Kang gives a interesting story of WWII that most people are not familiar with. How did a Asian man get himself into the beaches of D-Day? In some ways, the film is reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan, Enemy at the Gates, and most WWII films you can think of. Despite the gritty and beautiful visuals of the battle scenes with a surprising small budget of 24 million (most expensive film in Korea) the film unfortunately had a large range of problems. The film is mostly shot in hand-held and 1st person creating a somewhat uncomfortable experience; I believe the film could of done better if it weren't for the horrible editing. With a film that spans across continents and different cultures, one would of expected that the movie would last more than 2-3 hours but surprisingly only 1:43 minutes. Because of this, some scenes are rushed, mostly during the transition from one area to the next. If this film lasted more, it could of been possible for the audience to explore more of the characters themselves. The director's last superior film Taegukgi, was at a steady pace, exploring the two brothers but this film had scenes that are cut short resulting in a ridiculously low average shot length of 5 seconds or less. Also, the film had some facts wrong, but this is expected in war films. However, if you are a WWII lover, you would probably be annoyed by it. Such as the depiction of the D-day scene. But this can be forgiven because it is, after all, a fictional story based on a true story and is made for entertainment purposes. Like all movies, many details were dramatized to make it more interesting.
