radhz_dramalover
India
we find 4 friends getting into hasty trip to drop one of them into military. but a mishap happens involving tragic turn in their lifes. so they fight, suffer, lose themselves and much more. what exactly happened? will they hang in there? will they stick together? will they be able to come out of this?
ji soo is incredible.he gave a soul stirring act here. i love all his characters in recent times. ryu joon yeol excelled in his own way. rest were really good too. the way they pictured their lifes is different to. the actors who played their parents were decent. i just love halmoni here. it was painful for me to watch her.
ending is sad, frustrating. yet i liked it. i love the way characters ended up realistically. its hard to digest. i wonder why i exactly i liked it. i love the way its not predictable. so yeah, watch this for good story packed up with great performances. its worth your time.
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kwon mi na is always misunderstood as a person who brings bad luck to ones around. while she is having hard time to socialise, we find these guys showing interest towards her.
now the viewer get chance to play cupid ,bring couple together and leave rest to her. so we get different endings with different guys. and believe me, all endings are good. pretty neat concept. definetly not bad.
music goes well with stories, on the whole, web drama is taken as opportunity to introduce us rookie eyecandy boy dance group. we have sun woo from signal here. acting is also really not bad.
so watch this. its definetly worth your time. and moreover we need not have to deal with second lead syndrome.
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after reading synopsis of the movie, i thought its going to be very painful to watch assuming it has more dramatised facts than reality. coz, i find it real hard to watch children suffering than anything. i cannot buy melancholy. but i was wrong and i regret keeping this on hold for long time.
having said that, this story thankfully leaves gruesome details of crime aside. however we were made aware victim suffers physically. but its rather, more about aftermath of tragedy, which is neatly directed never being overboard.
it possibly has dealt every thing that girl and family had to go through. starting from catching criminal, physical disability, emotional trauma, money issues, parents helplessness, community acceptance, recovering and living normal life. but what made it even more special is father - daughter relationship. her fathers character felt so dear to me, it touched my heart and made me feel evey ounce of what he did for her. Also girl had to disconnect from all older men including her father. later realises that it was her father who is being her secret guardian angel through out is so rewarding to watch. also her thoughts while recovering and slowly accepting reality is touching as well as bitter sweet for me.
but what troubled me is actual case itself. ending is so agonising. i think all those who know about Nayoung case can figure it out. criminal judiciary system felt utterly crappy. also criminals words to her father were horrid. its worrying me to death.
overall, movie is quite inspiring as well as heartwarming, with stellar performances by actors.
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this was considered to be a modern day melodrama. but its just a old stock served in new bottle. story is pretty much cliche as explained in synopsis.
byun ji sook is a poor hardworking emphatetic girl who is suffering from her family hardships. she got a chance to wear a mask and pretend to be a rich woman. but that mask did not made her happy at all. will she continue to pretend like that or take off her mask ? this is the basic premise of the story. similar to bride of century. Yup. Its the same. But this was better turned out and well done drama.
what made this drama good is fine acting, good romance, suspense although with predictable twists. joo ji hoon did a great job despite his role was not important to story that much. soo ae is beautiful elegant and has charming smile, but her acting was just alright for me. i enjoyed the chemistry leads had. especially his trust towards her, even though she had hidden her identity. choi min woo is the best husband one can ever ask.
NOW what made this drama bad is repeated story line with stupid plans and stupid twists to take revenge.Also lead pair always had to suffer, could not fight back till the last episode. change of heart of the villains shown in last episode seems not believable at all. also that unhealthy relationship between suk hoon and mi yeon is very annoying. i could not symphatise with any of them. i had hard time watching with all the flaws. i have held myself back from skim watching or dropping this part of drama. also i feel soo ae could not justify character development at all. her character was supposed to start as doormat woman and end as strong woman with intelligent head over her shoulders. but she could not play that part at all. all she had to do is be cheerful, compassionate and girl who emphatises every one suffering.
ending was also not good. i was disappointed that everyone seem to be fine with what happened with seo eun ha. also seo eun ha was given very less time length in the whole drama, where as she is supposed to be most important character.
music. i enjoyed one particular song that played at the end of all episodes. BGM is fine. i guess so.
Over all i could not rate this drama more than 7. this is because part of which i enjoyed is very short, and part which annoyed me is almost through out the whole drama. drama which started great but everything fell flat later.
i would not recommend this. it has too many flaws to like it. but may be my tastes are different. probably what i hated in this, is what you will love. i am not really sure. -----DISCLAIMER
rewatching is completely ruled out for me
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settings are exquisite. landscapes are so beautiful, camera work is finely detailed and is very much captivating. costumes, interior design, lamps, stage setting.......everything is rich. production values are high for a movie to have.
magic is WOW factor, this movie had. although it did not excite me. machinery, equipment, assistants work is pretty good and is interesting to watch. this is the first time i have seen magic in saeguk. i have not seen any other such works to compare with.
romance in this movie somehow worked, though its not that impressive. it felt like alladin type of romance.there were parts of romance which felt like The Illusionist Movie.
Actors did good job. yoo seung ho is handsome. his smile is alluring as always and his acting is good too. this movie is first work after getting discharged from army. however he did not let the gap affect him. he was really cool performing tricks. And i love how i can find him everwhere, these days.
go ah ra has pretty face and great eyes. there is something interesting this girl has, that other korean actresses dont have. but i am not fan of her acting, she felt stiff sometimes.and her character some how lacked depth when compared to magicians character.
joo yoon hee is impressive here as a blind woman. she made character's suffering believable.
although the movie is absolutely grand, it could not impress me. there is something which did not made me connect to it. i can not pin point exactly what it is. it could be the plot. i am not really sure. trailer made me watch this movie, but however movie did not turn out as thrilling as trailer is. but it could be your one time watch movie. you can try this, if you want to watch something that pleases your eyes and you are not mindful of plot .
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whole plot is good, interesting but felt little repetitive. pace of plot is not slow, but somehow i felt bored in midway and wanted to skip to end. teacher character totally reminds me of doraemon who gives gadgets which get misused by students because of their greed. there is no end for it. whole school is in chaos. Grrrr......he plays this game, untill kim so hyun takes a stand and helps others.
bad things i noticed here which disappiointed me
1. no proper closure for all characters - students , teacher, and who is that little girl in last episode.
2. very short screen space for kim so hyun. my sole reason to watch this drama. i wish they could skip a students character and put her in that place. there would have been enough time to find what is all this fuss about.
acting is good. i am really tired of praising kim so hyun. she brilliantly pulls this drama out of little time she got. her acting is very believable. i just wish i could see her with different hairstyle
i got serious trouble with uhm ki joon. he is just stuck with same face and same smile. i am so tired of watching him here and in Ghost.
i definetly wont rewatch this. and i am not really sure if i should recommend this one.but if you are kim so hyun fan, you should probably make time for this. also plot is not really bad. this drama could be your interesting watch
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story:
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A serious drawback to drama. no plot. i know there are many great dramas and great movies with no much plot but are entertaining. but this drama is directed in a way that reminds again and again that there is no plot. making it really really obvious. characters need to be really engaging to make some thing good out of practically nothing. i think this drama dealt that fairly ok. not really great.
but what bugged me is plot holes it had. cliff hangers are really cheap with a goal to garner higher TRP ratings. which makes us wonder if we are watching a reality tv show instead of drama. and also ridiculous story line. i would love to jot down plot holes it had, but i am afraid i will spoil it for already meagre story it had. also villain are not villains. they are just simple characters which sprang up now and then.
but yet this drama is worth your time because of
1. Onew's role
only character in drama which is developed really well. he surprised me with his acting. he is so adorable.
2. bromance between yoo si jin and seo dae young/kang mo yeon and lieutenant yoon.
these characters are well engaged. and they meant more sense than leads romance. when they four are together, hilarious stuff happened.
3. comedy between doctors/comrades
really good. there are certain fangirling moments and cheesy lines between them which i laughed out loud/ screamed to top of air.
4.second couple romance
their relationship is more meaningful than main leads had. they grew on me. although their kisses are subtle, it brought butterflies in my stomach. i just wish seo dae young is tough in the relationship. but he did fend some sense into him in middle of episodes.
5. acting.
acting totally saved this drama. almost all actors decently played their role. making me to root for them.
MUSIC.
music is brilliant. i enjoyed almost all songs. sometimes music had more feels than the romance leads have. so it did not sync well while watching drama. but songs are pretty amazing when you hear them , while not watching drama..
REWATCH:
i may rewatch parts of this drama which i enjoyed. but i wont do that anytime soon.
RECOMMEND:
if you are not mindful of plot, and dont mind to be nitpicking on plot holes and stupid cliff hangers it had. YOU CAN ENJOY IT.
i dont mean to say drama is bad. its actually good. but dont come with great expectation like i did.
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it has great cast. many great actors had put their best effort in it.leads constantly change. its really flattering with so many handsome oppas here. so i thought, there is something which is really worth to watch. if not why so many actors would be involved. but boy, i am wrong. as story moves on, it felt more and more weird, creepy. relationship became scary and very unhealthy. i wanted them to break up. it is as unhealthy as 50 shades of grey and twilight. i really dont want the girl suffer along with him.
i dont see the love, they shared is anything great at all.
honestly, i regret watchng this. writers, producers and director might have thought to deliver message " Beauty lies inside" . not based on looks. but this movie doesnot address that all. we were shown many woo jins. but we dont know what is his actual character? also what aspect of him does the girl like him in. not shown anywhere. some how, girl falls in love with him but she can never recognise him. on the top of it, movie ends with many questions unanswered.
i dont recommend this. there is no point in watching this slow paced movie scratching your brain. dont even watch for the cast it has.
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OVERALL i guess i liked it. why? its different than the usual korean dramas. may be i didnot have seen many korean dramas of this genre. i had to use my brain here. its more like mind puzzling game with complicated story. if the ending was atleast OK i would have rated it 9. but it went downhill. did i regret watching this? Nooo. it was rollercoaster ride for me.
at first i felt bad for her mom and girl. then as the story started revealing, i was intrigued. i felt angry, annoyed, heart touching, sweet, sadness, relief, suspense, thriller. ending felt meh.........( BGM reply goat sound)
how do i rate this drama actually.
1st ep - 8th ep : 9.5
9th ep - 12th ep : 8.5
12thep-14th ep : 7.5
15th ep : 7
16th ep : 6
story:
plot was actually daebak. time travel and crime solving was good. events rehappening, leads trying to change those events. suspense was great. we werenot able to guess the killer here. everytime it leads to wrong person.
2nd half things got complicated and a bit repeating, clues falling out of nowhere and not being able to save the girl twice no thrice made me annoy. everything was made pretty unnatural and very unrealistic. but damn INTERESTING. i was literally at the edge of seat many a times, even in that 2nd half.. so yes it was unpredictable rollercoaster ride for me. another thing which troubled me here is fasst dialogues. i had to pause here and there, trying to remember the persons names and contexts and situations here. also, i was able to get the story mainly because i marathoned it. but if i had to see twice in a week, i would have dropped it already. because the break between episodes is sufficient for my mind cells to forget story line. and the reason why i had to write the review as soon as i completed drama, because i will definetly forget the facts. its just impossible for me. if you are ok to deal with this kind of sHiT, also bear with innumerable twists, i recommend this drama
action:
lee bo young was ok here. i felt her acting was bit unrealistic. she was unbelievably calm for a mother to be. jo seung woon and the girl stealed the show for me. also disabled father and son were wonderful. i actually liked brothers story here more than mother-daughter story. i was rooting for them all the way, even though i want the girl to be saved.
acting was probably main reason for me to not drop it. cast were good enough
music.
not good enough, thrillers like these supposed to have good music.
overall:
i cant recommend to everyone. its like HIT or MISS. you may like it or may hate it. everyone can find their reasons to hate or love this drama. but i didnot get bored even a bit. it had everything for me to marathon/binge watch. so make your choice wisely and dont regret it later.
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This review may contain spoilers
from all meaningless and plot less dramas that are airing these days, page turner turns outstanding. there are very few dramas which leaves good message. and if you find them in any case, you should grab it and watch. page turner is exactly that kind.story of this neatly put by Charming92 in his review. i will just add my thoughts regarding the same. you may find vague spoilers ahead. continue reading if you are fine with it.
page turner is exciting one as the name suggests. this has just 3 episodes with plot that could be dragged/ dramatised till 16 episodes. however it is made short thankfully making each episode as good as pilot episode. it makes you crave for more and more. you will fall in love with characters within no time. you will be wondering how these characters grow and settle down.
three leads are interestingly different to each other, so are their parents and upbringing. and so are their back stories. yet all are thought provoking and well established. its totally inspiring to see how they are optimistic about following their path, believing in one self, doing what they love.
as for the ending, i am satisfied with it plot wise. it is realistic and beautiful. Also i can completely understand why ji soo fans could not digest the reality, but i felt so happy for Jin Mok. i was happy that his character is not ignored. but i love these characters so much and i really cant stop myself from wishing to see how characters end up with each other. there are many questions muddling in my brain. of course answers for those are obvious, but i really want to see that with my own eyes and be contented about it. i wish they can extend last episode for 5 more mins. a lttle bit of wrapping would satisfy people like me immeasurably. may be its just me,i dont know, it felt the same after watching reply 1988.
I am in high praise for the actors who did great job here. they all are wonderful and had great chemistry with each other. i really want them to play together in another drama.
all in all, this short drama has more feels that any lenghty drama or movie can have. it glues you to screen and makes you turn page for 2 times ( i.e, Pressing Next Episode Button). I will definetly recommend for everyone.
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reply 1988 is beautiful woven, nostalgic, heartwarming, friendship, slice of life family drama. this is the best installment of reply series as of now. writers have given equal importance to each and every character. now after marathoning whole drama, i cant chose my personal favourite character. because i love all characters. this was made possible because of 1 and half hour length in time. ofcourse they could have edited a bit. may be made it little fast paced rather than being very mundane. nevertheless, i am fine with pace. it did not bore me but i felt repetitive a bit.
i really want to list my favourite scenes of drama, but i do NOT want to spoil it even a bit
ACTING was good, when it comes to youngsters and it was brilliant, when it comes to elders. i honestly was not into shipping DS with anyone. i was only rooting for bear falling in love and sun yeong, sung bo ra and sung sun woo. the heartwarming relationship between parents and their children is wonderful. friendship between taek and jung hwan is exceptional. why do one need to care about a particular romance like who ends with who. i mean you can see love everywhere in the whole drama. why does one need to care about DS. She is not the only one lead character, as i feel almost every character as lead character here.
now MUSIC .my bad. i pretty much did not notice OST here. but it was not unpleasant anywhere. it has more and more of 80s music which sounded ok for me. reply 1994 ost is my favourite.
i just love the ending of this, it was super nostalgic, made me cry literally, and also made me want to talk to my parents. itS definetly a must watch if you love your family and friends.
i will definetly re watch and recommend to everyone. just bear with lengthy time slot of drama, you will just like it, if may not love it like I DO. honestly, this is one of the best dramas of 2015
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story is really good, however it is predictable. it is predictable probably because we are aware of criminal from start of movie. but being predictable doesnt put the movie in a disadvantage. Its all about how a clever blind ex-cop fights with cold blooded psychotic bastard in a defenseless way. kim na heul did her part really well. there were certain chases which are nail biting and suspensful. also bond between characters were established well.
however there are certain flaws i dont want to put it here because it will spoil the little suspense it has. but i guess movie managed to turn out well. cinematography is good. especially when we were made to imagine how it will be for blind person using her other senses.
cast did it job. yoo seung ho played a punk character. he played for his age here. kim na heul has put her emotions neatly. i love her part in climax.
overall, one can enjoy this movie without having much expectations.
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also school background and story presentation are done well. but major credit goes to acting. this movie is completely performance driven. wang darren and sung vivian did great jobs emoting hsu taiyu and truly. they were silly, adorable, caring and loving through out. romance between them felt natural and never forced. the characters other than Main Characters are also interesting to watch and were acted well. their performance made me buy story with usual romance tropes, that are sometimes relatable
music is good. there is this one song which caught my attention. cinematography and settings were good and made it feel like an old movie with bright colours.
however, i fell in love with actors here so much that i was disappointed that they were not casted as grown ups. i also have certain complaints with the ending. i wish things could have been better without that. nevertheless,for someone who are new with story will be able to thoroughly enjoy.
if you really want to watch a movie that reminds you of your crushes, first love, first break up . you can watch this. you will enjoy it.
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Its a crime mystery. with the question WHO DUN IT. we see a police man trying to find the truth asking the persons involved in crime scene. every one has their special person with initial N, whom they want to protect. its like a spiderweb of hints put before you, to guess criminal. writing and direction is smart. the story goes back and forth the timeline with flash backs neatly wrapped. also almost every character has traumatic past. also they are scarily relatable. you would not want to be the person in their boots, but you cant help emphatising them. romance in this drama is very strong without affection displayed. you will see those vibes through out the drama without any PDA
i am in love with cinematography and music in this drama. colour tone in scenes change. i wondered if anything is wrong with my screen. camera click sounds and slow frames are delight to watch. same music is lovely at times , sad at times. BGM is elevated my feels while watching drama. it was haunting creepy at times, its depressing too. oh i am so in love with SILLY song by leo. this song felt pretty ok to begin with, but as story moved. i started feelin attached to this more. this is exactly why i like drama osts more than kpop. i can associate these songs with characters, drama and story
eikura nana did fantabulous job as nozomi. she did a great job in conveying feelings. kuboto is handsome to me, he looks like ahn jae hyun at times
lastly, i love this drama not for the mystery at all. but i wanted to see how the relationships between them grow. how did they move on? how did the characters ended, this is exactly what mattered to me. i am sattisfied with the ending, expect for one small thing
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Story
An old granny got a chance to go back to her teenage. Isnt that everyones dream. ohhh. Yess. she is back to her prime age and she can live in her glorified days. will she make same choices like her past. or will she do something different. this is actual premise of the story.
comedy springs from the encounters she has with her family. they were just so hilarious. although she is in youth, she is still old grandma inside. the generation gap within herself becomes so significant that you cant help but laugh out. also comedy felt meaningful. There are scenes that are thought provoking.
Acting
Na moon Hee churned out great performance. she has little screen space, but she was soul for entire movie. she did brilliant, soul stirring job. her eyes expressed varied emotions like pain, disappointment, contentment, proudness and what not. character she played Oh Mal soon is so dear to me, i am so glad that this movie introduced to her.
Oh Mal Soon is none other than my grandmother. Their personalities are very similar and match like 80 percent. she lost her husband when she hit age 30. she had one daughter and son. her son is my father, born with physical disability. however she is not poor, but had to raise her physically disabled son alone. and to heighten suffering, she lost her daughter to cancer at age of 40. she took the responsibility to raise her daughter's kids too. with no bread winner in her family, she managed to live decent life with inheritance she had . She never cared about herself. she do not mind wearing same old saree in all occasions. She loves cooking and sharing it with others. she values food more than dressing herself
she is strong, independent woman even at her old age. she never depended on her son. she badmouths everyone and also gets in to fight. she died this dec 2015 due to heartattack. my last memory of her is painful
she was in hospital ICU fighting for her last breath. And then she asked me to make a healthy snack for my father that would help in healing backbone issues.
oh i deviated myself from reviewing. so what i want to say is, i got connected to her character from the start.
shim eun kyeong is talented actress. she was really good in doing halmoni type antics. she was cute, lovely, caring and did a great job. my favourite scene is her talk with his son at climax. i wont spoil it. it was so special
And the ending came. BAM.......aigoo. i was crying and laughing at the same time. ha ha. . i didnot expect this from this movie at all. i thought i will laugh well, close my laptop and get back to sleep.but i am taken aback by the surprise,it had.
Music:
is really good. it has good classical stuff which were made lively and catchy. i am humming myself with her. especially white butterfly and raindrop songs. these songs do not have any language barrier. anyone should be able to enjoy them.
i already rewatched it. XD
DISCLAIMER:
although this movie has good comedy, it may not be everyones cup of tea. her grandma antics sometimes can be awkward and causes second hand embarassment. so i suggest to watch trailer beforehand and then decide.
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