Silmido-
This action-packed movie is based on actual events which
occurred in Korea in the 1960’s. Some criminals on
death row are hand-picked by the government and recruited
for a secret mission. The goal is to assassinate the leader
of North Korea, Kim Il Sung. The criminals have nothing
to lose since they’ve been sentenced to die anyway,
but getting the group of criminals to work together proves
to be a challenge. The group gets taken to a secret island
called Silmido for military training and after a while,
they become a cohesive and loyal team. However they start
to grow restless after the mission gets repeatedly delayed.
The caged testosterone slowly starts to drive the men crazy.
After a few long years of waiting, the mission gets aborted
and the government wants to destroy any evidence of the
failed plot.
This movie has an amazing cast and everyone shines in their
respective roles. The compelling story draws you in and
after a while, you start to have sympathy for the hardened
criminals. The great thing about this particular story is
that the characters aren’t just one-dimensional. Although
they are criminals, they too have families, feelings and
regrets. By the end of the movie you are rooting for things
to work out. Unfortunately, events don’t go as planned
and the movie comes to a dramatic ending.
Silmido was a huge box office hit, but soon after, the mega-movie
‘Taegukki’ overshadowed ticket sales. The movies
had different plots, but they were both about the North
and South Korea conflict. I personally preferred Silmido
because the characters were real and human. Unlike Taegukki,
this movie not trying too hard to be a Hollywood-style blockbuster.
Rent it.
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