It is personally surprising to me that the Korean film 'The Great Battle' is being mentioned as a must-see Korean film in English-speaking blogs and media. I saw this film at a preview screening in Korea, and halfway through the film, I thought, "This film is going to be a flop." In fact, this film was barely able to break even at Korean cinemas before it was taken off the screens.

However, I thought that this film would be a pretty decent film if it were streamed on Netflix or Peacock, not released in cinemas. In fact, one of the biggest advantages of Korean films is their value for money. In fact, 'The Great Battle' had a production budget of 20 billion won, which is just over 15 million dollars. I think a Hollywood film with this scale of action sequence would have cost at least 100 million dollars to make.

The film covers one of the most famous events in Asia. In 645 AD, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin (played by Park Sung-woong) of the Tang Dynasty in China led an army of 200,000 men to invade Goguryeo, an ancient Korean kingdom. Li Shimin was known as one of the most brilliant politicians and military strategists in Asia, and Goguryeo, which had always been victorious in wars against China, was struggling this time around.

Li Shimin's army captured the castles on the way to Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo, one by one, but Ansisan Fortress did not fall. This was because Yang Man-chun (played by Jo In-sung), the respected lord of the castle, was defending the castle with his excellent strategy and the unity of his soldiers. Li Shimin built a huge mountain of earth over two months to get over the wall, but even that was taken by the soldiers of Ansisan Fortress. The film ends with Li Shimin retreating, having lost an eye in the battle.

The fact that this film was not a big success in Korea proves that the film was not well made. In fact, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin was revered as one of the greatest politicians in East Asia after his death. The fact that he was humiliated at Ansisan Fortress has been the talk of every country and nation in Asia for over 1000 years. Even Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, was pleased when the Goryeo (the medieval Korean kingdom that succeeded Goguryeo) surrendered, mentioning the Battle of Ansisan Fortress.

Despite being a fascinating subject for Koreans, only about 5.4 million people saw the film in cinemas. In reality, the film's script is quite flawed. The characters' actions are not very plausible, and a number of characters don't seem to fit in well with the film. Without action, the film is boring, and the characters' conversations feel like eating bland, frozen food.

It also didn't get good reviews for the way it forced sad emotions onto the audience. In the past, this kind of emotional over-indulgence was attractive to Korean audiences, but it has increasingly become the target of criticism, and in the 2020s it is rarely successful.

However, many people praised the value-for-money action, and I think Korean audiences outside of Korea found it attractive. For 15 million dollars, the film delivers the kind of action you'd expect from a 100-million-dollar Hollywood film. Ancient Chinese siege weapons, an artificial mountain built with 200,000 people, and the Goguryeo soldiers defending it all deliver an unexpected spectacle.

Of course, being good value for money doesn't mean it's creative in itself. Some of the action sequences are ones you've seen before. The scene where the Tang Dynasty's siege weapons are destroyed is exactly the same as the one shown in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), even the camera angles. I think these scenes would have been quite jarring to Korean audiences who have become sophisticated.

If you've run out of Hollywood war movies to enjoy, I recommend this one. It's available for free streaming on Netflix in Asia and Peacock in America.