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Cast: Kim Sung-Soo, Lee Ha-Na, Lee Jong-suk, Rain, Shin Se-kyung, Yu Junsang
After pulling a dangerous, daredevil stunt at an air show, hotshot elite Air Force pilot Tae-hun (Jung Ji-hoon, aka Rain, Ninja Assassin, Speed Racer) is kicked off the military s top-notch Black Eagle air team and demoted into combat. Arriving at his new unit, the talented but reckless fighter is quickly popular with the majority of the squad, even sparking a heated romance with the lovely Se-yeong, the wing s best technician, whose faulty hearing is the only thing keeping her out of the air. But Tae-hun s brash ways soon cause tension with the unit s own ace top gun, the strait-laced Cheol-hui (Yu Jun-sang, In Another Country, The Day He Arrives). When a North Korean MIG fighter enters their air space, a reconnaissance mission erupts into a fierce dogfight, leaving one team member dead and another missing. Now, with just minutes to pull off the biggest airborne mission in history, they must set aside their differences and lead the way to rescue their comrade and prevent war.
"Black Eagle" has a good amount of characters in it that it focuses on but the main one is Tae-hun, a hotshot pilot who gets demoted after performing a dangerous air stunt during an air show. His only way back to the Black Eagles is by winning the the annual aerial combat contest but before that happens North Korean invades the South by sending MIGS into their airspace. Now this group of pilots must set aside their many differences and band together as one in order defeat the North.
Watching "Black Eagle" was almost like watching two different movies. The first hour is filled with character development, drama and comedy...too much comedy. I say that because the second half is pretty much all drama and action. I felt the story would of been better served had it gone the serious route from the start.
"Black Eagle" really had the potential to be something special, after the first hour the action takes to the air and there is an amazing mix of real and CGI action that rivals anything Hollywood has done. The action is thrilling and it really gets the adrenaline going.
Production wise the film looks great and the entire cast did a good job playing their roles. Like I stated before, the film could of been so much better had they kept the film serious from the start and focused a bit more on the in the air action during the first half of the film. Luckily the film's second half makes up for the lackluster first with amazing action and effects, if you like a good action film in the tradition of "Top Gun" then I highly recommend checking this out.
Available on DVD with Special Features that include:
Featurettes: "Sortie's Ready! 500 Days of Filming", "Pilot G-Force Test", "Characters"
Behind-the-scenes
Outtakes
Trailers
Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, Korean Subtitles - English
You can order the DVD HERE.
Released by CJ Entertainment
*** 1/2 Out Of *****