User reviews

Sweeping drama that weaves timeless issues throughout – friendship, love, loyalty, human dignity, good versus evil, during a time where slaves were crucial to life but considered the lowest rung of society. Slaves ran away from cruel conditions and Slave Hunters were employed to bring them back.

The pivotal role of Slave Hunter Lee Dae-gil is played to perfection by Jang Hyuk. His comrades, General Choi (Han Jung-soo) and Wang-son (Kim Ji-seok), acting as muscle and maid respectively, form a family.

Dae-gil is haunted by his first love,former slave, Un-nyun (Lee Da- hae), who escaped with her brother 10 years ago when Dae-gil's family home was burned to the ground, to which Dae-gil was the lone survivor.

Song Tae-ha (Oh Ji-ho) crosses paths with Dae-gil multiple times during the series and is a key to Dae-gil's first love, Un-nyun, story. Tae-ha is a military general for the royal court and a driver for the political storyline.

The slaves have their own storyline, driven by marksman Eop Bok (Gong Hyung Jin) and savvy Cho Bok (Kim Min Joo). These parallel stories of slave hunting and political intrigue of the King's court, push all the characters towards an intersection of fate and their choices for their individual life's purpose.

This show is beautiful, each actor is lovingly shot to the best angles and lighting not matter how many days they've been without bathing. The fights are choreographed so that each character's has a different style and no two fights are the same – difficult to achieve with as many fights scenes in the series!

What I loved about this drama: 1) Dae-gil is the lynchpin for the emotional punch of the series. I loved the character of Dae-gil – great fighter, fiercely loyal, savvy in what motivates people, the kind of guy you'd want to hang with. Dae-gil's story interweaves with all the key characters. The actor Jang Hyuk brought this crucial hard-edged character to life. 2) The political storyline was interesting. Yes there are lots of characters and it takes a while to sort it out, but the selfish power-hungry politicians play chess with all the characters you love (and hate). 3) Great villains - Hwang Chul-Woong (Lee Jong Hyuk) driven to hard core assassin by chess master Minister Lee (Kim Eung Soo). 4) Cutest kid ever, Crown Prince Seok-Kyeon (Kim Jin Woo). 5) Eop Bok's final stand was very satisfying.

What I did not love: 1) Mid-way the series took a dark turn that was recoverable, but the shock was significant. 2) Tough to keep the political story characters straight and politicians are never nice people. 3) Who lives and who dies? Even though I'd might have made some changes, the retribution and redemption choices the writers made, rang true for the characters. 4) More of an epilog on the final episode to wrap the series up with a bow, much is left to your imagination.

This tv show is the antithesis of Hollywood's nonchalant and lack luster production of cinematography of the 21st century. This tv show defines a true nature of grit and the gripping emotions of containing its audience in 'awe' that kept us asking for more. This highly underrated film is a treasure and one of the best tv shows out there. Thank you for making a great story on the big screens.

I'm really impressed with Jang Hyuk's performance. I applaud the intensity that he brings to the character Lee Dae-gil. One really feels his pain and anguish. I was shipping him and Kim Hye-won more so than the other male lead. It's a very emotional and entertaining drama. I highly recommend it.

This show was above fantastic. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and gave up sleep just to watch one more episode. The cast was perfection!!

This drama is full of many thing. Is very entertaining for a man like me that like to watch action martial arts and it has something for woman too. It pretty good to watch.

The action and the plot is really interesting, especially if it's your first time to watch about the story of slave hunters of Korea. I was just hoping jang hyuk and da hae will wnd up together but Oh Ji ho is not bad either. So many emotions on this drama and you need to pay close attention to their dialogues to understand the story better.

Firstly the cinematography is high quality like a big budget movie. Beautiful countryside and settings. The chase parts are exciting and the main love triangle is actually quite involving unlike some older melodramas. But the quiet moments and the subplot and some secondary characters are boring. You can fast forward through them. 16 episodes would have been better than 24. Some chasing around is repetitive. The cast is right for their roles. Jang Hyuk and Oh Ji Ho are convincing. The men look and behave like men and the women look like women. Lee Da Hae is sweet and believable and her character isn't annoying. Their story is quite passionate. Unlike the recent costume dramas where often the men are too androgynous looking, the cast here looks convincing. As far as big epic Joseon dramas are concerned this is a change from the usual ones that are stuck in the palace with the court intrigue and concubines and eunuchs. Worth watching.

Practically, this drama is just a shirtless men expedition. It featured one of the most deplorable writing efforts and attempts to be edgy and hip with the times (2010). The drama had absolutely nothing to offer other than Jang Hyuk presence. They made Jang Hyuk as an edgy cringey whiny kid full of stupid one-liners and little to no real characterization put into him. This is a prime example for how to NOT write a broken and traumatized character. The drama had no real fights, just a handful of flashy dances in slow-mo with little to no weight to their strikes coupled with unfitting soundtrack for the fight or the moment. To reach the 24 episodes mark they had to stretch it thin, literally, with a lot of repeated scenes, extremely elongated stares and gazes, irrelevant dialogue and random slow-mo shots which all resulted in a poor utilization of the cinematography.

This my favorite korean drama.Is an amazing and Jang Hyuk with action he does he's so good.I like the story.

The slave hunters is a melodramatic historical drama with a lot of fighting scenes in a time of the rise of guns. A time when slavery was normal and escaped slaves were hunted, thus the title. It is somewhat slow despite the number of fights (excellent ones, but on times too many for me) because of the lengthy takes of melodramatic scenes. This is a show that might be better not to binge to fully enjoy. The dialogues are good and there are important ones not to be missed to understand the politics and tactics, but I often had to rewind and stop to be able to read the subtitles, as too much info was pressed into one scene while the next showed up before I could catch on. The romances and the love triangle are somewhat exhausting... do not watch the show for them, even though the love story set the cause for Daegil to become a slave hunter. Some parts are overacted, but not to the extent to be annoying. And maybe a bit of an epilogue about Daegil's bros would have been nice. That's about all for the negatives.

On the positives we find a lot to spoil the eyes. Well built bodies of our warriors get enough screen time in good angles to value their efforts, great scenery of Korea's beautiful nature, hilarious fights, jumps and runs over rooftops and other obstacles. The story shows a wide range of human interaction and life, humorous, funny, raw, cruel, dirty, bitter, sweet, naked, false, genuine, literate, dumb, intelligent... and shares lines of wisdom while pondering on deep questions: Is it possible to change the world for the better, is it enough to change the political system or do people need to change? Is a classless society possible or will the pursued become perpetrators when in power? Is it possible to have a society where people are not exploited? It shows the warmth in the rotten and the coldness in the seemingly pure. All this makes it stand out of other historical dramas and makes this show excellent.

No need to say it's well directed and well acted by all and Jang Hyuk excels in incorporating his role in every aspect.

Be in the right mood to watch it, as it's not a feel-good show.

I am.so completely blown away by episode 10. The moment l.was waiting for. Finally. They hugged and kissed. How romantic. I haven't watched all of it yet but this series has stolen my heart. I am.keeping my fingers crossed the two love birds will continue captivating us with their growing love. What l loved was that both didn't even realize that they were in love. This series will keep you on the edge of your seat. It's worth watching. The whole series takes a different approach which keeps one hooked. The acting is on point and l just love the scenery. Beautiful, views that are presented. The costumes are on point. Well done.