Kingdom - South Korean Zombie Movie by Netflix

**PointOfViewGun** · January 29, 2019, 02:12 PM

This one ticks a lot of interesting marks for a zombie TV series. Done by Netflix. Set in the Joseon period of South Korea, post-14th century that is. The plot follows the first days of a zombie outbreak. The zombies are a little bit different than your traditional ones but the idea is not that odd. It feels like they show the mechanisms of such an outbreak quite effectively. Highly recommended.

There is only six episodes for now but hopefully will have more.

**Ishan** · January 29, 2019, 04:02 PM

Yeah this looks pretty cool. Would be fun to watch this weekend.

**Roma_Victrix** · January 29, 2019, 04:21 PM

LOL. Zombies in Joseon-era Korea? What? Did Christmas come super early this year or something?

Thanks for pointing this out. I'll have to watch it right away. It's a good thing that this is the gunpowder era in Korea, otherwise they would be in lots of trouble, more than they already are with brain-eating dead people roaming the land. Might as well throw in the Imjin Japanese invasion while we're at it, just for fun, followed by the Ming dynasty Chinese relief forces. Japanese zombies in Korea!

**Ngugi** · January 29, 2019, 04:26 PM

Thanks for the heads up

**Roma_Victrix** · January 29, 2019, 08:09 PM

OMG! I watched the first episode and nearly died from having a nerdgasm.

Finally! A historical crossover I can truly enjoy!

The whole thing was excellent. The acting, superb. The dialogue, superb. The building tension, narrative plot, pacing, and character development, superb. It was complete with palace drama mixed with bold action and some decently funny lines and comic relief. And the zombies are scary. It was a truly macabre cinematic delight. I can't wait to watch episode 2 tomorrow!

**Ishan** · January 30, 2019, 03:42 AM

Watched the first episode and it was quite awesome. Very unique considering the period. I wish it was in English though or that i knew korean.

Acting is superbly done. 1st episode was intense.

**Roma_Victrix** · January 31, 2019, 01:49 AM

Originally Posted by Ishan

Watched the first episode and it was quite awesome. Very unique considering the period. I wish it was in English though or that i knew korean.

Acting is superbly done. 1st episode was intense.

I watch it with English subtitles, but I think there's actually an English voice option in the Netflix drop-down menu for the series. At least I saw it as an option on my own account.

**PointOfViewGun** · February 01, 2019, 01:55 PM

Finished the first season, six episodes that is. What an interesting ride that was. They finished at a really high point and quite a big twist. To see how a state set in 16th century deals with a zombie outbreak and how similar it looks compared to what a modern state would do is quite impressive. What they do makes quite a lot of sense too.

**LaMuerte** · February 02, 2019, 01:58 PM

Didn't like it. I expected something more ambiguous from a South Korean series. All in all it was pretty dull and straightforward. Zombies were pretty pathetic to behold. Lacks basic understanding of the horror genre.

**Roma_Victrix** · February 02, 2019, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by PointOfViewGun

Finished the first season, six episodes that is. What an interesting ride that was. They finished at a really high point and quite a big twist. To see how a state set in 16th century deals with a zombie outbreak and how similar it looks compared to what a modern state would do is quite impressive. What they do makes quite a lot of sense too.

I think it's actually the early 17th century, no later than 1650 or so, given how they loosely reference the Imjin Wars against Japan that had occurred in the 1590s. Soldiers in the show, including the expert hunter/sniper war veteran protagonist guy, are using flintlock firearms, although some are still using slow-burning matchlocks and arquebuses from what I've seen. That makes sense, though, since the technology didn't change altogether and all at once in Europe either, and flintlock mechanisms were still very new, especially as an import of European goods and weaponry by Tokugawa Japan, Joseon Korea, or early Qing dynasty China. I don't remember the use of any gunpowder artillery in the show, although the Koreans at this point were basically just using the native field cannons they had been using for more than a century (still East Asian in origin rather than European).

Originally Posted by LaMuerte

Didn't like it. I expected something more ambiguous from a South Korean series. All in all it was pretty dull and straightforward. Zombies were pretty pathetic to behold. Lacks basic understanding of the horror genre.

I think you're looking at it from a completely wrong angle, then. The zombies aren't supposed to match Romero's and unlike a lot of zombie apocalypse TV series and films, this one actually bothers to explain how and why the zombie outbreak began. It does so through the use of traditional Korean medicine, which I find to be kind of charming, if not entirely unique and original. The show isn't trying to be purely horror, either. It's clearly a mix of genres, given the palace intrigue, personal rivalries, martial arts, and military combat going on with the zombies in the background. There's even a bit of comic relief and humor thrown in to emphasize that point.

**Ishan** · February 03, 2019, 03:21 AM

I think the show is trying to make a different point rather than being focused on zombies. I mean we know the zombie is nothing exciting like Resident Evil or GoT - having their own set of characters but what i found interesting was how the show projects the mindset of a Man who doesn't want to lose power and is willing to do anything.

**LaMuerte** · February 03, 2019, 10:01 AM

I really missed deviousness-in-script I usually asociate with good South Korean movies and series. Surprising plot twists, unexpected reversals, heroes taking it too far slowly morhping into bad guys (and vice versa), psychological unsettling morality which keep you awake at night, all these elements which draw me to Korean cinema seem to be lacking. I got a train ride(to Busan) instead of a rollercoaster ride. But perhaps it's all just me hoping to find a diamond in a silver mine.

**Roma_Victrix** · June 03, 2022, 05:44 PM

I saw the second season a while ago, but forgot about this thread entirely until searching for something else. I'd give the second season a B+, definitely worth one viewing. The character development in the show is also above average for a zombie series, let alone production values recreating the Korean world as it existed in the mid-17th century.