The Brotherhood of War ..... Tae Guk Gi
Seoul, 1950. Brothers Lee Jin Tae (Jang Dong Gun) and Lee Jin Seok (Won Bin) live happily as the shoe shine guy and a high schooler, with their mother, little sisters and brothers. Jin Tae loves his younger brother so much, he protects him from everything and always tries to make him happy. They both have a very close relationship. At one point of the time, they are trapped in the middle of North and South Korean war. With their family, they try to migrate and find a new place to live. Unfortunately, at the train station, the army forces Jin Seok and other men to join them, at that time Jin Tae is nowhere around. When Jin Tae finds out that the army has taken his brother to the train, he follows him, leaving his family and fiancée, Young Shin, behind. This is when their journeys as soldiers begin.
The war sites are places where they discover friendship, bravery, fear, joy and guilt; together with other platoons’ members. In order to send Jin Seok home, Jin Tae is willing to do anything from planting the bombs to blowing the enemy’s bunker up. When he receives the Medal of Honor, he can then ask the chief to send Jin Seok back to Seoul. Unexpectedly, Jin Tae has amazing military skill plus he is very good at fighting. Jin Tae develops into this brave and powerful character among the soldiers. He is promoted to be the head of squad and seems to love his power. His loyal and kind personalities slowly but sure fade out.
Meanwhile, once naïve and crybaby, Jin Seok, starts revealing his own strengths and bravery in the middle of the war. He confronts Jin Tae when he wants to kill one of Jin Seok’s long-time friend. The story becomes more complicated when these brothers have different priorities, different new personalities and behaviors. To make it even more ‘perfect’, Jin Tae turns his back from his country and join the enemy when his fiancée and Jin Seok are killed by his own South Korean soldiers.
As one of the best epic war movie I’ve ever seen, this drama (as I call it) offers many great things for audiences. Aside from all the technical elements in it, you’ll find a bunch of moral values such as brotherhood, friendship, loyalty, love, guilt, desperation and fear. Jang Dong Gun and Won Bin’s performances support the great storyline. All the aspects are blended together, as the result is one powerful film. And please be prepared to cry. Movie lovers need to watch this movie, plus you can hear the music which was stolen by Indonesian film maker =p Just as additional information, other than Tae Guk Gi's music, 'Ekskul' also steals music illustrations from movies Gladiator, Munich and The Cronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.