I am stunned. I am a mess from watching this just now. What I admire the most about this film, and there is much to admire, is that it pulled no punches in its balls-out portrayal of the insane inhumanity, the grotesque futility, the god-awful bloody, meat-grinding ugliness of war.
I have been conditioned by way too many Hollywood war films in my years before finding Asian cinema, to expect some relief in the form of a happy ending for somebody, anybody in the outcome of this battle. I found myself yearning for something like that to come because that's what I've usually seen before. Not this time...and I am glad of that. Because war sucks in every possible way.
But many times, as in this case, there is no other way but to engage when confronted with a ruthless aggressor who attacks, else all will be lost for everyone and everything we care about.
I'm babbling, but this is a very good war film, centered on what, in the scheme of history was a very small incident; but which to those who fought it was all-consuming. Bless every one of them.
I might have given the film a 9.5/10 rating had it not been for the slow second quarter during which it meandered around on land among the sailors and their families. I know what was being attempted, but that part of the story failed for me. Something was off; it didn't feel genuine.
Did you think so? I think it was tonally at odds with the first two, but I still enjoyed it.
I found the bit with the girl not believable, and a distraction from the core of the story. Why would she be attracted to Futoshi, who in her own words is "girly?" It's not as though he suddenly became wildly popular and she was seeking status. To me, it felt like an excuse for us to laugh when he threw up.
What’s sad is that we tend to judge and pile on, without facts. It hurts that he could not envision daylight…
Well said. I agree.
I was more worried about Yoo Ah In when he was still free and the "scandal" was ongoing, because I have no idea what kind of personal, emotional support he has and I fretted that he would take his own life.
I continue to be concerned for his mental health and life but presumably (and it being Korea, I'm assuming a lot here) he is under close watch while in jail. I can't bring myself to write "prison" because the fact he's there is just so wrong. Supposedly, he is undergoing drug treatment as he serves his absurd sentence.
Yes, most Korean celebs are cowards who hide in the corners when their peers are under attack. But then when it's their turn...
This flick gets better with every watch. Needs SOME background/character development on Murai. I know nothing about his past...because the film tells me nothing. Did he suddenly appear one day out of nowhere?
Ending is, once again, a cop-out. I'd love to see a Korean remake of this.
I spent half my time reading your comment while thinking "what the hell is this guy talking about? lol
NO ONE could pick up all thaton one watch and without a LOT of pre-watch research. Are you claiming to have understood all you include in your comment in ONE watch with no prior knowledge of the plot and its background?
Using the term "...unable to understand..." as though 99% of viewers, who will NOT understand this film on first watch are intellectually disabled, is unnecessarily insulting.
Perhaps people, myself included (I adore this film and will rewatch it multiple times) were "unable to understand it" because it was not written, plotted, edited, or directed well enough to convey its extremely complicated story. By movie's end, I had concluded that the director does not CARE if his audience understands his story; he's getting off on the look and vibe of the film. It's a typical directorial form of masturbation. "My film is so awesome I don't give a fuck if anyone gets it."
I've read a shit-ton of reviews of TTOH and no one claims to understand this film The director and writers are perhaps deliberately sloppy.
I will ask one question that I think even you did not answer above: Who is Yao Hua's mom?
"Content warning: Vomiting" lol You are a piece of work. Content warning: Sneezing Content warning: Taking a dump (off-camera) Content warning: Stubs toe Content warning: Coughing Content warning: Living life
If you were "put off" by an age difference you inferred, why did you watch the show? I've always thought you're the type who seeks to be offended. Aren't you going to go nuts over the dreaded "age gap?"
This was quite a bit better than most stories of this type, though it had weak spots.
High schools don't leave their rooftop doors unlocked because you know why. Pretending they do so allows for melodramatic confrontations between antagonists, but it's been done a 1,000 times. I would like to know a little about how/why the FL changed her ways from before her transfer. Was Li Chia drugged? I didn't buy the FL's co-conspirators' sudden refusal to follow through with posting the vid. The almost-romance was a waste of time.
On the other hand, all the acting was good. I've become a big Edison Song fan; Hsia Teng Hung too. Both were excellent in the 2023 film "The Time of Huannan," which I watched last night and highly recommend. FL Wang Yu Ping is in TTOH also.
Emotionally wrecking. I have never before wept so frequently during a film without knowing why the hell I was crying. I think it is the intense chemistry between and among the four principal characters, to the extent that though what they were doing and how they got there was a mess, the angst was overwhelming.
The plot is somewhat of a mess, and many of the characters' behaviors/actions don't make a lot of sense given their circumstances. The penultimate scene on the beach and in the water was incoherent. Worst of all, the time-travel element is sloppily rendered. It makes no sense either. It's kind of a toss-off.
And yet, despite all this, I am rating this 9/10 because of the film's beauty and all the random feels the actors conveyed.
All three male leads are just as talented as they are pretty. The FL is a very good actor, but why did her character not age? wtf?
Hey, hate-watching's a thing, a source of genuine pleasure, and, in my case, a fertile ground to harvest a good…
Oh, I thoroughly get "hate-watching," but for me a show has to be SO bad it's good, and these repetitive Thai turds somehow manage to be only blandly bad and thus, of no enjoyment to me.
NO ONE is stopping your enjoyment of this shitty series. NO ONE has made any attempt to do such a thing.
Your delusion that one negative comment among thousands of "ass-licking" ones (as Mimi so colorfully put it) somehow impedes your enjoyment of the show is a common one among MDL members who enjoy crappy BLs.
1 
1 
I am stunned. I am a mess from watching this just now. What I admire the most about this film, and there is much to admire, is that it pulled no punches in its balls-out portrayal of the insane inhumanity, the grotesque futility, the god-awful bloody, meat-grinding ugliness of war.
I have been conditioned by way too many Hollywood war films in my years before finding Asian cinema, to expect some relief in the form of a happy ending for somebody, anybody in the outcome of this battle. I found myself yearning for something like that to come because that's what I've usually seen before. Not this time...and I am glad of that. Because war sucks in every possible way.
But many times, as in this case, there is no other way but to engage when confronted with a ruthless aggressor who attacks, else all will be lost for everyone and everything we care about.
I'm babbling, but this is a very good war film, centered on what, in the scheme of history was a very small incident; but which to those who fought it was all-consuming. Bless every one of them.
I might have given the film a 9.5/10 rating had it not been for the slow second quarter during which it meandered around on land among the sailors and their families. I know what was being attempted, but that part of the story failed for me. Something was off; it didn't feel genuine.
8.5/10 Highly recommended.
I was more worried about Yoo Ah In when he was still free and the "scandal" was ongoing, because I have no idea what kind of personal, emotional support he has and I fretted that he would take his own life.
I continue to be concerned for his mental health and life but presumably (and it being Korea, I'm assuming a lot here) he is under close watch while in jail. I can't bring myself to write "prison" because the fact he's there is just so wrong. Supposedly, he is undergoing drug treatment as he serves his absurd sentence.
Yes, most Korean celebs are cowards who hide in the corners when their peers are under attack. But then when it's their turn...
Needs SOME background/character development on Murai. I know nothing about his past...because the film tells me nothing. Did he suddenly appear one day out of nowhere?
Ending is, once again, a cop-out.
I'd love to see a Korean remake of this.
The big hair and big coats are fun. :)
NO ONE could pick up all thaton one watch and without a LOT of pre-watch research. Are you claiming to have understood all you include in your comment in ONE watch with no prior knowledge of the plot and its background?
Using the term "...unable to understand..." as though 99% of viewers, who will NOT understand this film on first watch are intellectually disabled, is unnecessarily insulting.
Perhaps people, myself included (I adore this film and will rewatch it multiple times) were "unable to understand it" because it was not written, plotted, edited, or directed well enough to convey its extremely complicated story. By movie's end, I had concluded that the director does not CARE if his audience understands his story; he's getting off on the look and vibe of the film. It's a typical directorial form of masturbation. "My film is so awesome I don't give a fuck if anyone gets it."
I've read a shit-ton of reviews of TTOH and no one claims to understand this film The director and writers are perhaps deliberately sloppy.
I will ask one question that I think even you did not answer above: Who is Yao Hua's mom?
Content warning: Sneezing
Content warning: Taking a dump (off-camera)
Content warning: Stubs toe
Content warning: Coughing
Content warning: Living life
If you were "put off" by an age difference you inferred, why did you watch the show? I've always thought you're the type who seeks to be offended. Aren't you going to go nuts over the dreaded "age gap?"
High schools don't leave their rooftop doors unlocked because you know why. Pretending they do so allows for melodramatic confrontations between antagonists, but it's been done a 1,000 times.
I would like to know a little about how/why the FL changed her ways from before her transfer.
Was Li Chia drugged?
I didn't buy the FL's co-conspirators' sudden refusal to follow through with posting the vid.
The almost-romance was a waste of time.
On the other hand, all the acting was good. I've become a big Edison Song fan;
Hsia Teng Hung too. Both were excellent in the 2023 film "The Time of Huannan," which I watched last night and highly recommend. FL Wang Yu Ping is in TTOH also.
8/10
Emotionally wrecking. I have never before wept so frequently during a film without knowing why the hell I was crying. I think it is the intense chemistry between and among the four principal characters, to the extent that though what they were doing and how they got there was a mess, the angst was overwhelming.
The plot is somewhat of a mess, and many of the characters' behaviors/actions don't make a lot of sense given their circumstances. The penultimate scene on the beach and in the water was incoherent. Worst of all, the time-travel element is sloppily rendered. It makes no sense either. It's kind of a toss-off.
And yet, despite all this, I am rating this 9/10 because of the film's beauty and all the random feels the actors conveyed.
All three male leads are just as talented as they are pretty. The FL is a very good actor, but why did her character not age? wtf?
9/10
And your review is a riot! :D Well done.
NO ONE has made any attempt to do such a thing.
Your delusion that one negative comment among thousands of "ass-licking" ones (as Mimi so colorfully put it) somehow impedes your enjoyment of the show is a common one among MDL members who enjoy crappy BLs.