Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2011 South Korean war film called,
The Front Line. Spoiler's ahead. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the video.
The movie begins with Lieutenant of the Defense Security Command Kang Eun-Pyo's
arrival in Panmunjeom military base as he shows the list of POWs they are sending back.
Then he listens to the talk of the USAF and South Korean General about the Aerok hill.
The US General draws the demarcation line on the map. He says they will draw a line
after the South Korean battalion took over the mountain three days ago. Suddenly, the military
personnel interrupts him by saying that the North Korean company had taken the hill yesterday.
As the Korean war drags on despite a ceasefire, the South Korean battalion fiercely battles
against the North to possess a hill determining the new border between the two nations.
As the fight rages on, the ownership of the mountain changes multiple times each day.
After the meeting, the Commander talks to Kang about his discharge after the truce. Then he
suddenly tells Kang that he will be transferred to the investigation unit as they get shorthanded
on purging communists and traitors in the South. Kang disagrees and tells the Commander that it
is a false accusation since NK soldiers threaten them with guns. The Commander warns Kang to keep
his mouth shut, but the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) officers hear them already.
The Commander scolds Kang for his bad behavior and orders him to go to the eastern front for
investigation inside the office. Then he drops the letter of an NK soldier on the table for
Kang to read it and tells that he sends it from the Alligator Company. As the Commander talks,
he issues the report of a KIA Company Captain who gets shot by his own company.
As Kang leaves, the Commander informs him that his old friend,
Kim Su-hyeok, is part of Alligator Company.
On June 27, 1950, Kim prayed in fear as he heard successive blasts from the T-72 tank of the enemy.
Luckily, Kang sees him and helps him escape from the battlefield when suddenly the NK
soldiers catch them. Then they meet the NK Captain Hyeon Jeong-Yoon, who tells them
that they keep running because they don t know what they are fighting for. To Kang's surprise,
the NK soldiers take Kim as they get back to their base to treat his wounds and leave Kang behind.
Going back to the present, Kang, Nam Seong-sik, and the new Captain Yoo Jae-ho
arrive at the eastern front. When they get into the military tent,
MSG Yang Hyo-sam enters and tells them to wait for the acting Commander's arrival.
While waiting, Kang leaves the tent and walks outside,
when suddenly he enters another tent and asks the rank of the young soldier taking a bath.
But the soldier keeps in silence. When Kang sees an alkaloid on the tray,
he asks him again and grabs his collar. To his surprise, he finds out that he is
talking to the acting Commander Shin Il-young as he reads his logo on the uniform badge.
At the military tent, Shin reports their mission about taking back the Aerok hill on their 6th
attack. Then Yoo congratulates them and begins tackling his plan by putting an anti-aircraft gun
on the foot of the mountain to end the battle of attrition. But Shin and the other soldiers
disagree. Unfortunately, Yoo ignores them and orders them to put the AA guns immediately.
Eventually, Kim enters the tent and meets his old friend, Kang. As they talk,
Kim asks Kang's purpose in the eastern front, then Kang tells him about his mission to investigate.
The soldiers toss their cups to celebrate their new Captain at the military tent that night.
While Yang talks about his achievements, his comrade interrupts him and favors Nam to sing,
when suddenly Lee Sang-eok enters the tent and approaches Shin.
Then he talks to Shin, who eventually walks out. Yang tells Lee that they are not in Pohang,
but Lee laughs. Lee is one of the SK soldiers who shows signs of PTSD.
Confused, Kang asks Kim what is going on, but he only gives him an awkward smile.
The following day, Yoo wakes everyone up as he informs about the NK soldiers who
take back the hill. Then he commands his soldiers to prepare their gear for combat.
Along their way, Yang opens up about Two Seconds, a nickname for an enemy sniper
who is giving them a tough time. They stand no chance against this incredible and cunning shot.
Every time they are on patrol or attacking, Two Seconds gets some of them.
When Nam asks what Two Seconds is, Yang warns him that he would get scared if he knew too much.
Afterward, a comrade taps Nam's right shoulder as he favors him to write the
song's lyrics that he sang last night. But only if Nam survives the combat.
Later, Kang uses his sniper from afar to see the NK soldiers preparing their gears at the hill.
Then he wears their uniform to disguise. As Kang reaches their area,
he asks the comrade why they are not answering the radio while he calls, but instead of answering,
the comrade catches him, and the NK soldiers swiftly point their guns at him.
When Kang lies on the ground, the SK soldiers snip the NK soldiers simultaneously.
As they walk through the area, the NK soldier alarms the radio and tells them they have been
hit, so the SK soldier shoots him. Then, Kang orders his comrades to blow up the area and move.
But before he signals them, Kang kills first the remaining NK soldiers.
As they get back to their frontline, they suddenly hear an airstrike. Afterward,
Shin signals the SK soldiers to move discreetly towards the trench when short successive blasts
from the airstrike fall on the ground and hit some SK soldiers. Then, Shin sees an NK soldier on the
pillbox firing along with the airstrike. So, he commands his platoons to get their grenades
as he takes himself as bait. As Shin runs towards the pillbox, the SK soldiers throw
the grenades to distract the shooter. And when Shin reaches it, he tosses the grenade inside.
After the explosion, the combat continues. Kang reaches the trench and finds Kim inside.
Then, both of them hear a signal of a white flag from the NK soldiers.
After a while, the SK soldiers bury the dead bodies on the hill.
While burying, Kim informs Kang about the NK Captain on the mountain.
Then, Yang calls Kim and leaves Kang behind. Kang then takes a walk, but he stops when he asks
tipsy Nam what's wrong. Out of consciousness, Nam talks about the booze he gets from Yang.
Kang finds Kim with Yang and the three other SK soldiers inside upon entering the trench.
Unfortunately, Kang catches them with booze and letters from the communists.
Then, Yang hastily pulls the trigger on Kang, and Kang does the same.
When Kim tries to lower their guns, Yang tells him that they will be dead once
Kang talks to the higher officers. But Kang ignores him and lets Kim explain.
So, he begins with burying their things in the bunker after taking the hill back.
And when they get back, they find a crap with a letter from the communists,
thanking them for the things they got in the bunker. Pissed off,
Kang buries a letter cursing them. As they get lost then take back the hill again,
they find booze in the bunker. Alcohol is bribery. Then, Kim follows it by the letters they got with
the alcohol, where he explains those NK soldiers who were drafted from South Korea and defected
to NK write letters for their families back home. He admits to Kang that he mails it all and begins
burying cigarettes for them in return for booze and matches. To Kang's dismay, he lowers his gun
after hearing Kim saying that they don t leak the military secrets to put their lives at risk.
Outside the trench, Kim states why their former Captain's death by shooting himself while running
but reported him as a KIA out of courtesy. Then,
Kang asks him where they found the body, and Kim says they got it from the creek north of the hill.
Kang strolls in the creek north that late afternoon, but he only finds a girl.
As each day passes, the battle continues, while some SK soldiers gradually die.
The following day, they get back to the hill and eat their lunch on the trench.
While drinking the booze they get from the bunker, Nam sees a picture from the letter
for Cha Tae-Kyung, but Kim quickly keeps it. Then, he claims that Cha is his future wife.
Later, Kim plans to get the Two Seconds as they lost their contact with the Recon.
They assume that the Two Seconds did it after killing 30 of their men.
And without hesitation, Kim requests Yoo to lead the mission with Kang and the nine soldiers.
As they walk through the hill, everybody hears a gunshot from Two Seconds. Unfortunately,
Nam gets sniped on his right leg and upper back. Then, Kim takes Nam as bait to reshoot him as he
finds his location at the hill. But Kang ignores him and tries to get Nam when suddenly he gets
sniped again on his left hand while Kim finally finds him. Afterward, Kim requests an artillery
attack for the sniper, but Nam already dies after Two Seconds fifth shoot on him. Then, they walk
towards the sniper's location to check if they get him, but unfortunately, he remains alive.
While Kim mourns Nam's death, he sees someone running on the hill.
To his surprise, Kim catches the sniper and finds out that Cha's girl he met from the creek north.
After the mission, one of the SK soldiers reports about the new point of the Chinese army in the
northwest of Aerok hill. Afterward, Kang follows Kim on the tent and begins talking to blame him
for Nam's death. Frustrated, Kang mentions Pohang after hearing Kim talking about hell in the war.
As the tension arises between them, they listen to shouts from Lee outside.
Lee then continuously shouts about Pohang, so an SK soldier explains what happened after fleeing
to Pohang. But Lee never stops, he asks why and begins calling Shin's name to tell the cause,
and without hesitation, Shin walks toward Lee, who's holding a gun,
and Shin points it in his chest. Then, Shin admits that he is the reason why the second
platoon got wiped out in combat because of his fear. Lee's face is full of disbelief;
when Shin turns around, he pulls the trigger and shoots Shin at the back.
Once again, Kang asks Kim what happened in Pohang. So, Kim finally tells him the story.
It was August 17, 1950, when they fled to Pohang; they were about to retreat when suddenly a young
Shin witnessed a bloody killing on their ship while their comrades tried to escape with them.
Shin saw Kim almost killed by firing guns as the enemies shot.
Because of his fear, Shin walks toward the naval artillery and begins firing his men.
Only Lee survives among the soldiers who are trying to enter the ship. On the other hand,
Kim tells everybody that Shin saves them all as the enemy stops attacking them after what he did.
At the military tent, Shin argues with Yoo to desert Aerok and set up a new defense line as
they cut off the Chink's line of supply and focus their fire on them. Unfortunately, Yoo disagrees.
Then, Shin tells him that they have more men than their ammo, but Yoo never listens. Yoo
then points the gun at Shin's head and commands them to standby to attack along the north ridge.
That night, they follow the orders of Yoo and standby at the north ridge when suddenly a lot
of Chinks attack. Kang and Kim hastily report it to Yoo and request to pull out at the Aerok,
but Yoo tells them to wait for HQ's order. When Yoo talks on the radio with the HQ, he tells
Kang and Kim to defend the hill. Frustrated, Kim shoots him in the head and declares himself as
in-charge by the military law. As they are about to leave the tent, Kang points the gun at his
head but later agrees with Kim as he realizes that he can t get their men out if he leads.
Yang helps his comrade run on the field when suddenly a bomb falls on their area. Then,
they continuously shoot the Chinks running toward them when suddenly, they run out of ammo. And when
they are about to surrender themselves, Shin and his platoon come out and kill the Chinks. Then,
Kim orders Shin to fire all the trench mortar and get out of the ridge to save his men.
The following day, Kang asks if Kim suspects their former Captain's case.
Then, Kim confirms it by mentioning his charges such as murders, betrayal, and disobeying orders.
The Two Seconds snipes one of their men and Kim's abdomen upon their conversation. Then,
Kim orders them to split up as they get out of the forest. While running,
Kim follows the point where the sniper is coming from. And when he snipes back, he finds out that
it is Cha who kills his men. Surprised, Kim lets Cha shoot him as he takes a last look
at his supposed future wife before he dies. Kang cries as he witnesses the death of his old friend.
Inside the trench, Cha reads the mail from Kim about her
picture while the Captain sings Nam's song.
Afterward, an NK soldier enters and announces that the war is over as the signed armistice.
Everybody at the Alligator Company celebrates as well. However, the celebration breaks off
when they see Kang carrying Kim's body. All of them mourn, especially Shin, who's close to him.
They meet the NK Captain together with his soldiers at the brook that afternoon.
Then, Kang gives back the picture to Cha that Kim has kept.
Then, Cha finds Kim's signature at the back of her photo.
At the military tent, a high-ranking officer announces the signed armistice.
Then, he confirms that it will only take effect 12 hours after signing it. So,
he commands Captain Shin to launch a full attack at the frontline to take the land finally. But
Shin says that his company is not in good shape, yet, the officer voices him to deal with it.
Later, the Alligator Company prepares for the signal of USAF airstrike at the frontline,
when suddenly they hear the NK soldiers sing while the fog covers them up.
Then, all of them sing along with the NK soldiers.
Afterward, the USAF begins their airstrike on the north ridge as Shin signals his army to attack.
The movie ends with the last combat between the NK and SK soldiers at Aerok hill. Unfortunately,
it is the bombings that kill all the soldiers, not the battle against each other. Yet,
despite the war atrocities, Kim and the NK Captain survive the combat later that night.
However, after the NK Captain hears the announcement from the radio, he closes his
eyes and rests as he stops breathing. In the end, only Kim survives in the battle.