I'm not going to lie, this drama started off really great. But it got sooo draggy and had to skip all the romantic…
How the villains could not decide if they want to kill the Mad King or the Clown King made them extremely unconvincing. You can either be angry about the baby-killing, or about a lowborn ruling, but not both.
Killing Lee Guy / Yi Kyu is the silly "if a good character has committed a grave sin, they must die by the end" K-drama law.
The concubine being killed as well as the king/bodyguard being 'killed' is the also-overdone "the good guys might be super smart, but nonetheless they won't take precautions against assassination" that was already in full force with the FL's father.
Not too much chemistry between the leads. Very repetitive declarations, too.One of the weaker "evil prime minster"…
Every single cup of water served in Joseon was poisoned. After binging this, I'm almost afraid to consume any myself.
Disagree substantially with in what way (and how pointlessly) 'good' characters are killed, especially the very unnecessary re-creation of a scene near the end of the original.
Since the leads stayed forever-virginal, the infertility plotline is left unresolved.
The music often didn't fit the scenes, or appeared to be co-opted from another production with a vastly different theme.
Not too much chemistry between the leads. Very repetitive declarations, too.
One of the weaker "evil prime minster" performances.
The ending / last episode was ???. Can't decide if they ran out of budget and screen time, had to cram in K-drama morality mandates, or had to 're-align with actual history'.
Moon Embracing the Sun and Love in the Moonlight are very much the same thing, except: - since it is far newer, LitM looks modern/watchable rather than like something filmed in the dark ages, and some people won't give MEtS a chance at all because of that - the young actors for flashbacks are much lower budget in LitM (they were excellent in MEtS and are mediocre in LitM) - the adult leads are way better in LitM (outside of Kim Soo Hyun vs Yeo Jin Goo all child/teen actors in MEtS are superior to the characters' adult versions, especially Kim Yoo Jung and Yim Si Wan), but since LitM isn't focused on the teen origins at all, it's not really surprising that the main cast is the highlight - while they each lose steam after a few episodes, when they do they're different forms of unspectacular television - the really offensive stuff that happens at the end is slightly different and a tiny bit more forgivable in LitM - conversations with imaginary people, as frequent as they are in both, have much more heart and are better made in MEtS - the supernatural element plays more of a role and is better in MEtS - a MEtS royal can't walk a step without fifty servants in tow, while the LitM prince is constantly off alone somewhere or 'out in disguise', and I guess the general abundance of hard to believe scenes is why some commenters call LitM the Disney version of MEtS - the main bad guy, even though it's the essentially same character doing the very same thing, is far more threatening as personified by Kim Eung Soo (MEtS); Chun Ho Jin (LitM) can't portray the required menace and looks too absent-minded - Kim Yoo Jung is sure good as the FL of LitM, but even better as the FL of MEtS - MEtS has a more fleshed out ending, whereas even with over two hours of extra footage compared to the TV broadcast, LitM ends "just like that" with open questions
Moon Embracing the Sun and Love in the Moonlight are very much the same thing, except: - since it is far newer, LitM looks modern/watchable rather than like something filmed in the dark ages, and some people won't give MEtS a chance at all because of that - the young actors for flashbacks are much lower budget in LitM (they were excellent in MEtS and are mediocre in LitM) - the adult leads are way better in LitM (outside of Kim Soo Hyun vs Yeo Jin Goo all child/teen actors in MEtS are superior to the characters' adult versions, especially Kim Yoo Jung and Yim Si Wan), but since LitM isn't focused on the teen origins at all, it's not really surprising that the main cast is the highlight - while they each lose steam after a few episodes, when they do they're different forms of unspectacular television - the really offensive stuff that happens at the end is slightly different and a tiny bit more forgivable in LitM - conversations with imaginary people, as frequent as they are in both, have much more heart and are better made in MEtS - the supernatural element plays more of a role and is better in MEtS - a MEtS royal can't walk a step without fifty servants in tow, while the LitM prince is constantly off alone somewhere or 'out in disguise', and I guess the general abundance of hard to believe scenes is why some commenters call LitM the Disney version of MEtS - the main bad guy, even though it's the essentially same character doing the very same thing, is far more threatening as personified by Kim Eung Soo (MEtS); Chun Ho Jin (LitM) can't portray the required menace and looks too absent-minded - Kim Yoo Jung is sure good as the FL of LitM, but even better as the FL of MEtS - MEtS has a more fleshed out ending, whereas even with over two hours of extra footage compared to the TV broadcast, LitM ends "just like that" with open questions
Does anyone know if the "director's cut" bluray is worth it? Are the episodes longer, etc?
To answer my own question: it's more than two hours longer! (My guess is around 135 minutes.) There are many longer scenes / inserted deleted scenes, and some are also moved around. For example, in episode 14, the "reveal" that the TV version starts with is delayed until 12 minutes later in the DC blu-ray.
It starts out really well, until suddenly the actors are swapped out with mostly-worse ones. Then there's a lot of uneventful episodes, some towards boring, and a bunch of really unpleasant stuff at the end. Oh well, at least no product placement, no real second lead syndrome, and I guess no Netflix cuts.
It was all a bit juvenile and lacked any interesting subplots which would've added some substance. Han Gain is…
BabyKimSohyun wasn't very good either, of course at a very very young age here (and IIRC already better in productions from a few months after this one). Besides the ML, the older actors in this show generally felt like downgrades from the young ones seen in the first ~6 eps.
What accent is being used in this show, especially by characters like Choi Min Soo's Ahn Oh Joo, and also in all the flashbacks? It sounds so different from 'Korean'.
Does the fl always chase after the ml? Like I know he chased after her first but then does she chase after him…
She momentarily pines for him during a semi-separation. Due to the quick and sudden, uh, acquisition in episode 6, there isn't much chasing. Technically he engages in years and years of 'chasing' (preparation / stalking).
Episode 6 contains a complete clusterfuck of "things you can't do in a drama".After that, many episodes end with…
It's ridiculous timing to introduce a romantic / sexual relationship, it happens in a way that no on-screen or real person would ever engage in, and very little screen time is given to it for exposure: to explain / justify. The way it's filmed looks like they drafted three unrelated scenes and just cut them together randomly.
Afterwards, the ML & FL interact like they are back to being strangers at work, suddenly have a beach date, and return to being hands-off. Perhaps these couple scenes were written to appear hours later in the plot and suddenly moved forwards, making everything else appear disjointed?
This quickly changes.
Killing Lee Guy / Yi Kyu is the silly "if a good character has committed a grave sin, they must die by the end" K-drama law.
The concubine being killed as well as the king/bodyguard being 'killed' is the also-overdone "the good guys might be super smart, but nonetheless they won't take precautions against assassination" that was already in full force with the FL's father.
Disagree substantially with in what way (and how pointlessly) 'good' characters are killed, especially the very unnecessary re-creation of a scene near the end of the original.
Since the leads stayed forever-virginal, the infertility plotline is left unresolved.
The music often didn't fit the scenes, or appeared to be co-opted from another production with a vastly different theme.
One of the weaker "evil prime minster" performances.
The ending / last episode was ???. Can't decide if they ran out of budget and screen time, had to cram in K-drama morality mandates, or had to 're-align with actual history'.
- since it is far newer, LitM looks modern/watchable rather than like something filmed in the dark ages, and some people won't give MEtS a chance at all because of that
- the young actors for flashbacks are much lower budget in LitM (they were excellent in MEtS and are mediocre in LitM)
- the adult leads are way better in LitM (outside of Kim Soo Hyun vs Yeo Jin Goo all child/teen actors in MEtS are superior to the characters' adult versions, especially Kim Yoo Jung and Yim Si Wan), but since LitM isn't focused on the teen origins at all, it's not really surprising that the main cast is the highlight
- while they each lose steam after a few episodes, when they do they're different forms of unspectacular television
- the really offensive stuff that happens at the end is slightly different and a tiny bit more forgivable in LitM
- conversations with imaginary people, as frequent as they are in both, have much more heart and are better made in MEtS
- the supernatural element plays more of a role and is better in MEtS
- a MEtS royal can't walk a step without fifty servants in tow, while the LitM prince is constantly off alone somewhere or 'out in disguise', and I guess the general abundance of hard to believe scenes is why some commenters call LitM the Disney version of MEtS
- the main bad guy, even though it's the essentially same character doing the very same thing, is far more threatening as personified by Kim Eung Soo (MEtS); Chun Ho Jin (LitM) can't portray the required menace and looks too absent-minded
- Kim Yoo Jung is sure good as the FL of LitM, but even better as the FL of MEtS
- MEtS has a more fleshed out ending, whereas even with over two hours of extra footage compared to the TV broadcast, LitM ends "just like that" with open questions
- since it is far newer, LitM looks modern/watchable rather than like something filmed in the dark ages, and some people won't give MEtS a chance at all because of that
- the young actors for flashbacks are much lower budget in LitM (they were excellent in MEtS and are mediocre in LitM)
- the adult leads are way better in LitM (outside of Kim Soo Hyun vs Yeo Jin Goo all child/teen actors in MEtS are superior to the characters' adult versions, especially Kim Yoo Jung and Yim Si Wan), but since LitM isn't focused on the teen origins at all, it's not really surprising that the main cast is the highlight
- while they each lose steam after a few episodes, when they do they're different forms of unspectacular television
- the really offensive stuff that happens at the end is slightly different and a tiny bit more forgivable in LitM
- conversations with imaginary people, as frequent as they are in both, have much more heart and are better made in MEtS
- the supernatural element plays more of a role and is better in MEtS
- a MEtS royal can't walk a step without fifty servants in tow, while the LitM prince is constantly off alone somewhere or 'out in disguise', and I guess the general abundance of hard to believe scenes is why some commenters call LitM the Disney version of MEtS
- the main bad guy, even though it's the essentially same character doing the very same thing, is far more threatening as personified by Kim Eung Soo (MEtS); Chun Ho Jin (LitM) can't portray the required menace and looks too absent-minded
- Kim Yoo Jung is sure good as the FL of LitM, but even better as the FL of MEtS
- MEtS has a more fleshed out ending, whereas even with over two hours of extra footage compared to the TV broadcast, LitM ends "just like that" with open questions
(My guess is around 135 minutes.)
There are many longer scenes / inserted deleted scenes, and some are also moved around. For example, in episode 14, the "reveal" that the TV version starts with is delayed until 12 minutes later in the DC blu-ray.
Then there's a lot of uneventful episodes, some towards boring, and a bunch of really unpleasant stuff at the end.
Oh well, at least no product placement, no real second lead syndrome, and I guess no Netflix cuts.
Besides the ML, the older actors in this show generally felt like downgrades from the young ones seen in the first ~6 eps.
Choi Min Soo's Ahn Oh Joo, and also in all the flashbacks? It sounds so different from 'Korean'.
Technically he engages in years and years of 'chasing' (preparation / stalking).
The way it's filmed looks like they drafted three unrelated scenes and just cut them together randomly.
Afterwards, the ML & FL interact like they are back to being strangers at work, suddenly have a beach date, and return to being hands-off. Perhaps these couple scenes were written to appear hours later in the plot and suddenly moved forwards, making everything else appear disjointed?