Like: The story, the movie is based on true events but its narrative is fictional.
Cast: There are two consistentgood thing on movie. One is performance of the cast. Hwang jung min and his onscreen daughter kim su ahn did phenonemal job. They are powerhouse of talent.
So ji sub, tbh the first 10 minutes of his performance were bored to me. Thankfully he picked it up later and h acting in last few minutes were heart breaking.
Song joong ki, ow did he landed on island? That's an unanswered question. His role compared to other four is short but, his character park moo young takes centre stage in last 30minutes. But he made an impact on me. He did a great job.
Lee Jun hyun, she is delight to watch. You will root for her the moment she appears on screen.
Action scenes in this movie are on par with Hollywood.
I wish the movies creenplay was tighter and well clean in the first 30minutes of movie. Editing too was issue. But overall movie is worth to watch for it's story, message and cast.
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Scenes were very very well shot, just the right amount of humour and suspense. The best actor is DEFINITELY Hwang Jung Min and the little girl that plays his daughter in this show. I was kept on my toes throughout the show. Song Joong Ki and So Ji Sub mentioned to us before the show started to "put aside all political views and just enjoy the show". Was wondering why they said that but as I watched it, I understood, because it is a really REALLY political-based show. So put aside your own political views, and just enjoy this show :)
Low rewatch value because the best part of the show is the suspense.
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This review may contain spoilers
To Anyone Who Gave Their Lives So That Others Might Live
Unfortunately, so much of American education during WWII centers mostly on the European theater and not very much on what was going on in Asia and the Pacific. Of course, Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, and the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan are about all that is really covered.We know that—as many atrocities committed in Europe, especially by the Nazis—it was just as horrific, if not more so, regarding what Japan did to the Chinese, the Koreans, and many others. “Battleship Island” is just one incident of hundreds, if not thousands, and yet it also speaks to the bravery and courage of anyone who fights against oppression.
The movie centers around the Japanese Hashima coal mine and the Koreans who were used for slave labor to mine the coal. Conditions were about as horrific as you can imagine, with the men working in unbearable temperatures deep in the earth while the women were used as sex slaves. Escape, at this point, seems futile for anyone.
A Korean operative (Park Moo Young), connected with the American OSS, is given the mission of helping a high Korean official—Yoon Hak Chul—to escape. However, after entering the island, he finds records of Yoon Hak Chul stealing money from the Korean laborers and providing the Japanese with key intelligence. Perhaps there is nothing so evil as treachery, especially when you betray your own people for money. Of course, Yoon Hak Chul attempts to cover his deception with murder and lies.
Meanwhile, Lee Kang Ok and his wonderful eleven-year-old daughter, So Hee are trying to survive, and initially hope that Park Moo Young will help them escape. But Park Moo Young’s official orders are to only help Yoon Hak Chul. Once Park Moo Young finds out that the Japanese plan to kill all Koreans in an attempt to cover up what they’ve been doing, Park Moo Young vows to help every Korean try to escape.
The escape portion of the movie is a tough watch as 400 Koreans try to save the women, children, and injured while staving off a least 100 Japanese guards, who have orders to kill them on sight. Koreans scramble along a small conveyor belt to the coal mine transport. The sequence is like something out of Saving Private Ryan where you have no idea who is going to survive and who isn’t going to make it.
Hwang Jun Min (Lee Kang Ok), Song Joong Ki (Park Moo Young), Kim Soo An (So Hee) are stand-outs in this film, especially Hwang Jun Min who has terrific chemistry with Kim Soo An which also gives us a tough, heart-wrenching ending.
Lee Kyung Young (Yoon Hak Chul) was also fantastic. However, I have only ever seen him play villains in the K-Dramas I have watched, so when I saw him on screen, I wondered, “Wait, is he really a good guy here?” Nonetheless, his performance is exemplary.
It’s sad that the Japanese government still hasn’t acknowledged the atrocities committed at the Hashima mine, but unfortunately, there are still so many horrible things that have happened throughout history that we’ll likely never know about.
This is a powerful film that is as honest and brutal in its depiction as any war film I have ever seen, obviously made with the hope that something like this never happens again. “Battleship Island” is a testament to anyone who has ever fought or given their lives so that others might live. It speaks to the bravery that resides in everyone, with the hope that if ever such a call is needed, we might be willing to lay down our lives to save others.
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Kudos for the wonderful technicalities and truly recreating the real Hashima Island. As with Ryoo's works, the action scenes are impressive—particularly that of So's public bath sequence.
It's a great ensemble, spanning different generations. Hwang's obviously a veteran, one of South Korean's highest paid actions, So, a prominent drama and film actor, Song, one of the nation's sought-after Oppa, Lee, a prominent actress/singer in East Asia and Kim, a rising young actress. It's a dream cast. But the cast can only do so much.
An intriguing premise despite its nationalistic approach. But there's always been this redundancy that seems to spur out of these narratives that are set during the Japanese occupation—we've seen it in Age of Shadows, The Handmaiden, Assassination. Of course, each of these films take a different approach but it also makes me say—again?
Battleship Island lacks...depth and tension. Sure, it had its moments like So's action sequence but it just doesn't have that same spice as say, Age of Shadowswhose 30 minute train sequence moves the story AND character forward. Battleship's characters felt flat. And those with some substance—didn't make it to the end. To me, it felt too dramaticized.
As much as I have a bias for Song and So, they're probably guilty of replication. So had an character but it's not too fleshed out while Song just repeats his DOTS character—what's new from you? Hwang is okay although at times, he is too dramatic. Lee's fine too but again, intriguing but no substance. Kim's particularly better though she cries like 80% of the time.
In war films like this, character drives the film—much more than plot, at least in my opinion. You can have a simple war story but if you have boring characters—it's not enough to cut it. The ending also felt way too..unsatisfying. Sure, it's a film that shows the horrors of war but ultimately, what else?
Ryoo's use of gritty tones and spatial movements plus slick sequences reflect the mood that fit the war aesthetic are impressive though. As well as his use of music particularly to portray irony is also a plus. Also, a really unnecessary love story. Sort of love story. It sort of just didn't make sense.
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''The Battleship Island'' is an excellent production filled with action, gore and outsanding performances. It's a movie that grabs your attention in the first few minutes and keeps you under pressure till the very end. I was completely mesmerised by how real everything looked, I just want to congratulate director Ryu Seung Wan for creating such a mind-blowing piece of art. It's obvious how much work he has put into making this movie and not only him, but the whole staff and the cast.
This movie is based on a true story - an attempted prison break from a forced labor camp on Hashima Island. However, I'm not sure how accurate everything is and I don't think anyone can tell. If there was such violence on this island, I don't think anyone would admit it lightly. I can't tell if the movie is exaggarated or not, but it makes you think and feel a lot of things for sure. The director himself told that the movie has non-fiction elements which are there to show ''how war can make a monster'' and this just tells me that he perfectly knew what was doing, since the movie definitely shows how war can affect person's life and make him change. And even though he said that the movie doesn't intend to convey any-japanese sentiments, you can't help but feel hatred towards the japanese people on the forced labour camp. And personally, I'm not a fan of Japan's doings in the past myself so this movie just made me even more angry. The ending of the movie though... It left me speechless.
Now, there are things which I didn't really like. For example, the final battle was way too freaking long, it losts its impact. And the middle part of the movie felt kind of slow, but overall the movie is fast paced.
The acting was superb! The most outstanding performance for me was So Ji Sub's brilliant portrayal of Choi Chil Seong. I've never seen him play this type of character, I've never seen him act like that and I was truly impressed.
The sound effects were amazing! This is one of the few movies in which I don't find the sound effects annoying. The cinematography was breathtaking.
Overall, ''The Battleship Island'' is an amazing movie and it's a must-watch for sure, especially if you are like me and find interesting everything related to WW2 and SK under Japanese rule. However, you've been warned that the movie contains a lot of disturbing scenes, violence, nudity and gore.
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Story wise the plot was cut in different segments to show several protagonists and their situations before arriving in the same place at the same time, however it was a bit off in some places. As if scenes were inserted here in and there without considering the back story and handing it off to the viewer's imagination instead. I guess that's one of the quirks that I had to deal with while watching films. I need to have a concrete backstory on everything before making a logical conclusion. Setting that aside, I still enjoyed it as it was despite having my heart clenched every time I see the hardships of Koreans who were forced to work under the Japanese regime. There was this particular scene that got to me, it was the part where they made a facade for human trafficking by indicating that they were employed. Someone was announcing in the speakers that the Koreans were employed by a certain company all the while they separated the male and female then handed them record books for their payment as they walked off the boat and were guided to their sleeping quarters, rifles were held behind their backs as they walked on. Men had their hair shaved off and brought to the mines while the women’s bodies were checked for any signs of diseases as they were going to be put in the comfort house where they were made into whores. The fact that these people were practically kidnapped, put into slavery and yet the Japanese still say that they were employed… it was a dark irony. That being said I believe that the movie has a serious tone, but despite that it still has its own happy scenes scattered about at unexpected moments.
The OST was fitting all throughout its run time. It had all the elements needed to represent how a person’s war torn heart could be put in a melody. I would suggest to wait until the credits part as the song used for it may hit a few cords of a melancholic heart and make a lasting memory about the movie. I’m rating it 8/10 for the way it affected me after I’m done watching. I could still hear the agony during the battle and the cry for freedom of the people who were forced to slavery masked by employment. I may not be rewatching this soon but I am recommending this to people who want to watch a dramatic-action-packed movie and know a piece of history of Koreans during World War 2.
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The cinematography gave me chills and it was obviously a very emotional film.
The scenes depicted were cruel and difficult to watch knowing that the people who had been taken to the island thought they were going to work to earn money.
It breaks my heart to know that such things were happening and in some places they are still happening.
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