Memories of the Alhambra (2018)

Thriller

Story:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Production:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chemistry Between Leads:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chemistry Between Supports:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
OST/BGM:⭐⭐⭐⭐
VFX:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ending:⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's a perfect drama, especially those who loves gaming/e-sports and action.Even though the leads have age difference they have a special bonding. It's a drama that we shouldn't be missed out. I wanted a happy ending like the leads reunites. Even though they haven't the drama promising ML is alive that he can comeback once the quest completed.

Tags:
#E-sports/ Computer gaming✨
#fantasy/sci-fi✨
#Action✨
#Mistery✨
#Thriller✨
#Strong Male Lead
#Older Man/Younger Women r/s
#Rich Boy/Poor Girl
#Melo

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Fast Paced , Action packed, compelling story

8,5/10 is my rating. This is a 2018/2019 South Korean television series, with 16, 60 minute episodes. Takes place in Spain and South Korea.

Yoo Jin-woo (Hyun Bin) is a well known handsome and successful CEO of an investment company he co-founded with college friends. He is in the process of divorcing his second wife who has caused nothing but trouble for him during their short marriage. He receives an email about a virtual reality game that is poised to change gaming future. Jin-woo travels to Spain to meet Jung Se-joo (Park Chan-yeol) who created the game in the hopes of beating his rival to buy rights to the game. Upon arrival, Jin-woo finds out Se-joo is missing. Since Se-joo is missing he learns he must buy the rights from Se-Jon’s older sister, Jung Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye). There is a problem as Jin-woo is staying in Hee-Joo’s run down hostel and held back nothing in telling her what he thought of the state of the hostel and her personally. He has to swallow his pride and convince Hee-joo. All the while he is testing the game and is learning there may be some very dangerous flaws that are deadly. He also thinks the flaws may be behind Se-Jon’s disappearance. People who die in the game wind up dead in reality and then show up in the game as murderous assassins. Jin-woo discovers this and tries to tell his counterparts at the company but they label him crazy. Jin-woo begins to play the game near obsessively to level up thinking if he can master the game he will be able to prove and expose the flaws and find the young game creator. Hee-joo feels thankful to Jin-woo as the money he paid pulls her family out of poverty. Soon gratitude becomes something more and the two develop feelings for each other.

Spoiler 🚨 This movie really had it all a compelling mystery, great cast, complex character development, an interesting storyline and believable romance. It had a lot of action and was fast paced. There were sad points and not all my favorite characters made it. I loved Hee-Joo’s younger sister, her conversations with Jin-woo were cheeky and entertaining. However, the ending left things up in the air. It strongly seems they left it open for another season. It also made it a bit sad. I would have preferred they wrap the season up and thread some elements into a subsequent season or create another stand alone that has the same central. I really liked and enjoyed this but the ending spoiled it. Still worth watching but it helps I think to know it has a very nebulous ending.

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How To Get Yourself Hooked ?

Augmented reality, scenic Spanish streets, swashbuckling action, slow-burn romance, a dimpled Byronic hero, Memories of the Alhambra has it all. Memories of the Alhambra is a genre-bending, sixteen-episode K-drama series currently streaming on Netflix.Like many K-dramas before it, Memories of the Alhambra has an epic cast and a storyline that twists and turns and flashes forward and backward. There are cliffhangers aplenty in this series of over sixteen hours.

At its heart though is a romance. The slow-burning, possibly doomed romance between the arrogant, high-flying tech innovator Yoo Jin-woo (Hyun Bin) and the demure and dutiful hostel owner and guitar maker Jung Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye). Jin-woo ends up at Hee-joo’s hostel in Granada, Spain. And how and why this rich tech world star ends up in her rundown hostel and the aftereffects of that stay is the story in a nutshell.

This is the Computer Game that Will Never End
Jin-woo gets a mysterious call in the middle of the night at his Barcelona hotel room, a call summoning him to come to the Bonita Hostel in Granada. The call is from a young man, looking to sell an extraordinary computer game he has been developing.

When Jin-woo’s competitor is named as a possible buyer, Jin-woo’s interest is immediately piqued. He heads to Granada. But the young man never shows up.Unbeknownst to hostel owner and responsible big sis, Hee-joo, it’s her little brother who is this programming genius. He has created an augmented reality computer game, where instead of sitting behind screens, players are out in the real world, utilizing Jin-woo’s innovative contact lenses to play in the streets and shops and squares of Granada.

The game brings to life medieval Granada, especially its warriors. Yeah, think Pokémon Go hotspots, but instead of cute little creatures to catch, players must fight assassins and soldiers and warriors and pirates and the like. For any role-playing game aficionados out there, this game is an RPG in real life, where players walk around, find weapons, gain experience points, earn money, fight and fight some more to move up the levels.

After trying this augmented reality game himself (and getting more than a few strange looks, as he battles enemies that no one else can see), Jin-woo is sold. It has huge moneymaking potential. But his nemesis is also on the scent of this game, has also received log-in information. And still, the creator is AWOL. The more Jin-woo plays, the more it starts to become apparent that this augmented play realm has real-life repercussions. Some rather serious and final.

Yeah, I don’t want to give it all away. But there’s a glitch in the game that starts making this augmented reality way too real. Think Tron here. Even with his lenses out and not logged in, Jin-woo becomes a permanent player, always playing, even far from the streets of Granada. So, how does he get out, stop the game, fix this glitch, and maybe find that missing creator? See Memories of the Alhambra to find out.

Wait, Where’s the Romance?!
Yes, the above description sounds like a fast-paced action thriller. And, indeed, in many ways Memories of the Alhambra is an action thriller. There are fight scenes aplenty (with a good amount of blood) and tons of RPG-screen shots of stats – vitality, hit points, experience, abilities, etc. Yeah, it’s pretty much like watching your son play an electronic RPG-game. And the CGI here is first rate.But what takes this show out of pure action thriller is the amount of time given to the development of relationships. The story is continually built upon non-linearly, meaning that in every episode there are windows into the past and the future.

These windows add more and more layers to this tale. Layers which explain where characters have been and where they’re going, giving us insight into why they act as they do. It’s an incredibly engaging story-building form. And what we learn is that there is much more to Jin-woo than a pretty face, two failed marriages, an enormous bank account with an ego to match. He ends up in Mr. Rochester territory for me – and I don’t say that lightly, diehard Rochester fan that I am.

The smarmy charms and sarcastic snipes begin to fall away. There’s a nobility there, a stoic suffering, an idealist, a man willing to take the hit, to lay down his very life to protect those dear to him. It is his mission to find the missing creator, Hee-joo’s little brother, knowing that it may very well cost him his life. And he does this because he loves her, Hee-joo, although he never says it. She is the pure, idealistic, feisty Jane to his Rochester.

Hee-joo sees him, the goodness in him, and as much as he warns her to keep her distance, she’s there – often crying or yelling at him or both (-: And as much as he tries to distance himself from her to protect her from himself and this never-ending dangerous game, he has trouble completely keeping her at arm’s length. Oh, it’s good stuff. Facades fall. Characters grow and reflect. And a romance flickers so tantalizingly between our two leads.

A Worth Watch
I watched Memories of the Alhambra with my tween son (the series is rated TV-MA for fight scenes). Mom’s getting her Rochester and Jane romance while son is getting a good sci-fi dose of augmented reality gaming. (Okay, I admit it, I also have a thing for butt-kicking action.) It’s a marriage made in heaven. It works and works well.Sometimes the K-drama propensity for long, slow-mo shots got me giggling. Hee-joo’s shocked big eyes got a bit infuriating at times. But it got better a few episodes in, and I know this is something of a K-drama trope.

For the most part, though, Memories of the Alhambra is a gripping, romantic, quest tale.The two leads have great chemistry. Hyun Bin as Jin-woo is the linchpin in this production, and he knocks it out of the park. He is fantastic in this role, playing the jerk, the charmer, the action star, the haunted stoic. In short, the Byronic hero – with dimples! (I have a thing for dimples – married a pair myself, which my son inherited). Oh, he shines here in this role.

Overall Thoughts
In short, Memories of the Alhambra has a broad appeal. The production is high quality, and the cinematography is lovely. The acting is great, and the story is innovative. You’ll laugh, cringe, roll your eyes, question, wonder, sigh, swoon, cry, gasp, worry. You should be able to convince the male(s) in your life to see it with you without too much arm twisting.

And yeah, it doesn’t always make sense – technically – like how the heck are they trapped in a game?! And yeah, there’re many none too subtle product placements. But then Jin-woo smiles with those dimples, and I forgive and forget (-:

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Alternate Ending or a Season 2 Please!

Hyun Bin playing Yoo Jin Woo was off the chain. Another KDrama that had me focused. I did not skip any episodes to get to the ending but I wished I did. Park Shin Hye playing Jung Hee Joo/Emma was also off the chain. She had my tears with emotions running all throughout this KDrama. Her acting ability to play someone who Loves deeply was phenomenal. Not to say Hyun Bin didn't because he surely did.

I really like the storyline. You know I believe that these sorts of games will be a virtual reality in the near future. The only problem I have with the storyline is the ending. I feel that the character Yoo Jin Woo after he did what he did in the church by the deletes should have escaped and ended the game to come back to the real world to be with Hee Joo. NOT unless there will be a 2nd Season. That was a cliffhanger if I ever saw one. So, I googled, my question, and here is what I found:

"Memories of the Alhambra is a Korean drama on Netflix that recently ended (just yesterday), with a huge uproar towards its ending. ... Here's a recap on episode 16 of Memories of the Alhambra, i.e. the last episode for this drama. There are obviously spoilers if you haven't watched it yet. (written Jan 21, 2019). There is also a petition that fans are asking Netflix for the second season of Hyun Bin, a Park Shin-Hye drama. ' I SURELY HOPE SO AND WILL SIGN!

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It says sci-fi but it's more like fantasy

To be honest this drama had a good concept but it has so many loop holes that it is very hard to give it high rating. I gave it 8 just because except for the glaring loop holes the overall drama was great. In my opinion anything above 8 is just too much. It had good cast, overall good music, good VFX, good production and good concept. But the they just slapped on the sci-fi title on the drama and just showed some really bad magic tricks and lacked any real explanations scientific or otherwise on how things happened the way they happened. If you can ignore this fact then it is a really good watch.

The drama was overall pretty good. The story was somewhat unique. Even though it still had those same old cliche conspiring villains whose only purpose in life was to just be a villain and create problem for the male lead, it also had some new ways to show brotherhood and a unique romance. Even though the romance seemed a bit forced at some parts it was still a bit different from other dramas and was good overall. The supporting characters were overall good where some go a bit more exposure than the other but most of them didn't have any growth or good background to them and they were just there. The music was ok. The VFX was very good for a drama.

Even with all the negatives I mentioned above I still enjoyed the drama a lot. It was one of those dramas which you don't get to watch too many. I would definitely recommend this drama.

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Memories of Alhambra: Fascinating, but not without its flaws

This was the first drama I watched that introduced me to K-dramas, so it remains one of the most memorable (I'll admit the nostalgia gives some bias to my opinions)

Pros
o Visual FX in this drama were implemented beautifully with AR sections of the show, and make this show unique.
o The OST is one of the best things about the show, with notable songs by AILEE, Elaine, and Loco + U Sung Eun. Star (Little Prince) is still a great listen, and made me stick through outros. Even instrumental music was executed well, and gave scenes good vibes.
o I enjoyed the story, and the complications the VR had for players. Every scene involving AR had my total attention. The relationship
for the leads was a steady progression which was meaningful by the end.
o All the associates for Jin-Woo's company, the friends of Jin-Woo & Hee-Joo contributed to the story, and had satisfying character development. None of the characters felt like filler for the sake of the story, and I got emotional for lots of them.

Cons
o The acting at times wasn't groundbreaking for the leads, but moments of greatness shined through near the end of the show.
o Character development was pretty stagnant. I had hoped for more complexity for Jin-Woo, and Hee-Joo to have a more significant role alongside Jin-Woo (instead of being sidelined for lots of the conflicts). Both leads were one-dimensional for parts of the show, and I wanted Jin-Woo to be less stoic and Hee-Joo to be more willful.
o I'm one of many to feel this way, but the ending of this show left a hole in me that still hasn't been filled. I would've preferred no possibility of him being alive or them exploring more of the game. Still holding out for a second season in my dreams, which resolves this cliffhanger ending.

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Refreshing story, intriguing, exciting, thrilling and unpredictable plot with a LAME ending.
As much as I loved this show and how unpredictable and crazy the game was, as much as I detested the writer’s failure in terms of Characters in the last 3 episodes.
Si Jo, the creator of the game, returning from his dungeon and being utterly useless, tongue-tied and frightened like a kitten the whole time without answering any questions, surprisingly enough Hee Jo never felt that her brother is responsible for the dreadful events following the introduction of this game, and the death of the most beloved character “City Hunter”
If a person I love or from my family was involved in creating a dangerous thing, I would feel guilty and apologetic to others while trying not to blame him while he is down and low. I found this to be quite strange and utterly unacceptable, especially that they all treated him like the victim even though Jin Woo suffered all the losses and negative outcomes of this game. Se Joo didn’t even propose the possibility of Jin Woo hiding till the last 20 minutes of the show, this is ridiculous, I think he is the WORST character in the show. He offered no explanations, he had no clue what was going on, he didn’t shed a light on the creation of the game or how he met Marco, most importantly doesn’t seem like he understands where the awful glitch started. Also, if it’s meant to be a 'game, how come he was sure Jin Woo is dead because Emma deleted him? Isn’t this a game? And why did he become a virus in the first place!
Secretary Seo is the real star of this show, he had a fun, endearing personality and portrayed being NCP in a haunting, heart-breaking manner, I can’t forget the blank expression on his face every time he appears an ally.
The soundtrack is ALL lame, a part of “Memories of Alhambra “piece played by Emma and when Dr. Cha appears with thunder and rain, other than that the music failed the show.
Episode 15 was pointless, Episode 16 was trying to touch down on reality and I think it did quite well until the annoying Park Shin Hye went running to find Jin Woo where he was claimed to be. However, one question was always ringing in my head: Why does she always jump into a cab when she has her own car?

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Upon watching this it felt eerily familiar to w, because its the same writer, i think director and music is by the same people too but i could be wrong, its like watching w, its suspenseful until the end

Spoiler alert : avoid reading from this point on if u havent watched


there are plot holes like why wasnt marcos bug taken care of, how the game still plays without the lens, why didnt they just shut the game and closed all servers instead, how he was able to run a marathon when he was limping since early episodes


Spoilers end: dont read the paragraph above if u havent watched

Music was great, keeps you pumped
Story was interesting enough to keep you going
Hyun bin is the reason to watch this, he acts good
Too bad only early episodes was funny, it got more serious as it went on
Rewatch value is alright

Overall i enjoyed the ride it was fun and i wanted more but knew the story had to end there

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plot is good but the only female protagonist is basically useless, great

-hey, how about we create an amazing plot with a little bit of romance to spice it up? -Yes, but let's not show how they start liking each other and also, give she girl as little participation on the story as possible.
That's how I imagine them writing this part of the script. Okay so, honestly I loved the story, it was so creative and well structured, it really got me hooked. The idea and the adventure/action part was really well done, you can clearly see the it was one of their priorities. BUT the only thing that bothered me like crazy was Jung Hee Joo / Emma's role in the drama, I mean she is literally on the poster o f the series but her charecter was completly useless. I couldn't ignore the way the only woman on the main cast was portrayed, Park Shin Hye is amazing actress and neither the scrip or the director did any justice. I felt that she was only there to make the hero look stronger and so that he could make a "sacrifice" to look like an even better person.
About their "romance", it was poorly written and awfully structured, it was so rushed like one moment they hate eachother and the next they are kissing. It didn't make any sense and it was totally useless to the plot, just because it's a man and a woman doesn't mean they have to kiss at some point (heteronormativity still going strong right). Also, Hee Joo had no personality or charecter development, it's like they just shoved her in the story and forgot that she was her until hey need a kiss scene. Jung Hee Joo is supposed to look all determined and and hardworking, but barelly has any involviment in the story and when she appears, she is always being saved by him. Women don't need to be saved, female protagonists are just as strong as the male protagonists.

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Recommending

I highly recommend this drama! Month after you finish the last episode you will probably consider watching it for a second time.

PLOT:
Interesting story with good balance between dynamic, informational and drama moments. In this drama we see character development, inner persona dilemma and interesting life choices.

MUSIC:
The OST is really good. After the 3rd episode you will be huming the main track.

ACTING:
Hyun Bin - Hyun Bin did really amazing job! There is one scene that totally below my mind. By my opinion he did 90% of the drama.
Park Shin Hye - I really hoped that she will change my bad opinion of her, but it didn't work. Really weak cry and emotional scenes but she did good with the fear scenes.

SPECIAL EFFECTS AND ECTION:
Really good job, not the best but 8 from 10

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cool

omg it was soo cool, the whole concept was intriguing. every action scenes were thrilling and I was looking forward to the next episode, curious on what will happen and wanting to know how the story unfold. it was unique, the storyline. I literally was in awe-struck even though I'm not a gamers I loveee it. the first 12 episodes I don't want to miss anything, I feel like I'm going to miss something. but towards the end, it was getting so slow, the business part thingy was meh and I wish there were more twists and thrill at the last few episode. for the romance, it was kinda unnecessary but I do like them anyways. acting was superb and cg was great.

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Less Magical, More Gritty

As my title stated, this show is kind of not what I expected. Netflix made this show seem like a magical love story set in the lovely city of Grenada, Spain. I got to say, not really the case. This was sci-fi, a thriller, and a thriller that was surprisingly gritty and dark. I have mixed feelings on this show. Let me first say that I do not regret watching this show, was it was a good show, and it definitely gets an A+ when it comes to originality. This show blends augmented reality with reality, and the rules are very blurred. That is not to say that there are plot holes, but some of the phenomena make you wonder how that happened (because like logic), and you overlook the first few, but there ends up being a lot. I managed to overlook them, as it was just a small distraction anyway. Visually speaking, this show was great. The graphics of the game along with the lovely city of Grenada has to be mentioned, and does make the show more interesting to watch. This show was also not boring, there was lots of action and plot twists, especially in the beginning. Besides some questionable logic, my main critiques are that the love plotline did not work and lots of the show was kind of...depressing. This was surprisingly gritty and dark as I have mentioned, and lots of this show is watching the protagonist slowly hit rock bottom. Not necessarily a bad thing, just not expected. The overall ending and final episodes had some great moments that were fun to watch and gripping, but the final scene did not make sense to me, but I just went with it.
I know I had a lot of critiques, and this show has its imperfections, but the overall concept, visuals, and plotline were good. I did mostly enjoy watching this, and I am happy that I did watch it, so no regrets here.

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