71 Into The Fire

Directed by: Lee Jae-Han (John H. Lee) Written by: Jeong Tae-Won Produced by: Jeong Tae-Won Editing by: Steve M. Choe, Changju Kim Cast: Kwon Sang-Woo, T.O.P., Cha Seung-Won, Kim Seung-Woo, Park Jin-Hie, Kim Hye-Seong, Moon Jae-Won, Shin Hyeon-Tak, Yun Seung-Hun, Tak Teu-In, Ki Se-Hyung, Shin Kyung-Sun, Kim Sung-Ryeong, David McInnis

This movie is about the story of 71 student soldier trainees who fought a hopeless war against seasoned North Korean army during the Korean War in 1950. Based on real history, the film depicts the ferocious battle that the teenage student soldiers fall into as they fight to protect the final defense line by themselves; their emotions and conflicts boil over as they experience the grown-ups' war.

Having T.O.P. from Big Bang, the K-Pop band, as Oh Jung-Bum (leader of the student soldiers) in its cast definitely boosted its popularity, especially amongst teens and young adults, along with a historical story that is not so well known by many, it drew many curious eyes to the big screens.

The start of the movie gives a brief back story on how the South Koreans were in a desperate need of soldiers and were forced to accept teenage volunteers a.k.a. the “student soldiers”.

The plot only moves to concentrate on its characters’ and emotional development after the first 30 minutes of the movie; which might be a little too much for some. But at least it did not jump straight into the action leaving the audience totally clueless about the plot

For a war-movie fanatic, one would realise that the cinematography (while not as fantastic) is pretty much similar to many other war movies, the plot pretty much revolves around a few characters and a lot of stuff blowing up. There are also quite a few scenes that will remind you of shows like Band of Brothers and the like.

On the flip side, one would love the funny antics and the struggle for leadership amongst the students; this is one aspect that director Lee Jae-Han managed to incorporate well with the movie.

As the story develops, the students get dragged back to reality that they are running low on manpower and ammunition, they get their act together and finally band up as a team to fight for survival against the North Korean soldiers led by commander Park Moo-rang (Cha Seung-won).

This movie is a must-watch for everyone out there as it not only provides the solemn and action-packed setting of a movie, it also does dishes out emotions that makes the audiences feel for the characters, as well as insight on a piece of history that most people miss out on due to WWII being the major historical event in that century.

 

This review is contributed by Movie Max.

For more information about Movie Max, click here!