Story- The plot is like any other historic drama; there is betrayal, political intrigue & war. But I guess this has a small twist, it is center around Gye Baek. On how all the secrets & lies of the royal court change Gye Baek's life; separating him from his love and turning him into a great general.
Acting/Cast- As for the cast they all did very well. I like all the actors however I'm very impress with the kid actors. Two adult actors stood out to me, one being Song Ji Hyo. I felt that she really became her character. The other person is Hyomin, even though she didn't appear often; the times she did she impress me especially in her big scene.
Music- The soundtrack was nice and went along great with the scenes. I especially believe that the song "Do you Know" by Yang Pa, fits perfectly with one of the main themes of the drama.
Rewatch Value- is 7 because I don't rewatch things often but this one I would, since I really enjoyed it.
Overall if you want to see how a royal court's lies & betrayals changes a person's life & destroys a kingdom or if you just want to see a good drama, check out Gye Baek!
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I will start talking about the story. The drama is set during The Three Kingdoms Period. It tells the story of General Gye Baek of Baekje, which is a very well-known hero of Korea.
The story is very interesting, never boring, and the actors did a great job, but I couldn't help but hating some of the main characters. I didn't find a love story which was interesting enough to catch my attention. Perhaps that's the main reason I can't give this series a global mark of 10 points.
The music is quite nice also. When I was watching the drama I didn't notice it very much, but after finishing it and listening to some of the songs included in the soundtrack, I was surprised with some nice songs.
I think it has a high rewatch value also. The main problem is that it is quite long, so I wouldn't watch it again right now, but probably in future I would feel like watching it once more.
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Wikipedia’s entry on Gye Baek is brief but harrowing. In fact, you’ll think Gye Baek a demon, a monster, a psychopath. The drama will convince you otherwise.
Fighting for an ideal will always end in tragedy and that’s what Gye Baek is, a life spent in the service of his country at the expense of a woman’s love, personal happiness, domestic bliss, etc. The irony of it all is that Gye Baek is brought up by a father who tries his darnedest to steer the boy clear of honor, patriotism, and all “those big words which make us so unhappy,” to quote James Joyce.
Tragedy is a word thrown around rather loosely. It should be reserved for deaths that inspire awe and that stir us to act regardless of added pressure to do so. Gye Baek will be on my mind for a very long time and will be especially pertinent whenever heroism and/or tragedy are gratuitously mentioned.
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This review may contain spoilers
-Mild spoilers-I enjoyed the show only up to first half of the show which is up to about 18 to 20 episodes, I don't know what happened after 21 episodes onwards, it was hard to get through. The story and plots were all over the place, so many out of characters moments such as the characters' motivation/motive established very well at the beginning of the show and it change with very weak reasoning it's very frustrating to watch.
This show title should change to the fall of Baekje instead of Gyebaek, just basing on the title of this show I thought we were supposed to see the story be centered around the title character's perspective but unfortunately it is not, the story is too plot driven and the other characters arcs taking up the screen time that we don't see a lot of Gyebaek's character development and all.
Another thing that weigh down the show is the romance, it's your standard TV trope, love triangle. All the characters are intelligent and smart in this show, but when it comes to romance they become so dumb, I find myself cringe and face palm a lot at the romance plot.
Acting in the show are great. The stand out for me are the two female leads.
In conclusion, this show is frustrating, because of the very strong first half then jump the shark from episodes 21 onwards and had so much potential if only the story was more character driven than plot.
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A historical drama
If you’re looking for a historical drama with court politics and war then this is that and more. The thing that makes this drama interesting is the focus on one man, General Gye Baek, a powerful general that never loses a battle. He is bigger than life but unfortunately he makes decisions, as do most of the other characters, that just don’t make sense. The storyline has twists and turns that take characters in directions that a sane person would never take. However I must say, the story does have a certain draw that kept me watching.The main problem with this one was the twisted and sometimes creepy relationships between the King, Gye Baek and the women in their lives. There was no real romance like the genre says, it was just strange interactions between two people of the opposite sex, with zero chemistry. Just when you think things have a least shown some normality the General does the unthinkable to his family in the end. Did the writer think that would bring some realism into the story? I didn’t care what happen to Gye Baek after that and it lessened the value of the entire drama to me. But, that’s just me.
A convoluted story with a strange appeal and a terrible ending. Very few, if any, happy moments.
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This review may contain spoilers
Cocklord
-------------------Major Spoilers---------------------------------------------------Bad Words------------------------------------
Supreme Ancient Cocklord. His family gets butchered because of royals but he is such a cocklord that he remains loyal. His Beloved, gets stolen yet he still remains loyal. The main royals try so many times to kill him Gye Baek still remains loyal. Such a cocklord i cringed my way from the 20 to 36 episodes because I thought he would get some sense and leave the royals. He is SUCH a cocklord that he butchers his remaining family to boast morale for soldiers. What a shitshow.
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The twist was the not the "someday" that I was waiting for.
I love Korean cinema. The actors are sensational, charming in every way. The woman who played Eun Go was also in Joselyn' Fugitive or Madate from Heaven.The villan, evil queen is one of my favorites although turning and changing the "someday"' was a twist that I could not agree with and had a hard time watching the end. Switching over to the writers who are really talented and funny. The dialog was insightful and thought-provoking. As I mentioned earlier, the twist was :'( was not what I wanted for the hero, referring to the "someday". The directing, cinematography, music is very well put together. Most of all, I like the historical figure set in a fictionalized scene of what might have happened... well done!... and including what actually did happen, nicely done!Was this review helpful to you?
A downward spiral
I liked it initially until they did the 14 years timeskip introducing the kids at episode 3, even less so after another timeskip when they grew up, and even further much less around exactly midway through. The rest was just painful to get through. Don't even get me started on whatever that last episode was.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
А вот и финал Царства Пэкче. И как же он похож на соседа, прям любуйся не налюбуйся, те же алчность и подлость, свои интересы и право сильного. Тут сильней оказался король и его генерал вроде бы и не пытался, но был лучше некоторых, чем и безумно раздражал власть придержащих. В итоге, когда его не стало все и закончилось. Хотя думается, что аристократия спокойно влилась в состав Силлы и жила себе дальше припеваюче. Кормушки поскромнее, но все же кормушки. Из истории: В 660 году Пэкче было втянуто в Когурёско-Танскую войну на стороне Когурё. Против Пэкче выдвинулось 130-тысячное войско Су Динфана, который должен был соединится с силласкими войсками Кима Чхунчху. Динфан высадился на острове Токмуль, готовясь сразиться с 50-тысячным войском Ким Юсина. Из-за промедления вана силласцы разбили 5-тысячное заграждение и вышли на дорогу к столице. В бою в устье реки Унджин пэкческая армия была разбита Су Динфаном. Он поднялся (пользуясь приливом) по реке на дистанцию одного перехода от столицы. В повторном бою пэкчесцы потеряли 10 000 человек и были разбиты. Ван бежал из столицы. Брат вана Тхэ захватил власть и стал оборонять столицу. Видя безнадёжность положения, он открыл ворота. Узнав о поражении, ван сдался и дал в заложники наследника Хё и аристократов 88 человек, простолюдинов 12 807. Кебэк и погиб в этих битвах, а потом свергли и последнего короля Пэкче ЫйджаПо сериалу традиционно начали с детства героев. Традиционно судьба их свела чуть ли не с пеленок. Трудная дорога царя Му, о котором мы смотрели "Песнь Содона", ни к чему хорошему не привела. Зависимость от богатых семей, неприятие царицы из Силла, привела к тому, что последняя погибает, и наследник всю жизнь боится наемных убийц. Трудное детство, игрушки прибитые к полу сформировало коварного правителя, хотя с проблесками хорошего профессионала. Тут еще женщина рядом, которая тоже одержима местью, и эта месть съедает ее живьем. Потом появляется любовный треугольник между ними и генералом и наступает конец всему. В принципе, сценарий крепкий ( что не удивительно от создателей Королевы Сондок) и смотреть интересно, но чего то не хватает. Мужской каст меня не вдохновил, их юные версии были намного интересней, а вот суперзведы в возрасте слишком...в возрасте. А вот Сон Джи Хё в женской роли была великолепна, когда противостояла правящей царице, которую играла О Ён Су, но в половине сериала с ней разобрались и играть Джи Хё стало нечего.
В целом крепкий середнячок, нужный для общей картины.
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