Simply A Masterpiece

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I like South Korea war dramas, and the premises of Silmido (in Korean - 실미도) seemed to be an absolute winning formulas. Sadly, the film is a major disappointment and failed on many angles. It is far too long, far too slow, far too predictable, far too pathetic, and it lacks any redeeming feature. Yeah, the real events of 6834 Silmido groups were tragic but one could depict them better and less that pathetic. Training scenes are far too prolonged and quickly become a real bore. Dialogs are often empty and also lack depth or any credit to them. The uprising sequence is also far too predictable and suffers a lot from high-blown phrases and long, very long final scene. The good things are again the exquisite depiction of Korean nature, the great camera work and an excellent sound production. Sadly, again, but hey do not deliver the film to a better level and only underline how generally poor the execution is. Can be watched and then discarded

Silmido is a South Korean film that stars Ahn Seong-Gi, Seol Gyeong-Gu, Heo Jun-Ho, Jung Jae-Young, Lim Won-Hee, Kang Sung-Jin, Kang Shin-Il and Lee Jung-Hun. It is based on the true story of Unit 684.The movie was directed by Kang Woo-suk.A rag tag bunch of misfits and death row criminals are transported to Silmi Island as part of a secret plan to assassinate North Korea's leader. After months of grueling training including physical and mental abuse and even death, the would-be assassins are ready to undertake their perilous mission. However, as politics change, so too does the mission of the SILMIDO team.The movie is based on a true story and present an accurate portrayal of history.Also,it has many elements of psychological realism. During the training, for example, the military officers look for leadership qualities in their trainees and creates 3 teams under the 3 best leaders. This is how the military still finds leaders and forms teams today. In fact, you will find many examples of great leadership in this movie.Finally,it has a great action sequences.These are reason why the viewer will truly enjoy this film.

Korean film is blossoming, from the action thriller "Shiri" to the delightful romantic "My Sassy Girl." "Silmido" takes this ability to make excellent films in a political direction. "Silmido" is to South Korea as Costa-Gavras' "Z" was to Greece: truth-telling about terrible government misdeeds. Unlike "Z," however, "Silmido" is not only shown at home, but is hugely successful, demonstrating the increasing strength of Korean democracy. One hopes that films like "Silmido" are a sign of increasing openness, and better times ahead for the Korean people.As was the case with "Z," the excellence of the film guarantees an international audience for the story, and the widespread attention may well lead to additional revelations. Although the details of the government plot are sordid, the film romanticizes the actions of death-row convicts, and one suspects that the filmmakers took some liberties in portraying some of their noble and comradely behavior. Nevertheless, an first-rate movie and highly recommended.

Silmido is the name of island in Korea, and it is also the combat training center of 39 Korean 'special force' soldiers. They are all social outcasts such as prisoners and gangsters. However, it not like dirty-dozen. They are trained to kill Chairman Kim Il-sung who sent his own special troops to beat the presidential residence of South Korea in 1960s. 'Silmido' is based on the forbidden and veiled documents on this revengefully organized special force unit- the 684 Battalion. The 684s are all trained to redeem their tattered life and show their instinct-based patriotism toward their authoritative country. However, the high-tensed relationship between North and South Korea got mitigated, their role to kill the Chairman Kim could not stand still. Finally, the new director of Korean Central Intelligence Agency orders to secretly kill all 684s, and their final mission is not deploying to the North but to the presidential residence of their own country.Unlike other Korean action package, this film is highly focusing on the abusal of masculinity, machoism and patriotism, all of which were placed on wrong place, by wrong persons, at wrong time. The rhythm and tempo of this movie is flawless, and well-made combo of both action and suspense is orchestrated by the hand of senior maestro of Korean movie industry- Director Woo-suk Kang. Very sympathetic scenario based on a Korean bestseller under the same title.