Katie Jurek Great Korean movie, fantastic writing, loved the actors, and it truly was good at being emotional!

fredf-67149 "This movie is going to be enjoyed a lot by big fans of Korean cinema but to be completely honest I don't see other more casual movie fans enjoying it as much."I have to disagree with this statement. If you like good cinema and are at home with subtitles I think you will enjoy this. It has to be one of the best period films I have watched in a long time. Much less impenetrable than the usual crop of Asian cinema. This screenplay is carried of with poise and quiet confidence. I felt like I was watching a masterclass in cinematography while I was watching it. It happily fills it's allotted two hour time span without dragging at all.Highly recommended!!!!

Jesse Boland When you sit with tear stains on your glasses in the dark, the last two hours of your life were definitely not wasted. There are moments so laugh out loud funny, and moments so contrastingly sad, that the result was completely fulfilling.This is not a new story, and not the first time this story has been told by a long long shot. However, this very well may be the best that this story has ever been told. Every culture has this story in one form, or another, so I would not doubt if this sort of thing has gone on as long as there have been humans in power, and afraid. The acting in this movie is top notch, the souls of each character are brought to life in front of you with no doubt of their sincerity. The story is well written, and plotted out, and has been filmed so simply, and beautifully that you can not help but be pulled right in. There is no lag in the story even at more than 2 hours, there is only continued development, and growth. I Enjoyed watching, and feeling this movie, and I recommend it even to folks who shy away from subtitles. I really think that this movie has what it takes, and you will not be sorry if you give it a try.

J. Miranda Kim ***Spoilers below*** I will be very surprised Lee Byung-Hun does not get the best actor prize in Korea this year. The transition from the real king to the impostor/actor was absolutely amazing (to say the least) making it easy to know which was which; very important in my ability to follow the story as it unfolded. The only confusion I felt was which high government official was which - all the way through the movie, the only way to figure out who was whom was if they "stepped out" when the king called on them; they all had the same clothing, hat, beard, mannerism (I do realize that this is how it was back then but still I kept asking myself, "now, who the heck is this nut?")Overall, it was a wonderful movie with high production value that I thoroughly enjoyed. It could have used better editing about 15 minutes from the end of the movie tho - it dragged a bit where the lighting was way off - the reason for a 9 out of 10.Cinematography was phenomenal!