Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

gavin6942 A British documentary about US Army defector James Joseph Dresnok (born 1941) currently living in North Korea after having defected during the 60s.This is a very strange story. Americans defecting to Nazi Germany is strange, but somewhat understandable. Americans sympathizing with terrorists and moving to Afghanistan is hard to understand, but it makes sense on a certain level. This one is stranger still... defecting to a country that not only speaks a foreign tongue and has different views, but restricts freedom? Who purposely wants to live in a prison? And the man does not comes across as mistreated or brainwashed in any way. Clearly something very odd happened, and he may not be completely truthful (the tale of his first wife being a kidnap victim is a story in itself)... who is James Dresnok?

filmalamosa This film was another job for Dreslock to perform for his North Korean masters.Clearly he was a troubled and insubordinate soldier who defected rather than get in trouble for leaving his post with a document he forged. But what an interesting and different life he then had.North Koreans live in perpetual fear under such circumstances it is just easiest to believe the state line. Dreslock is a typical example. He also shows how you can take someone who would have amounted to nothing in the US and turn him into something quite interesting. Someone who speaks Korean fluently lectures at Universities etc etc....What would be really interesting is for him to show up now in the US and do a second film.To judge him from this film is unfair...utter the wrong word and he or his family would face death or worse.The real losers in all this was the North Koreans no one believes their propaganda in the West. Think millions starved while this dufus was swigging down Johnny Walker Black Label. It is still fascinating.

MartinHafer "Crossing the Line" is one of the strangest films I've seen in a long time. It's the story about an American soldier who, inexplicably, crossed the Demilitarized Zone INTO North Korea. What makes it all the more surprising is that three others also did the same! And, even more surprising, is that the very, very closed North Korean society actually allowed filmmakers into their country to film these interviews.James Dresnok's life before crossing this line was explored in the first portion of the film. He had a pretty sad and loveless childhood. Even worse, after serving a hitch in the US Army, he returned to find that his wife had left him. At this point, you kind of feel sorry for him--life had dealt him quite a few lemons. However, Dresnok's reaction made it easier not to feel for him. He re-enlisted and was sent to serve in South Korea--along the DMZ. There, he was an insubordinate jerk and was about to be either reprimanded or dishonorably discharged for his actions. Instead, he chose to run the heavily mined border into North Korea. His defection was not politically motivated--more the actions of a malcontent.Now in North Korea, he and three other Americans with rather similar backgrounds were minor celebrities. They willingly let themselves be used for propaganda purposes and even later starred as evil Americans in a television mini-series! If the men truly believed in this communist paradise, I could empathize--to a degree. But what bothered me is that these men lived well--and continued living well through the famine in recent years. So, even when their countrymen were starving to death, they had plenty. And, when huge numbers were being sent to concentration camps in this most repressive of countries, they lived fairly well. In fact, it turned out that the marriages that followed for one of them was to a woman the country had kidnapped! And, it appeared that this was also probably the case in at least one or two other occasions. In other words, Dresnok lived well and the government provided a kidnapped wife (or possibly wives) to make him happy. This truly made Dresnok and his 'friends' come off as jerks.What also made me thoroughly dislike Dresnok was his reaction to the other defectors. One died relatively early and I can't recall exactly what happened to one of the others. But the final defector was an odd case, as Dresnok truly hated the guy and talked in a manner that made this VERY clear. The bitterness of Dresnok was interesting. And, when this other defector defected back to the West, he told stories about how Dresnok (who is a huge man) beat him and mistreated him. This is all pretty weird and impossible to prove--but Dresnok's emotional reaction sure was easy to notice! His coldness and anger were striking.The film makers managed to do something pretty interesting. They took a somewhat neutral position on Dresnok and his defection--at least in the first 3/4 of the film. This is NOT a bad thing, as they simply allowed Dresnok to talk without criticism of any sort. Towards the end, the film makers did spring a few things on Dresnok (such as the allegations from his former 'friend') but still managed to keep some objectivity. Overall, a truly fascinating film. My only reservation is that the viewer should also watch some of the other recent films about North Korean society. That's because the North Korea you see in "Crossing the Line" was all filtered and is the view of the country the government wants to promote. In other words, Dresnok and those around him were presented by North Korea in the best possible light and the city you see looks pretty nice. Films such as "Kidnapped!", "Seoul Train", "Children of the Secret State" and "National Geographic: Inside North Korea" give a much, much more harrowing view of the nation.Well worth seeing and never dull.

merylmatt I rented this to get a glimpse of what life in North Korea was like - anything at all - as with much history, when you start off with one journey, you find another. I did not know 4 US Army soldiers defected to North Korea in 1962-63. That was a huge embarrassment to the US and a propaganda windfall for the DPK, who not surprisingly, exploited these four soldiers. They made speeches denouncing the US, were wined and dined by the North Koreans and even starred in North Korean movies (as the bad guys, of course).This documentary centers on the one of first to cross the border - James "Comrade Joe" Dresnok. The story is told from his perspective. Since 2 of the others died and 1 escaped to Japan, only Joe is left in North Korea. Does he have regrets? Does he wish to return to the west? Has he been brain washed? How did he enjoy his life in a gilded cage? He learned the language, culture and to say the words, but does he mean them? About the only thing you can be sure of is that Joe does not like fellow defector Charles Jenkins who managed to get to Japan in 2004.**Possible spoilers**One suspects that Joe is saying literally, the party line. He knows in order to eat in a land where natives are starving; he must continue to defend his decision and North Korea. Since the four defectors tried to escape North Korea in the late 1960's (by going to the Soviet Embassy - duh!) and spent the next 10 years being're-educated', Joe's statements of loyalty to the North Koreans rings hollow. This is a good documentary, not excellent - it can be slow at times, and one tires of hearing Joe defend himself and his actions. He comes off as disingenuous at best, not someone worthy of hate, but pity. 6.5 stars