Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
EMAILPRINTDestination Films / Samuel Goldwyn Films

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 44 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Drama | Foreign | War
Written by: Kang Je-gyu
Directed by: Kang Je-gyu
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 3, 2004
DVD: February 15, 2005
Running Time: 140 minutes, Color
Origin: South Korea
Language(s): Korean (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: R for strong graphic sequences of war violence
Starring Jang Dong-Gun, Won Bin, Lee Eunjoo, Kong Hyeong-jin, Lee Yeong-ran, Jo Yun-hie, and Jung Doo-hong
A story of two brothers set against the backdrop of the Korean War.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Shiri
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
The most costly and the most popular film in South Korean history is also one of the most gripping and epic war films ever made, and certainly the only one I can think of the portrays the Korean war from the viewpoint of both sides of the conflict.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
Belongs to that brand of sweeping, conflict-era drama epitomized by "Saving Private Ryan," "Gone with the Wind" and TV miniseries "North and South."
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
A complex film about the minefield of loyalty and betrayal.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling
Always entertains, just like ''Pearl Harbor'' and the rest of the best of Hollywood's dumb war movies.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
An anti-war spectacle that uses the story of brothers divided by the 1950 civil war as a metaphor for the wounds of the split.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
With killing as an end in itself, combatants lose sight of what they were supposed to be taking up arms for in the first place. It's a terrible lesson, and one that Tae Guk Gi teaches with unexpected confidence.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
The cloying score aside, this is a searing depiction of war in all its savagery, waste, and folly, with artfully choreographed sequences that surpass the conventions of the genre.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
You may find some of the story developments melodramatic -- I did -- but the film itself is quite powerful.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly David Chute
While it comes on like a flag-waver, it actually delivers something more nuanced. Its underlying skepticism about the Korean War seems to have jibed with the current national mood: The picture was, deservedly, a huge hit.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
Shamelessly contrived and manipulative, Tae Guk Gi packs a visceral wallop.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
It's hard to remain unmoved by Kang's deeply heartfelt homage to his nation's past.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
The film is never as powerful or convincing as it should be.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Park
In the rare moments when a rifle, grenade, howitzer, bayonet, dagger, fist, land mine, or flamethrower isn't being deployed, the film pushes its melodramatic plotline with soap operatic shamelessness.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dave Kehr
Far more ambivalent and ambiguous film than Mr. Spielberg's. Both North and South are portrayed as brutal, abusive regimes that use their citizens as so much cannon fodder.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ethan Alter
It's easy to view the story of these brothers as a larger metaphor for the relationship between the two Koreas, which gives the film an added resonance that your typical Hollywood war movie wouldn't possess.
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
Kang remains a superb technician, but somewhere the movie forgot to pack any genuine emotion along with its ordnance and K rations.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
After a sentimental opening sequence, he (Kang) scarcely lets the film pause to breathe, which dulls its effectiveness.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Almost entirely devoted to combat violence and sentimental interludes.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 44 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Dale K. gave it a10:
This movie is one of my favorites because I wonder if my brother and I were Jin-tae and Jin-seok. People think that it is all about blood and gore, but it's actually about brotherhood. The violence is there because it is to portray the kinds of things that happened to people in the war.
Michael S. gave it a10:
This is one of the greatest movie I have ever seen. It is like a Korean Saving Private Ryan!
[Anonymous] gave it a10:
This is the best movie ever and for those who didn't give it atleast over 8 u suck omg how can u be so stupid, u obviously didn't watch the movie or your mentally challenged.
Billy B. gave it a10:
This is a very good movie. Betta than any of those stupid American war movies that make Americans look like their doing the right thing even though they are killing. This movie portrays the South Koreans as people and as such make them look bad and sometimes good and they don't always look like heroes in the movie. The drama in this movie also makes it so exiting and it is definitely worth watching!
Amy R. gave it a10:
Amazing movie! So much more than a war movie! I'm surprised that it didn't receive more critical acclaim from the US. I highly recommend this movie!
George S. gave it a10:
Awesome Movie! The saving private Ryan of Korea..I never even knew Korea had a war or it's own and that the South had conflicts with the South. I love SOUTH KOREA!
Eric R. gave it a10:
Simply Phenomenal Never have I witnessed such a divine blend of attributes sum into a two and a half hour masterpiece. It is no by no means a mindless war movie, but rather a multidimensional insight into the dreads of real war. The moral, cultural, and personal implications of Civil War were masterfully composed in this form of cinematic art.
