Tae Guk Gi (2004)

Considered to be one of the best movies in Korean film history, it is appropriate that the title of the film is also the name of the Korean Flag.  I sat down to watch this with the wife at her suggestion.  She couldn't watch most of it. 

Story-  This is a war movie through and through, but it is also a love story between two brothers.  I hope you don't have to have a brother to understand that bond, but I do and it played to that bond very well.  It is also a movie about sacrifice.  It was an amazing story that kept me guessing till the very end. 

Characters-  The actors playing the brothers were excellent.  They nailed the roles and were very believable as brothers.  Eun Ju-Lee was great as well (hey, I didn't know they had plastic surgery back then).  Sadly she killed herself a few years ago. 

Overall- It was an amazing movie with pretty cutting edge special effects for the time that it was made.  It is bloody and gory and does not romanticize what the war was.  It was a bloody mess with soldiers being sent to their slaughter.  It shows some of the autrocities of both sides and makes you really uncomfortable knowing that this stuff really happened.  It doesn't have a happy ending, but that makes it even more true to life.  Excellent movie, probably for 13+ due to violence/blood/gore. 

Seven Days ( 2007)

Seven Days is a thriller starring Yunjin Kim (Lost).  The premise of the story is that her daughter has been kidnapped and Ji-Yeon (Kim) must successfully defend a murderer in order to get her daughter back.  Oh yeah, she only has seven days to do it.

This is really strong drama, a Korean strong point.  The pacing is a little slow but the tension continues to build throughout the movie.  The ending surprised me, so the story telling wasn't completely predictable.

Kim does an excellent job.  I think the movie was seven days because she was in between seasons of lost and didn't have time to film a movie called thirty days.  All of the acting is well done, without the hyperbole that you find in comedies.

Overall it was a good movie.  If you like thrillers you will enjoy this one.