Silmido (2003) User Reviews

Loyalty and KCIA

[Atavisten · 8/10 · 10 April 2005]

In the 1960s a Korea controlled by its intelligence KCIA (guess where it came from ..) after a North Korean attempt to assassinate the South Korean president Park Chung-hee. South Korea responds by making a special force to kill Kim Il-sung, commander of North Korea. This force is made up of criminals judged to death sentence who get the choice of playing hangman or be in the force.

What we see from now on is people not treated as people, but are trained as machines of war for one mission which will take their lives in the end. The fact that this is based on a true story is very depressing and even more sadly, not so surprising.

This film was far superior to the more heroism focused 'Taegukgi' but received far less acclaim in South Korea, understandably so since 'Silmido' is very critical about recent happenings and has a much smaller budget. You on the other hand if given the choice, know what to pick. ;)

Riveting account of Korean govt doublecross

[DanStarkey · 8/10 · 30 December 2004]

Korean film is blossoming, from the action thriller "Shiri" to the delightful romantic "My Sassy Girl." "Silmido" takes this ability to make excellent films in a political direction. "Silmido" is to South Korea as Costa-Gavras' "Z" was to Greece: truth-telling about terrible government misdeeds. Unlike "Z," however, "Silmido" is not only shown at home, but is hugely successful, demonstrating the increasing strength of Korean democracy. One hopes that films like "Silmido" are a sign of increasing openness, and better times ahead for the Korean people.

As was the case with "Z," the excellence of the film guarantees an international audience for the story, and the widespread attention may well lead to additional revelations. Although the details of the government plot are sordid, the film romanticizes the actions of death-row convicts, and one suspects that the filmmakers took some liberties in portraying some of their noble and comradely behavior. Nevertheless, an first-rate movie and highly recommended.

Melodramatic almost to a fault - but intense to the end

[RolandCPhillips · 7/10 · 6 May 2005]

This one shouldn't be seen while feeling vulnerable.

In 1968, a group of 31 death-row prisoners were selected by the South Korean military with the intention of crafting them into a super-tough unit to slash the throat of the North's President, in retaliation for a similar attempt by the Communist government.

The endured an unspeakably gruelling training, but became the ultimate fighting unit: no past and no worries about the fate (just as long as they don't get captured). However, at the 11th Hour, the South Korean government altered policy and retracted the standing orders: no go on the mission. So the condemned men, 'Unit 684', who lived, trained and survived together were left with no purpose, and were a potential powder keg on the diplomatic level… I expect you can guess what happened next.

This movie went stellar in Korea, and given the success of films like Shiri, JSA, Taegukgi and Champion I can appreciate why. This is concerned heavily with national identity, loyalty, responsibility, duty, faith and friendship. It's also gutsy, violent and tough – so much so you might end up feeling you've trained with the men themselves. One of the strengths of Woo-Suk Kang's film is that it's engaging: you feel like you evolve with the men, that you live with them. Is this isn't brought about by any particularly subtle techniques, but by cinematic brute force. The film pummels you over the head with images of torment, crushing, bombastic Hans Zimmer-esquire music, gunfire, widescreen effects, explosions, and close-ups of bodies smashing rocks.

It's melodramatic to the bone. OTT, posturing and hard to take seriously.

But for some reason, I was moved, and impressed. Despite it's excesses and bombast, the film gets under your skin. The issues surrounding the country's responsibility to the men it sentences, then entrusts with its dirty work are raised, but not properly examined, ditched in favour of loud speeches and actors being manly. But the film's resolve to take itself absolutely seriously pays off. Despite the length and tracks of boredom that set in, director Kang's decision to milk scenes for all their worth makes you care. And you will be moved for the men.

There is also some genuine food for thought. The film lacks the scale to examine some of its more controversial issues properly, and the villains it creates are your basic dispassionate men-in-high-places-in-suits, but the betrayal wrought on the prisoners is made more complex by the changes in some superiors' characters, and by the ideas of bravery and cowardice that are briefly raised.

I find it slightly dispiriting that a Hollywood-like lack if complexity has seeped into some of South Korea's film (e.g. Shiri, Tube, Taegukgi), this is an angry dog of a film, committed to the men it depicts. I'm sure major historical liberties were taken, and for Korean cinema, sample Save The Green Planet above this, but this still an accomplishment, and a tough experience.

South Korean incident from late 1960s is heroic movie material

[jennyhor2004 · 7/10 · 12 December 2011]

Apparently based on actual incidents, this epic film ought to have been just a straightforward "Dirty Dozen" action film with a sketchy plot, loads of violence and boot-camp brutality, displays of macho camaraderie and a schmaltzy message about dying for your mates and country; "Silmido" is all of that on one level yet turns out to be more. Perhaps its Korean setting and the very contemporary nature of the politics invoked – the Korean War technically hasn't finished – help shove the film into a realm audiences inside and outside the country can relate to but I'm not sure that explains the feeling I have that "Silmido" would affect a lot of people who have no knowledge of the country's history in a very personal way.

The plot is easy to follow: in the late 1960s, after some North Korean agents have been captured and executed by South Korean military forces after confessing that they were on a mission to kill President Park Chunghee, the South Koreans themselves toy with the idea of sending men on a similar mission to kill North Korean leader Kim Ilsung. Under orders from the government, the army sends over 30 hardened criminals on death row and other outcasts to Silmido island to undergo a brutal training regime that will transform them into elite assassin force Unit 684. For much of the film, viewers are treated to harrowing if well-staged scenes of unrelenting Spartan training and often sadistic torture; the proceedings can be hard to watch sometimes and the film's pace never lets up. When the men have been disciplined and honed into an efficient fighting force, the government orders change and the army is now faced with a fanatical killing machine it does not know what to do with.

The plot is mostly predictable: men who can't handle the training drop out and there's a token death; the army leaders and soldiers who train the would-be assassins are suitably granite-faced and apply the requisite beatings and excessive machine-gun fire punishments. There's room for slapstick humour in one scene where a man runs into a river before his minder even has a chance to brand him with a hot poker! The music soundtrack is stirring and heroic to excess and there is plenty of Korean-style OTT melodrama; compared to other east Asians, Koreans have a reputation for being highly emotional and intense people and "Silmido" milks the emotional potential inherent in scenes between individual characters who have personal crosses to bear and old scores to settle.

Where the film really lifts its game is in what goes on between the army and the government represented by stock character stereotypes outside Silmido island: the general political situation changes, South Korea decides it's better to co-exist with and even do deals with Kim Ilsung, and senior bureaucrats and politicians waive away the creation of Unit 684 as though the 31 remaining men in the unit are just so many flies to be swatted away. The hoplites' loyalty to their country and fighting zeal count for nothing but their very testoterone-charged fanaticism, the bonds of loyalty among themselves and to their superiors, and their readiness to face death so that they can truly feel alive now make them a serious threat to South Korea's security. At this point in the film, non-Korean viewers realise there are two ways to go: the plot could just let the men go off to North Korea with the army and government cynically figuring that the North Koreans can handle them their own way; or the men could self-destruct. As Koreans know already, the men do self-destruct but the ways in which they do it turn out quite unpredictably. Their demise is at once heroic and pathetic and the film's coda is quietly powerful and depressing in a way that only skillful and clever Korean film-making can make it.

The incidents of "Silmido" are particular to Korean history, so much so that I don't expect Koreans born after the period of military rule (which ended more or less about the late 1980s or early 1990s) to know those events, but the film's themes of political expediency, bureaucratic indifference, the cynical exploitation of loyalty, camaraderie and patriotism, a government's inability to consider the consequences of creating a killing machine with only one short-term purpose in mind and the psychological effects that intense military training might have on people are surely issues that will resonate with viewers beyond Korea. Above all there is something exhilarating about men who, in training to face certain death, discover purpose and new life, and you can't help but feel that in spite of their brutal training and psychological transformation, they experience a kind of freedom and become supermen, far beyond the confines of the society that originally produced them.

Dirty Dozen meets Eagle Has Landed meets Gauntlet

[medialuvr · 10/10 · 28 March 2004]

As the South Korean movie industry matures, more of their feature movies should become of interest to mainstream western audiences. Silmido is one of these movies.

The Korean peninsula continues to experience behind-the-scenes low intensity engagements between the two nations. Set in the 1960's, the nK strikes at the ROK leadership and prompts a response. The KCIA sponsors the formation of a special army unit to strike back at Pyongyang. Comprised of civil prisoners and other outcasts, the movie follows their formation, training, and deployment.

The film covers a great deal of cultural ground. The viewer gets a sense of the male-dominated, hierarchical government with its intrigues and power brokers. The spartan living conditions, training and discipline are not inconsistent with ROK practices. The motto used in the film - "Loyalty" - illustrates the conservative bent of the military system and the social schism which exists between it and the South Korean people at large. The film could have used "Strength and Honor" from Gladiator to the same effect. As a code of behavior, the concept of loyalty is the thematic underpinning for the major plot turns.

While lacking some of the pacing and plot roll-out elements of first tier film efforts, Silmido still delivers an interesting story line and succeeds as an action movie. It offers a harsh indictment of the government's leadership, not unlike American Viet Nam conflict movies, and the viewer is left with a perspective of Korean soldiers as army ants whose sole function is to live and die protecting their society.

very good ***minor spoiler***

[mighty_pickman · 8/10 · 28 July 2004]

Do you the most amazing thing about Silmido is, is the fact that it is based on a true story.

It's hard to find much fault with this film, the acting & production quality is very good. Silmido is an engrossing drama from start to finish, firstly see our death-row crims cum crack soldiers preparing for their mission & secondly to see their eventual demise.

Silmido is another example of the huge steps taken by the South Korean film industry in the past decade, making films far more original than Hollywood, with in many cases production & acting standards equal to Hollywood with budgets a fraction of the Hollywood machine.

Better to watch before "call of duty"

[silversurfer_umit · 8/10 · 21 October 2008]

Firstly I must say that nearly there is no woman in the movie. Thats make this movie more strict and harsh. As you know the story, this is a hard movie also. You must have nerves like steel to watch this movie without getting upset. I get some stress while watching the movie and after watching it. Because everybody shouting each other and beating each other realistically and periodically.

This is a good movie. A good story. You cannot guess the end of the movie that has a surprising ending. Most of the emotions in the movie is at the tops. Acting is very very good. Effects are also okey,not the best but very good for a foreign movie.

Finally I think,war movie lovers must see this movie.Others with strong nerves also will like this movie. Better to watch before "call of duty".

The most tragic & incredible event in Korean history

[info-2513 · 10/10 · 8 July 2004]

January 1968, 31 members of North Korean Special Unit 124 infiltrated South Korea with the ultimate mission of attacking the Blue House (Presidential Palace in Korea) and assassinating President PARK Chung-hee. When KIM Shin-jo, the only member who was captured alive, was asked 'What was the purpose of infiltration?' on a live TV program, he shouted 'I came to slit the throat of President PARK Chung-hee!' and made the whole country's blood run cold.

At the same time, In-chan escapes the death penalty for being an accessory to a crime when he accepts an unexpected proposal from Jae-hyun , a general at Silmido H.I.D. Project and is transported to Silmido Special Unit. Silmido Special Unit is a unit composed of dysfunctional social outcasts and criminals under the death or life sentences. Sang-pil and Won-hee are also among the members of this unit. When they arrive at the island, Jae-hyun gives them the classified national duty, which is to explode the North Korean presidential palace and behead KIM Il-sung, the North Korean president. It is a retaliatory project. To its all 31 members, it is the ultimate patriotic mission with pride and loyalty; and it is the only chance they have to start a new life that is promised once the mission is successfully accomplished. With their hopes and promising vision, they survive through the most hellish inhumane 'killing' training and are reborn as human armories. They are the human killing machines, with strong comradeship and respect for each other.

Finally, the day arrives and they receive an order from the head office to carry out the mission. With their supreme confidence, they depart for the North. However, the project is suddenly revoked and they return to Silmido with much discouragement and stress. After then, the hellish training continues but, there is no more mission. The psychological frustration and physical tolerance start to reach their limits. And soon, the members start to lose their focus and unity. In order to regain complete control of the unit, the head office performs public executions of its own members. Meanwhile in 1970, with growing nationwide peacemaking movement between the North and the South, the government quickly decides to demolish Silmido Special Unit and executes all its members...

A fictitious real story which will attract commoners!

[palaeo · 6 February 2004]

Silmido is the name of island in Korea, and it is also the combat training center of 39 Korean 'special force' soldiers. They are all social outcasts such as prisoners and gangsters. However, it not like dirty-dozen. They are trained to kill Chairman Kim Il-sung who sent his own special troops to beat the presidential residence of South Korea in 1960s. 'Silmido' is based on the forbidden and veiled documents on this revengefully organized special force unit- the 684 Battalion. The 684s are all trained to redeem their tattered life and show their instinct-based patriotism toward their authoritative country. However, the high-tensed relationship between North and South Korea got mitigated, their role to kill the Chairman Kim could not stand still. Finally, the new director of Korean Central Intelligence Agency orders to secretly kill all 684s, and their final mission is not deploying to the North but to the presidential residence of their own country.

Unlike other Korean action package, this film is highly focusing on the abusal of masculinity, machoism and patriotism, all of which were placed on wrong place, by wrong persons, at wrong time. The rhythm and tempo of this movie is flawless, and well-made combo of both action and suspense is orchestrated by the hand of senior maestro of Korean movie industry- Director Woo-suk Kang. Very sympathetic scenario based on a Korean bestseller under the same title.

A disappointment

[t-nappa · 4/10 · 4 March 2007]

For a movie that was the most seen in its native South Korea for most of 2004, it was a huge disappointment. Shows that Hollywood is not the only place where people can make over-emotional, melodramatic movies. The film was over 130 minutes long but not a lot actually happened and everything that happened was pretty much what one expected, the plot was that transparent. Granted if one himself was Korean, one would perhaps get into it more, but for me it didn't do much anything. Suffice to say that as the case tends to be with Korean cinema, the plot revolves around the relationship between the northern and southern parts of the peninsula. South Korea decides to recruit and train an elite assassination squad from death-sentence prisoners to kill Kim Il-Sung.

A tedious plot doesn't bother me much if the characters are good but unfortunately that is not the case this time around either. They are stereotypes and most of the acting is mediocre and too often just over the top as it tends to be in Korean cinema. Too much time is spent on the numerous montages and the characters remain distant, one dimensional cardboard cuts. They should've spent more time establishing the characters and less showing us how tough and cruel the training and the soldiers are.

One thing it does remind us of, is that a lesser of two wrongs is still wrong.

Loyalty

[goatboy500 · 9/10 · 28 June 2005]

Silmido was better acted, edited and directed than most Hollywood movies, telling the true story of a group of conscripts sent to a remote Korean Island (Silmido of the title) to train as elite troops to assassinate the leader of North Korea. The men form strong bonds with each other and their guards (read: captors) Their bonds are not based on friendship as in most Hollywood movies, but on loyalty, which is also the salute mantra of all the soldiers on the island. It is the theme of loyalty that pervades the movie....loyalty to each other, to your country, and what you get in return for that loyalty. There are some truly incredible moments in this film , including an extended action sequence that instead of going for gymnastic pyrotechnics, focuses on the human interaction between the characters, who have been forced to act in certain ways based on where their loyalties lie. Look out for Sergeant Jo, my favourite character from the film, who for most of the movie plays the typical hard-assed drill Sergeant. His performance alone would be enough to make this movie great, but all acting in the movie is excellent. See it.

Fantastic film and very sad indeed

[triplexchiu · 10/10 · 5 January 2006]

You'll know what I mean when I say sad film, just watch the ending. It is a film where we see the dark side of Kym Park Chung Hee's regime during the 70s. A very important leader he was in helping South Korea as it is today but he abused human rights which was the reason why he was criticized as well. I think this is what the film here paints.

The film depicts a group of prisoners who are on death row and just when they are about to be executed, an assassination attempt occurs but fails miserably on Park Chung Hee. So the government gathers these groups of death row prisoners and trains them up so they go into North Korea to execute Kim Il Sung. However as the political climate changes so does the mission and you'll see why this is a sad film

I really wished he had....... I won't mention it because it is a spoiler!

Strong depiction of choices between bad and worse

[BeneCumb · 8/10 · 25 April 2013]

From the very beginning until the very end, in this totally "male" film (women are visible for about 5 minutes) we see people of different background making choices - often neither right nor wrong, but what is necessary at the moment. However, political and military choices are often different, the latter is usually linear, without so-called second thoughts. Even if the mission is questionable, "politically incorrect". On the other hand, Korea could have been united if the Unit 684 succeeded...

Anyway, the film is evenly strong, based on true events, characters are elaborated and their developments and deeds are logical and reasoned. The cast is interesting as well, even those depicting protagonists can easily merge into team-play and joint decisions, not being stubbornly single heroes as we often see in e.g. US or Soviet war films.

Silmido is undoubtedly for you if you like powerful military dramas.

silmido..That's great!!

[tim-itc · 9/10 · 18 March 2009]

'Shilmido' This movie is very sad...

A group of 31 constituted with criminals including convicts on death rows were forcibly lead to an island to be trained for a special mission after penetrating into North Korea.

The government, however, is trying to secretly kill them all due to a abrupt change of South-North international diplomatic relationship.

I can hardly forget the last scene in which all of those who could survive thanks to what they have been trained killed themselves.

This movie partially teaches us history of this country and for that I would like to recommend it to Korean people regardless of sexes nor ages.

The best movie of my entire life.

Utterly dull with no purpose. (Oh, and this is NOT a war movie by the way...)

[paulclaassen · 3/10 · 10 June 2018]

If you were expecting a war movie, you won't find it here. This is a film about an assassination attempt...that didn't happen. Although I realize it has a purpose, I did not enjoy the brutal training sessions. I found it rather distasteful. The film's first 44 minutes are dedicated to training. Pardon me, but me thinks that's just a tad too much!

Hailed as one of the best Korean films, I found it dreadful to watch. The film is filled with scenes that doesn't move it forward - or in any direction for that matter. It was boring. I couldn't wait for this senseless film to end. I believe this is based on a true story, but the story is just so pathetic that I can't understand why a film was made about it and why anyone should care about it. Well, at least I thought the music was good.

Summary (SPOILER): Convicts are trained for a mission to kill the North Korean President. Mission cancelled. The soldiers who trained the convicts are then ordered to 'terminate' them. They fail. The convicts then decide to kill the President themselves. They fail miserably. So the purpose of the film is...???? Am I missing something here???

full metal jacket with more drama

[yeodawg · 21 October 2011]

They gang rape nurse and there are several "GAUNTLET" style shoot-outs. All of that would make for an exciting movie you'd think. This movie tells the story of North Korean shock troops that launched a botched mission to kill the South Korean President. It starts off with the soldiers being recruited from death row (a la Dirty Dozen). They then run them through a series of obstacles, but the real obstacles are the ones in their hearts and minds. Now I tried to power through one of these films before "JSA", it gets all muddled down in political and societal dialog. Now "OLDBOY, I COME WITH THE RAIN" I my favorite movies (behind "THE PRINCESS BRIDE" of course). But I don't understand Korean society or politics, all I know there is no witty repertoire or a since of comedy. Nor is there any on my sign unleash hell, or _You NEED me on that WALL, you WANT me on that WALL!" Just reading the subtitles my eyes roll to the back of my head and the next thing I know the soldiers is in a running gun-battle with the trainers.

Top 10 films made

[jhherron · 10/10 · 28 June 2020]

I believe it's still the highest grossing Korean film ever and packed cinemas in South Korea, not only due to the emotive subject. As for the film, I rate this in the top three films I have ever seen. And that's not taking away from the excellent Korean film industry. Not being too familiar with the incident at first, I was thoroughly convinced they went on the assassinate Kim IlSun and for the first 30m I was questioning history.

I think the score is outstanding, as is the cinematography. Some very emotional scenes and not the happiest of endings. Gut wrenching throughout with brilliant shades of humanity. A must watch

Too pathetic...

[domasek · 5/10 · 3 February 2005]

I start to watch this movie two days after I watched Brotherhood of War. I believe that Korean movies can be very good. Silmido was a disappointment for me. My rating probably should be lower but movie defend itself by one thing. It is based on true story... Korean history even. What is interested in this movie ? Relations between soldiers and group of bandits. The way they became soldiers and patriots. And here is the weak point of the movie for me... The reason they want to realize the plan created by authorities. They don't want to free themselves they want to free all SouthKorean. So if You asked if watch or not to watch I say watch if You have enough time and did not watch Brotherhood of War :). OK,OK... There was tear in my eye during the final scene. But I m human after all.

Too Pathetic, Too Obvious And Too Clichéd

[denis888 · 5/10 · 20 August 2017]

I like South Korea war dramas, and the premises of Silmido (in Korean - 실미도) seemed to be an absolute winning formulas. Sadly, the film is a major disappointment and failed on many angles. It is far too long, far too slow, far too predictable, far too pathetic, and it lacks any redeeming feature. Yeah, the real events of 6834 Silmido groups were tragic but one could depict them better and less that pathetic. Training scenes are far too prolonged and quickly become a real bore. Dialogs are often empty and also lack depth or any credit to them. The uprising sequence is also far too predictable and suffers a lot from high-blown phrases and long, very long final scene. The good things are again the exquisite depiction of Korean nature, the great camera work and an excellent sound production. Sadly, again, but hey do not deliver the film to a better level and only underline how generally poor the execution is. Can be watched and then discarded

The expendable Dirty Thirty One

[searchanddestroy-1 · 17 August 2023]

Of course the link to DIRTY DOZEN is more than obvious and at this time, twenty years ago, Koeran movie industry was not yet contaminated Hollywood crap industry and their forever comedy sh...with the eternals happy f...endings that make me puke all over the junk and spoil my day for good. In the early 2000's Korean films were still good, maybe less spectacular but more gloomy, trragic, poignant, not always for sissies, squeamish and certainly not the whole gentle family around the table. This one is the best example, so take advantage of it. This kind of cinema doesn't exist anymore in Korea, as far as I know. And of course, I won't insult this movie comparing it to the garbage EXPENDABLE series crap. For me those here are the TRUE expendables. RIP for all of them.