With all said it was a good drama that explored and explain Korean history to me for that time period. It basically surrounds the unification of Korea under the Silla kingdom. Showing what major players like Yusin did for the country, for that aspect well done. CHUN CHUN & YUSHIN carried this drama rather well, i missed Mishel wen she was dealt with.( she is a very interesting character). you`ll find a lot of battle scenes, politics, very very low romance for its main push was the history. Anywayz take it in small doses but its a good drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
I enjoyed this drama and I'm glad I watched it ^^ It kept me fully invested for at least the first 67 episodes ^_^ I got a little bored in the last few b/c it was all just jumping from one factual event to another which can get uninteresting when nothing fun happens... I thought the ending was kind of rushed b/c they didn't dig into any of those events they just skimmed them :/ That could have been due to what one user said (they apparently originally planned for 80 episodes and cut it to 70 - but I don't know if I could have watched Beopmin for that long lol *I didn't like his character*). I would have rather had them give us written subbed credits telling of when everything else takes place instead (like 'fact based' movies do).Story: This is about the life, or more accurately, dream of King Muyeol (Kim Chun Chu) of achieving the cause of unifying the Three Kingdoms of Silla, Baekje & Gorguryeo - so they can stand stronger and be more able to fight off any enemies and live in peace. Without being unified the Three Kingdoms were constantly at war with one another and people lives were constantly in danger of another "country"'s war. It was a dream that started when he was a teenager & this drama shows us from that point all the way to the fulfillment of his dream. He made the pact with his friend Yushin and they swore together that they would dedicate their entire lives to achieve this goal - whether or not they lived to see it fulfilled - they always said "Even if we should die before we get to see it, our kids and their kids will unify the Three Kingdoms." This drama takes us through all the events in history from that moment forward.
Cast: Chun Chu (Choi Soo Jong) He was my favorite character of all the characters in this drama, his insight and wisdom to look far into the future and into peoples hearts was like no other <3 I had high respect for this man and never doubted his reasons or actions b/c I knew all he wanted was unification & nothing could stand in the way of his great dream! He goes through all sorts of trials in this drama (whether they are fact or fiction is purely up to the watcher to decide lol - I believe it is a mix of both). His legacy to me will remain forever! *Those of you that have watched QSD - QSD's version of Chun Chu is completely fictional - whereas here it is much more based on Fact. I didn't like Chun Chu in QSD but I love him here <3
Kim Yushin (Kim Yoo Suk) - I liked him better in this drama then I did in QSD as well ;) Both the young character played by (Noh Young Hak) and his adult version ^^ Both actors did an excellent job in portraying the friendship between him and Chunchu & all of the trials and lost friendships in the drama. He was very stubborn, strong willed and had an even stronger belief and faith in Chun Chu and their cause :) There were a few times in the latter half of the drama where I got a little irritated at his actions but overall I liked him.
Bidam (Choi Chul Ho) - I personally like the "fictional" version of Bidam portrayed in QSD over the factual based character here - but Bidam was portrayed brilliantly in both versions of fiction and non-fiction ;) I fell in love with Bidam from QSD whereas the Bidam in this drama was your typical villain - I enjoyed his performance none the less and I was glad they chose CCH to play him in this drama as he was perfect for the role. His "evil laughter" got a little old in the latter half however. I couldn't hate him in the end b/c he did have spirit :)
Deokman/Seonduk (Park Joo Mi // Hong Eun Hee) was great when she was here, I enjoyed watching all of her scenes ^^ The actress got replaced in episode 19 b/c of PJM's car accident :( But both actresses did a good job.
And of course there are several other characters like Queen Seungman, Queen Sado & thier Henchman (Yushin's grandfather) - (who I hated & couldn't wait to see eliminated) lol I was glad when King Jinpyeong's part came to an end - just like in QSD he was such a pathetic ruler -_- and then there is the the Crazy - literally crazy - character in the drama - Gukban - he was such a disgrace! & then comes Yeonhwa - another character that manipulated a guys mind for "revenge" that I thought was really stupid b/d her revenge had no justification - why would you even want to take revenge for a person like that? I didn't like her at all.
And then we have Chunchu's kids: Beopmin & Inmun - as well as Yushin's son Samkwang. I really really liked Inmun - he resembled his father so much (or so I thought) the last episode ended up ruining him for me *check my spoiler if you like* but overall I really liked him and I liked the actor that played him. I never warmed up to Beopmin (except for when he was a child) the Beopmin as an adult I could never have respect for - he was rash and only saw what was right in front of his face -_- I liked Yushin's son Samkwang though ^_^ Such a cutie and a great son & brother :)
Music - There is only 2 songs in the entire drama (actual lyrical songs) 1 is: 'Heart Road' by Jessica (Girls Gen) and then there is an ending song at the end of a couple episodes - but I have no idea who it is by... as the only "ost" I could find was Jessica's....
Rewatch: Maybe in the far far future (I don't re-watch many dramas these days lol)
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The script could have been better written and with a little more creativity. The acting was good for the most part. The music was fair. Rewatch value is poor, because the story doesn't really give the watcher a reason to rewatch it for facts or great scenes or dialogs.
The figthing and battles in this series were good though.
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I had a dream...
Casually confirming for nth time how unappealing Choi Soo Jong is in historical dramas as always since the start of his career. Just from reading the synopsis you may expect a big historical drama with big sets, big battles and big production, but this drama was embarrassingly scuffed with minimal efforts after the initial batch of episodes. As always with these type of shows, they blow their budget early on on flashy scenes then left wondering how to produce the rest. You may expect inconsistencies along the way, like having two or more camera angles of the same scene with different color grading and quality. I suppose an intern was editing that day. Anyway, the drama itself was underwhelming and almost nothing about it stand out, not even the cast nor their performance. All of their dramatic creative liberties proved to be unsuccessful and dull, as expected. A lot of petty fights that are always annoying to watch and lasting too long. At least the drama served as an example for how not to tell history in an entertainment medium.Was this review helpful to you?
One of the but the best!
The first half of the drama was a literal masterpiece of fiction. The overall quality of the writing is good, but the latter part of the story felt rushed. This was a letdown because the build-up to an epic battle between Goguryeo and Tang didn't deliver the expected action-packed epic and instead kept it on a smaller scale. Despite this, the drama did a good job of exploring and explaining Korean history during that period, and the cast's performance was stellar throughout. The unfinished feeling of the story wasn't necessarily a negative, as it seemed to be intentional and fitting given the historical events that followed. Finally, I have to admit that even though I love Choi Soo Jong, he is one of my favorite actors. However, the fact that he is too old for his character cannot be overlooked. Every time I heard him say "Hyungnim," I cringed. He did a great job in terms of acting, but it still feels like a miscast, no matter how you look at it.Was this review helpful to you?
Most of the episodes in and I find myself bored fast forward watching to the next episode, there is retelling of Queen Seon deok story which I find it unnecessary, the show I feel would have work better if the focus was on Kim Chun-Chu's story and remove some of the filler episodes it would have much better pacing and story in addition to there are too many supporting characters taking up the screen time with their own stories that I'm not interested in. The costume and make up in the show look really great on screen but some look out of place considering it is a historical drama based on actual history.
Acting: the main lead actors performance are not as good as I have seen them from other show like Dong yi, Dae Jo Yeong. While most (almost all) of the actors playing the role of the antagonists, their acting are terrible and hilarious because of the overacting.
In conclusion, its a disappointing drama because of the potential and that is just style over substance.
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В общем мы как бы смотрели итоговую композицию под названием "из-за чего, собственно Силла оказалась той силой, которая положила начало объединению". И честно говоря, ответ на этот вопрос, который мнре предложила дорама мне не приглянулся от слова совсем. Потому что это ответ был - два, три, четыре, пять... ну может быть шесть человек, которые этого хотели. Эй нет, товарищи, так просто это не происходит. Все историки знают, что для этого нужны более весомые предпосылки - экономические, социально-политические и проча. Но этого в дораме не показали. все действо крутилось в высших эшелонах власти и это было до чертиков скучно. Хоть бы какую нибудь историю абсолютно незнатного или, бог с ним, неисторического персонажа ввели. Нет. Только имена с летописи.
В итоге, в 660 году, при Муйоле (654—661) Силла захватило Пэкче, а в 668 при Мунму под руководством знаменитого воеводы Ким Ю Сина Силла захватила южную оконечность Когурё до реки Тэдон. Союз Тан-Силла распался в 674 году, когда выяснилось, что ван Силлы собирает население Когурё и настраивает его против танских войск, а также занимает земли Пэкче. Император объявил вана Мунму низложенным, нашли князя Ким Инмуна и провозгласили его ваном Силлы. Против Силлы было отправлено войско Лю Женьгуя. Начались Силла-танские войны, продлившиеся 10 лет и положившие конец экспансии Тан на полуострове и образованию Объединённого Силла.
И по дораме. Простите, ну мне давненько не было стыдно за дораму. И я даже не понимаю, как! с такими актерами не последнего десятка, получилась такая клюква. Там даже замена главной актрисы была на половине. Конечно, почти 60 лет показать - серьезный вызов, но когда 18 летние мальчишки, после первых 14 серий превращаются в 40-летних, а позиционируются еще серий 25 как 20-ти летние - все это выглядит очень убого.
А манера игры из лохматых 80-х, да и то их (80-е) не хочется этим оскорбить. И не костюмов поярче, ни музыки, ни каких либо экспериментов как уже было в одной историчке. Только пафос, пафос, пафос.
Ну ладно, яд сцедила. Возвращаясь к тайм-лайн - северная часть Когурё осталась непокорённой, впоследствии здесь возникло первое маньчжурское государство Бохай. И про это тоже есть дорама.
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