Completed
wavy3
90 people found this review helpful
Jul 25, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 8
Overall 9.0
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 10
I had to take a couple of days to process my thoughts before writing this review. I have never been so affected by a drama before in my life, and honestly I don't know if my longing for this drama is something I'd ever care to repeat.

I started this hoping for action and serious topics. I wanted plot and not romantic shenanigans. The drama starts off being pretty much all about a cop looking for his kidnapped daughter. This guy, however, is far from likable, and I found it difficult to sympathize with him in his plight. Why? Because he was, to put it simply, crazy, violent, and screaming. Lots of screaming. Lots of swearing. Lots of beating up suspects without evidence, heavy police brutality. This dude cared for nothing and no one but his daughter and wouldn't hesitate to brutally assault anyone he perceived to be in his way.

That's where Clone #1, Sung Joon, comes in. Don't worry, I won't spoil anything. He has no memory of who he is, but Chief Jang decides poor Sung Joon is the key to finding his daughter. When these two meet, this is when the story really kicks off. I hated the detective for the first 2 episodes, but he does become more tolerable thanks to Sung Joon, who is kind and warm and patient where Chief Jang is crass, rude, and prone to fits of random rage.

So for the first part of the drama, I watched because I was invested in the development between Jang and Sung Joon. I thought they were a great pair and really balanced each other nicely, and I'm a sucker for any kind of non-romance relationship focus. Chief Jang treated Sung Joon like a tool at first and didn't see him as a human being at all, and I wanted to see that change. There was some mystery and plenty of action for the first 6 episodes, but then it slows down and becomes mostly just drama and mystery with action sprinkled in.

Eventually, the plot moves away from the father-daughter focus and we realize that ultimately this is a story about two clones. It's a sad story. Don't watch this if you don't want a ride on the rollercoaster of emotions. One clone is "evil," selfish and out for revenge and the other is kind, selfless and willing to put his life on the line to help near-strangers. But the characters are not simple, and evil clone is not actually just an "evil clone," but is a deep, complex character that will remain in my mind pretty much forever.

What is the story really about? It's about clones learning to be human. It's about a father and his daughter. There's also an evil dude who wants to cure his illness and there's his evil spawn who aren't really worth mentioning but the story isn't really about them. No romance, just friendships and family relationships. Yay!

Without Yang Se Jong, this drama would be nothing. His portrayal of three characters is something you really have to see for yourself. But let's say I had to keep reminding myself that it was the same actor. He brought the clones to life in a way that made me feel like I personally knew them. The other actors are good too. And JJY is so much more tolerable when he's not screaming his head off.

It's not a perfect story, and there are aspects I wish had been different (more interactions between the clones, more father-son bonding with Jang and Sung Joon, less of the secondary cop characters), but these factors don't change my love for this drama. I can't stop thinking about it and have already rewatched most of it 2-3 times.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Badass Bunny
36 people found this review helpful
Jul 24, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.5
Where should I start?
1. STORY :
Okay, so before it even started to air, based on the trailers I could guess what the story will be about and I was right. A police officer has his daughter kidnapped by a bad guy A, but when he catches the bad guy A he actually discovers....it's a good guy B. Are they brothers? No, they can't be. The story is perfectly made, that it always entertains you. With each episode, you get closer and closer to the cause of the whole chaos. I really applaud the writer, because u can't see such dramas just anywhere. The plot is really unique and with unique twists.

2. ACTING :
I knew that this drama would be dope thanks to Yang Se Jong who I encountered first in The romantic doctor Kim ....and I was right. In this drama Se Jong played 3 characters and everytime I saw them, I had feeling that they are different people. To achieve such feeling in other person, it's very hard thing to do! I never saw other actors jobs so I can't really say whether they were bad before or not, but in this drama EVERY character showed emotions, as if it was a real story and not just acting. Everyone started to LIVE their role for real and that's how this masterpiece was created.

3. MUSIC :
Since it's action/sci-fi drama, u don't get much of the OST but there is one song which I fell in love and it's the ''Nightmare''. Currently it's the most played song on my Playlist, so I really recommend it!

4. REWATCH VALUE :
I don't really rewatch dramas, but I think this could be rewatched (?)
Look, in romantic dramas people rewatch it to see the romance and cheesy dates of main couple, but in crime dramas it's a bit hard cause the audience already KNOWS what will happen next, so it's not as thrilling as the first time.

5. OVERALL :
Amazing and unique plot, fantastic acting, good music, the plot-twists are the real killers

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
SaraRojas
6 people found this review helpful
Dec 31, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.5
This review may contain spoilers
Well I have things to say. I've been waiting to finish this drama for MONTHS.
Here I go.

Just saying: ONE I have some negativity in the beginning of the show and TWO although no names (aside from his daughter which YOU WILL HEAR MANY TIMES) are stated for some there could be some comments that could be construed as spoilers. Warning given :D

After the initial disdain I had for the first 2 and around 20% of the 3rd episode... the story finally started picking up.  In these past months I had tried to watch the first episode around... 5 times? Yeah about there.. Then I finally buckled down and said I will watch it all. Episode 2 will be better. After all of the initial "wheres my daughter?!, where's sooyeon!!!!" His parental rage would have gotten more from me if it weren't every second for basically the whole episode. I have strong dislike for the first 2 episodes. It took me so much will power to get past those episodes. NOW don't get me wrong. Overall this drama was very thrilling to watch. It is now 6AM when I finally finished,  and I was at episode 11 when I started my continued watching yesterday.  

The story progresses at such a pace that I was actually guessing and couldn't stop watching. Honestly the acting saved this drama. Sure, there is quite a bit of extra loud screaming, and angst, and crying, but there's also oddly well placed moments of hope, and plot twists, and character growth, redemption, so much finesse in murders. If you can get past that first little roadbump the rest of the series is expertly put together. It's actually quite a thrill trying to figure out whats happening to who and when. I wouldn't not recommend this show to anyone who's genre this is, because honestly its very well put together.  Even though I say eps 1+ 2 are will crushers (which can be true if you can't see red like the main lead) It's important to the plot and the rest of the story to actually fully understand and watch mostly all of eps 1-5/6. Lot's of knowledge will come at you :D

Sara Rojas DECEMBER 31 2017

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Vanished
7 people found this review helpful
Sep 9, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
I’ve finally gotten back into watching dramas after a few years of just not really having the time to do so, nit that I actually have the time now, but I am making it. Im so excited to say that Duel was my first drama after a long hiatus, because it truly was my type of dramas. For those who knew me when I was DramaAddiction, should know that I am really into the whole crime and mystery type dramas, add a dash of melodrama in there and Im in my perfect world. Duel offered me both of those and I was extremely happy to have fallen into such a unique and mesmerizing drama for my first time back in the saddle.

I would say Duel is a unique drama, it deals with things that we really don’t see in the drama world, perhaps a couple times on the Hollywood screen, though I have never seen any, but I think that Duel has taken an unique approach to the whole human cloning situation and science fiction genre and put well, heart into it. This show has heart, the characters, the main ones at least, have heart. They care, and they have feelings and feel pain and urge and want to do things that they think are right and they think should be done because of the pain that all the science in the drama has done to them and would do to help them. The show revolving around a father who happens to be cop, who is trying to save his dying daughter who has been kidnapped by a clone or perhaps by two clones is a very interesting story. Now you would think that it wouldnt take long for things to get over with, the dad just saves the daughter the end, but you would be wrong. This show dives deep into the history and world that is built around this plot. There are twists and turns everywhere and its all a mystery. I found myself pulling out a notepad and writing down my theories and trying to connect the dots to why this is all happening and I think it was beautifully done. I’m not much of a crier in real life, not many things in real world situations can pull tears from my eyes, but dang dramas can and I love it. This drama left me a crying fool, not sobbing, but a nice cry and that my friends is a good thing. Having the ability to write such detailed and wonderful characters with story-lines that actually make you feel something is important when it comes to dramas and at times I find that criminal dramas do lack in that situation at times, however this one really got me. I was in for the ride and feeling all the emotions from episode one.

The story telling in this drama was fantastic. The writer of this drama did a fantastic job flushing out such a fantastic cast of characters with their own history and motives that really keeps you on the edge wondering why they think this sort of way an why they do things. It has you rooting for your heroes, and cringing at the thought that perhaps the evil person may win, or perhaps they arent even evil to begin with. Finding out how these people became this way and how the their present selves are going to use this knowledge in the end to achieve goals was really great. So props to them. I dont want to spoil anything so I am keeping it kind of vague, sorry about that.



The cinematography for this drama was great, I enjoyed it, there were a few times I thought the editing was a little choppy, however it may have just been my copy of the drama so I am not quite sure about that to be honest, since the rest of it, like 99% seemed to be doing just fine. The color correction on this drama as well, was really pretty. The blue and gray lighting really amplified the feel of the drama and helped it with the tones throughout. The original soundtrack however, there was only 1 original song which is kind of disappointing to me, since Im a sucker for a good OST. One of my favorite parts of a Korean drama is the OST but sadly there was only 1 song, however the song was pretty good and by the end did get me in the emotions when it came up, however I dont think it is by far the best OST ever.



The acting in this drama was superb. I really enjoyed most of the casts portrayal of their characters. Jung Jae Young as Jang Deuk Cheon was fantastic. This older gentlemen really pulled it out and even though Ive seen over 200 dramas I dont think I have seen him in any other dramas. He did really well with all his scenes, making me tear up now and then, I really felt his pain and I was rooting for him for the most part. I really should check out some of his other work. Yang Se Jong playing two of the most vital roles in this drama was fantastic. I have never seen this actor before and from my understanding this was only his second drama. I thought he did an amazing job. He protrayed two different characters with extremely different personalities and it was flawless. I really enjoyed his work and he is a very handsome man and I am looking forward to seeing more of his work. Lastly there was Kim Jung Eun. I have never any of her work actually and to be honest I was far from impressed. I got the feeling her character was suppose to be a little cold, but the lack of emotion in her face really bothered me throughout the drama and its such a shame because I thought her scene brought down the drama tad bit. She just had the same look on her face the entire time, even when she was surprised she just had this small smirk on her face. Now I am not one to judge, and I think more power to you if you get plastic surgery because fuck what anyone else has to say its your body, but I am no expert on her or her personal life but I am assuming from what I saw in this drama, that she had gotten Botox of some sort. Im thinking that the Botox was keeping her from showing more emotion and I know you can get the amount of Botox that doesnt do this but I think she really was suffering from stiff face, I could kind of see a lift in her face that didnt seem natural but I could be wrong, that could be her face and if it is, Im sorry to say but I dont like her acting if that is the range of emotion she can show. She disappointing me greatly in this. Its too bad to be honest.

Overall I thought this was an amazing drama and yet again I find myself a little behind on dramas, however loving one that I dont see a lot of talk about. I would highly recommend this drama if someone is looking for a change of pace from the typical romantic drama. I think this is a pretty great hit and I would be looking out for most of these actors and actresses in future dramas because they really impressed me.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Muneeza22
8 people found this review helpful
Apr 29, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.5
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers
I only finished the last 3 episodes at 2X speed mainly because I was too in love with Yang Se Jong's acting in this drama. That, and the two main clone characters were the only reason I continued to watch a drama which rapidly deteriorated towards the second half, after a promising beginning. I don't know how he did it, but Yang Se Jong beautifully managed to play three roles with their distinct personalities and it was so majestic to watch. You could immediately tell which one was Sung Joon, which was Sung Hoon and Dr. Lee (and it's not because of the different hairstyles.) I could write so much on his acting skills here but I'll keep it short.
Lee Sung Hoon's pain, anger, disappointment, fear and his loneliness were all palpable and moving. I felt for him right from the beginning, even when he was presented as a villain, because I could tell there was something more behind his anger and malice.
Let me highlight my main problems with this drama:

BLAND CHARACTERS:
The other characters aside from the clones were unfortunately too bland, annoying or unlikable. I could not stand Prosecutor Choi's creepy smile (which was the only expression she had by the way) and ended up speeding past her scenes. I couldn't feel anything for Detective Jang or Soo Yeon. The actually villains were just greedy, selfish people without any other side to them. It was boring to watch other characters except the clones.
GLARING PLOT HOLES:
I'm always after a well-developed plot so this was very painful. There were too many questions I was left with. The sheer amount of times a character got hit by a speeding vehicle was ridiculous!
Why was there a need to create two clones of Dr. Lee?
Why does one clone have all of Dr. Lee’s memories but not the other?
What exactly did Sung Hoon do to Sung Joon that he lost all of his memories? Why doesn't the latter even care about it?
What the heck is wrong with prosecutor Choi? She is heartless and imo the real villain in the drama.
Why didn’t the researchers try to retrieve Dr. Lee's organs right after they were stolen?
Why are human organs treated like candy you can just steal from one another?
Why wasn’t there better security at the lab (back in 92) considering it was illegal experimentation? How were they able to casually take out all the organs of a top doctor and walk out with them? No, but how is it that Dr. Lee’s organs did not reject the bodies of the new recipients?
The "vaccine" seems to be some all-purpose miracle cure that can cure all kinds of cancer, tumors, ageing organs and so forth.
Characters keep fake dying and returning back to life.
What kind of security team (at the research lab) doesn’t have guns or any other weapon?
Dr. Han Yu Ra always being overseas during critical times e.g. daughter’s death and husband’s death. She’s pretty clueless about a lot of things.
Mi Rae stopped being curious about her mother at one point and doesn’t seem much bothered that her mother was involved in illegal experiments on convicts or kept such huge secrets from her.
Mi Rae is a reporter but has also studied medicine, and doesn't look like she's playing the part of either? I mean, are reporters usually this naive, extremely trusting and kind?
The chairman is selfish and greedy, yet his surprised that his daughter is selfish too? That was messed up.
Detective Deuk Cheon got shot in the gut but is already up and walking in the next episode.
The last few episodes were so rushed that I feel angry Sung Hoon didn't get more time to work out his feelings. Dang.
Sung Joon is totally fine in the last episode and it's not even clear whether he got the bone marrow vaccine or not? At least insert a dialogue to make it clear.

In short, don't watch it if you're looking for an action thriller with a good plot. The drama had little to no cliffhangers in the second half and I had to drag myself to click the next episode.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
annenana
6 people found this review helpful
Jul 22, 2018
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.0
Wow. If I could define this drama in one word, “WOW” is all that I can say.

First of all, the story is unique. This is the first time i’ve watched a drama about a clone. The first episode was a little bit slow but entertaining, it was all about a cop whose daughter was kidnapped. After watching the first episode, you will get confused and you’ll want to know more about what will happen next.

Next, the casts. THE CASTS ARE SO AMAZING! I heard Yang Se Jong was just a beginner in this field of industry but all I can say is, he doesn’t act like it. HE WAS AMAZINNG! He nailed his role. I can’ imagine how hard it is to act in three different ways. Sung Joon and Sung Hoon were two roles acted by him, himself. But you wouldn’t recognize that those two roles were acted by the same person. Yang Se Jong really nailed this drama. The detective however, many people say that his character was annoying because he was always screaming and he’s always not in his right mind. But I understand him, I mean, his daughter was kidnapped and on top of that, his daughter is sick and is in need of surgery immediately. I would also do anything for the sake of the person I love. Seo Eun Soo, I like her character. She was always calm and she’s not like the other female lead who’s always crying of who’s always sensitive and nags a lot. She was just calm and she thinks of other people first before herself. For the prosecuter, I really don’t like her face expression. I mean does she really act like that? Like she doesn’t have any expression at all? Be it angry, scared, happy, disappointed, she always has that annoying smile on her face.

Anyway, I would rate this drama 9.5/10. The story was incredibly made and there’s a lot of things that will confuse you and make you think, there’s lot of plot twist, it really is great. I would definitely recommend this to someone who loves action, sci-fi, and suspense/thriller genre.

P.S. Oh and prepare tissues. This made me cry a lot on some episodes (especially the last one!!!) ??

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Cyan5tarlight
6 people found this review helpful
Mar 2, 2019
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
First review on this site! \^^/ Thought it best to start with the series I just finished so that it’s fresh on my mind.

TL:DR - While Duel isn’t perfect, it’s still a hidden gem of a drama, and well-worth experiencing for yourself. I myself marathoned it in under a week, faster than I’ve ever watched any drama before, which is a testament to how gripping it is, flaws and all. Despite some nitpicks, I would wholeheartedly recommend it, especially if you’re at all into thrillers, mysteries, or sci-fi.

STORY: 8
When policeman and single father Jang Deukchun’s terminally ill daughter is kidnapped by a mysterious young man, he’s willing to tear the entire world apart to get her back. After another young man, identical in every way to the kidnapper down to his DNA and fingerprints, crosses paths with Chief Jang and is arrested in the criminal’s place, the desperate father sees the amnesiac doppelgänger as his only way to track down the true culprit of the crime, and the two unlikely protagonists join forces to find Chief Jang’s daughter and recover the young man’s missing memories. In the process, they find themselves embroiled in a web of drama and intrigue, involving organ trafficking, human clones, corrupt prosecutors, greedy CEOs, and the lengths a parent will go to for their child.

The drama markets itself as a chase thriller, though the “chase” part is only really applicable to about the first 9-10 episodes, which I think is definitely its best parts. The first episodes have this manic intensity and definite sense of danger to them that I personally found very thrilling, like the whole world is against our main characters a la The Fugitive. I found myself missing the air of mystery and peril as the show wound down as it neared its conclusion, even though there were still plot twists and turns aplenty, and the story was certainly never what I would call boring. I also realize and accept that a 16 hour series can’t be go go go 100% of the time, and that once most of the secrets have been revealed, there’s not a lot left to do but wrap things up ASAP.

However, this is, unfortunately, where the show drops the ball somewhat. The pacing in it’s latter half is by far the weakest link this show has, imho. I can’t imagine watching this show week to week; it definitely needs to be binged, because the pacing issues aren’t quite as glaring when the show is consumed as a whole instead of episodically. Even so, I do feel like the series could have been a couple episodes shorter, and nothing really would have been missed, or the time could have at least been better spent fleshing out the sci-fi aspects of the story and the relationships between the main characters. As it stands, there were a considerable handful of scenes where all the momentum of the plot just seemed to come to a screeching halt (including one baffling scene where two characters go to pick up lunch at a Subway, and the entire scene is just them getting their food, and sitting down and eating their sandwiches. Literally, that’s all that happens for like an entire minute, no plot-relevant dialogue or character moments or anything. Gotta get that sponsorship money somehow!). Thankfully, such scenes are relatively few and far between, and don’t get in the way of the plot enough for it to become unbearable.

The show is definitely at its strongest when dealing with the clone storyline, though, and while the other storylines definitely aren’t bad and kept my interest well enough, I do wish the series had spent more time delving into the clones’ past and the circumstances behind their creation than it ended up doing. As it stands, a lot of the science in this show is pseudoscience at best, which we’re just supposed to accept for the sake of Plot. While I don’t mind this on principle, I would have liked at least a little more technobabble to better handwave the things that were happening and make it more convincing rather than a simple “well, that was a thing that happened because of Reasons I guess.” I would have also liked more scenes and dialogue that actively showed the relationships between the characters growing and developing, as well, as that was the most interesting aspect of the show for me, especially the relationship between Chief Jang and the amnesiac Sungjoon. What we got was good, but I wanted more (especially more hugs, I'm a sucker for hugs). However, none of these things are deal breakers, just things that I wish the show had tackled differently. I will say that I GREATLY appreciated the fact that there was 0 romance focus in this drama, which is always a plus for me.

However, an ending is really the one thing can make or break any show for me, as it determines whether the whole journey to the conclusion was worth the time and effort to sit through hours of content. While the ending to Duel didn’t answer every single question I had, I’m pleased to report that it wrapped up most things sufficiently enough for me to consider it ultimately satisfying. I also bawled like a little baby for the last half hour, but that's neither here nor there. ;)


ACTING/CAST: 10
Getting the most obvious point out of the way first, even though I’m not sure what can I say about Yang Sejong’s stellar performance that hasn’t already been said. Just let it be known that the man deserves every single bit of praise for his stunning performance here as three entirely separate characters that he's gotten, and then some. His performances as the two clones in particular – by far the most compelling characters – are worth experiencing this drama all by themselves. When you can tell exactly which character you’re looking at just based on the actor’s expression and body language despite them having the exact same face, that’s talent right there. I feel no compunctions at all in calling his performance in this drama one of the most impressive feats of acting I’ve ever seen in any piece of media period (and I do not say this lightly). However, the rest of the cast all turn in good performances as well, and I can’t really think of anyone who turned in a truly bad one. I've seen a lot of people criticizing Kim Jungeun for her acting as Prosecutor Choi Johye, but I never had a problem with her, since her character was SUPPOSED to be cold and stoic and insufferably smug, especially near the beginning of the show. I will say that all the hysterical screaming and yelling Chief Jang did in the earlier episodes did get old pretty quick. However, it was a fully understandable reaction to his situation, so I’m not deducting points for it, but it still got kind of grating eventually. Later episodes toned it down, which I appreciated.
(Also, I do want to give a shoutout to the cinematography. There were more than a few times I marveled at the framing of a shot or the creative ways the crew shot the scenes between the two clones. As someone who almost never notices things like this, I really enjoyed these moments when they came.)


MUSIC: 5.5
The soundtrack was… fine. Nothing special, aside from one or two tracks that stood out, but it did its job well enough. I did find the constant reusing of some pieces jarring and somewhat annoying, however. Oh, a sad scene with the sick daughter, HERE COMES THE EXACT SAME GUITAR PIECE AGAIN FOR THE 10th TIME OH BOY. This is an issue I have with most Kdramas in general, though, not just this one, so it’s not a deal breaker or anything.


REWATCH VALUE: 7
The initial thrill of the mystery is probably the biggest thing this drama has going for it, which, by the end, has obviously been resolved, but I definitely would say that the great acting and action set pieces are worth revisiting again at some point.


OVERALL: 8.5
Pros:
- A gripping and compelling plot that keeps you wanting to binge “just one more episode!” until you wake up to find you’ve watched the entire thing in 4 days.
- Stellar acting all around, and an Oscar worthy performance from Yang Sejong.
- Fantastic editing and cinematography.
- Ultimately satisfying ending.
- No romance, just good old-fashioned friendship, bromance, and parent-child relationships.

Cons
- The series starts to lose its momentum in the latter half, though not to the extent that it kills the suspense entirely.
- Shameless product placement that’ll have you rolling your eyes.
- Many of the sci-fi elements aren’t explored as much as they could have been, which might stretch your suspension of disbelief if you’re a stickler for such things.
- Soundtrack is average at best.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Osaka
15 people found this review helpful
Jul 24, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 6.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
Let's start this pretty long review by saying that this drama made a rookie actor shine like a veteran.
We all know that OCN is amazing when it comes to Chasing and thriller drama (Voice and Tunnel were gems).
Duel plot centers around a group of people who are obsessed with a vaccine that might cure terminal illness.
We have different characters, all of them are connected to each other somehow: two clones seeking for a way to survive. One is taking revenge on those bad guys who treated him like an animal, the other one is trying to help a veteran cop to find his kidnapped daughter.
This drama started really well, the plot was thrilling, the characters were well scripted.
But, sadly, toward the end it started to be a little bit sloppy and the plot has some black holes.
First of all, let me talk about the two twins.
SungJoon is the nice guy. He was used by his twin as an escapegot, when he committed some homicides he blamed them all to his twin. He has no memories at first, he doesn't know who he was and why there's a guy who looks exactly like him without being his twin by blood.
His character's psychology is not bad. He's too kind, too soft and too innocent to be the real villain. In fact, the drama didn't give us any suspense. We know that there won't be any plot twists about him right in the first episodes of this drama. Pretty disappointing, though.
The real gem of this drama is SungHoon.
Evil, clever and with some guts. He seeks revenge, he seeks life and he's doing everything to achieve these two things.
He was a victim too, yet no one gave a damn about him.

Reason to watch it :
SungHoon, obviously. We can see his character grow during the drama.

Reason to not watch it:
Mirae and the bloody sick kid were useless. Both annoying characters, they didn't make the audience sympathize with them.
The way the police handle the case of Sunghoon left me speechless. When they found out who he was and why he was doing all those bad things they even tried to help him out neither for a tiny second.
If you are watching this to see some sweet moments between the two twins, drop it.
Sunghoon isn't a sweet guy. All the bad things that had happened to him turned him into someone who is just filled with anger and grudge. He doesn't forgive his brother for not trying to find him and even in the end, even though we can see a little bit of change in his mind, I couldn't see a real affection for his twin.
Yup, he did try to save SungJoon in the end, yet I still didn't see that love that brothers share.
SungJoon loved his twin. But, let's be honest here.... Did he really try to help him out? He was all into saving that annoying kid that, in the end, I started to find him a pain in the ass.

IS THE ENDING WORTH THE WATCH?

No, if we are only talking about the ending... Absolutely not.
Korean dramas are predictable, we all know it. It doesn't give justice to any of its characters and it left me with some sour taste on my tongue.

IS THERE ANY ROMANCE?
Nope, thank's God there isn't any romantic story between the characters. They tried to pair up SungJoon with Mirae, but romance were useless in this plot and thank's God the screenwriters knew it before screwing up everything.
I secretly ship SungHoon with SeoJin though.

IS THERE ANY SUSPANCE?

I might say no...
After 5 episodes you know exactly how is going to end.
These drama could have been perfect if they tried to focus a little more on the twins background story and their relationship.

IN THE END, DID I LIKE IT?

I might say so. SeJong is amazing, he made me his fan right after the first episode.
I'll give this drama 6.5 out of 10 because the ending ruined EVERYTHING.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
E2012
5 people found this review helpful
Aug 12, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.0
Not just to a good writer and director and production team and such but WOW WAY TO GO YANG SE JONG!!! The moral dilemmas it explores are really beautifully handled... Greed and its results. it is truly touching and the question of what makes humans more than JUST another species doing any and everything for personal survival and gain... Just "What makes us human?"
Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Elyse
5 people found this review helpful
Sep 16, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
OMG Yang Sejong is such a discovery after watching this, I have never seen him in any drama before (Yeah I haven't watched Romatic Doctor Teacher Kim yet), but boy... he is the pillar of this drama!

Story 8/10

I love the scifi elements mixed with the mistery and detective stuff, though despite that I found later in the story that the father and daughter kidnapping plot is getting a little bit repetitive, and the clone stuff was far more interesting, still, the writer choose to focus on the father and daughter plot more instead. Also, there are some plotholes and questions that the writer hasn't answered yet in the end, which is unsatisfying for me, but overall, it was a nice thriller scifi mystery drama, so an 8 score is deserving.

Acting/Cast 9.5/10

YANG SEJONG IS THE NEW GOD OF ACTING!
Anyway he is so good at potraying three people, it feels like they are really three different persons, the cop ahjussi is good too, the acting was stellar except for the two actress in this drama that were kinda... so so, they are the Doctor Mom, and that Mirae girl.

Music 8.5/10

Music is appropriate to the scenes, overall I like it enough.

Rewatch Value 7/10

The thriller and suspense will not be as good as the first time watching it.

Overall 9/10

It was such a beautiful story overall plotholes aside, because of this... nowadays I'm anticipating Yang Sejong's future project after this drama, I'm now becaming his big fan, without him, this drama will be nothing, his characters are the most interesting thing out of this drama.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
c2roxy
5 people found this review helpful
Apr 2, 2019
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.5
Duel is Korean thriller sci-fi drama that discusses issues about cloning research, pharmaceutical research and medical ethics. I really love this drama, and I will rewatch it again and again. I am writing this review after rewatching it and I still love it as much as I did when I first watched it. The cast is amazing especially Yang Se Jong. I hope that he plays something similar again because he was impressive in Duel. The soundtrack also fit the drama well. I would totally recommend this drama to anyone but if you're searching for a romance story, you won't find it here.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Draken Sano Shipper
7 people found this review helpful
Sep 11, 2018
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
So, I'm RUINED by this show. Been hours since I watched it last night but I still haven't gotten over it. I don't think it's possible. Because Duel is the kind of show that takes your heart, kicks it hard, keeps kicking, and just when you think you can't take it anymore it grabs it and smashes it on the floor, starts stomping on it repeatedly. You think I’m exaggerating? I'm not. This is one of those shows that get under your skin, you know? Change you. You'll never be the same person. What I loved about this one was that no one sat around drinking soju and eating pork chops ???? (nothing wrong with that, just making a joke) every scene was integral to the story. No filler content. Just sixteen hours of fast paced action, chase, and mystery. Naturally, this is officially going on the list of my top rated shows with I Remember you and White Christmas. I'm in awe of Yang Se Jong who played both characters so well, they felt like two distinct people. A lot of times, I see actors relying on props and make up to play different parts and it comes off as kind of gimmicky. But Se Jong does it all in a subtle way, there's nothing loud or gimmicky about his acting. Of course, he's a great looking kid, with real acting chops. Everything from his body language, to his facial expressions morphs, you start to worry if he has multiple personalities inside his head. His eyes are so expressive, you'll be able to differentiate between the villain's stare and the male protagonist's stare. Se Jong is an amazing actor. The way his whole face, his body reacts to the things and the people around him, it's just mind blowing to watch. So much maturity for such a young age. I don't usually like 'double role' shows where the same actor plays two roles, usually they're not convincing, and like I said end up being corny, but this show is believable. I know I'm going to watch it a million times.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Duel (2017) poster

Details

Statistics

  • Score: 8.4 (scored by 4,906 users)
  • Ranked: #822
  • Popularity: #946
  • Watchers: 16,866

Top Contributors

81 edits
61 edits
27 edits
19 edits

Popular Lists

Related lists from users
Nail Biters & Whodunits
399 titles 352 loves
~ OCN DRAMAS ~
94 titles 76 loves 1
Vote for the BEST Horror & Thriller dramas!
126 titles 936 voters 86 loves 12

Recently Watched By