User reviews

Korean Drama '' Queen Woo '' is a historical drama with a focus on the political scene of the time.

The drama has a strong female lead whom we see bloom into a leader despite her gender and those against her. Her fight to establish herself was interesting to follow, as she is canning and understands how to masterfully manipulate the palace politics. The more tender storyline with her and her husband gave her another dimension to her character.

However, the ending was anticlimactic, with the upcoming final battle never coming and the season-ending kind of open, with an unluckily second season on the horizon.

Still, the performances were great and the cinematography was impressive.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

This is how you do a Korean historical drama. Hella raw, tight, tense, packed, epic. Certainly pales in comparison to the run of the mill historical drama that Korea churns out. This feels real. This is captivating. I can root for the main character, I am right behind her. I do not feel cheated out of my time by countless hours of fluff. So it's safe to say it's the best I have seen so far. I haven't tried that many, but what I did watch left me with a distaste for the genre. I generally avoid them.

Admittedly I got into this for Ji Chang-wook and it is such a nice departure from the other k-dramas that he's done. I haven't seen his action thriller ones, just his rom-coms, but man he actually gets to act here. I knew he could do it but I have seen none of his mannerisms from the other ones. It's a completely new arsenal. They certainly worked on his face and physique and well, basically for me it's the most real character that he's played and I realize this is a fantasy historical drama, but still.

This is not the Queen Woo I initially thought of, no relation to the Chinese Woo of course. She is said to be fictional, but I hope there have been several Woos out there in Asia. I can totally see it. I liked the actress, she has a very commanding presence in all her scenes, I am surprised her filmography is not that large.

The pacing is very tight, so much is happening that you can barely keep up, there are so many factions and players exposed that you can hardly distinguish between them, I gave up at some point and tried to enjoy it as it unfolded. It uses flashbacks a bit too much to give historical background and to elaborate on various characters' past. It's not a concern, again I took it as it came. There are a lot of narrative threads and it seems to end with a clear hint at a second season, so that will probably happen.

This review is for part 1 only. This is not a usual pink colour drama, that most the viewers expecting. I appreciate the bravery of the director, crew and whole cast for showcasing the reality of the historical era. The story building is great and the performance of the actors are really on next level. Directing, Acting, Screen writing, plot and even the BGM are so cool. The dialogues are another thing to focus bcz they hv deep and beautiful meanings. This drama include nudity and violence. If it is not your type you should ignore. The most of the bad ratings for the nudity, the drama is perfect.

With all the hype and controversies, I was hoping that this would be a memorable saeguk to add to the list of many excellent saeguk dramas already produced.

Nevertheless, despite the line of cast that I deem as amazing actors, the story failed to engage prolonged interest. Most importantly, the drama failed to portray the essence of how the queen would be in her wise and strong persona.

Maybe it's too short? Does the result of the war to defend the throne unimportant to the director, that he ended the drama at the war scene? Does it not matter who won the war? Did the treacherous brothers of the dead king got punished?

Waste of time, seriously.

Here waiting patiently for part 2. This is the best historical kdrama i've watched in a while. Amazing screen play/cinematography. The actors did amazing especially the female lead. And lee soo hyuk?? I knew he would never disappoint. I think everyone who's complaining about the Nudity and s3x scenes (possibly kids) are people who are just not used to this kind of genre. Cause this is far from your average historical kdrama. If you are someone who's bothered by that type of scenes than this ain't for you. I personally find this show very thrilling. It definitely deserves a watch. Wishing it would have more episodes than 8.

I think you guys have some mental problem , you should wake up to reality not all the dramas are all lovely and very korean wake up bunch of ungrateful fat critic !. Now how does that feel if ur words get back to you womp womp.

This is the best kdrama ever includes the dreams of a lady and it inspire others lady out there to chase their dreams and the story line is the best I must say no cap include all kinds be it romance or war or any that a good flim should have am giving it a 10/10 and about the king who died I don't blame the writer it is through that shows how a lady must survive on their own not only on the husband shadow and the story line always excites me for the next episode which made my weeks more shorter and it doesn't fail to impress me .

A period K-drama based on the fictitious story of Queen Woo, who, after the death of her husband, the King, must do everything possible to protect herself as well as the kingdom from falling into the wrong hands.

The 8 part series, while maintaining its gripping storyline, shows minor plots similar to Bahubali as well as Shogun. While some critics have described the series as "filthy" because of the amount of skin shown, the series could bring a lot more only if it continues for another season. Although the show could be said to have concluded, but then one might think- all this build up just for this!

Anyone who thinks this is perfect has obviously never watched an even remotely good drama before. It was boring and the bad writing shows. The director was just a "pick me" director who tried to be different in every way possible to be edgy. The only interesting parts were the flashbacks and the relationship between the king and queen. There was a lot of action but action is useless when the viewer doesn't care for the characters, which was pretty hard to do, considering that most of them had pretty terrible personalities. The only one I care about right now is the queen, but I wouldn't shed tears even if she died, and I usually cry easily.

If you are someone who appreciated shows like GOT im sure you will like this korean style GOT type of drama. This show gives a dark eery vibe with alot of s3x and nudity. Big applause to Jeon Jongseo, lee soo hyuk and ji changwook for pulling it off the way they did. Amazing screenplay and cinematography and plot. It's really sad to see people give such low ratings to this masterpiece. As a seasoned historical drama watcher this is quite literally one of the best historical kdrama i've watched. Just because ur not into this specific genre does not mean this is a bad show. It simply means u have no taste. The way it ended I'm guessing there's gonna be a season 2. Cant wait for season 2. Hopefully it wont get canceled.

The director tried to pull a Shogun style TV series with the cast he always used. The premise and storyline is interesting but the ending is way too anticlimactic. The whole show was the queen running from one price to another and the pm guy trying to figure out who killed the king before he had the chance to do it himself. The unwinnable looking battle was won in a...flashback scene?! Without telling how the battle was won or who survived. Now the audience have to google about the last battle played out. If you want to watch games of thrones and shogun, just go watch them again instead of this half-baked cliffhanger.

I dont understand the low ratings at alll ???. The story is super intense and the plots never stop coming !! . not everyday do u see a female war protagonist esp in kdramas. LOVE jeon jeong seo inhere.

The cast is amazing the acting is amazing the storyline is amazing. Altho there is some of gore n nudity here and there, it keeps you hooked until the end ! Infact i finished this in a day and the whole time i was so tensed up. Cant wait for the other season to drop so i can binge watch again hehe.

PLS give it a try , will not disappoint at all !!! This a must if youre into war, period pieces and esp jeon jeong so ;))

I do not consider this serie a classical kdrama but a very interesting historical series.

I found it realistic and intense. I know there were several issue about costumes and other historical matters but as an ignorant foreign I can't appreciate the accuracy.

Great performances indeed by all the cast. The action scenes are very well made, they give the right level of suspance. There is violence, cruelty and sex as there were in that historical era. I appreciate such an ending, it gives the opportunity to study what happened to discover a piece of history that we don't know. It deserves more visibility.

I thought the drama will end at episode 8.....arhhhhh.... There is season 2!

Have been a thrilling show glued to watch the unfolding of 24 hours event. Very captivated!

Get a pop corn and wine for 4 episodes one go!

Parental guidance needed for certain gory scenes and sexual scenes. Nudity expected. It will be great with English subtitle as a foreigner watching this can be challenging.

Loved the scenes of autumn leaves. The acting is pretty professionally done and some look really emotional.

The having to flash back every episodes might be a little confusing if you do not watch closely. Enjoy!

Why does she have only one expression? Also she looks and sounds like a literal child in those costumes. It seems like the crown/headdress will fall over and cover her entire face at any moment lol.

The writing was terrible as well. The scenes look disjointed and I am no prude with R rated scenes but there should be a reason for their existence in the series. It felt too contrived, like trying to generate publicity though controversy in a somewhat conservative country using those scenes.

Some of the night scenes were a hard watch, couldnt tell whats going on.

I think the King actor carried the drama for me and some of the other actors did pretty good job as well.

In my watch list, I have over 400 kdramas, of which at least 100 are historical, (with plots ranging from fantasy love stories to reality-based hysterics) This drama is one of the best historical kdramas I've watched (including Empress Ki being one of them) Amazing screen acting / perfect casting The actors did an amazing job especially the female lead. Jeon Jong Seo and Ji Chang Wook I knew he would never disappoint. I think everyone who complains about nudity scenes are people who are simply not used to this genre. Because this is far from your average historical kdrama. What was special about the drama was that it was historically based. The production was accompanied by a historian who made sure that the details were accurate, including amazing costumes. The production was so invested on an international level. I'm not sure why they made such a big deal out of the "sex" scenes (historically, that was the case). And that was also a tactic intended for the queen. The drama was accurate in terms of the number of episodes as well as its ending. The queen, who was historically strong, managed to keep the throne for a short period of time. It's true that there is violence in the drama, but it was also historically correct (the historical period was very cruel, that's a fact). In my opinion, a drama that deserves all the praise, for the casting, the soundtrack, the set... and of course Ji Chang Wook, who did not disappoint with a phenomenal performance.

Most of the action scene/war with horses are poorly done. Horses are not in good shape, most of the action are the same repeatedly done throughout every action scenes... If you cannot master war or horse fight scenes don't do it, waist of time to develop the plot really. I think they could have done it more simple with less action and be still spectacular, clearly trying to do like any big American series/ production without the skills.

The plot lack more character development.. Also I noticed a lot of criticism about the costume not accurate. I think they were trying to show the characters in a dark way with some sex scenes, but it might too much for the "genre"

Was a good binge watch - only let down for me was the horse riding scenes. If you're going to film riding horses either get good stunt doubles or zoom out. And continually galloping close ups was a little bit laughable. Only unrealistic part of the series. It will be exciting to see if series II what will happen and if they advance on. Queen Woo is a formidable opponent and will great to see where it leads if there is another series. The costumes were fantastic. I did get lost with who the prime minister was and a couple of the others had to rewatch a few scenes to get it. Best to watch in the original language with English subtitles .

The historical interest was great whether it was true or not didn't matter. What was unnecessary was the added sexual perversion that did nothing except distract from the storyline, and degraded good acting and actors. A season 2 might be enjoyable if they took time to make the storyline a little bit more interesting and you don't need weird sex to make that happen you just need good writers. Again the weird sex is not needed everybody has an imagination and we get it but all that weirdness does is illuminate the fact that the writers needed something to distract from their inability to create a good storyline.

I have watched many K-Dramas and love the historical stories. This is one of the best I have seen. I do hope there is a season two. The action all takes place in a short time with flashbacks. There is real brutality and sexuality. While there is some criticism of the female frontal nudity, it is relevant to the story. And, honestly, Jeon Jung-seo is very well-built.

This is not like K-Drama style. They ruined the K-Drama style with immoral scenes. Now I will not be able to watch the work of the actors in this series. Another series. I couldn't even rid this work of drama. I hope that the style of Korean drama will remain as it was in the past and not become like other dramas. And everyone who loves this type of drama, you are helping to preserve Korean drama in this same inappropriate style.

I hope the future series of K-Drama not like this of style or like this type of immoral scenes I hope the will do better than this and you should do better than this ..

At the 25th sense of senseless sex I could no longer understand if I was watching a TV series on the Korean culture of that era or a porn movie! Sex between the king and the Reggina and ok, sex between the handmaids, sex between handmaids and priests, between the king and the handmaids, it seems that the TV series runs all around the sex scenes, perhaps they have nothing better to tell, There are many very long scenes that are repetitive and redundant, where practically nothing happens there are very long and endless looks !! I had to go on many scenes because they were boring and trivial truly naive dialogues written in a really too simple way, unfortunately this series is truly a disaster for Korea which is a great country for films and for the TV series !!

The aim of this series was apparently to create a kind of Korean "Game of Thrones". With a murder at the royal court, intrigues at every corner, different clans and factions all striving for different kinds of power, alliances and betrayal, sex and violence... unfortunately, this series fails in this ambitious goal. The intrigues are so confusing that even the director no longer seemed to know who actually killed the king. Lengthy chases and extremely monotonous dialogues also do not contribute to a gripping adventure full of tension and depth.

As a European, I also have the typical problem with this series that I cannot remember all the Korean names of the protagonists and antagonists. Especially because there are numerous characters with the name "Woo" or "Go". This makes it difficult to follow the plot in the long run. In addition, to my European eyes, many of the actors look very similar (unfortunately, this prejudice is completely true here) and I often had to wonder who this or that person was. The whole situation was made worse by the fact that all the characters (male and female) were dressed in similar clothes and had the same updo and the men had the same beard style. Many of the characters, especially the queen and the prime minister, also showed almost no facial expressions. No matter what the situation or mood, the faces always seemed rigid and emotionless, like lifeless masks at a carnival ball.

Many of the riding scenes also show how cheaply they were staged. Especially when you see close-ups of the riders, it is more than obvious that the actors sat on dummy horses during filming. You also notice how bad the CGI is, especially when whole armies of riders and soldiers are shown. The movements of the individual horses or soldiers appear fake and the scenery blurred. In addition, many of the action scenes made me shake my head. The queen and her entourage manage to escape from their horseback pursuers in a carriage - even though they should have been slower. It's also annoying in every film that shows historical battles with horses that everyone always tries to hit the riders with bows and arrows. Or fighters try to strike down the rider on horseback with a sword instead of simply aiming arrows at the horses or hitting the horse's legs with swords. Only once in the series it is shown how a horse is deliberately shot with a bow in order to bring the rider down. Even when arrows rain down on an approaching group of riders, not a single horse is hit.

In terms of sex and violence, the film obviously also wanted to be on a par with "Game of Thrones". However, the sex scenes here just seem inappropriate and contrived. And absolutely unnecessary, especially because they are often staged too extreme. From explicit lesbian intercourse to oral sex while several high-ranking ministers are present to a rape scene with a bloody ending, everything is represented here - but it's pretty unnecessary to move the story forward. The same goes for the explicit scenes of violence, in which not only the blood is flowing in abundance but which are also accompanied by exaggerated sound effects of swords piercing human flesh. And it's often the women who suffer the most violence.

And the end of the series can only be described as a great disappointment. Those who expected the big fight for the crown will only see the credits instead. The viewer can now make up his own mind about all the intrigue, murder and betrayal.