Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004) was an epic Korean War film, directed by South Korean Director, Je-gyu Kang. Also known under the British Title: Brotherhood and under the US DVD title: Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War It proved to be a bestseller in Korea and a moderate performer overseas, becoming one of the highest-selling South Korean movies of all time. In Asian cinema, this title was widely seen as South Korea's own Saving Private Ryan reflecting the pain and anguish of the Korean people, but also showcasing epic Korean War battle sequences, bringing attention to what has long been deemed "The Forgotten War" outside of the Korean Peninsula.

The story, told in retrospective from a Korean War veteran, follows the experiences of two brothers who survived World War 2 and the waning years of the Japanese occupation of Korea, only to be plunged into the madness and chaos of the Korean War (1950-1953). Two brothers are tricked into 'enlisting' by boarding the wrong railroad car and are not allowed to return home to take care of their family. The older brother Jin-tae Lee (Dong-gun Jang) volunteers for all of the dangerous missions he can get, committed to win the Korean equivalent of the Medal of Honor (a loophole in Korean Military rules allowed a winner of such a medal to send his siblings home). However, upon winning the Medal, the younger brother Jin-seok Lee (Bin Won) refuses to return home. Horrified at the realization that Jin-tae no longer fights to help their family, but fights because he enjoys killing, the increasingly chaotic tides of war will challenge both the relationship between the brothers and their relationship to their country.

The following guns were used in Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War:

Handguns

M1911A1

The M1911A1 is the standard-issue handgun for the American-supplied South Korean forces, both historically and in the film.

World-War-II-issued Colt M1911A1 Pistol - .45 ACP

Sergeant Huh (Kil-Kang Ahn) fires his M1911 from a South Korean trenches - .45 ACP

During the chaos of an enemy artillery attack, a North Korean prisoner manages to grab an M1911A1 pistol from a guard and hold him at gunpoint - .45 ACP

Nambu Type 14

A Japanese handgun of the WWII era, the Nambu Type 14 is seen in the hands of a North Korean captain who in one sequence tries to escape the South Korean forces during the October 1950 battle of Pyongyang, and then is subsequently chased down and captured by a glory-hungry Jin-tae Lee. While seemingly out-of-place at first glance among the Soviet-supplied North Koreans, the Japanese military did in fact conscript Koreans into their military during WWII before the Japanese occupation of Korea ended, and this weapon could well be a physical remnant of that period.

Nambu Type 14 8x22mm Nambu

The wounded North Korean captain grabs his Nambu Type 14 pistol

A wounded North Korean lieutenant fires his Nambu Type 14

Jin-tae Lee presses the Nambu Type 14 Pistol to its former owner's throat

Submachine Guns

M3A1 Grease Gun

The M3A1 Grease Gun is infrequently seen amongst South Korean soldiers in the film.

M3A1 "Grease Gun" - .45 ACP

ROK Soldier fires his M3A1 "Grease Gun" during the fierce urban combat in the October 1950 allied attack on Pyongyang.

PPsH-41

Produced by the millions by the Soviets for their "Great Patriotic War" (the Soviet term for WWII), it is no surprise that by that war's end they still had enough PPSh-41 submachine guns to generously equip their various client states for the opening years of the Cold War. In this film the PPSh-41 is a common sight amongst North Korean soldiers.

Soviet PPSh-41 Submachine Gun - 7.62x25mm Tokarev

A North Korean soldier fires his PPSh-41 during a close-range ambush, a role would excel in for years to come, being a compact fully-automatic weapon with a generous magazine capacity.

A North Korean soldier firing the PPSh-41 from a trench in Pyongyang.

A North Korean army lieutenant with his PPSh-41.

Rifles/Carbines

Browning Automatic Rifle

The most common American-issued light machine gun in WWII, the Browning Automatic Rifle is infrequently seen amongst South Korean forces in this film.

Browning Automatic Rifle - .30-06

South Korean soldiers respond to a North Korean ambush with a BAR.

During the mass retreat, many a BAR can be seen.

M1 Carbine

The standard-issue carbine for the American-supplied forces of South Korea, the M1 Carbine in the Korean War fulfilled the same role it played in WWII--being issued to second-line troops and those expected to see short-range combat.

Korean War Era M1 Carbine - .30 carbine

Jin-tae Lees' squad plants landmines on a road, while some of the squad standing guard carry M1 Carbines.

South Korean soldiers celebrate the news of the successful landing of the U.S. Marine Corps at Incheon, as American F-86 Sabres fly overhead. Visible are many M1 carbines.
For some reason, this is the only mention of non-South-Korean allied forces in the film, and no non-South-Korean Allied infantry ever appear in the film, despite the fact that the Korean War involved forces from several countries.

During the chaos of the Korean War, paranoia about communist sympathizers/collaborators in then-right-wing South Korea motivated several massacres of civilians suspected of communist support, all without trial, and in some cases still without official recognition from the South Korean government. A scene in this movie depicts some vigilantes driven by this paranoia using M1 Carbines (.30 Carbine) to execute suspected communist sympathizers/collaborators in Seoul. These carbines have the 30 round magazines issued after WWII, but are still M1 Carbines, not M2 Carbines, since they lack the selector switch.

A M1 Carbine in an over-the-shoulder view can be seen in an easy-to-miss continuity error more fully explained in another section on this page.

M1 Garand

As was the case in WWII only five years prior, the M1 Garand remained the standard-issue rifle for the American-supplied forces of South Korea, and it is an ubiquitous sight in scenes in this film featuring South Korean infantry.

M1 Garand semiautomatic Rifle with leather M1917 sling - .30-06

Closeup of a South Korean M1 Garand - .30-06

A South Korean soldier responds to a North Korean ambush with his M1 Garand - .30-06

Sgt. Jin-tae Lee (Dong-gun Jang) carries his M1 Garand while clearing a building during the battle of Pyongyang--while this might seem a like a bad idea in modern CQB/MOUT doctrine, the building in this scene has partially collapsed and thus offers plenty of room to aim his M1 Garand freely.

Lee's rifle squad fire their M1 Garands back at North Korean snipers during the street fighting in Pyongyang - .30-06

Sgt. Jin-tae Lee (Dong-gun Jang) runs with his M1 Garand during the mass retreat

M1 Garand Blank Adapters

Uniformed irregulars hold their M1 Garands at the head of Pvt. Jin-seok Lee (Bin Won) when he intervenes in the summary execution of suspected communist sympathizers/collaborators during his brief mid-war return to Seoul--a personal stake he has in this situation is that one of those about to be executed is his girlfriend. This closeup shot allows the particular blank adapters for the M1 Garand used in the movie to be easily seen. They are externally-attachable BFAs that extend the end of the rifle by a 0.5 inch

Mosin Nagant M38 Carbine

A carbine-length variant of the ubiquitous Mosin Nagant rifle, the M38 Carbine is occasionally seen in the film, primarily in the hands of the Chinese troops sent to intervene in North Korea by October 1950.

Mosin Nagant M38 Carbine, chambered in 7.62x54R

When Sgt. Lee breaks into the North Korean enemy Field HQ, there is a lineup of M44 and M38 Carbines against the wall - 7.62x54R

The Chinese Army storms the Allied lines at the Yalu River. Though hard to see in any particular shot, most of the troops in the front of this human wave are carrying M38 and M44 Carbines. For whatever reason, this sequence is the only time Chinese troops intervening in the Korean War are depicted in this film.

Mosin Nagant M44 Carbine

Another carbine-length variant of the long-serving Mosin Nagant rifle, the M44 carbine makes occasional appearances in this film, primarily among the intervening Chinese troops arriving to the war in 1950.

Mosin Nagant M44 Carbine, chambered in 7.62x54R, with attached side-folding bayonet

North Korean Soldier fires a Mosin Nagant M44 Carbine.

A whole lot of M44 Carbines in the hands of thousands of Chinese troops, the only time forces from that country are depicted in this film.

Mosin Nagant M91/30

The standard-issue Soviet rifle in WWII, the Mosin Nagant M91/30 "reprises" its role in this film as the standard-issue rifle amongst the Soviet-supplied North Korean troops.

Full-length, Mosin Nagant M91/30 - 7.62x54R

A squad of North Korean soldiers fire their Mosin Nagant M91/30 Rifles.

A North Korean soldier fires a Mosin Nagant M91/30 Rifle from a trench.

Sniper Rifles

Remington M1903A4 Sniper Rifle

A South Korean soldier riding on an American tank in this film is shown with a Remington M1903A4 sniper rifle, but without a scope.

M1903A4 Springfield .30-06 without scope

A South Korean soldier riding on an American tank has a Remington M1903A4 rifle without a scope.

Machine Guns

Browning M1919A6

Browning M1919A6 machine guns are used by South Korean troops as belt-fed Light Machine Guns in this film, taking a page from their American military suppliers.

Browning M1919A6, late WWII manufacture - .30-06

South Korean troops ready an M1919A6 for a nighttime ambush.

South Korean troops ready an M1919A6 for a nighttime ambush.

South Korean troops use a M1919A6 during the night assault.

Closeup of the M1919A6 firing.

A South Korean soldier aims his M1919A6 Machine gun during the street-to-street fighting in Pyongyang during October 1950.

Browning AN-M2 Anti Aircraft Gun

The rusted remnants of a Browning ANM2 Heavy Machine Gun are excavated by archeologists and South Korean soldiers at a battle site in 2003.

Browning ANM2 Machine Gun

A rusted and disintegrating ANM2 machine gun is removed by South Korean soldiers at a 2003 archeological dig, depicted at the start of the film.

Degtyaryov DP

The standard-issue Soviet Light Machine Gun from WWII and widely issued to Soviet client states in the early years of the Cold War, the Soviet DP-27 makes an appearance in the hands of many North Korean soldiers in this film. These differ from the more common DPM by the lack of a pistol grip, a differently shaped stock, and a bipod that mounts below, not above, the heat jacket of the barrel.

Degtyaryov DP-28 machine gun - 7.62x54mm R

North Korean DP Gunners battle the attacking South Korean army - 7.62x54R

North Korean DP Gunners fighting in the October 1950 battle of Pyongyang.

Sgt. Jin-tae Lee (Dong-gun Jang) captures a DP from a rooftop position and turns it against the fleeing North Korean Soldiers in the film's battle of Pyongyang sequence.

A squad of North Korean soldiers fire at strafing F4U Corsair planes with their DPs.

Fake Soviet KPV Heavy Machine Gun

A mockup of an Anti-Aircraft gun, that resembles a cross between the 14.5mm KPV heavy machine gun and the 12.7mm NVS Heavy Machine guns is made from a disguised Browning M2HB. M2 Machine guns are commonly used to impersonate foreign heavy machine guns like in Rambo III and The Beast of War.

A North Korean Anti-Aircraft crew fire the fake Soviet KPV Heavy Machine Gun

Close-up of the gun barrel

Close-up of the chamber

North Korean KPV gunners soldiers abandoning their position as a stricken Corsair on a Kamikaze run bears down on them.

Browning M1917 Heavy Machine Gun

A Browning M1917 makes an appearance in the film. It is most prominently used by a recently-crazed Sgt. Jin-tae Lee (Dong-gun Jang) during the film's climactic battle.

Browning M1917 Machine Gun - Unlike many later machine guns, the Browning M1917 was often deployed with its WWI-style water-cooling barrel jacket even in WWII and both the Korean and Vietnam Wars--this "old-fashioned" feature of its design allowed it to provide sustained fire for longer periods than later air-cooled machine guns could (the latter are usually dependent on designs that allow overheated barrels to be quickly swapped out, while older water-cooled machine guns generally only needed to change barrels after their rifling grooves wore down too far to provide accurate fire.)

A mud-, blood-, and soot-covered Jin-tae Lee comes to his senses after a tearful reunion with his brother (whom he thought was dead in a building fire), and does a chamber check on a tripod-mounted Browning M1917 Machine Gun.

Looking much like the beast of war he has become, Jin-tae Lee turns the Browning M1917 Machine Gun against the attacking North Koreans in a desperate bid to buy time for his brother to escape.

Maxim M1910-30 Machine Gun

A Soviet-updated version of the venerable water-cooled Maxim heavy machine gun, the Maxim M1910-30 Machine Gun makes an appearance amidst North Korean forces in this film in its "Sokolov" wheeled mounting. Historically, this machine gun was widely used by Russian/Soviet forces in World Wars One and Two, and also saw heavy use by their client states in the opening years of the Cold War.

Maxim M1910 Machine Gun - 7.62x54mmR

A North Korean soldier fires a Maxim M1910-30 Machine Gun from a bunker while defending from a nighttime assault.

A North Korean Machine Gun crew in action during the fighting in the film's Pyongyang battle sequence.

A North Korean Machine Gun crew fire at attacking F4U Corsair planes.

North Korean troops use a Maxim M1910-30 on attacking South Koreans.

Grenades

Chinese Type II Stick Grenade

Jin-tae Lee arms a Chinese Type II Stick Grenade.

Jin-tae Lee prepares to throw a Type II Stick Grenade from a rooftop in Pyong Yang

MK 2 Hand Grenade

MK 2 Hand Grenades are seen being used by Jin-tae Lee and other South Korean soldiers in the film.

MK 2 Hand Grenade

A MK 2 Hand Grenade hangs off of Sgt. Jin-tae Lee's jacket

Closeup of a MK 2 Hand Grenade

Jin-tae Lee pulls the pin from his Mk II hand grenade in the most ill-advised way possible, with his front teeth. This is not advised in real-life, as one can break their teeth doing so.

Molotov Cocktail

These improvised incendiary grenades are used during the brothers' first mission, after their unit finds itself in dire straits and decide to attack against all odds.

South Korean commandos use Molotov cocktails to set North Korean ammo depots ablaze during a night attack.

Launchers

M20 Super Bazooka

M20 "Super Bazooka" - 3.5" Rocket

A South Korean soldier blasts away at an enemy rooftop position during the savage street fighting in Pyongyang with an M20 Super Bazooka (3.5" Rocket).

A South Korean soldier fires an M20 Super Bazooka (3.5" Rocket), just before being blown apart by a recoilless rifle.

M20 Recoilless Rifle

M20 Recoilless Rifle - 75mm Rocket

A South Korean soldier carries an M20 Recoilless Rifle over his shoulder

Artillery

M101 Howitzer - 105mm

South Korean soldiers fire an M101 Howitzer

An artillery battery of M101 Howitzer's firing

A South Korean artillery crew in action

Other

M2 Flamethrower

M2 Flamethrower

South Korean soldier clears a tunnel with his M2 Flamethrower

South Korean Soldier fires his M2 Flamethrower into the tunnel

Vehicle-Mounted Weaponry

Browning M2HB .50 Cal Machine Gun

On the allied side, the Browning M2 Heavy Barrel machine guns are most commonly seen mounted on U.S. Army Sherman tanks.

Browning M2HB Machine Gun

An American tanker fires a Sherman tank-mounted Browning M2HB.

Vehicles

BA-64 Armored Car

A Soviet made Armored Car use during WW2.Post WW2 BA-64 service in North Korean Army

A BA-64 Armored Car behind a sandbagged position.

F4U Corsair

The close support aircraft in the film. The Corsairs are used in close ground support roles, using their 20mm cannons to strafe North Korean lines and entrenched soldiers. A mortally damaged F4U also makes its own "kamikaze" run at a North Korean gun emplacement.

F4U Corsairs strafe North Korean positions

An Anti Aircraft gun fires at the Corsairs

F4U Corsairs drop bombs on the North Korean positions

GMC Truck

An American truck.(in left)

A GMC truck can be seen to the left

M38 Jeep

An American Jeep.First use in Korean war.(center of image)

An M38 Jeep moves by a column of infantry

M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo Tank

A post WW2 version of the M4 with a much more squared turret. The guns were elongated 76mm rather than the shorter 75mm guns of WW2.

Shermans spearhead the invasion of Pyong Yang

A Sherman tank in Pyong Yang

A Sherman tank fires its 75mm Cannon

Sherman tanks during the final battle

M8 Greyhound Armored Car

Constantly seen backing up the Shermans during the armored attacks.

An M8 Greyhound in the forward right

An M8 Greyhound during the battle of Pyong Yang

An M8 Greyhound can be seen to the right

Trivia

Dummy stunt rifles

Since there is so much hand to hand combat in the film, the filmmakers made lightweight dummy Garands and Mosin Nagant Carbines out of wood and metal parts. In closeup they are obvious (also the fact that the actors swing them around like they weigh nothing is also a clue). The Russian carbines are odd looking and looks like a hybrid 91/30 and an M38/44 Carbine.

Continuity Error

When PFC Yong-Man attacks the North Korean troops, he has an M1 Garand, but when we see over his shoulder, the gun is an M1 Carbine.

You can see M1 Carbine in the left of picture

Anachronisms

When Jin-tae Lee (Dong-gun Jang) gives his brother Jin-seok Lee (Bin Won) a Hershey's chocolate bar to cheer him up, the candy bar is the "King-sized version" that Hershey introduced in 1980. Also we see the 'nutritional content listings' that were required in the 1990s. Also I didn't know they had bar code readers in 1950.....

Jin-Tae Lee holds a 'futuristic' chocolate bar.

Work in progress.....