The actors put their heart&soul into it. Soundtrack + camera provide a unique ambience. A Classic.
"All In" is a timeless classic from the early days of KWave. Via main plot and various sidelines involved, you dive into the subculture and parallel world of back room and casino gamblers. In the course of the story, the glitter and glamor of the casino world increasingly take their place, all the way to Las Vegas.Besides the gaming milieu, the series provides insights into the life of simple, poor young people in the late 1990s, which were shaken by the Asian crisis, and offers interesting local color. The well-established KDrama leitmotif 'Orphanage' also has its place here again. Soundtrack and camera capture the action in an atmospheric and impressive manner.
The actors put their heart and soul into it. In the case of "All In" the milieu-specific ambience was supposed to appear as authentic as possible. Therefore, in advance of shooting Lee Byung-hun and Son Hye-gyo (as adults of the main protagonists) went through an intensive training program, including in a casino in Las Vegas: Lee Byung-hun concentrated on virtuosity Card shuffling techniques and the eye dramaturgy of professional players at the gaming table (he won the Grand Prize at the Baeksan Arts Awards that year, as did the drama itself). Song Hye-gyo, on the other hand, was trained as a croupier and not only convinces when she sorts the chips at a breakneck speed.
The opening scene with a helicopter over the Grand Canyon alone is reminiscent of the beginning of a blockbuster à la Tom Cruise or something similar. "All In" isn't just romance, it's also packed with plenty of action, including brawls and gunfights. It's also about friendship among men. As a milieu study of the gamer's world, it's ultimately about gangsters and mafia, too. (Perhaps it is no coincidence that "the godfather" has a guest appearance in the story: it is shown as a movie in the cinema that shaped the youth of the protagonists.) But of course it's also about great love - in the progress of the 24 episodes facing one obstacle after another - it´s makjang after all...
At the time (2003), this KDrama triggered a veritable All-In-Syndrome in South Korea. The filming locations on Jeju Island became a hotspot for fan tourism. The ratings on public television back then are legendary (at around 47 percent).
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This drama feels very real and scary at times. There are no silly cartoon characters or fill in empty stretches. Don't let 24 episodes deter you. I didn't want it to end. Also, the loyalty between childhood friends, which extends into teen years and adulthood, is very heartwarming.
Most people just watch new shows, so All In no longer gets attention. But it was a big scale production in 2003 with breathtaking scenes from Jeju Island all the way to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. It was extremely well done and is not dated at all. If you are a fan of Lee Byung Hun, you will find his acting, karate skills, and lovemaking exceptional here. All In has it all!
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The acting is amazing. Lee Byeong Hun is a spectacular actor and I love him in pretty much every project he does. If you only watch for one reason, watch it because of him. Song Hye Kyo is beautiful. Ji Sung was kind of in the background a lot of the time, but he is very solid, as usual. Park Sol Mi was the second female lead, but pretty forgettable when the main couple were so powerful already. I'm glad to see the younger actors, Jin Goo and Han Ji Min in dramas as adults.
I love the music, along with everything else about this drama.
I've watched it maybe 3 or 4 times and I'd watch it again.
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There are many interesting characters in the story and you get to the human side of each one of them. For example, although a character is considered to be the antagonist, you still see a good side of them. So you can easily get attached too all of the characters. There is an interesting cast of actors that successfully bring the characters to live.
The music was good. Overall, the drama is good/OK.
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ALL OUT!!
The drama had many great things going on for it until it went through an unfortunate interruption. It built a solid vibe for all the involved characters and gave each one a purpose to dynamically interact with one another. Kim In Ha jumping into sticky situations was always fun, you never knew when would he pull up his signature move, the sneaky high kick! Giving the male lead a solid side kick was the best thing the drama did. Yoo Jong Goo was In Ha's partner through thick and thin. They always came in as a one package and provided the needed duo action. The soundtrack "Like The First Day" got engraved in my brain cavities for how much of a banger it was. However, everything I mentioned evaporated when the drama suddenly poured all its attention into the love square after halfway through. The love square was painfully out of place in all regards, it even went against the characters' writing contradicting itself just to be part of the nasty melo trend. It also shifted its main point of tension to be all about that. The saddest part was the lack of "duo" action after that, we barely got any. Around the end of it, it decided to double down on the melo and have the deplorable trope of two characters pushing each other away to show some kind of "poetic love", yikes! Anyway, the drama was another good example of a great first half only to fumble in its second half. The biggest point of comparison between this drama and "Swallow the Sun (2009)" was its insulting transition and disparity between its 1st and 2nd half.Was this review helpful to you?
I want to talk about the Ost l don't know why every time I hear it my tears become faster than I can control it every time I hear the sound of park yong ha my heart hurts. To conclude I am satisfied with this drama so much.
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