Song of the Bandits

This series is pack with actions, blood, tears, sweat and successfully deliver the most heartbreaking love stories. Nam Heeshin played by Seohyun is a good actress that manage to steal my heart!! Her character might seem soft but actually her strength is in her mind. An independent activist who yearning freedom for her country. Lee Yoon played by Kim Namgil brought out his 'A' game!! He is a wild bandit who have a heart for his lady. Other main characters also succeeds to grab my attention. Not to mention the cinematography is top notch! Did i mention the main Ost is a killer especially during critical scenes!!

Song of the Bandits is a Korean Version of the American Wild West, to sum it up pretty much in that way! It was interesting enough for me to learn some History, the fact that I didn't know the Japanese were occupying Korea, along with ruthlessness, lawlessness and violence with Bandits. You begin to love and be interested in all the characters. The fight choreography is kick-ass, the kills are great and the Action is cool for the most part. Soundtrack is beautiful, especially with its main opening theme, reminding me of something like The Last Of The Mohicans. The authentic early 1900s setting, costume design and props is also well done. Now out of all 9 episodes in this, 2 of them are not very good. Episode 7 was not the best. I thought "Well ya know what, that's not a problem! We're nearing to the finale with just two episodes left and the finale should be the best one!" Now normally in most circumstances, you would think the Best would be saved for Last. Unfortunately, the show had to end with its finale being the Worst saved for Last. And when you have a finale that leaves you disappointed after watching a show you really liked, it's hard to stay motivated to even look forward to the next Season. I don't like it when TV shows do that to us. Nobody does. You always want to end your show with a memorable finale, one that sparks people and keeps them talking about it. So it's a shame to me that the finale of this is perhaps...forgettable. By all means though, Song of the Bandits does deserve a good rating and I still recommend the watch. After all, it is a Korean show and Korean content is always so entertaining!

Pro:

• Beautiful cinematography, art and costume design
• Stylish action
• Fast paced plot, though ep 1 is a bit slow
• Acting is top notch, especially the male lead
• The female assassin is such a badass and scene stealer

Con:

• The finale is a bit rush and frustrating, they certainly was aiming for 2nd season
• As with typical korean drama, cliche love triangle and childhood love but without much chemistry between the leads
• Should have highlighted more on the relationship between male lead and the japanese army major

But the whole series is entertaining enough and recommended for those who loves kdrama.

The series starts from the right place and has good characterization and exciting flashbacks. The actors have acted correctly and elegantly, and the story of the series is attractive and exciting. The action scenes which are designed without consideration and induces stress and excitement and finally show the sad story and the violence of the Japanese people of that period to the Korean people. If the series has many audiences, it is very likely that it will have a second season, and I hope that we will witness it and be able to enjoy the second season as well, and finally, I will narrate what I am very interested in, the western and cowboy style of the series is very beautiful and The type of guns and weapons used in the series is unique. And in fact, there were really train tracks and also weapons in that period .

I liked "Song of the Bandits" very much: good opening graphics, OST, writing, direction, action scenes, and fine actors who poured their hearts into their roles. I also learned about a part of Korean history and another group of freedom fighters I didn't know before. Weaknesses, however, in the awkward shooting of some scenes like embarrassingly fake horseback riding and some over-the-top, wide-eyed arguing most of which contrasted awkwardly with the usually stylish direction. Otherwise, this series was enjoyable: I cared very much about the characters, and admired the writing, actors' intensity, and directors's decisions. Recommended.