The Battle of Jangsari (2019) User Reviews

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[ops-52535 · 6/10 · 18 November 2019]

Its the korean war spun out in the story of the battle of jangsari-beach. its a bittersweet film with extremely lots of death and misery, and droppings of sentimentalia and heart grieving emotions of angst and fear.

its a classic war movie, made the korean way and style, there are the usual problem differing a south from a north soldier especially in the dark surroundings takes, but all the killings do give some clues which side youre on.

the warbattles are a ravaging kill a kill nonstop, some vfx and cgi are used especially in the naval shoots, and some are good and some not that good. in the end it feels like these men and woman where the forgotten soldiers and left there because the un-forces were far too toothless and badly organized at that front.

if youre keen on war history its a film must see, it felt like a hammerblow to me, therefore recommended

Based on true events

[leonidasstathopoulos · 7/10 · 25 December 2019]

South Korean Students abducted from North ones and dressed in North Korean army uniforms...Forced to fight against their own A very touching moment at the end of the movie, from an old Man now,ex soldier, calling out his dead partner soldiers by their names...

Still enjoyable despite the flaws it had

[blanceto · 7/10 · 12 March 2021]

It's not the out of this world, the best movie war-themed ever. But clearly, it has more sentimental aspect that conveyed better than some movies with this kind. Not many battle or shoot killing scenes that you may have expected and rather it focus on the narrative of the protagonists which for me it's quite enough to gained my empathy towards them. It's cinematography was far from good whereas some scenes appeared so artificial and some scenes like where George and Megan had conversations were totally unnecessary. but I can still enjoy the whole experience watching this. Not forget to mention how the actors were well acted and conveyed their emotion well that I immersed into them instantly. And the story showed how the system is merciless towards the weak and the sacrifice of the soldiers are worth to remember.

Good Korean scenes

[Gordon-11 · 3 September 2020]

The Korean scenes are very gripping, and makes you feel how desperate the soldiers are. The English scenes unfortunately add nothing to the film, but in fact distracts from the main story and decreases tension of the film.

A film that should not be forgotten

[bryangary65 · 7/10 · 6 September 2020]

Entertaining War movie which for a nice change highlighted heroes from a non western country

Main characters were very engaging and the battle scenes were well done

some almost works

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 30 January 2020]

It's 1950 Korea. The South and their allies have retreated to the Nakoong River. Under General MacArthur's plan, the allies are to retake Incheon to drive the North back. A ship carrying 772 student soldiers head for the beaches of Jangsari a day before the Incheon landing in a diversionary attack.

The movie starts with a reasonable amount of war action. There is actual tension. It's a promising start but two things immediately becomes noticeable. The section with Megan Fox and George Eads is utterly unnecessary. By the end, they are cringeworthy. Megan has never been a great actress but the dialogue is impossible. Even Meryl Streep wouldn't be able to deliver it. It is some of the worst writing ever. They're probably there to sell the movie to the west. It's a fool's errand. The second thing is the injection of bad action and melodrama. This one happens slowly. At first, it's the soldiers bunching up. It's a classic mistake. Filmmakers think that more people equal bigger action. If they're bunched up in a tiny space, it looks like a cheap production trying to maximize its budget. Then the melodrama starts happening. The characters' stories starts getting more outlandish. There is a Mulan. There is a cousin killing which requires a bad character making illogical reasoning. There is bad attempts at humor which destroys the tension. This has elements which worked but the stuff that doesn't work really doesn't work.

A heartfelt and honest indictment of war.....

[s3276169 · 10/10 · 30 January 2020]

There's a real sense of tragedy and loss inherent in Korean made war films. Like their Russian counterparts, they don't glorify war but show it for what it is, the senseless and wasteful loss of mostly, young life.

Battle of Jangsari is no exception. Its genuinely hard watching bright, young, hopeful lives, wiped away by the efficient industrialised ugliness, of modern warfare. What is also to this films credit is its treatment of soldiers on both sides of the conflict, as human beings. Ordinary people, afraid to die, who only want to return home to their parents and loved ones.

The acting is, in short, mostly excellent, the cinematography outstanding and the approach to telling the story of these young people heartfelt, honest and reverential.

10/10 from me.

Decent war movie

[jindann · 7/10 · 5 July 2021]

Nice war movie like most of the korean, story is solid based on true events, well performed though wasn't ideal. Operation chromite was better than this imo but still it's worthwhile and well made.

I really dislike inaccurate war movies

[qck1 · 2/10 · 15 April 2023]

How many ways can they be inaccurate. Having to swim to the beach and then run an open beach in machine gun fire. The losses would have been massive, and the enemy would have made sure to have forward positions on the beach so can sweep the beach with machine gun fire. Charging in the open, will be seen an targeted. Considering that the ship was grounded long before is expected to be grounded, I realize it was a LST, so indened to go up on the beach. But for untrained troops to cross all that ocean in bad weather and not a lot die. If the battle was accurate the number killed would have been extremely high. Then for the North Koreans to let them just sit behind that berm when they had a mortar. Maybe it would have been protection against a howitzer, but not mortars. The peopel that wronte this script knew nothing of war. And really, having a UH-1 helicopter which was introduced in 1959 during the Korean War. Even MASH was not so crass. Basically extremely inaccurate.

Interesting

[bdeanarthur · 8/10 · 3 January 2020]

I admit it, I wanted to watch this movie only for George Eads. I like a lot of war movies, though, and this was no different. Apart from learning of a battle I did not know about, I liked how they handled the characterization. The protagonists are kids, and it shows. They are young, they are scared, and they are desperate to survive. The actors make a really good job at delivering emotions and overall the battle is basically a background to the show of very human emotions. Watching it in two different languages (Korean and English), I thought I may get distracted a lot and get bored. I did not, because of what I said above. I wish this movie may have bren shown in Italian theaters, but I guess it's not overly famous. A pity, I say.

Rip Roaring Korean War Film

[omendata · 7/10 · 1 July 2020]

It has it all - the action , history, the bittersweet sorrows of war and an insight into the North South divide made on a low budget and as only the Koreans can do it with pride, heroic flamboyance and typically didactic eastern storytelling but it did well in imparting how families existed; and still do on both sides of the war and had to fight each other and for what?

It is actually quite an eye opener for westerners, it poses a lot of questions with few answers and although a lot of reviewers will no doubt moan about the propaganda elements, its an action movie with a heart and a pretty good one too compared to most of the low budget awful WWII movies that have come out in the last few years and i thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of the patriotic yeehaa Korean gung-ho patriotic style!!

For a low budget movie they certainly pulled a good movie out of the bag with great cinematography, superb acting with special note going to In-Kwon Kim as the heroic sergeant but really all of the characters were heroes, well developed characters in such a short space of time you actually felt for each and every one which is a rare thing in any movie these days, the action was top notch and the pathos well delivered so there is not much they did not deliver for the budget, even dare I say it Megan Fox put in a good performance too especially given the fact she was ill with gastroentiritis at the time she was filming!

It is not just a war film but it will make you feel and that is important. If a movie can elicit some emotions then its been a good one!

Must watch so i know i am not alone for this.

[stagepb · 2/10 · 26 January 2020]

This is definetly one of the worst war movie i ever watched, blame everything to the director. Poor CGI, silly choreoraphy, dull dialoque, over dramatized since the beginning that i can even remembered. I can not even enjoyed anything from this movie, believe me i try my best to be symphaty during the drama, it fails, i try to enjoy the actions but the camera ridiculous shaking until i must to stop watching or you will feel sick if u keep going and if the camera not shaking during the tense times the director put some silly scene that try to draws your symphathies. The only points i give because all the cast have done maximun efforts. This product better considered for tv consumptions rather than screening in the movie.

waste

[nim-rod77 · 4/10 · 14 July 2021]

The american side story is very bad -1 points megan fox is very bad also -2 points

i have a hrad time understanding the director that let her look so bad in this movie.. while making a decent movie in the process.

Way under-rated Korean film.

[AJ_McAninch · 8/10 · 16 February 2021]

The cast is wonderful, and more people should know this story and film. It made me weep, but it also made me so glad I saw it and loved the characters so much. Thank you again, Korea for your talent and heart in filmmaking.

One of the worst making war film from Korea

[hanifrafi-32969 · 4/10 · 7 February 2022]

Plot was quite interesting, impressive but it's execution is full of lacks, errors & imperfections. Cinematography is not remarkable, vfx work, direction & making is quite poor. 71: Into the fire was good enough.

Stop what your doing and watch this...Excellence

[nedfox-974-15680 · 10/10 · 19 January 2020]

The Battle of Jangsari Is both epic and gripping with nerve jumping suspense and action. Totally brilliant to see a semi forgotten war on the screen from people who are very forgotten....Megan Fox also smashes her role. I am only half way into the movie and want to tell the world about it's brilliance. Thank you to the director and producer and actors who have all worked so hard to bring this to the cinema. Hi

Teenagers on a suicide mission

[kluseba · 9/10 · 19 March 2020]

Battle of Jangsari is the second part in a loose trilogy about the Korean War that started with the brilliant Operation Chromite three years before this film. It tells the story of a group of students who only had a few days of military training that must participate in a diversionary manoeuvre on the West Coast of the Korean peninsula. The movie follows different characters such as a native North Korean who has to confront his own cousin, a protective brother and his disguised sister who participates in the battle under a false identity and an ambitious soldier who is seen as the family's black sheep and wants to make them proud. The young soldiers successfully manage to storm the beach under difficult circumstances and surprise the North Korean Army but the enemy is soon sending massive reinforcements while the South Korean soldiers don't get their expected support and realize that they are on a suicide mission.

This movie convinces on almost all levels. The story is tense and gripping from start to finish, analyzes a historical battle appropriately and criticizes some actions by the South Korean and American commanders. The characters are intriguing, diversified and authentic as viewers will care about their fates. The fight scenes are realistic, intense and brutal as they bring the horrors of war to life. The locations look splendid from stormy oceans over poor villages to heavily fortified outposts. The outcome of the different characters' fates remains unpredictable and will keep your eyes glued to the screen until the heartbreaking conclusion.

The only element that was unnecessary were the few scenes involving Megan Fox as war correspondent and George Eads as tough general. The two characters have a handful of conversations that always sound exactly the same. Megan Fox's character cares about the lives of the teenage soldiers while George Eads' character claims that there is nothing that can be done to save them. It seems that these two American actors are only in the film to attract international viewers but they are by far the worst actors and characters in the entire movie. The film should have either cut this entire story line or worked out a more detailed side story with more dedicated actors.

Despite that one major letdown, the rest of the movie is excellent. This action-drama is intense from start to finish and tells a story few people have heard about. Paying tribute to these inexperienced teenage soldiers is essential. Battle of Jangsari isn't as intense as Operation Chromite but comes quite close and can be considered the best war movie of the year along with critically acclaimed 1917. The third and final part of this already outstanding trilogy can't come soon enough.

A story worth knowing

[shaunnico2 · 8/10 · 4 October 2020]

The story of a group of young combat assault troops who'd only had 10 days training before being thrown into action. Some strong performances by the younger cast with Megan Fox doing a decent job. You do care for the characters and want them to survive, which is not always the case in some movies. The battle scenes were very well put together and quite intense with a good mix of real explosions and special effects, the way it should be. In fact you can't tell there's special affects so again, we'll done. This ranks as one of the better war movies, highly recommend for any war movie fan.

Amazing

[stinebrigsted · 10/10 · 7 January 2020]

This movie is phenomenal. I originally wanted to watch it because of Choi Minho, his acting is incredible, but I was stunned by the whole movie. It really is a great movie. Would definitely recommend watching.

Stunning

[SyoKennex · 10/10 · 7 January 2020]

I said in 2019 that "The Wailing" was the eighth film in my life I was giving the title of masterpiece too. At the time I didn't expect to think of another film in the same way for at least a good few months - perhaps seven or eight - but here we are. I finished "The Battle of Jangsari" and it took me three hours to be able to sit and write a review. This film essentially broke me. I rejoiced, I cheered and then I cried - very hard - for half an hour. I was emotionally numb after this film to the point I literally just laid down and cried, it was all I could do.

This film is a masterpiece.

The acting, the cinematography, the editing, everything about this was just stunning. Honestly, it takes me by surprise I'm saying that - war films aren't my forte, and I think the only one I've really seen is "Hacksaw Ridge" after the recognition and attention it received during the awards season.

There are two particular things I can think of that made this film just slightly more stellar and which piqued my interest: 1) The contrasts between the student soldiers and the more advanced, trained soldiers. There are numerous times where we see the student soldiers having a bit of a laugh and not taking things 100% seriously when they have down time - this is contrasted against seeing the more seasoned soldiers having a laugh but still being very on guard, cautious and taking things a little more seriously. This was... painful. It was such a clever trick on the directors' part to remind us that these are children - the Jangsari soldiers were made up of 15, 16, 17 with reports of even 14 year olds being present on the beach. It's painful, and it is such a well done small trick of the camera that just made my heart bleed. 2) At a few points in this film, the camera technique makes everything very disorientated during battles. The camera jerks as if it's dodging a bullet or the butt of a gun, we can't see through the fog, marring our views and we feel all round a little overwhelmed with the added sound editing of screaming and explosions. Usually, I would complain about a technique like this as they make me feel quite motion sick - "Jangsari" does this in a way that makes us feel like we're on the field with these soldiers, not just viewing a movie as the scenes play out. I've never really seen this trick done in a way that doesn't make me feel dizzy - with the added reasoning of not getting motion sick during these sequences, these scenes were absolutely stunning.

All of the cast played their roles with such respect and with such grace that it was hard not to see them as the actual people they're representing. There were times I had to pause to sit and sniff and wipe my tears and remind myself 'this is just acting'. I have such high respect for all the actors involved that created this stunning piece. The final ten minutes were so beautifully stressful; I was stressed, I was panicked, but in the safety of my own home with no reason to be stressed or panicked - another brilliant job by Kwak Kyung Taek. The ending on Jangsari - not the full ending of the film - was utterly stunning, beautiful, and found me pausing to sit and cry.

I will say, my rewatch value is rated lower because, personally, I can't see myself watching this again. It's so emotional, it really hurt - I cried so hard, my dog had a panic attack trying to figure out what's wrong - and I think a lot of the scenes would also have less enthusiasm a second time around.

All round, emotional, heart breaking but still so somewhat cheerful that really made me sit and think, "Jangsari" is my second film of 2020, but already I'm not entirely sure that something could beat it. A true masterpiece; half the actors have gained me as a fan and Kyung Taek has got my eyes focused on him and his films for a long while.

One of the best Movie

[shoumiksam · 10/10 · 17 June 2020]

This movie needs more appreciation. Don't know why so less rating. Loved the movie, concept, acting everything. The people who rated low don't have movie sense. True story just loved it

Top movie

[dealsamar · 10/10 · 13 May 2020]

One of the best war movie out there. A must see movie with great story and feels so real.

A very good war movie

[umayacd · 10/10 · 6 November 2021]

I wanted to watch this movie for choi minho but the whole cast captivated me. Korean scenes were superb but some english scenes were meh~ but overall a very good movie and you'll need some tissues when watching. It's a movie that you'll remember for a long time.

I DOUBT IF YOU WOULD SEE SUCH HEROISM FROM 17 YEAR OLD CHILDREN IN THIS DAY AND AGE!

[silicontourist · 10/10 · 6 June 2021]

A both infuriating and heartbreaking magnificently told story of heroism, above and beyond their call of duty, by 772 student children!

The infuriating part for me was the inclusion of George Eads and Megan Fox in roles that added absolutely nothing to the films meaning etc. This was a very, very significant moment of film importance, in South Korean student bravery in history, and America should have just kept the hell out of it!

The helicopter used in this film, the UH-1 Iroquois, was a BIG GOOF error! That's because it never existed until 1956 (when it it was undergoing test flights). The only helicopters flying in the 1950-1953 Korean War were the Bell H-13 Sioux (the ones seen in the American "M. A. S. H" TV series, from 1972 to 1983), the Hiller H-23 Raven and the H-19 Chickasaw (which was introduced late into the war in 1952).

Other than that this film (like its predecessor of the Pohang students school defense in the film, "71: Into the Fire") just breaks your heart! I have seen films of of war from the, "All's Quiet On The Western Front" of 1930 up to present day and, that includes Polish, Russian, French, German, African, Japanese films etc, etc but its always the Korean depictions of 20th century wars which make me cry! With American films their is too much of blowing their own trumpets, boasting of how wonderful they think they are and big romance scenes. Though there have been a -very minimal- few that have been extremely brilliant, "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black-Hawk Down" to name but 2.

Any of you with dyslexia problems will unfortunately not be able to enjoy this film as its in Korean (only American English parts are the few with Eads and Fox).

About 100,000 South Korean students volunteered to fight in the Korean War, 70 years ago. More than 1,970 of them perished, according to the War Memorial of and National Museum in Seoul, South Korea.

As one old soldier (who fought at the Pohang school and is about 81 years old now) said when 71 was released, "A new war could break out at any time!" yet South Korea is so complacent and many of the young know nothing of the Korean war. He is not alone in his way of thinking as, the same can be said of 90%'ish of the useless moron youth of England and America!

I ended up google translating a Korean book on child solders

[kamui10 · 9/10 · 26 March 2023]

When I read that something is based on true story, it usually means that a lot of artistic liberties are taken. Not here. Sure, there were personal things going on, that may or may not have been made up, but given how much the story matched up with what I ended up reading about it after watching it.. It really was a true story. One that tells a story of how actual student soldiers were sent on a suicide mission, as a diversion.

This movie is not without its faults, and one should not go into it expecting spectacular VFX, and that okay, because that's really not the point here. The movie is captivating as is. The characters are very real... to the point, that writing this last sentence brought tears to my eyes.

If you end up wanting to read up on the real events, you won't find this on the English wikipedia. I ended up finding the Korean wikipedia entry for the movie, google translating that, and then starting from there, the article for the actual landing operation, and then the student soldier article. There were a lot of student soldiers... I also ended up finding a Korean book about student soldiers, and that book went into details about the this event. They very closely matched the movie. Some parts may seem goofy in the movie, like an accidental discharge at an unexpected time, but reality can be like that.