(1) THE OST (Original Soundtrack): Breathtaking. That is all I can say about the music in this show. It elevates the drama to another level & I became emotionally-attached to the characters.
(2) The Actors - Song Joong-ki: This guy commands the screen every time he is on it; Song Hye Kyo &
Kim Ji Won were amazing as well. I love their sassiness. I will pretty much be watching anything with these 3.
(3) The Chemistry. The dynamic between the four main leads with the secondary characters is one of the best I have seen in a K-Drama… whether it was romance, friendships/bromance or frenemies… it came together flawlessly
(4) Secondary Characters: I know sometimes the secondary characters can be there to just fill space, but these characters added more to the story & helped to develop the main characters.
CONS: This dramas was pretty much perfect with the exception of the kiss scenes. I was not feeling to those, but luckily their chemistry made up for that. Other than that... I had no problem.
I recommend to all romance drama lovers !!
Was this review helpful to you?
Song Joong Ki's (Yoo Shi Jin) acting was really commendable especially since he is not like the character he potrayed, he is actually alot more mellow in real life (this is what I've gathered from various interviews and behind the scenes ). The chemistry between him and Song Hye Kyo was perfect (Well, duh, they got married in real life) also the supporting characters especially Kim Ji won totally rocked the sassy general role (omg I love her!)
Sound track was nice and made me check out the artists later, and Chen from exo did one of their songs which was a total bonus (All the EXO-L's put your hands in the air ;))
I highly recommend it to all the viewers wanting to watch a drama that is a perfect blend of emotions.
Seriously, you should watch it...
GO WATCH IT!! YOU WON"T REGRET IT!! :)
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Pure and Mindless Fun
After the disaster that was The Heirs, I watch this drama with very low expectations. It's Kim Eun-Sook, I won't expect accurate portrayal of the life of Korean soldier from her nor I expect her to weave a story around complex issues like war. I expect pure and mindless love story perfect after a hard day's work and that was exactly what I got. I initially watch Descendants of The Sun solely for Song Joong-Ki and Kim Ji Won but I think everyone did their job well here. I was feeling a bit "mehhh" with Song Hye Gyo after I watched her last in That Winter The Wind Blows but her sunny and funny character in Descendant suited her well. She need to stick to this kind of role.This drama was stylish, light-hearted, with a dash of swag making it an easy to watch drama. Don't take it seriously and you will have a great time. It also has a beautiful soundtrack and couples with great chemistry. I recommend it for days when you need a light and entertaining drama to watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
First of all, the story is interesting and somehow special, since I haven't watched a drama like this one before. The effects were amazing as well, it did feel like I was watching a movie in the cinema. The actors played pretty well and the emotion were getting to me through the screen. Something I didn't like was that the first episode started weird, I didn't really get the point of the beginning, but after watching episode 10 I guess, or something like that, I realized why did the series start with a darker scene. If you don't like emotional dramas and sad moments, I do not recommend watching it. It does have a lot of funny moments and it is somehow a comedy, but some scenes are kind of dark and they can make you really emotional.
As a conclusion, I did enjoy this series and I will happily re-watch it in the future.
Was this review helpful to you?
A must watch drama
I finished this drama in about 3 days well loved it.The story the interaction between the characters the chemistry between the main couple and the struggles each character faces.
The second couple is really interesting and so is their story.
Loved the storyline it was perfect no misunderstandings between the main couples that stay long and I 100% no 1000% loved it.
🥰😍🥰😘😍🥰🥰😍🤩🥰😍🥰🤩🥰😍🥰🤩😍🥰🤩🤩😍🥰😍🤩😍🥰😍🤩😍🥰😍🤩😍🥰😍🤩🥰😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍🤩😍🥰😍😍🤩😍😍🥰😍😍🤩😍😍🥰😍😍🤩🤩😍😍🥰😍😍🤩🤩🤩😍🥰🥰😍😍😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍😍😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍🤩🤩🤩😍🥰🥰😍😍🤩😍😍😍🤩🤩🥰😍🤩🤩🥰🥰😍😍🤩🤩😍😍🥰🥰😍😍🤩🤩😍😍🥰🥰😍😍🤩🤩🤩😍😍😍🥰🥰😍😍😍😍🤩😍😍😍🥰🥰😍😍🤩🤩🤩😍😍🥰🥰😍😍😍🤩🤩🤩😍😍🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍😍🤩🤩🤩😍😍🥰🥰😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍😍🤩🤩🥰😍😍😍🥰😍😍🥰🥰😍😍😍😍😍🤩😍😍🥰😍😍🤩🤩😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍🤩😍🥰🥰😍🤩😍🤩🥰😍🤩🥰😍🤩😍🥰😍🤩😍🥰😍🤩😍🥰😍🤩🤩🥰
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Spoilers in 7th & 9th *paragraph
I don't understand why this show is praised so much.I recently read 2 articles that promote 2016 as the best year for KDramas; this show is usually in the Top 2. It is often credited for helping start Hallyu streaming influence. This show was expected to impress since all of the internet glows at the mention of the title. So I have to ask, "who is threatening you and forcing you to praise it? Blink twice if you're in danger."
Acting and story are the main culprits for this trash heap going up in flames.
The acting was flat. I can't name one actress who gave a worthwhile performance. A few of the boys had impressionable moments... just a few. It was as if they plucked this cast from the waiting line at a soap opera audition and said, "while you're waiting...?" The acting felt so performative; they never acted past the camera, to the fictional world, but right at the camera. Chemistry was nonexistant in both lead couples (and you don't have to tell me about the Song couple, I know). Chemistry among the 2 teams (medical and military) was lacking. The doctors, while at the UN medical camp, never gave me anything to root for. Why did I feel I'd rather see a poverty stricken village doctor then the likes of this foreign medical team.
Quick sidenote: costumes. Whose idea was it to have our female lead where only skirts and blouses while on a volunteer medical mission trip? Everyday, she was dressed ready for a picnic, not treating Asia and its ailments. Wear scrubs, woman! She wore a skirt and heals to a disaster site. Just dwell on that for a second.
Back to cast. If you're a fan of seeing a favorite KPop star try their hand at acting, don't watch this. I don't listen to much KPop but I will avoid Shinee as much as possible, thanks to this show. Do you desire to watch a female emote nothing when she speaks romantically but, when she's doing her job as a medical officer, suddenly have a personality. Yeah, me neither. I prefer personality in both scenarios. Do you love being confused about the demographics of a fictional country within the story? If we want unexplainable diversity, just check-in with this country Urk. And our female lead. I think a kind estimation would be 35% effort. That's all she gave.
*My pitch for this show is "it weaved unimaginative junk together hoping we'd ignore the constant unrealistic and ludicrous situations." I mean, where to begin? One of the main antagonists is a gem smuggler and his trade is a handful of 1 caret diamonds? (rubs temples) Korean antagonists, aim higher! There's a Korean owned and opperated power plant in this small Arab country. Isn't that convenient! A young doctor, who has previous experience in a hospital, shrivels up at the reality of a human dying. Also, when he can't rescue a man buried in rubble - cause that's not his job - he loses all purpose in life and suffocates himself with guilt - again, for something that was never his responsibility. His wife is expecting! He is not gonna last one day parenting a child!*
Our main couple's story can be framed 'how does a soldier and a doctor court when their lives are so chaotic'? Well first, you can give the female doctor a realistic approach to healthcare. She wasn't just a doctor; the writers wanted her to be a Mother Theresa. A child stubbs their toe and she summons the whole Urk government to fix uneven pavement in the country. She spots a man with a slight bald spot, who makes no gesture of wanting to be bothered, straps him to a hospital bed, and surgically plants a wig. She notices that Urk children have a more agrarian diet and buys cows for each one to encourage growth and wellness. None of these happen in the show... but they could. Her savior complex was astronomical.
*Our soldier was no different. It's explained that he's an elite soldier within an elite team. But you're telling me that a night ops, rescue team to Afghanistan is the same team you pull for a North Korean escort? He and his team shouldn't do both. He's either elite stealth or he's bodyguard. Isn't it convenient that he's the one to wield the sniper at you-know-who. He's the only one who could do it! Of course, he gets dibs to return to the medical camp and become earthquake search and rescue. Korea's best stealth team isn't needed anywhere else? In the meantime, he'll try to solve disputes between a foreign couple cause his lady-love thinks 'the girlfriend deserves better.' He spots a child being pursued for stolen candy. To him, that's his cue to become morality officer and enforce mercy on the kid.*
Addressing his heroics, though, is an interesting task. Half of his rescue missions are necessary because they involve... rescuing her. Yep, the doctor. She says in ep 12, "I'm considering if you're a man I can handle." THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE! He needs to consider if he can handle her! Half of his life-threatening moments arose because she did something stupid or selfish. She guilted him for having dangerous missions and making light of the duties he performs. She never wore that guilt, despite the dangers he faced, were her doing. If he admitted 'she's a pretty face but not worth the trouble,' I would shake his hand and congragulate him as he left the room. Whether I was the doctor or the soldier, I would break up with the other because life gets uncharacteristically and annoyingly ridiculous when they are together.
This writer really dug deep in the pockests of creative license to write this show. If she had grounded these characters with either more realistic events or just less nonsense, I might've understood the complications of our main couple's pairing. But she threw them under the bus, repeatedly. You can't root for something when all it does is struggle and wimper? I lost patience with her laziness.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Hoo-rah!
Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”.I just recently re-watched this since I decided I needed some more Song Joong Ki in my life and Arthdal Chronicles next season isn’t out yet. 😊
Things I liked:
The bromance between Seo Dae Young and Yoo Shi Jin. They were my favorite couple in the drama. :D I also thought the funny moments were done so well—for example, the two MLs running desperately across the camp to prevent their girlfriends from opening a care package from other women was hilarious. The comments the women made as they watched shirtless soldiers run past were so funny. I liked that Kang Mo Yeon was skilled in her job and while, yes, she did need saving by our male lead, it was not the situation where a suddenly ace female martial artist no longer functions just so the ML can run around rescuing her. He was best at military stuff, she was best at medical stuff and they both did their jobs well. I liked their chemistry, too (& the chemistry of the second leads). I go back and forth about her going back and forth about dating YSJ. She had some legit concerns about the stress his job would cause her, on the other hand it just seems unfair that someone risks their life for their country and then can’t date because of it. But, having been in a relationship with someone with PTSD and TBI as the result of their combat experience, I can definitely understand her caution. Minor like: I like that they poked a bit of fun at the domineering CEO trope. He did all the things that CEO male leads do in dramas such as overwhelming the FL with flowers and investigating her life—but in this case, it backfired. Thank you!
Things I didn’t like:
The show really could have ended when they got back from the medical mission. The story didn’t have a point afterwards. Or…they should have had the evil dude go to South Korea and finish up the drama/action there. There were some medical inaccuracies and some plot holes but nothing that ever stood up and shouted.
Random question: Do Korean soldiers really have to verbally chop all their responses to their superiors like that when at attention?
Its a good watch. I'd recommend it for Song Joong Ki and to get a peek at one production's interpretation of military life in South Korea.
Was this review helpful to you?
A unique watch
I'm not a fan of war related korean dramas in all honesty this is the kind of drama i hated before i even watched it but i managed to watched it and it surprised me it was good i appreciated the comedy and the 2 couples a nice decent watch. I don't recommend going into this show if ur looking for something un complicated like a cute little stress free drama the military jargon WILL bore u but if u manage to stick around it will be worth itWas this review helpful to you?
Song JoongKi rocks as a baby faced soldier
I enjoyed the show. I liked the high risk military hijinks combined with not as intense medical procedures. I loved the fight scenes and the bromance, more so the shirtless running soldiers. I thought the locales they shot at were exquisite and the music score powerful. I enjoyed listening to the actors speak in English. But both couples gave me whiplash from the constant are they together, are they not together drama. That was way overdone.If you need a reason to watch this show, it should be Song Joong-ki! He’s beautiful and tough, deadly and cute, and for all the shows plot holes and inconsistencies, Big Boss is the one thing that will definitely steal your heart!
Was this review helpful to you?
Action, romance, cinematography, acting - wholesome drama
Must watch . It’s one of a kind drama. If you love melodramas with good action this one is for youPros:
Fight scenes - well choreographed fights
Actors- memorable due to the actors who brought characters to life
Cinematography - each scene feels like a photograph
Storyline and direction- the storyline and direction was superb. A roller coaster ride of emotions
Cons:
Sometimes it’s unrealistic story
Overall: it’s a one of a kind drama with sweet love story and superb acting from actors
Was this review helpful to you?
