10 Best Korean War Movies To Watch Before Devotion

2022-11-26 18:15:42 By : Ms. Carolyn Hsu

Several great war films turn to history and deliver impactful stories, with the most recent outing being 2022's Devotion.

Jonathan Majors finds himself in the war-torn Korean peninsula in 2022's Devotion. The movie follows the true story of Jesse L. Brown, the first Black American to pass the U.S. Naval Flight school and serve in combat after the de-segregation of the military post-World War II. Serving alongside him is his best friend and wingman Thomas J. Hudner, played by Glen Powell of Top Gun: Maverick fame. Before fans check out Devotion, there are several great war films that are well worth a watch.

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Devotion may be the latest entry among high-budget war films, but there are plenty of others like it. From heartwrenching tales to explosive action spectacles, some war movies stand out as the best.

Countless films have been made about the struggle of the 38th Parallel during the Korean War. Jang Hoon's The Front Line excellently conveys that struggle as the armistice is about to be set during the closing moments of the war.

The Front Line was lauded for its portrayal of the fruitless efforts between the North and South. They viciously fight one another to see who can gain even an inch over the other before the new 38th Parallel is set. Much like All Quiet On The Western Front, The Front Line shows how the point of the war was lost as they needlessly kill one another, despite peace being on the horizon. For its cinematography, acting, and direction, The Front Line earned several awards

One of the more underrated war films, The Steel Helmet is best remembered for being the first film to portray the Korean War. The film was released in 1951 when the war was still very much going on. The Steel Helmet was critically praised for its depiction of a post-segregated military unit while still confronting the prominent systematic racism.

Steel Helmet's everlasting impact should be accredited to director Samuel Fuller, who was a combat veteran in World War II. His depiction of combat fatigue through the eyes of soldiers who necessarily weren't up for a fight is a testament to his talents. Despite its extremely low budget, Steel Helmet was critically acclaimed.

Gregory Peck headlines this 1959 epic, which is based on the actual battle it takes its name from. Pork Chop Hill chronicles the 1953 clash between the U.S. Army's 7th Division and Chinese forces atop the eponymous hill. In another depiction of a battle that coincides with the Armistice discussions, Pork Chop Hill weighs heavily upon whether this battle needed to take place.

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Pork Chop Hill is notable for featuring an entire cast of future movie and TV regulars, including Woody Strode and Harry Dean Stanton, while also being the first film for future Oscar winner, Martin Landau. Though it doesn't tackle race issues as effectively as The Steel Helmet and Home of The Brave did in the same period, Pork Chop Hill is still a must-watch.

In his first-ever leading role, Robert Redford stars in 1962's War Hunt as a newly-transferred Private, who was sent to the front lines as the war begins to die down. To his horror, Redford's Loomis witnesses John Saxon's Endore doing his nightly rituals: infiltrating enemy lines and killing North Koreans in their sleep.

The more horrifying secret Loomis discovers is that his superiors look the other way as Endore brings forth valuable intel on the enemy during his incursions. War Hunt balances between a war film and a slasher flick. Though not as nuanced as somebody would expect from a Redford vehicle, War Hunt does honestly display how war can corrupt an individual.

Quite possibly the most pop-culturally significant Korean War-related media is the 11-season television show, M*A*S*H*. The show was adapted from the 1970 film, which was based on the 1968 book of the same name. The 1970 film heavily differs from its source material due to its more "National Lampoon" tendencies.

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Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould star in M*A*S*H* as Hawkeye and Trapper John, respectively. The film seems to relish more upon their party antics than their positions as top-notch combat surgeons. A perfect example of this is they decide to host a football game near a combat site. Though it's not as successful as its successor, M*A*S*H* still makes an effort to showcase another side of war that is often not shown.

Welcome To Dongmakgol is one of those rare films that tries to find peace and semblance in times of war and destruction. Based on the Korean War stageplay of the same name, the various sides of the conflict find themselves being mysteriously led to the eponymous village. Strangely, the village is cut off from the rest of the world and is unaware of the ongoing war.

Welcome To Dongmakgolfeels more like Hayao Miyazaki's films than it does as a war drama. This is even more fitting, as a longtime collaborator of Miyazaki, Joe Hisashi, composed Dongmakgol's score. Dongomakgol lends more to the comedic side as means to preserve innocence in times of war.

More often than not, Kirk Douglas finds himself in succesful war films, like Paths of Glory or In Harm's Way. The Hook is a 1963 war film that also stars Douglas. When a group of U.S. soldiers rescues a North Korean pilot, they receive orders from their superiors to execute the prisoner.

The Hook discusses the moral conundrum the soldiers face after having just rescued the man from inevitable death. Though not as memorable as Douglas's turn in Paths of Glory, The Hook still isn't afraid to confront what is inarguably a war crime.

71: Into The Fire recounts the story of 71 South Korean student-soldiers who defended a middle school from the advancing People's Army of Korea (North Korea.) Though the film does take liberties from the true events, it's still an entertaining David and Goliath showdown to behold.

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71 is thought-provoking, and it addresses that the Republic of Korea conscripted child and teenage soldiers to fight for their cause. Though they do stand their ground, the result was almost complete annihilation until reinforcements arrived. 71: Into The Fire tells a gut-wrenching story about the 71 children, and the 23 who survived.

Like Devotion, The Bridges at Toko-Ri also deals with Naval pilots during the course of the Korean War. The only big difference is that Toko-Ri doesn't touch much upon the recently integrated military. Instead, it focuses on William Holden's conflict as a reserve pilot who was called into active duty, taking him away from his comfortable life as an attorney.

Based on the Pulitzer-prize-winning novel of the same name, Toko-Ri is considered one of the bigger breakaways from what was typical of war films in the '50s. Toko-Ri is a prime example of a "quiet anti-war" film in mainstream media as it grapples with the morality of the American involvement in the Korean conflict.

Deriving its name from the shared "polarity/duality" TaeGuk symbol between North and South Korea, TaeGukGi follows the trauma that the Korean War inflicted upon individuals. Two brothers, Jin-tae and Jin-seok, are forcibly conscripted into the RoK Army (South Korea) at the onset of the Korean War.

TaeGukGi is notable for its depiction of friends and enemies, as the lines between the two become more blurred as the story moves along. TaeGukGi wasn't afraid to pull any punches in depicting how devastating war is and how it affects someone. With great chemistry between the leads and great action, it's easy to see why TaeGukGi was the highest-grossing South Korean film for the longest time.

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