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Recommendations for husband

bluexxangel Author

Hi, I spend a lot of time watching Asian dramas by myself, but sometimes, I'd like my hubby to watch with me! However I'm not sure where to start looking, as we don't exactly have the same tastes.

Ideally, he would prefer a movie or a very short series (his attention span is terrible lol). He's into action, epic adventures and humour, but not into romance (as a sub-plot okay, but not as a main storyline), and he's not into crime or horror either. 

He did enjoy from the corner of his eye Midnight Runners (I was watching it myself) so I know I can find something he'd enjoy in Asian movie land. 

As a guide, in Western movies, he enjoyed Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, Die Hard, Mad Max, The Mummy...

Any ideas? TIA

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3GGG

Movies:

Dramas:

  • Black | though it does revolve about solving a mystery and it boasts 18 episodes, it also has a supernatural element. The male lead is a grim reaper and, as the story progresses, you begin to discover that every episode is connected. It has romance, but as a sub-plot, with the mystery being unravel always staying front and center.
  • Children of Nobody | This one could be a good call as well. Episodes are 30 minutes each, so they are easier to watch. There's no romance in this one and, although the main genre is crime, it's less about catching the criminal and more a critique about the loopholes within Korea's law, especially when it comes to child and spouse abuse. It's a very psychological trip.
  • Come and Hug Me | If he's into really beautifully shot films, then this one is a good alternative. Each episode is 30 minutes long. It has some romance, but mostly it's about healing. It's a good gateway drama for western audiences.
  • Cruel City | If he watched and liked Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" then this is a series he might enjoy since it has a similar story but more fleshed out.
  • Feel Good To Die | Another series with 30-minute episodes. This is a satire series, which means that humor is used to make interesting points and critiques regarding Korean culture. The romance is a sub-plot, with character growth being the focus of the story.
  • Gu Family Book | This one is on the vein of "Lord of the Rings" meets "Game of Throne" but with a lower budget and more PG-13. It's a really interesting story with lovable characters to make the ride even more enjoyable.
  • The Crowned Clown | Currently ongoing, but if you decide to watch the movie "Masquerade" and enjoyed it. Then you'll probably like this one, since it's the series version of that movie. It has great cinematography, interesting characters and a story that gets better and better with each passing episode.
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Dreamy

I'd recommend some sort of crime/noir/action/horror/detective/mystery solving type kind of drama & this is my top fav (of all time) which I love the most:

1. Cruel City (dark noir/action/detective)

2. Nine: Nine times time travel (time travel/romance)

3. Signal (time travel/detective) 

4. Black (supernatural/detective/mystery)

5. The Guest (horror/exorcism/demon/gory)

6. Voice (crime/detective/gory/serial killer)

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PrettyCarEye

+ 1 on Cruel City and Nine

Come & Hug Me is a good one and worth watching, but if he suffers from short attention span and doesn't like romance to be front and centre, he might quickly get bored with it.

  • Boku no Yabai Tsuma - mystery/thriller that has some vague similarities to the movie Gone Girl. It can be a bit crazy and over the top, but certainly keeps you guessing. There are more twists and turns in this drama than a tornado.

  • Golden Empire - this is a business/revenge drama, perhaps one of my most favourite of all time. There are relationships and strategic alliances but no romance. This drama doesn't only keep you at the edge of your seat, but it takes on moral & ethical issues that will get your passions flowing.

  • Hanzawa Noaki - similar to Golden Empire in that it's set in the cutthroat business world, but it features only one protagonist - Hanzawa Noaki - a man who has to use his wits to outsmart his enemies and climb the corporate ladder. I would assume men in particular would enjoy this drama because in many ways Hanzawa is like a modern day samurai, fighting for his survival among the ranks of the elite. Your hubs may be able to relate to the character & live vicariously through him. Of the two I personally liked Golden Empire better, but this was pretty good.

    Movies:

  • Real (action/noir) - don't pay attention to the poor reviews, this isn't your run of the mill action flick, its narrative is non-linear and will require you to pay attention to details. I enjoyed it so I say watch & judge for yourselves.
  • Old Boy (action/drama)
  • Breathless (crime/drama)
  • Gangnam 1970 (crime/gangster)
  • Along with the Gods I (fantasy/adventure)

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Fati

For asian drama/adventures, I think about 

https://mydramalist.com/118-iljimae-2008 (really epic)

For asian movies/adventures/wuxia (these are really popular)

https://mydramalist.com/1737-crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon 

https://mydramalist.com/1425-house-of-flying-daggers

For asian movies/adventures/action, I really liked :

https://mydramalist.com/590-the-good-the-bad-the-weird (western)

https://mydramalist.com/862-detective-dee-and-the-mystery-of-the-phantom-flame (investigation)

Hope you find something that you both like ;)

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PerfectMistake

I think High End crush would be absolutely perfect, each episode is 20 minutes or less and its hilarious
There's also
Kill me heal me (highly recommend)
Goblin
Circle
A Beautiful Mind

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mjf314

Here are some popular Asian movies that he'll probably like.
Infernal Affairs
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Hero
Oldboy
The Host

Here are some popular American movies that he'll probably like.  These aren't personal favorites, but I'm trying to pick movies that are similar to your husband's favorites.
Star Wars original trilogy
Nolan's Batman trilogy
Sin City
Kill Bill
Terminator and Terminator 2
Gladiator

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hyperbutterfly89

Movies:

Dramas:

  • White Christmas (Action, Psychological Thriller) It's only 8 episodes
  • Bad Guys (Action) 11 episodes
  • Circle (Sci-fi, Mystery, Action) 12 episodes
  • Liar Game (Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Drama) 12 episodes
  • Signal (Action, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Detective) 16 episodes
  • Life on Mars (Sci-fi, Mystery, Action) 16 episodes
  • Cruel City (Action, Crime, Detective) 20 episodes
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Stevie70
  • Confidential Assignment ( movie) 
  • Accidental Detective (movie) 
  • The Bros ( movie) 
  • Luck Key ( movie) 
  • Healer 
  • Four ( movie trilogy Chinese) 
  • Legend of Drunken Master 
  • Two Weeks 
  • Veteran (movie) 
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Hmmsy
  • Brotherhood of Blades 1 & 2  I loved these two films, very fun action
  • Tribes and Empires  This is a long historical drama, so probably isn't going to fly, but it is so awesome, and ends so AWESOME.  Sadly, they are not  going to continue the series, but I feel like it's still totally worth watching
  • The Man From Nowhere  Like already mentioned, it's really violent and gory, but one of my favorites.  It's done very well
  • The Villainess  Fun action, pretty violent movie
  • Fabricated City  Very fun, action movie
  • Gantz 1 & 2   Fun action/sci-fi movie
  • Inuyashiki  Another fun action/sci-fi movie
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Chiroptera32

As a westerner, I originally thought  Asian dramas were only cheesy, melodramatic, romance garbage shows. However, that all changed when I watched Korean action films and saw staggering difference between US action vs Asian action in general. US action  are so shaky and heavily edited you barely see the fight.  Here is an example how bad they are:

this batman begins movie

https://youtu.be/F5__DLJfGqM?t=30

This quality is considered masterpiece in the US by majority viewers.

Here are the action movies that lured me into kdrama:

  1.  War of Arrows - there is no film or show that is dedicated to archery duels like this film. First film drew me in then started on Korean film binge. https://mydramalist.com/2872-war-of-the-arrows
  2. Sunflower - about former gangster released from prison trying to transition, but politician is trying to gentrify his hometown for shopping mall. https://mydramalist.com/2767-sunflower-2006
  3. A Dirty Carnival - a 30yearold gangster going through identity crisis, until he meets his friend working on gangster film. He helps him out and show what thug life is. https://mydramalist.com/911-a-dirty-carnival
  4. The admiral: roaring currents -  period sea battles 12ships vs 333ships.   https://mydramalist.com/7875-the-admiral-roaring-currents
  5. Unstoppable - This is similar to the Taken french movie with Liam Neeson. Except it's Ma dong Seok kicking ass. https://mydramalist.com/28824-raging-bull
  6. Train to Busan - Zombies on train. The characters are very relatable and modern. https://mydramalist.com/11314-train-to-busan
  7. The raid- police vs druglord army. raid in apartment. You don't need to know story. It's mostly a variety of fight scenes. 

Then I transition to alot korean period dramas that I watch for the political strategies and warfare:

  1. Six flying dragons -period mostly political strategies and some good fight scenes. Some romance https://mydramalist.com/14324-six-flying-dragons
  2. king Gwanggaeto the great- period war drama. Lots strategies used. no romance from what I remember.  https://mydramalist.com/1799-king-gwanggaeto-the-great
  3. God of war- another war period drama has romance was kinda annoying later on. Slave becomes strategist. A couple wholesome scenes, when Korea united to fight Mongols. https://mydramalist.com/3146-god-of-war
  4. City hunter - like the US tv show Chuck, but dark revenge story and male is highly trained. some romance. https://mydramalist.com/1702-city-hunter-2011

These are Chinese dramas I started and liked:

  1. Battle of Changsha - I loved the variety of characters and very relatable family. The story was consistent and wasn't cheesy melodrama. Little romance. https://mydramalist.com/5591-battle-of-changsha
  2. Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy - Way more action than Game of thrones.  Amazing cinematography and production. The nomadic tribes have way more development in GOT there is none. I loved Muru family that I feel has better storyline than Starks or Baratheons.  What annoyed me is Han Jiang and Shuofeng Heye romance storylines like put more development on new tribes that enter near end.  Also, the emperor love storyline was so repetitive like how many times we have to see that scene. However, the action scenes were worth it.  https://mydramalist.com/17023-tribes-and-empires-storm-of-prophecy

Here some horror film I just started to get into, but didn't realize the huge difference between Korean horror/thriller/mystery and US, which just filled with mindless jumpscares. 

  1. The wailing - Starts out slow with little mystery murder cases, then you have determine what was real or not. There's tons of religious symbolism. https://mydramalist.com/10923-the-wailing
  2. Burning -The main lead just comes back from military training and meets an old classmate, a girl, who had crush on him. It starts out simple story, but later main lead becomes a  unreliable narrator that is in complicated relationship. The main themes being address are the modernization of Korea, the war creating unstable families, and the hatred passed on generations, leading to jealousies towards the wealthy westernized Koreans. https://mydramalist.com/25335-burning


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mjf314

@Chiroptera32: I think Hong Kong makes the best action movies.  If you want to see some great action, I recommend The Killer, Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, Once Upon a Time in China, and Police Story.

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Ilaria

For a short, comedic series, I highly recommend The Sound of your Heart.

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