Winter Sonata

as all korean dramas go, this series drags on unnecessarily for twenty episodes. the characters remain static throughout every episode. all the situations concocted in this series could only happen through huge, unlikely coincidences. this series is interesting in the beginning, but after the fifth episode it is a waste of time. if you've seen 'autumn story' this series is practically the same plot. the creator/writer/director/whoever needs to think of a fresh plot and stop reusing his material. everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. the characters are indecisive and none of them have a backbone. this series could have been cut down to five episodes and would have made everybody's life happier. your time would be better spent watching something else.

I was at high school when this TV-series was shown on TV. First I didn't have time and thought it was just another love story which has a happy ending. But after few months because of a very high demand they showed it again so I had a chance to watch and it grabbed my attention from the beginning and I watched it over and over. Last time I was watching it on the internet in original language with English subtitles. Beautiful!!! If they play it again I'll stay watch and enjoy the beauty of the love. Acting is perfect! One of the thing that caught people's attention was music. So awesome! It's no wonder the actors were found to be the best in 2002. If you haven't yet, I suggest you watch it! It's a must!

what a tear-jerker! the series is very nice to look at as well; the contrast between its warm tones and the glassy blue and yellow tones & high contrast a lot of directors seem to be into now kept standing out. return to the gooey lighting and fireside ambiance of each episode of winter sonata was a treat. the theme song got to be little hard to endure after a while, possibly because it was impossible to not associate it with a lionel richie song from like twenty years ago whose video happened to call up a theme common to this series. imagine that. jun sang is of course dreamy, tho after reading about all the plastic surgery in the series, that's not so fun. by far the most likable characters are the "sidekicks" of the main dramatic couple, especially Mr. Kim.

My wife bought this on DVD and wanted me to watch it with her. I was pretty skeptical at the time because I don't care too much for love stories. After watching the first episode, I changed my mind - this is really good. It did make my wife cry through the whole show and it almost brought a tear out of me. Now, it takes a a lot to do that to me.

If you haven't watched this yet, please do. You won't be disappointed. It has everything - great acting and directing, beautiful scenery and music.

Overall rating: 10 out of 10

Winter Sonata is a highly regarded popular Korean melodrama with great reviews. The series features a small cast and focuses on the love triangle between:

i) Jun-sang, a bastard, born from the embers of passion between Gollum and a village hound dog

ii) Yoo-jin, a feisty pretty young thing

iii) Sang-Hyuk, the boy next door.

Jun-sang is actually a good guy, but is hypnotised by Yoo-jin, and begins wearing big scarves and ladies mittens. Sang-Hyuk is like a brother to Yoo-jin, and rival to Jun-sang, but he has no job and is no good at fighting. Watch out for danger woman, Chae-Lin!

So the story begins with the courtship between Jun-sang and Yoo-jin at their high school. The other cast are introduced who are the school friends and also the elders. Then tragedy strikes......One of the characters headbutts a Volvo. It's OK though, the Volvo survives and is sent to the repair shop.

Fast forward 10 years later and the high school students are now working in Seoul. Coincidentally all have kept in touch and are either living, working or drinking together. Jun-sang has disappeared from the scene but has been replaced by another actor who looks very much like him and is called Min-Hyung. Min-Hyung is hypnotised by Chae-Lin and starts to quote Confucius and wear turtle neck sweaters. Everyone misses Jung Soon and hates Min-Hyung.

Next everyone start fighting with everyone else, each fall over or go to hospital one at a time, everyone bows a lot and finally Yoo- jin makes a decision.

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The Good - Performances, heart (first few episodes)

The Bad - Predictable, Cliché, Overlong (next 14 episodes)

Overall - Dour