Directed by:
John H. LeeScreenplay:
Man-hee LeeCinematography:
Chan-min ChoiComposer:
Yeong Su ChoCast:
T.O.P, Seung-won Cha, Seung-woo Kim, Sang-woo Kwon, Jin-hee Park, Seong-ryeong Kim, Yoon-sung Kim, Han-joon Kim, Hye-seong Kim, In-kwon Baek, Seung-hoon Yoon (more)Plots(1)
On August 11th, 1950, 71 boy soldiers of the South Korean army singlehandedly held back the elite North Korean 766 Commando Brigade for a full 11 hours. Most were still in their school uniforms and had only fired a single bullet in training. Their astonishing bravery under fire enabled allied forces to hold a strategic bridgehead at the Nakdong River and gain a tactical advantage that would help turn the tide of the entire war. Nothing less than the freedom of their nation was at stake. Their ingenuity, tenacity and brotherhood helped them to achieve the impossible. This is their remarkable true story. Discover one of the greatest events in modern military history and re-live the day when courage came of age. (Trinity Filmed Entertainment)
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Reviews (2)
This is a well-made film with an excellent cast, but for some reason it didn't grab me by the heart like so many other Korean war films. Plus there were a few scenes I didn't quite believe and a couple of weak spots in the first half. Apart from the acting performances, I have to commend the music, it was beyond excellent. It has become almost a habit for me to be in pieces at the end of every war movie, but that wasn't the case here. And that's why I’m rating the film as only slightly above average. 3.5 stars.
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Korea's Magnificent 71, led not by Yul Brynner but by the Eurasian champion of gaping at the horrors of war. Not that I blame him. After all, filming with extreme resolution digital cameras requires that the film crew put their weight into the sawing. On one hand, the technology allows us to capture in sharp focus the finest flying specks of dust, not to mention explosions that throw thousands of tiny parts into the air that are no longer a blur, where each is in full focus and we can follow its trajectory comfortably as far as the length of the shot allows, but on the other hand we have to reckon with the necessity of absolute ultimata in terms of make-up, effects, costuming, and production design. If there's one place the film doesn't really fail, it's here. The ubiquitous dust, dirt, bloody pustules, worn guns, flying shrapnel, burning soldiers, and glorious explosions in the long shots leave the viewer guessing at nothing, and though it goes over the top a few times (an over-stylized shootout in the tall grass, almost funny gore), the eyes have their fun. And it actually quite masks the fact that the script was apparently written by a twelve-year-old nationalist after a three-day crash course in screenwriting, which means that while the film waves the epic history banner, it ends up pitting a literally bullet-riddled protagonist on a pile of corpses, machine gun in hand, against an arrogant bad guy in a white uniform firing a Russian PPSh-41 submachine gun single-handed.
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Gallery (28)
Photo © Taewon Entertainment
![71: Into the Fire - Making of](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/162/617/162617827_06f97a.jpg)
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