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.
This was more than decent overall. I have no comment on the background and how it was filmed. The acting was good in parts and not great in others. Some of the acting improved as the episodes went on however there were still moments when it could have been better. The plot was very interesting and intriguing and I liked the moral of the story. This show fell down in the end. Right when they were getting you with the emotion it just decided to insert useless information.
This was a decent show overall. It had some good life lessons that I could relate. The one thing that bugged me was that most of the time when they used English songs in the background, the songs didn't really match the scene which was a little distracting. However the Korean songs were always on point. The stand out performance came from Soo Ae. There was not one time that I thought she was lacking in acting ability. As for the male lead, he didn't capture my fantasies like he should for a male lead. My fantasies were captured instead by one of the minor characters played by Lee Sang Woo. This man is gorgeous and definitely swoon worthy. The plot lagged in some areas and certainly some episodes could have just been cut but they did tie up all the loose ends in the end. The ending was not exactly what I hoped for and yet I was happy with it. They got to the destination but with some extras that I didn't really feel were necessary.
Stand out episodes: 8 & 13, with the 13th being just a hair better to claim the Best Episode Award.
Let down episodes: 2, 4, 7, & 16; with the 4th winning the Worst Episode Award due to being boring with no real plot development. This show probably could have been condensed to 12 episodes.
This film is just decent. Not horrible but not great either. Would I watch it again? Sure but only if there wasn't anything else better to watch. However if you're a Big Bang stan then this film is a must see with TOP and Seungri in 2 of the main roles. The acting is not great but the soundtrack is good. As for the plot, it is a little weak but passable. I think what the film got correct is how some teenagers would react when faced with running away. There was also the scene with TOP rapping which was very good. I almost wish we got more of that scene. The ending was good and wrapped up things neatly.
