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The Great Battle
안시성
2018 135 min South Korea R 18+
★7.2
War, History, Action
Director: Kwang-shik Kim
Trailers
Description
Kingdom of Goguryeo, ancient Korea, 645. The ruthless Emperor Taizong of Tang invades the country and leads his armies towards the capital, achieving one victory after another, but on his way is the stronghold of Ansi, protected by General Yang Man-chu, who will do everything possible to stop the invasion, even if his troops are outnumbered by thousands of enemies.
Budget:
$13.31M
US Gross:
$472,166
Worldwide:
$41.51M
Starring
Sung Dong-il
Actor
Nam Joo-hyuk
Actor
Nazeeh Tarsha
Actor
Awards
9 wins & 5 nominations total
Key opinion
The Great Battle is a visually driven war epic that prioritizes high-octane spectacle and inventive action choreography over historical precision. While audiences praise its visceral combat and large-scale battle sequences, critics remain divided on whether its stylized aesthetic compensates for the film's reliance on familiar tropes and historical inaccuracies.
| Direction | Extensive, high-energy battle sequences deliver a visceral, video-game-inspired spectacle that effectively anchors the film's appeal. | |
| Cinematography | The film utilizes striking slow-motion cinematography and gritty, modern aesthetics to create an immersive, stylized vision of ancient siege warfare. | |
| Screenplay | The narrative leans heavily on a stark, binary good-versus-evil dichotomy, often sacrificing nuanced characterization for clichéd heroic archetypes. | |
| Adaptation | The film prioritizes modern action sensibilities over historical accuracy, leading to significant criticism regarding the authenticity of the period depiction and character behavior. | |
| Production | Visual quality is inconsistent, with reviewers split between praising the scale of the production design and criticizing the uneven execution of digital effects. |