Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by mr grits (A) on June 18, 2012 at 14:24:35

Back in 1968 I was too busy partying and flunking out of school to pay attention to Tet.....so it is no surprise that I missed the near assassination of South Korea's President Park by a band of highly trained killers from North Korea who infiltrated the Presidential Palace.

As a result of this action the prevailing attitude was "payback" in like kind so SK began to pick and recruit a total of 31 men serving life terms or facing execution for a mission to NK. It doesn't take much to seduce a man facing the executioner to a noble cause but promising full exoneration and being appointed as officers in the special branch of the military upon their return is all it took.

The crew was taken by boat to an obscure SK island known as Silmido. This is where the ROK's toughest troops came from and the band of 31 withstood the near murderous training to be able to paddle and swim there way to kill President Kim Il-Sung.

The movie centers on the training, personal strife, and their development of a near irreversible fanaticism to carry out their mission. I could never imagine US military guys getting that psyched out of their minds. (Then again Asia gave us Kamikazes also.)

After three years of preparation the go signal was given and they mission was launched only to be called back. The lead training officer was called in and told the "political climate" had changed and that the mission is cancelled and the world should never know of their plans. This meant the lead officer would be responsible for the termination of the men he now respected and admired. (He even suggested sending them to serve in VN but the risk of someone blabbing was too great.)

The merits of the film are average but it is an interesting, in-depth look at the brutality the team endured until the end.

I see it as 2.75 outta 5.