Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Desertman84 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.

t-nappa For a movie that was the most seen in its native South Korea for most of 2004, it was a huge disappointment. Shows that Hollywood is not the only place where people can make over-emotional, melodramatic movies. The film was over 130 minutes long but not a lot actually happened and everything that happened was pretty much what one expected, the plot was that transparent. Granted if one himself was Korean, one would perhaps get into it more, but for me it didn't do much anything. Suffice to say that as the case tends to be with Korean cinema, the plot revolves around the relationship between the northern and southern parts of the peninsula. South Korea decides to recruit and train an elite assassination squad from death-sentence prisoners to kill Kim Il-Sung.A tedious plot doesn't bother me much if the characters are good but unfortunately that is not the case this time around either. They are stereotypes and most of the acting is mediocre and too often just over the top as it tends to be in Korean cinema. Too much time is spent on the numerous montages and the characters remain distant, one dimensional cardboard cuts. They should've spent more time establishing the characters and less showing us how tough and cruel the training and the soldiers are.One thing it does remind us of, is that a lesser of two wrongs is still wrong.

goatboy500 Silmido was better acted, edited and directed than most Hollywood movies, telling the true story of a group of conscripts sent to a remote Korean Island (Silmido of the title) to train as elite troops to assassinate the leader of North Korea. The men form strong bonds with each other and their guards (read: captors) Their bonds are not based on friendship as in most Hollywood movies, but on loyalty, which is also the salute mantra of all the soldiers on the island. It is the theme of loyalty that pervades the movie....loyalty to each other, to your country, and what you get in return for that loyalty. There are some truly incredible moments in this film , including an extended action sequence that instead of going for gymnastic pyrotechnics, focuses on the human interaction between the characters, who have been forced to act in certain ways based on where their loyalties lie. Look out for Sergeant Jo, my favourite character from the film, who for most of the movie plays the typical hard-assed drill Sergeant. His performance alone would be enough to make this movie great, but all acting in the movie is excellent. See it.

palaeo 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.