The Royal Gambler (2016)

Una bella storia, molto ben recitata da ottimi attori

La recensione che segue l'ho recuperata in rete, è sintetica e spiega bene che cosa si sta per vedere, ne condivido i giudizi.
Ambientato nel periodo della dinastia Joseon, all’inizio del XVIII secolo, vede tra i protagonisti proprio i personaggi storici del re Sukchong (1661-1720) e i suoi figli re Kyongjong e re Yongjo che regnò per ben 52 anni (il più longevo regno della dinastia) dal 1724 al 1776 e ricordato come uno dei più grandi regnanti coreani, che perseguì realmente il benessere del popolo e della nazione con la sua iniziale politica della riappacificazione.
Tutti i personaggi descritti nel drama sono realmente esistiti, tranne Baek Dae-gil e la sua famiglia di gamblers, al centro della trama romanzata, che costituiscono l’elemento tipico di questi drama storici coreani che vedono come protagonista un principe che ha perduto ogni diritto e che il destino riporta sulla strada tracciata. Gli eventi in cui si muovono i personaggi sono quelli realmente avvenuti, descritti nei particolari e conferiscono alla narrazione uno spessore storico notevole.
Ottima la colonna sonora che riesce a sottolineare ogni momento della storia in maniera appropriata.

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Should you take a gamble and watch this? Here are the odds that you will like it: The twists and turns this goes through had me cheering and stomping my feet. Long term plotting and scheming that spans decades and life/death choices made instantly by the flip of the coin. Everything is a gamble or can be staked. Everyone has a secret and an agenda except the two brothers who are in the middle of a Cold War.

The story really got to me. The gambling was what drove everything and extremely well displayed story wise and cinematically, making the drama super exciting. This is not a romance! At all! So don't expect anything, no matter how it starts. Be prepared to loose everything and everyone or don't hit that play button. However, you might want to know that this drama is well produced from start to finish and everything is wrapped up nicely and satisfyingly at the end.

Fantastic photo! So incredibly cool. The OST was also suitably dramatic. Brilliant acting by full cast, especially by Lee Moon Shik and Jang Geun Suk.

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Some dramas you watch because the story captivates you. However, this is not why I watched this. I simply watched this because Jang Geun Suk was in it and he was one of my first biases in kdrama land so, as a loyal fan I had to try this out.

The drama started off interesting as many awesome characters were introduced. For example, I have to talk about the actor Choi Min Soo as King SukJong. He played the character so well, I could literally feel the chills whenever he was on screen. One of my favourite aspect of the show was when his scenes came on.

Jang Geun Suk as Baek DaeGil, started off as a good for nothing young boy who eventually becomes a great swordsman as he takes revenge. I feel that he executed his character well and seeing him was a delight and definitely made it worth my while.

It was my first time seeing Yeo Jin Goo in a main role and I was pleasantly surprised. As a young actor, he acts very well and he definitely stole the limelight whenever he graced our screens with his presence.

Jun Kwang Ryul as Yi In Jwa was a menacing character that we as the audience were all meant to hate and I do feel that he did justice to the role and many times, his cunning ways made me dislike him so much.

Although there were all these interesting characters as well as amazing actors playing them, there were many pointless characters in this drama too. Characters that made me scream WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE. That aspect was a downer because it seemed that they were just inserted for filler scenes and had no connection to the story whatsoever.

As I mentioned earlier, this drama STARTED off well however, as episodes went on ,the story had just spiraled into a totally different direction. There were many times I got confused and bored. There was no character development in some parts.The character would be saying something and then doing completely different later on with no specific justification for what and why they changed their minds. Many pointless deaths that made no sense and didn't add to the story at all. Basically, the plot went haywire at some point.

The music was actually very enjoyable, I found a couple of the songs stuck in my head and had to go and download them.

Overall, I would say if you really like sageuks and would love to see Jang Geun Suk doing amazing sword fighting then go ahead and watch it but be prepared to question the justification for certain characters or scenes.

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1) The reason I watched this :
because its a HISTORY drama I like histories

2) Storyline/Plot:
VERY POOR, the weak point of this drama, the story was good in the first half of the drama, but at the middle of the show it took a different unrealistic, repetitive, boring turn, with no characters developing and not well written twists

*on the other hand, The cinematography is great , which is one of the strong points of this drama


*Main Genres:

--->Action and politics : very good ..

--->Romance: not present


Story: 2/10.


3) Acting/Cast:

*Main Leads :
Jang Geun Suk and Yeo Jin Goo both of them done a really great job , on the other hand Im Ji Yeon had a very poor present

*Supporting actors : all of them done a perfect job every one in his role , starting from the king , to the warriors and citizens.

Cast: 9/10.
Acting: 8/10.


4) The ending: very bad written, if u skip the last 4 episodes of the series it will makes no difference .. poor ending

The ending: 1/10.


5) My impression (How did it affect me):
one of forgettable drams, just passed my time watching it


*Is the drama memorable: NO

My impression: 4/10.

Rewatch :zero

6) Overall:
Overall: 6.5/10

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a sageuk so good yet criminally underscored!

welcome to another episode of i-almost-missed-out-on-such-a-great-drama-because-of-it-being-criminally-underscored-WTF.

damn. i think this is THE drama that convinced me hereforth that any other dramas rated below 8.0 on MDL may simply be a case of preference bias instead of a story that genuinely lacked (well sometimes it's a peasant's gamble indeed, God forbid i watch another of such Record of Youth, blerghh). i mean, before this drama i have always felt reluctant to start anything scoring below 8.0 because i don't like to drop dramas, and anything i started, i always strive to finish. and there are so many other higher-scoring ones to choose from.

if i may present my case with regards to the story, i shall first cite some other reviews i read that get upvoted a lot citing that the second half went haywire, and that it seemed to have lost its direction. did i feel the exact same way? ABSOLUTELY FCKIN NOT. in fact what i noticed was that the quality of the storytelling has been kept consistent throughout the drama, except in the second half, (not in terms of quality, rather a deliberate choice of the screenplay), the villain kept winning times and again which may frustrate some people.

to which i am at a whole loss of words for what does it justify saying "the story became a mess, eh"?!

in fact i was kept engaged throughout the time watching this, simply because i find the main villain as fascinating and central to the story as much as the two male leads, Yeo Jin Goo and Jang Keun Suk. in fact when i first heard about this drama sometime back, i thought of giving it a chance for Yeo Jin Goo (he's the only one i knew of the two), but i feel the show stealers are actually Jang Keun Suk who plays Baek Dae Gil and Jeon Kwang Ryul who plays Lee In Jwa. Yeo Jin Goo was great too, but maybe it's the storytelling that made me feel conflicted about, and burdened by his character later on.

the show at least for me successfully established the shades of the main villain that you then started to question whether he truly is a beast/monster/satan, or was he slightly more than that. i mean, the kind of complex i feel that i started to question myself whether i have gone insane for pitying him and wanting to understand his reasons/insanity. Baek Dae Gil's character is phenomenal, seeing him grow from the weak man who was easily bullied and stepped on, towards a strong warrior was such an incredible joy to watch, especially since when i started this drama, i admittedly was already hugely biased for the actor. on the other hand, Prince Yeoning did questionable things in the latter half that made me dislike him by a mile.

therefore, in terms of giving us complex and layered villains, i found that this drama was phenomenal at delivering just that, and i thoroughly enjoyed the story because of it.

i have not watched that many sageuks at all, but this is definitely one of those that hooked me line and sinker to watch more from this genre. i believe that this drama offers everything that a traditional sageuk fan loves, and they would be fully satisfied watching it, i truly could not recommend it enough.

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Why I watched it: Jang Geun Suk returned from an extended hiatus, plus I like to see how Yeo Jin Goo is growing every now and then.

Was it worth it: Eventually.

What I liked the most: The acting by everyone, with maybe one exception, even the times it made me uncomfortable. Yeo Jin Goo was amazing.

What I disliked the most: Everything that happened between the pre-story and the main character evolving into his final form. Jang Geun Suk is not built to play the naive fool.

Moment Meter: 0.5/10 – There was just enough to make me crave more without actually delivering. Frustrating.

Other thoughts: This drama felt really long and at times all over the place. I’d say that it bit off more than it could chew. There were good characters that sadly had no time to be developed. I know they had to loosely stick to the history, but that also dragged things out a bit. The beginning was great. The middle was bad (and disgusting). The ending was entertaining but lacked solid closure. I can’t wait to see Yeo Jin Goo in more, though Jang Geun Suk would have to pick the right roles for me to appreciate him. Not sure why Im Ji Yeon (Dam Seo) is listed as a main role.

Conclusion: Nothing outstanding, but not the worst drama either. Try toughing it out until after the main character gets trained before giving up on it. It gets a lot better from there.

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I don't write reviews usually, but because I finished this drama before days and \i still can't forget it, I know I have to write one!

Honestly I started this because of Jin Goo, in addition to that I like historical drama.
It grabbed me from the first ep because of the great acting especially the king, even though the story wasn't clear yet.

I have to say that this description here have nothing to do with the story! It is different, I never saw the gamble between Dae Gil and the king even after watching all the show!

The reason that kept me to watch the drama was the brothers and waited bromance, the acting, and a mysterious thing kept me marathoning it! It took me only 4-5 days to finish it which is rare for me, but my heart was hurting me all the show long because I felt sorry for the prince.

The amazing thing is that I don't really remember the story xD I mean I was so deep into the details (and Jin Goo :P) the I didn't focus on the mainline ^^" but it wasn't bad (the clue that is I'm done with it and I'm liking it)
But after finishing it and reading about the real history behind it, I find it smart, how they built the story using a tiny imaginary twist in the history!

I was afraid because the comments I read that second half was boring, but it wasn't for me, one reason was because I always waited for more bromance (which was good for me, but I wished for more xD).
I still remember some scenes I like.

What I really disliked was a huge change of one character in the end, with no deep reasons in my opinions.
The ending was fine, but even though, my heart still hurts me a little.
all in all, if you like historical dramas you might like this.

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This is a fictional drama base on actual historical events and figures (from the Unitary dynastic period: Joseon), such as Sukjong: 19th monarch (portrayed by Choi Min-soo), Royal Noble Consort Suk (portrayed by Yoon Jin-seo), Gyeongjong: 20th monarch (portrayed by Hyun Woo) and Yeongjo: 21st monarch (portrayed by Yeo Jin-goo).

There is only two words I would use to describe this drama, the story line, the character development, and the actors. Those two words are "excellent and outstanding. This is the type of drama that keeps you interested and wanting to know "what is going to happen next". In other words you become addicted. I absolutely loved it. It kept my eyes glued to the screen. It contained action, suspense, and historical events with a twist. I recommend this drama as a "must watch".

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It was my first "ancient " like drama.
I liked the acting and the music.
I didn't like some thing.
One of them was the Effects.
there was an episode where there was a lot of "spilled blood" well, they used some fake effects that made me laugh.
Another one was how One of the characters Had a big change of heart. I think they wanted to have a reason to exterminate this character but i still didn't like that .
In overall this was one of my favorites Dramas, You will want to watch more and more! it took me 3 to 4 days to finish this drama which is kinda not so little since the season lasts for 24 hours.
The ending was ok, not what i expected but for the quality they showed us it was great!
Greetings from Greece and have fun watching~

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The story begins with me being interested. Why? Why is there a little innocent baby involved? Switcharoo this and Switcharoo that... too many dramas with this in it. Another one where I could've dropped it but one of my favorite actors is in this... can not!

Well, I wished that Yeo Jin Goo was not playing the Prince and Jang Geun Suk was but I guess either way both Characters were strong. I love Yeo Jin Goo and love his acting. His eyes tho! Another gift from the Highest! I am looking forward to watching Jang Geun Suk in "Switch" which is the last drama before he serves his tour in the military. Right now, I don't have an opinion about him. Whatever he does, I will pray and wish for good health! I do love the way he sings!

The storyline ended up good. Everyone played their parts so thank you. There were some characters I wish didn't die, well two of them. I couldn't imagine myself living in that era!

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Falls flat.

This had a strong start. The set up we get before the time jump was actually very interesting (and I know is based on a true story). Once we get to said time jump… the only interesting characters are ones we already knew- Bok Soon & the King primarily. Their son, wonderfully played by Yeo Jin Goo, is the only semi interesting new addition to our centered cast.
Lee In Jwa is the most irritatingly boring sageuk villain I have ever seen. He’s certainly hateable (as all villains should be) but not because he’s well written. He’s simply just annoying.
Our lead/heroine, Baek Dae Gil, has nothing going for him. The female lead, Dam Seo, is also useless. There is certainly potential for good story in both these characters but the writing, casting, (and possibly direction of these actors), fails them miserably.
The story itself- pointless. It’s literally just them going in circles trying to take down Lee In Jwa. Incredibly repetitive and plain boring.
If I don’t care about the leads, or the villain, or the story, why am I watching?
Minor characters Seo Lim & Cutter were nice only because the actors themselves I know and like.
Actors Yoon Jin Seo and Yeo Jin Goo are truthfully the stars of this show for me. Absolutely great performances (when they are given the chance to shine). Actor Choi Min Soo was good too. Apart from that, I have no other positives to list. This is 24 episodes total, and honestly nothing warrants that runtime (especially when the only good part of the story was the set up). By episode 17 I had to stop myself. I tried to push through hoping it would loop back in quality, but unfortunately it looped back only in it’s tedious plot.

I think it reminds me of Gu Family Book. I absolutely loved the set up of that series as well. We again meet the parents of our eventual lead characters in a very intriguing set up, then time jump to uninteresting everything.

I don’t recommend- even if you like some of the cast, it’s not worth it.

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