To say I loved this movie is an understatement. Maybe it was the surround sound of seeing it in a theater. Maybe it was the fact that it was my first ever Korean movie to watch in the theater. Who knows either way I went into this not really sure I would like it. Historical war movies are not usually my thing. In fact I usually stay the hell away from them because they're just too sad and depressing. It is entirely possible that this does not bother me with this movie because I do not know enough of the history. Whatever it may be I loved it. The scenery was epic and completely brought to life the movie, not to mention that the sound effects were perfectly on point. The amount of great acting in this film was superb and only diminished slightly by the fact that they had only one actress with a semi-speaking part in the whole thing. However, I feel like you do have to take into account the history in this regard as most men at this time and in this region would not have put any store in what a woman has to say. The plot could have been confusing for a foreigner to keep up but it wasn't. The director managed to keep my attention on what was the important plot points. It may not be exactly accurate but in this case my lack of knowledge on the subject works in the movies favor.