The Fortress

I'm completely ignorant to the history of the time frame this movie takes place in, so I'm reviewing this as simply a movie rather than a true historical piece.

My favorite thing about this movie is the dialogue. For being over two hours long and not feeling bored the entire time is truly a testament to how well acted and directed this film is. You don't need a background in Korean history to understand what is going on in the film as everything is explained very well. Every scene is engaging because you can feel the sense of urgency of their situation, and as the plot develops new problems arise, and it was interesting seeing everyone's debate on what course of action should be taken.

Overall I highly recommend this film if you are interested in period pieces, or if you are a fan of great films in general.

Enjoyed this as it's not black and white morally and you genuinely don't know where it's going. A bit of a gem actually.It's quite brutal in parts but not gratuitously as it is about a very desperate battle.

This film recently came up on NowTV and thought would give it a try without knowing anything about it. Very glad that I did! If you think you would enjoy an insight into a brutal period of medieval history not well known in the west with a mix of realistic battle scenes and court intrigue (and you don't mind subtitles) then I could recommend this. Central to the story being the kings aides who have differing advice for the King on how to deal with the invading Chinese army against a backdrop of a society with very distinct rich and poor divide where honour is sacrosanct. The film captures well the bleak remote location of the fortress while the combat is refreshingly devoid of the extensive use of cgi.

Hard to watch such suffering for power and greed, but script production, direction, and most certainly the acting made it worth my while. Kudos again Korea!

The Fortress is a good historical war movie. The portrayal of the 2 sides seems historically accurate. It paid attention to details. A huge feat this movie accomplished is that the Qing side speaks Manchu instead of Korean or Chinese, as Manchu is an almost extinct language today. This fact alone bring immersion into the world of 1600s. The movie, while showing a major historical event, and portraying from the Korean perspective, attempts to take no side emotionally from the 2 warring parties. There's no demonizing of the Qing forces or glorifying of the Korean resistance. This brings more universality in the story line. Great movie for history buffs.