71: Into The Fire (포화 속으로: Pohwasogeuro) 2010

As much as I love Hollywood/Western Movies, as an amateur film-maker myself I adore every movie as long as it is able to blow me away.
In this case I will give my opinion on the South Korean film "71: Into The Fire".

"The true story, directed by John H. Lee about a South Korean student unit of 71 soldiers who was left to defend the girls middle school during the Battle of Pohang during the peek of North Korea's invasion of the South in 1950. That 71 students defended that position for 11 hours against a North Korean army brigade and the film was inspired by the letters of one of those soldiers. Out of 71 members of the unit, only three had combat experience, while the remaining have not gone through basic military training before the battle.

Ju Kap Jo

Oh Jung Beom

What I loved about this movie was the story telling. It focus on Oh Jung Beom (Seung-hyun Choi aka Korean Boy Group Big Bang's T.O.P) who is assigned to lead the group of 71 student soldiers. In particular, a student soldier named Ku Kap Jo (Sang-Woo Kwon) who tends to do his own thing and not listen to Jung Beom. What this movie does best is show the conflict between the two characters and how their relationship changes. Character development of Oh Jung Beom is well done as he is first a shy person to a very aggressive leader later on in the film. Action is well done and the story telling.

Rating: 7/10

- Khenn Carlos