Life on Mars (2018)

well this drama i guess was really different
it is satisfying in a weird way
you kinda get all confused in the end but you still are like it is good coz the main lead gives a big smile in the last scenes
the criminal cases are interesting they hv a good mystery but not mind blowing ones in sherlock holmes (sherlock is a whole different level)
this drama is not only about cases it also shows us how the main lead starts to warm up to those around him and he finally is able to feel happiness . the character grows a lot within the drama and it is so natural u almost don't notice the change until main leads mom and fiance points out

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LIFE ON MARS IS AMAZING THAN LIFE ON EARTH!

Sorry for the long review. But, I just had to rant on how much good this drama was.
First of all, this review is solely based on the remake, I have not watched the original version and I am not planning to watch it in future. I do know the plot similarities and differences between the shows.
Let's start with Jung Kyung Ho. I had always loved him ever since I watched Prison Playbook. He was impressive as Tae Joo. The way he kept his face straight all the time as Tae Joo was inexpressive most of the times - and the way he gets lost in thoughts and his despairs and struggles with trauma - everything was realistic. By the end of the drama, he had come a long way from being an indifferent cop to becoming a trustworthy friend. His trauma was in obstructing him from interacting with others which gets knocked down by the 1988 team.
Dong Cheol is my favorite character in this show, along with Na Yeong. I saw Park Sung Woong on a BL called Method and I have seen him in some guest roles, so I didn't have much idea how is acting was. But, this show proved that he was an incredible actor. Dong Cheol was street-smart and short-tempered, a stark contrast with Tae Joo. Still, the bromance between the two was amazing. They understood each other completely. I am impressed about the amount of swear words that came from DonG Cheol throughout the show.
I have never seen any of the shows by the rest of the main cast. Na Yeong was impressive. Unlike in most K-dramas, where female cops are mostly dumb and are bad in terms of fighting, Na Yeong shines by her intelligence, analytical thinking and insane fight moves. She is the only one to whom Tae Joo admitted his crazy time-travel story...which shows how much he trusts her. And in return, Na Yeong made him feel at home unlike others who initially were cold to him. Since this is the 80's era, women cops are rare - she is the only one who is wearing the cop outfit and she is always assigned to do tasks for the male cops instead of doing the police work. Only Tae Joo respects her and in the end, everyone treats her as a fellow co-worker than as their made. And though they hinted that they might have a relationship, I was completely fine with no romance, just like in The Psychopath Diary.
Nam Shik and Yong Ki shared a different universe altogether. They were a good as a duo and worked well as cops. Yong Ki was an asshole at the beginning but his character took a turn while we neared the climax.
Everything aside, Tae Joo had a loving family. Both the 80's era family and his present family cared for him. Tae Joo's dad might have been a jerk, but he was really a best dad to Tae Joo. No wonder his death affected Tae Joo so much.
Everyone has different theories on what happened, so here's my take: I think after coming back to 2018, he attempted suicide to be with his friends of 1988. Both the mom, ex-girlfriend and doctor wanted Tae Joo to be happy...that's why he chose the 1988 world. It might be heaven or maybe he really was in 1988, since Hyun Seok calls him. Which is kinda depressing, I laughed because Tae Joo was happy and cried because it hurt that this could be unreal.
I liked that when Tae Joo was in 1998, the narrative for the drama's intro was 'Am I going crazy? What happened?' and then when he was back in 2018, the narrative was 'Am I really back? Or is this a dream?'
One thing bothered me was Tae Joo went back to 1988 to know the truth about his dad's death, but I wished that he also could have pretended Min Seok from becoming a killer in the future. In the end, the victims of Min Seok still died.
Overall: 9/10. Minus 1 for making my head spin because of that ending.

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What would you do if you lost your heart far away from home?

Life on Mars is one of the most well-written and highly satisfying dramas I've ever watched. It was an excellent concoction of mystery, suspense, thrill, romance, bromance, friendships and life.

Han Tae Joo, a forensic detective, is a stickler for rules. His unflinching adherence to the law and cold demeanour had earned him praise among his colleagues. But, when a serial killer is set free after failing to provide relevant evidence, Tae Joo's life takes a turn. What's more? The killer, Kim Min Seok claims to have known him. While on a chase for him, Han Tae Joo is shot at and hit by a car. Waking up, he finds himself transported back to the year 1988… in a small police station and Inguk.
Having to make do with the very little technological advancement and rather crude methods of his new Captain and his colleagues, Han Tae Joo struggles to wake up from his dream… or is it all just a dream?

Han Tae Joo is one curious character. At first sight, he was as interesting as a cardboard with little to no reaction during several crucial moments. It is after he is hurled into 1988 that we get to see him alive and living his life to the fullest. His character growth and choices are the major turning points of this drama, which vaguely reminded me of Signal (2016). It is evident from the initial episodes that he is stuck in a state of coma from which he is unable to get up. Whether he would pull himself up from it or whether he'd 'die solving old cases' was an important question that hovered over the viewers mind.

Seeing the blossoming friendship between Captain Kang, Nom Shik, Young Pil, and Yoon Na Young was heartwarming. The pacing was just right enough for me to find their growth natural and realistic.

The cases were surprisingly interlinked with the past and the future. I have to give it to the Violent Crime unit for solving it with intuition and skills. The 'domestic' approach to investigations was a wake-up call for Han Tae Joo and I loved watching him stumble. (He is, like everyone, a flawed character.)

By the end of certain episodes, I wished that he did not have to go back to 2018. The present, unfortunately, seemed procedural and artificial.
The Sci-Fi aspect is not strong and I understood why several questions remained unanswered. I for one, found the rather bleak ending highly satisfying.

Sometimes it's worth feeling with our whole heart. And I'm sure that Inguk Police Station Violent Crimes Unit agrees with me too.

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Crime solving goodness with wonderful characters!

I've never watched the original version of this show so purely based on this kdrama I think it's amazing! The different mysteries are interesting and enaging but what really makes this drama worthwhile is the characters. The way the characters develop and their friendship grows is really satisfying and fun to watch. The only two problems I have is that I think there could have been just a tiny bit more romance with Mrs.Yoon and the end of the drama feels like it is setting up for a season 2 and therefore it leaves some unanswered questions. I feel doubtful that there ever will be a season 2 so i don't think it should have ended like that but regardless I really enjoyed the final episode despite some plotholes.

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Solid

I'm not a fan of the writing style that pushes the viewers too hard to interpret and speculate. You're expected to accept whatever is present to you. If writers were to do so, they need a better structure and understanding of world building. Take for example the British series Utopia, it does it brilliantly.

The director must really love the Dolly zoom, although it looked good but I wish there was more visual variations even at the cost of it being experimental. You are already pushing your skill ceiling in all departments so why not shoot for the moon?

Anyway, it's a solid watch and will probably appeal to everyone.

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I have a really high expectation for the drama because it received so many great reviews. it doesn't disappoint me but it didn't quite fulfil my expectation as well. pros first, since this is a police investigation drama, the cases must be interesting, and it did. the cases were good and keep me guessing what will happen next. the acting were amazing, every cast did a really great job in acting their roles. the romance were subtle which is good, because i feel like if there's more than this it will feel kinda awkward. okay the cons, the time travel wasn't stressed enough, i feel like the present wasn't talk about enough. the whole, is this a reality or a dream, means the present wasn't supposed to be completely cut off but they did. the chemistry between the team is really important but i can't feel it here, and the bromance was meh as well. the storyline kinda feels draggy in the middle. all in all, it was a decent drama for me

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kebahagiaan yang sebenarnya?

alur ceritanya menurutku menarik banget, awalnya aku ngerasa kok boring banget ya tapi pas udah ke masa lalu tiba-tiba jadi KOK SERU BANGET?

pertama, taejoo kayaknya kurang darah karena lemes terus, jarang makan dan ansos. tapi kalau aku di posisi taejoo kayaknya aku juga bakal begitu, bahkan gak akan bisa mikir apa-apa, bayangin aja baru dibunuh tiba-tiba ada di masa lalu dan dapet rekan kerja yang ngeselin.

sifat dongcheol sama yongki di awal tuh ngeselin banget, apa apa pake otot, bahkan aku mikir gak pantes deh mereka jadi polisi terutama yongki soalnya dia juga sering ngerendahin nayoung. di masa lalu ternyata parah banget misoginis sama patriarkinya.

hal yang aku bingung kenapa taejoo yang berusaha keras buat balik ke masa depan lagi malah nyerah di masa depan dan milih kembali ke masa lalu? mungkin dia nyaman sama lingkungan dia masa lalu, tapi apa dia gak sayang sama keluarganya yang selalu ngasih dia semangat selama koma? padahal dia udah berhasil nangkep pelaku aslinya di masa depan. sedangkan di masa lalu pun dia selalu denial kalau dia suka sama lingkungan di masa lalu.

but ya udah mungkin menurut taejoo pas di masa depan dia udah gak ada rasa karena terbiasa jadi taejoo di masa lalu, mungkin emang dalam hati kecilnya, dia nemuin kebahagiaan yang gak dia temuin di masa depan. bahkan meski dia gak harus bareng sama keluarga dan orang tersayangnya dari masa depan.

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It's a journey

Having watched Signal before this, I can’t help but compare.

Both are different in a sense. Signal had more impactful flashbacks and every case was linked together but Life of Mars was more a journey, you’ll not only fall more in love with the characters’ personalities, but watching each of them grow for the better is so heartwarming. The climax builds up until the very end. It’s more lighthearted with sprinkles of humour and simpler cases. You just hope the team stays together. The ending is kinda sad, it depends on how you interpret it.

The only reason I wouldn't rewatch it because I've already watched the ending and it wouldn't be as good as the first time.

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Please don’t hesitate to watch this.

Okay where do I start. I don’t have the talent to write reviews but I’ve always found them helpful so I’ll write one for y’all. Let’s start I guess?

(Disclaimer: I haven’t watched the original series so I can’t compare the remake value :)

Everything. Everything about this drama was perfect. I didn’t have very high expectations but this drama was beyond anything I could have expected. IT MADE SENSE, which is a BIG achievement considering the drama somewhat dealt with space and time continuum.

I’ve watched a handful of dramas that messed around with the past and future, and everytime I end up feeling a bit disappointed with the drama. Dramas like signal and kairos have gotten an 8/10 from me, but the fact that the drama basically existed on a belief or like the main character just being special enough to get a miracle, kind of ticked me off ngl. But I couldn’t complain since that literally was the entire plot. And that is exactly what I expected from this. That a detective trying to solve an on going serial murder case and then magically transporting back in time to solve the case before the a dozen of other people get killed. Ya know fixing the problem at its source. But no. It wasn’t like that. The plot almost had no holes, why stuff happened made sense. (I’m really trying so hard not to spoil.)

Now for the cast. The entire cast was just amazing? The way the executed the plot ooof. I was blown away by the child actor (who I guess was 6 at the time) the way he didn’t seem even the slightest bit awkward and how emotions felt and looked so real. Istg. He was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I guess out of all the other child actors I’ve seen so far, he’s got to be one of my favourite.

From the main cast, I already knew and loved two. One of course being the reason why I watched the drama in the first place; the new love of my life (lmao) — Jung Kyung Ho. Honestly am I the only one that feels he’s underrated? Like how is it that only this year, I’ve learned about him when I’ve been watching kdramas since late 2014? But anywho after watching prison playbook, I wanted to go on a jkh marathon, I guess this is the start. Hospital playlist has been on my watchlist since forever, now I got three reasons to watch that (Jung kyung ho, Jo Jung Suk and Yoo Yeon seok.)

Other than him I knew Park Sung Woong, I don’t remember all his projects that I’ve watched but I remember that I loved his role in “the smile has left your eye.”(8/10) So I knew he’s a really good actor and I guess action dramas really is his shit. I just know that Captain Kang will forever stay in my heart. He really does make you feel so attached. The bromance between him and pretty much everyone else was beautiful.

(Ooof. I just realised that they both are in another drama together. It doesn’t have high ratings but eeek. I’m still going to build up high expectations. )

Lastly hmmm. Production and set. So pretty. I’ve always loved watching or seeing things from the 80s/90s so this drama really was the treat. I think the only other drama where I’ve seen such a plot was Melting me softly (8.5/10)

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