of human natures, great directing, casting, cinematography, locations, stunts, graphic design, editing, sound effects, background music arrangement....and most memorable acting/performance, all well combined and turned this movie into a great viewing experience.

the most important message of this film: the ridiculousness of the war, the stupidity of battling with a non-exist but well manipulated cause. the blindness of human nature, the helpless of being a soldier, an expendable pawn by higher ranking officers and their nations' political and military leaders, the foreign countries' ideology manipulations. all the human lives consumed in wars and battles are just meaningless and forgettable. they are just statistic numbers in history books.

this ridiculously sad war movie only sent you a strong message: for what and what for?

First review here on IMDb so I'll keep it short.

This movie is fresh in my mind as I can literally see the credits fading on the other portion of the screen.

This is a great, superbly acted movie about the horrors and futility of war. There really are no "villains" just different shades of grey, as both side is portrayed as just as guilty as the other.

It shows both sides of the war and how they are both fighting for control a small piece of land and at the same time continuously asking the question of "why?"

There are some moments of camaraderie between the two different sides as well, so it isn't all just blood and guts, yet it is more gruesome than Hollywood films.

In summary, if you want to see a good war film aside from the usual Hollywood remakes and rehashes then this one is a good one.

The main problem with this movie is its runtime and the ungodly amount of side plots. A movie can have multiple side plots, but it must not forget then and remember them only for short amounts of time. These plots ad unnecessary length to the film especially at the end when you just want the movie to end.

Otherwise it was quite good. Combat scenes were quite brutal and captured the horrors of war. The dialogue was bad only a couple of times.

It was weird to not see any actual artillery in the movie. Explosions come mostly from mortars and bombs. It also has a rarely seen rifle granede which is used in one scene.