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Jumong
Dec 5, 2007 16:14:54 GMT -5
Post by TheBo on Dec 5, 2007 16:14:54 GMT -5
Has anyone watched this drama? These are thread where it has been discussed previously (lotsa nice pics): jumong threadhistoricals coming in 2008historicals coming in 2009 (!!)But I am more interested in what people think of it. I am right now about 3/4 of the way through. So, I'm not asking you "what happens" in the drama (don't tell me who dies), I'm asking you if you LIKE it and why. Such as, This actor. so-and-so, sucks. Or, the scenery rivals Dae Jang Geum in sheer lyric audacity. LOL. My open disclaimer: I'm writing a review of the thing. I already have a pretty strong opinion about it, but thought maybe others would look at it differently than I do. Maybe making me look at that part again and re-think. So, if you feel like giving your opinion and why, I'd really appreciate it. But again, for the sake of those who have not seen it, don't be TOO specific. Bo
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jkn
Senior Addict
Posts: 319
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Jumong
Dec 5, 2007 16:33:51 GMT -5
Post by jkn on Dec 5, 2007 16:33:51 GMT -5
I really liked Jumong a lot. I have very little knowledge of Korean history so the uniform thing didn't bother me. And I do realize that it was not 100% accurate but never the less it was still very interesting to watch. In fact these shows are a great way to learn about history and entertaining at the same time. I thought it had a good story line and a lot of action. I think I enjoyed it more than Emperor of the Sea because it didn't end so sad.
Is this what your looking for or do you want more detail?
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Jumong
Dec 5, 2007 18:30:48 GMT -5
Post by mikey on Dec 5, 2007 18:30:48 GMT -5
Well, I really loved Jumong in the beginning. For a while, it was my must-watch weekly K-drama. All the others didn’t matter: I just HAD to watch Jumong.I liked Song Il-gook (who played Prince Jumong) here, though I liked him better in Emperor of the Sea. And I was amazed with the performance of actor Kim Seung-soo (who played Prince Taeso). It was such a jump from his earlier role in One Million Roses. And the actor (can’t recall his name right now) who played the androgynous troop manager was fascinating as well. Overall, there was some really good acting going on here. But, as the series wore on, I thought it started dragging, and though I kept watching, I really wasn’t all that sad when it finally ended. Was it just too much of a good thing? Don’t know, but as I hear it, Jumong was originally scheduled to run 50 episodes, but sky-high ratings caused the producers to hastily extend it to 81. And, sadly, I think it showed, as it seemed towards the end that the writers were grasping for just anything to keep it going. I won’t give away the ending (let me know when you finish, and I’ll squawk a little about it then) but let me say that it disappointed me as well. It could have been a whole lot more dramatic. As it was, it was a bit of a letdown. I personally didn’t mind the historically inaccurate (and sometimes slightly ridiculous) costuming, as I approached Jumong as more of a fantasy drama than a historical drama. Had I been wanting pure history, of course I would have been much more dissatisfied with the show. So, my take on Jumong is that it had the potential to be a near-masterpiece, but ended up being just "pretty good." Too bad.
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Choko
Junior Addict
Posts: 191
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Jumong
Dec 7, 2007 13:30:04 GMT -5
Post by Choko on Dec 7, 2007 13:30:04 GMT -5
I don't like it. period.
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Jumong
Dec 12, 2007 10:43:18 GMT -5
Post by TheBo on Dec 12, 2007 10:43:18 GMT -5
Oh, my, Choko. So succinct for you. LOL. Thanks, you guys, you are pretty much echoing a lot of what I thought (I know that sounds contradictory, but it's a long...long...loooooooooong drama). When I get further on, if you want to discuss it more, I'll be more than happy to do that, Mikey. LOL. My review is due in mid February so I'll have to be done by then, eh?
Bo
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Jumong
Dec 17, 2007 17:57:29 GMT -5
Post by MTR on Dec 17, 2007 17:57:29 GMT -5
I think it was ok though a lot of it seemed to be retreads of other drama's like Jumong love's two women and marrys the lesser of the two ,also he has the token sidekicks ,the music was dull as well.It had some good moments also the early stuff about Chumong's father Hae Mosu was great ,Sosunho (what ever her name is )is a good dominmant character (better than Chulin ,and the shamanistic religious stuff with the priestessess was great and it really picks up when Koguryo is founded and Chumong ages a few years ,but not in the same ballpark as "DJY "or" Emperor Of The Sea ".
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Jumong
Dec 24, 2007 21:30:07 GMT -5
Post by caidanbi on Dec 24, 2007 21:30:07 GMT -5
I thought it was not a bad show, but definitely not my favorite. It's not that I have a problem with any of the actors, I actually like some of them a lot, but parts of this show just really didn't do it for me. And I think it could've had a better soundtrack too. Usually when a drama ends I'm really sad because I like it so much, I want it to keep going, but I wasn't that way at all with Jumong. Even though I liked parts of it, I was actually relieved when it ended. I'd rather be watching something else.
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Jumong
Dec 26, 2007 17:41:55 GMT -5
Post by TheBo on Dec 26, 2007 17:41:55 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, doesn't the soundtrack just suck? It doesn't suit at all. And the music is played completely randomly, does not seem to tie into ANYTHING. LOL.
One of my many, many criticisms.
Bo
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chuck
Junior Addict
Posts: 117
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Jumong
Jul 1, 2009 21:34:00 GMT -5
Post by chuck on Jul 1, 2009 21:34:00 GMT -5
I liked Jumong quite a bit. The Hae Mosu story reminded me of Braveheart. The story had elements of King Arthur, and also The Odyssey (only Jumong could string the fabled Damul bow).
But my favorite part of the story was the King Kumwa/Lady Yuwha story, and also King Kumwa/Jumong story. Kumwa was the most interesting character. He wanted desperately to do the right thing always, but just did not have the strength to do it.
I didn't have much sympathy for Prince Daeso, who would sell out anyone and anything to cling to power. And his brother Youngpo was even worse.
I loved Sosuhno and Yuntabal, and their whole "troop."
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Ken
Junior Addict
Posts: 197
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Jumong
Jul 2, 2009 14:08:07 GMT -5
Post by Ken on Jul 2, 2009 14:08:07 GMT -5
Thanks, chuck, for reviving this thread. It's interesting that you bring it up now because at the time Jumong was first shown, it was pretty heavily criticized for its historical distortions and those comments seem so much more applicable to the joke of a "historical" drama we're being subjected to right now. Mikey turned out to be exactly right about the show losing it a little more than halfway through. As he noted, Jumong was extended because of the high ratings, but the second reason hurt the production even more: the production director assigned a different writer for much of the second half, which is all too apparent during the tedious episodes focusing on Yesoya and Yuri! (The PD, according to one reviewer I read is notorious for doing that in several of his series) That's a pity because Jumong could have been one of the very best ever produced. As it was, I can still honestly say that KBS hasn't produced a series as good as Jumong in several years! Why? The writing, particularly in the first half of the series, was as intelligent as it ever gets for a historical drama. There was one scenario, for example, where Puyo was threatened because its supply of salt was cut off. THe king assigned each of the three princes to come up with a solution to the crisis and each did. What each prince chose to do in response not only was perfectly in keeping with each character, but served as an accurate barometer for the relative levels of ingenuity and integrity of each prince. Also, the shows' flashbacks used new footage and conveyed new information. How many shows have we seen where the same footage is used over and over again to remind the viewer of something he/she just saw minutes ago? Not in Jumong! Jumong also was free from startled looks, Li Kaigu-type characters and many of the other usual irritants. A quick comparison to IE also serves to show how much better the direction and acting was in Jumong. The historical distortions turned out to not be anywhere as bad as many fans said - the outline of what is known about the period's history was followed pretty well (minus the mythological elements, of course)! I enjoyed reading about the founding of Gogureo and found that Jumong was a pleasant surprise in that Jumong and Hae Mosu appear in history as idealistic figures - they weren't recast as compassionate and brave contrary to historical sources like the heroine of IE. Even the love triangle was surprisingly tolerable, for the first 50 episodes anyway, and Jumong was actually involved with the women shown in the series - they weren't invented! A hint: if you watch Jumong on DVD, you can still see the subtitles at 2x speed, which comes in handy for the Yesoya-related second half tedium. So even though Jumong is a mixed bag, I highly recommend it, although I wish mikey wasn't as right as he turned out to be.
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Jumong
Jul 2, 2009 20:10:23 GMT -5
Post by MTR on Jul 2, 2009 20:10:23 GMT -5
The Hae Mosu story had a mega element of "Zatoichi The Blind Swordsman "especially the fight on the hill . In retrospect if you like KOTW than you HAVE to see this . Although Kingdom is better the three series (JA MYUNG GO being the third )are all part of a trilogy (despite being on rival networks ).
All in all it was not that bad i could think of much worse .
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Jumong
Jul 2, 2009 20:39:42 GMT -5
Post by mugwump on Jul 2, 2009 20:39:42 GMT -5
I really liked this one. It held my interest throughout, and so many of the characters were really 3-dimensional and complex. Most of the acting was top-notch. I also liked the fact that it had a whole range of female characters as well as males. Who would have thought that even Auntie had an agenda?
That said, I thought the whole Yesoya/Yuri/Yunhwa as hostage plot line was awful and the worst part of the show. I quickly grew tired of it Young Po also quickly became tedious, being one-note throughout. He never seemed to grow or change, unlike his older brother.
The ending wasn't as much of a downer as I expected it to be. Given what was apparently real history, I guess the writers made the events leading up to it pretty plausible. Chalk this up as another show where the hero and heroine do not live happily ever after.
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chuck
Junior Addict
Posts: 117
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Jumong
Jul 3, 2009 10:50:15 GMT -5
Post by chuck on Jul 3, 2009 10:50:15 GMT -5
I've never cared whether historical dramas were historically accurate or not. If I want to know the actual history, I'll read a history book, or watch a documentary. In a drama, I want drama.
In the school or art that appeals to me, Romanticism, art portrays men as they coiuld be and ought to be---as heroes---not as they are at any given point in time, which is the Naturalistic style. I want characters I can look up to, not characters to look down on.
That's why my favorite K-Drama is Dae Jang Geum, the most Romantic of them all.
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Jumong
Jul 19, 2009 10:41:58 GMT -5
Post by caidanbi on Jul 19, 2009 10:41:58 GMT -5
I liked it well enough, but it's not my favorite. There was too much fighting and not enough other stuff for my liking lol I don't care if it's historically accurate, my understanding was that it was a historical fantasy. When I watch historical dramas I tend to do some research to see just what really happened during that time period. It's interesting, and I enjoy doing that kind of thing. I didn't care for the soundtrack on Jumong that much, but I did like the costumes, they were cool ;D
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shiku
Junior Addict
Posts: 159
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Jumong
Jun 4, 2012 0:59:39 GMT -5
Post by shiku on Jun 4, 2012 0:59:39 GMT -5
So I just finished rewatching Jumong and I found I like it better than the 2 previous times I watched.
I think Song Il Gook did a good job as Jumong though he could have been better at some scenes. There were times I couldn't figure out who he loved more: Soseono or Ye Soya. My head was telling me its Soseono but in the last few eps he seemed to be more in love with Ye Soya especially after finding out she was dying.
Soseono is my favorite character in the show. I loved that she was able to grow from being a little immature and arrogant to such awesome enterprising, realistic, hardworking and supporting wife. I don't think Jumong would have had a more suitable wife than her. She never wavered in her love for him even when she married Wootae (sucks for him!). She was always ready to support him in his quest for unification, built a palace for him, used her riches to feed him and always knew what he was thinking or wanted. I don't think Jumong appreciated her enough as his proposal sucked big time. Plus he didn't seem happy on their wedding day. She had me in tears in ep78 when she was trying to explain to her sons about Yuri and Ye Soya and her following conversation with Jumong. Trying to be strong when you could tell she just wanted to fall apart as she knows if she does the country will fall apart. Deciding between her husband and kids must have been an excruciating choice. How awesome was she to be able to help build 2 kingdoms?
Jun Kwang Ryul did a great portrayal of King Geumwa (waayyy better than Hur Jun). I like the little things he gave his character e.g. how he would always be seated sideways with one hand at his waist. I liked how he was eerily calm even when he was mad. I liked his scenes with Yuhwa especially when he was afflicted by the curse. Desperate to hold onto her even though she never ever loved him. I especially like his scene with Jumong at the funeral when the latter wanted to to take his mother's body away he firmly refused. I also like he finally apologized (too late) to the queen for treating her so badly throughout the eyes. Even though he was a good monarch, he was a lousy father. As a result of his blatant favoritism, all his sons tried to kill each other.
I liked Yuhwa as she was such a strong character although at times I thought she was cold to the King who loved her and tried to protect. She was a good support for Ye Soya who I don't think would have survived the palace without her.
My other favorite character was Sayong. I liked how he was androgenous and he didn't care how others perceived him. I loved his relationship with Hyoopo (one of my favorite lines was something like others may see me as a man, but I look at you as a woman). However, I wished they had kept the character as intelligent as when we first met him. He had a way of analyzing stuff without getting emotional.
Kyun Miri was good as the queen. She is always good in her roles so I was wondering why she was agree to be in Roof-top prince. You could see how much she loved the King but ended up hating him due to his obsession with Yuhwa. She was also a horrible mother in that she blatantly favored Taeso over Youngpo and placed her burden of vengeance onto her son.
Taeso was an interesting character that made me hate, pity, laugh at him. He could have been a good emperor if he wasn't so crazy obsessed with Jumong.
When I first watched the show, everytime I saw Ye Soya I the word 'usurper' would appear in my head because I felt she came between Jumong and Soseono who I think are the perfect couple. I know I should sympathise with her plight but I just don't. This time I don't hate her as much but I still don't like her or Yuri. Even their reunion scenes with Jumong were bland. I wish she had explained the whole story to Yuri when she told him who her father was. I don't get why she left the broken sword (how can it break so easily like a twig) in Buyeo palace when she ran away.
Youngpo and his assistant are just dumb and dumber. They fail at everything.
I don't know why anyone listenned to sorceress Maryoung when she would tell them anything they wanted to hear. A lightening strike was a fitting end to her. She was such a downgrade from Yeo Miule.
Buyeo's Prime Minister (Unavoidable?) was such a loyal figure even though I alternated between hating and liking him. I wonder how old he was if he served through 3 (4) emperors.
I liked the OST and I think it was appropriately used in the drama.
Does anyone have any info on the Old Chosun empire? Are there any dramas based on it?
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