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20 Best Korean War Movies of All Time

While most of us choose tarnished war movies that distort real-life events slightly and invoke a spirit of nationalism in us, others are more likely to see the battlefield more accurately depicted. Whatever one's choice may be, it cannot be ignored that some of the popular films in cinema's history have been offered to us by the war movie genre. We are all very much aware of all the standard English war movies which have been released for over the years, but we do not know that several high-quality films presenting the Korean War have been made even by the South Korean film industry. This means that Korean war movies about such conflicts still exist. So are you interested in Korean War movies or movies about Korean war? You are lucky! We cover all these categories, which have a wide overlap, with this list of the Best Korean War Movies. So here's our list of all the Korean movies that are going to give you an insight into the Korean War.

Best Korean War Movies Ever Made

20- Northern Limit Line

Korean title:       연평해전 (Battle of Yeonpyeong) Directed by:        Kim Hak-soon Produced by:      Jung Moon-goo Cast:                   Jin Goo, Kim Mu-yeol, Lee Hyun-woo Release date:     June 24, 2015 Running time:    130 minutes Box office:          US$38.9 million With a Budget of  US$6 million Ratings:             IMDb (6.6), Rotten Tomatoes (71%) Why: I thoroughly fell in love with the characters and how they interacted with one another. The film was a little slow-moving initially as we get to know the names, but it was all right. The climactic battle scene was hard-hitting and quite emotional. A maritime Korean war movie, well done!

Plot: PKM 357 perceives the trawlers and their crew, allowing the spies to become acquainted with the superstructure of the ship. Because of the government's Sunshine Strategy, the North Koreans are finally released upon orders from the South Korean higher command. North Korea's Navy will regularly reach South Korean waters over the next month to identify and survey the patrolling strategies and protective steps of the ROK Navy. The South Korean Ministries of Defense is informed of this but the Blue House is again told not to engage first. The Second Battle of Yeonpyeong began with a surprise assault by a North Korean patrol vessel on PKM 357. Until reinforcements from the South arrive, the coming war badly cripples all ships and forces the North's patrol ship to withdraw. Nineteen wounded and four deaths from uncontrollable fires are reported before PKM 357 sinks. In the Republic of Korea Navy, whose bravery and comradeship the film brings front and center, you'll also develop a new appreciation for sailors.

19- White Badge

Directed by:        Chung Ji-young Produced by:      Chong Nam-gook Cast:                   Lee Geung-young, Ahn Sung-ki, Shim Hye-jin Release date:      1992 Running time:     124 minutes Box office:           Unknown Ratings:              IMDb (6.7), Letterboxd (3.3/5) Why: The film gives hints of how the war in Korea was depicted (a lot of gov't censorship), the grievances of the "poor" Koreans competing for the "rich" Americans as proxies, and the reality that several of these Koreans turned to their own country where there is a constant presence of US troops. Even, I suppose it's worth your time watching this Korean war movie to get an insight into the experience of Vietnam that you may not be able to get anywhere else.

Plot: WHITE BADGE, based on a book, deals more with the consequences of human massacres in battle than with war itself. This gives a seldom-seen view of the Vietnam War from the participation of Korean soldiers in that unjustifiable proxy war; it juxtaposes the misery of the Vietnamese with the exploitative relationship between South Korea and America. At one point, the main hero, who is a novelist, recalls the involvement of the American army during his childhood in the Korean War. Otherwise, the top Korean war movies mostly switches between two periods of time, the horrific scenes in the late 1960s Vietnam War and the turbulent present with the uprising against martial law in late 1979 and early 1980. He had PTSD, an attempt at writing a serialized Vietnam War novel. Han receives several calls from his old friends during the war, despondent and living in isolation. The film gradually exposes their experience of war and shows the degree to which these two men are affected. In the first half, the film has some pacing problems, and the message is open and often artificial, but clear and evident. Even for watching this under-seen south Korean war movies , the cathartic end alone is worthwhile.

18- Ode to My Father

Korean title:       국제시장 (Gukjesijang) Directed by:       Yoon Je-kyoon Produced by:      Park Ji-seong Cast:                   Yunjin Kim, Hwang Jung-min Release date:     17 December 2014 Running time:    130 minutes Box office:          US$125 million With a Budget of  US$30 million Ratings:             IMDb (7.8), Rotten Tomatoes (71%) Why: Realistic portrayal of a common man who thrived for all miseries to keep the promise he gave to his father. This Korean war movie walks you through the history, life, love, and sacrifices of forgotten people in this present. The actors, the cinematography, story all give us a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I encourage others to watch this movie when you feel life is hard and you are lost. If you watch this with your heart open, you will get to know many lessons.

Plot: During the Korean War of 1950, when a lot of refugees were brought to the south by the U.S. A boy lost his sister, and his father keeps behind to look for her, advising his son to take his two younger siblings with his mother to the port town of Busan, where his aunt operates an imported goods shop. The father vows him to be the caretaker of his place before leaving the family. He becomes his family's breadwinner from an early age, doing all sorts of odd jobs to support the family. In 1960, he traveled to Europe with his best friend, where they find dangerous work in German coal mines to pay for his brother's University Fee. He falls in love with a fellow, survives a mining accident, and leaves Germany after his visa expires. They have a modest wedding, begin a life together, and eventually have two sons. Find the remaining story after watching these Korean war films.

17- My Way

Korean title:      마이 웨이 (Mai Wei) Directed by:      Kang Je-gyu Produced by:     James Cho Cast:                  Joe Odagiri, Jang Dong-gun Release date:     December 21, 2011 Running time:    119 minutes Box office:          US$16.5 million Ratings:              IMDb (7.7) Why: I found this in Korean war movies list as entertaining for a Korean audience and focused on the Korean people's pain and suffering. If that was its primary target, it was successful, but An international audience also enjoyed the movie. There were plenty of characters that could have been grown more through the film and had their direction. It is really the best war movie to be enjoyed.

Plot: Young Kim (main Character), along with his father and sister, worked on the Hasegawa family farm in Japanese-occupied Korea in 1928. Both brothers are skilled in running and become strong competitors by the age they are teens. In a bomb attack, a Korean war criminal kills his grandfather, and a Korean runner then wins a full marathon against Japanese competitors. He later began working as a rickshaw driver, and Koreans were barred from engaging in sports at that time. Even though he has been admitted by a medical college in Berlin, Tatsuo chooses to stay in Korea to run a marathon in an All Japan Trials. As punishment, they were drafted into the Japanese army. With 100 other Koreans, they fought in the battle on the Mongolian border, where a Chinese sniper—this film itself a war mystery and a must watch movies about the Korean war.

16- The Bridges at Toko-Ri

Directed by:       Mark Robson Produced by:     William Perlberg Cast:                  Mickey Rooney, William Holden Release date:     December 1954 (U.S.) Running time:   102 minutes Box office:         $4.7 million With Unknown Budget Ratings:             IMDb (6.7), Rotten Tomatoes (80%) Why: This Korean war movie is about fear and the potential loss of life, liberty, and family. Fact is often stranger than fiction, and characters similar to some shown here exist; the bowler hat is no stranger to war zones. This film shows carrier ops in some detail, which adds to the realism, and the flying sequences are good. I am surprised by the storyline in some areas; that's why it makes up for an outstanding war movie.

Plot: The Bridges of Toko-Ri is a weighty drama that unveils the grotesque underbelly of war. "Forney" had also been in trouble brawling and wearing a green top hat and scarf that was non-regulatory when flying his helicopter as an aid to downed water pilots. The Carrier commander took an interest in him, back on board his ship as he remembers a Navy pilot murdered in World War II. The Savo Island heads to Japan's port, where Brubaker and his family are granted three-day shore leave in Tokyo. Whenever anyone comes to him looking for his assistance in bailing Forney out of the brig after a brawl, the reunion is disrupted. When his wife hears that he had to drop his jet at sea, Nancy gets angry and threatens her when we return to Korea. The Bridges at Toko-Ri are brilliantly filmed, and the once-taboo subjects of fear and tension in battle are confidently discussed.

15- Sayonara (1957)

Directed by:       Joshua Logan Produced by:     William Goetz Cast:                  Patricia Owens, Marlon Brando Release date:     December 5, 1957 Running time:   147 minutes Box office:         $26.3 million With Unknown Budget Ratings:             IMDb (7.1), Rotten Tomatoes (93%) Why: I enjoyed Korean war movies as I thought the main character did an excellent job and showed a kinder, softer side of his acting ability. The Japanese actresses performed well, and the costumes, choreography, and scenery as breathtaking. I watch this movie a lot and enjoy it every time as the plot seemed contrived. This movie portrayed the contrast clearly between the Japanese and American cultures and compellingly. To me, the film Sayonara meant "sad" rather than "goodbye."

Plot: The main character, "Ace," is a U.S. Air Force Fighter, the son of a U.S. Army General who is stationed at Itami Air Force Base, near Kobe, Japan, and has been rehired from combat assignments in Korea. Despite the opposition of the United States military establishment, another soldier, the enlisted crew chief of Ace, is about to marry a Japanese woman, who would not accept interracial marriage because it is usually illegal under American law. The Air Force is against the marriage, so Both Air fighters argue, but later Ace apologizes and becomes his best man at the wedding. Ace falls in love with a Japanese entertainer who works in a theater company. She suspects that Ace is in trouble and heads towards him to warn, but when she learns that Joe's house has been under Army surveillance, where she discovers that he has been seeing a local woman. These types of movies about Korean war story is exceptional, and hard to find any unrealistic scene.

14- Men in War (1957)

Directed by:       Anthony Mann Produced by:     Sidney Harmon Cast:                  Aldo Ray , Robert Ryan Release date:     January 26, 1957 Running time:   102 minutes Box office:         $1.5 million With Unknown Budget Ratings:             IMDb (7.2), Rotten Tomatoes (89%) Why: It is one of the Best directed or the imaginary best Korean war movies; it seemed as though you were in the scene yourself watching from a tree. The movie is relaxed, quite soulful, so even though you might argue that the soldiers were stereotypical, they were so credible, and that they behaved so well, they also seemed to be part of that world. The actors are superb, totally reasonable, and the scenes are heart-breaking. I recommend this film to anyone; it's merely the best largely unknown war film ever.

Plot: Because of losing radio communication, an isolated and tired platoon is cut off and harassed by unidentified North Korean snipers who secretly kill the American soldiers and take their weapons. There are just unclear directions for the platoon leader to hit a specific hill to meet up with American forces. The patrol stops a jeep with shell-shocked passenger "the Colonel," who cannot speak and is tied to his seat. The squad is on its way to the mountain. Montana shoots a surrendering North Korean sniper, who points out to have a hidden weapon inside his cap. Montana turns the platoon back into a combat unit and proceeds successfully through sniper assault, artillery fire, and minefields, during which Sergeant Lewis is killed. As all the deaths are depicted as essentially meaningless, it is a classic example of the meaningless cruelty of war. Another well-made feature of the south Korean war movies is the scenery, whose dullness and peace contrast with the anticipation and suspense that war brings.

13- Wolmido

Known as:          Wolmi Island Directed by:       Gyong-sun Cho Written by:        Lee Jin-woo Cast:                  Gyong-sun Cho, Hyun Chang-Gyeol Release date:     1982 Running time:    92 minutes Box office:         Unknown Ratings:             IMDb (5.4) Why: Naturally, it is an exciting film as it gives the impression of the Korean War from the side of the North Koreans for a change. This is a comparatively small-scale movie in which the plot focuses on the efforts of North Korean soldiers to protect their island territories from the colonial villains' overwhelming power, the USA. I went into this not knowing what to expect, except maybe some funny cheesiness. Well, I got what I expected from top Korean war movies but also a lot more.

Plot: To spice up this list, we've added Wolmido—one of North Korea's most popular war movies. This North Korean vividly represents the tragic fate of the coastal battery unit that fought to the last man protecting the Wolmi Island in September 1950. The North Korean commander and his team men tested the UN landing activity for three days by showing remarkable courage and a more fantastic standard of self-sacrificing faith, countering 50,000 soldiers and over 500 warships. This film also portrays the role of women in participating alongside men on the front line and to the rear in the Korean War.

 12- Fixed Bayonets! (1951)

Directed by:       Samuel Fuller Produced by:     Jules Buck Cast:                  Gene Evans, Richard Basehart Release date:    1951 Running time:    92 minutes Box office:          $1.45 million With Unknown Budget Ratings:             IMDb (6.9), Rotten Tomatoes (100%) Why: This is an exciting Korean war movie to watch on themes of responsibility and its inevitability. The role is to be the leader of a guerilla war in this film to prevent the North Koreans from shutting down in on a battalion to withdraw. The chain goes from the regimental officer, who we see as the film begins, a sort of one of the guys" with a wad of chewing tobacco, grouped in a tent with other men, to a younger lieutenant who is the group appointed to replace the guerilla war.

Plot: The Korean War was fought in one of the world's most unforgiving conditions. The story is set during the Red Chinese Invasion during the first winters of the Korean War. The tale follows the fate of a lone 48-man platoon left to protect a choke point as a rearguard, to cover the retreat of their division over an exposed bridge. The plotline alone shows what a crazy film this is, going where no film had gone before. Fixed Bayonets! is as thrilling as it is depressing, as most war movies tend to be; it's a grim reminder of what war does to men.

11- Operation Chromite

Korean title:       인천상륙작전 Directed by:       John H. Lee Jae-han Produced by:      Lee Kyu-chang Cast:                   Lee Beom-soo, Lee Jung-jae Release date:     27 July 2016 Running time:    111 minutes Box office:          US$50.9 million With a Budget of  US$50.9 million Ratings:              IMDb (6.2) Why: Patchy and half baked, but worth a onetime watch. These movies about Korean war does tell an important story that would otherwise fade away. The Korean War isn't something considered particularly pivotal in a global context. Read the full article