anyone seen IRIS? by mal4prez

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

anyone seen IRIS?

POSTED BY: MAL4PREZ
UPDATED: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 07:49
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VIEWED: 4025
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Tuesday, June 21, 2011 1:52 PM

OK, it's not sci-fi. But I've encountered a new series and I'm dying to chat about it. Anyone? Ever heard of IRIS? No?

I'll explain.

Last weekend I found myself on summer break, looking for a novel way to waste my time. Being without cable I was scrounging through hulu. SYTYCD? (Yes, it's reality TV but I love it anyway.) No new episodes. Castle and Chuck? Over for the season. Haven? Interesting, but didn't grab me. Burn Notice? Love it, but not on yet. Caprica? Watched all the available ones already. And really, ho hum.

OK, the description of this random South Korean action/spy thriller show sounds interesting. IRIS? Sounds cheesy. Whatever. I'll try an episode...

Much like Firefly, I started and couldn't stop. Two and a half days later, I've burned through 20 episodes (and these are a full 60 minutes!) Wow. I'm not saying it's perfect. I could expand on the plot holes and weak moments and drawn out romantic music-video-like montages...

But holy shit.

It's like the pace of a Jason Bourne thriller with the adrenaline-laced non-stop-ness of 24 (which I admit I haven't actually watched, but I'm guessing it's similar) livened up by the freshness of a different culture. The characters are intensely interesting and surprising, and up to the standards of even a Firefly fan. Technically, it's beautifully done, shot in Hungary, Japan, and China as well as Korea. And someone planned the plot of this thing out. There was no moment of: "Oh, it's episode 8 and we suddenly got extended for 12 more, whatever will we do?" No. This is smooth and continuous. They knew from the start exactly where they were going.

It's not at all like a TV series. It's a 20 hour gorramned movie, riveting from beginning to end. I just finished episode 20, and I need some recovery time before I go on to the sequel series. I might need many weeks of recovery.

No, this is not a paid advertisement. I really liked it the show this much...

In the meantime, someone else please go watch this thing so you can agree with me about how awesome it is. I do not EVER go fannish like this - except I did once, for Firefly. That's how good this series is. I feel just as blown away right now as I did when I first discovered Firefly.

You know, except for the big plot holes (there are some HUGE ones) and those cheesey romantic montages. Hey, no one's perfect. But the rest of it is good enough to make those problems OK.

Go. Watch it. It's free on hulu. IRIS. Then come back and tell me what you think.

But please avoid spoilers! Spoilers would SUCK for this show, given the many surprises.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011 11:48 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

I wanna say I've heard of it, but have no idea from where.

Keep this bumped, so I'll be reminded to go check it out. I am intrigued.

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011 2:05 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

If you can't get IRIS on hulu, the first nine episodes have been put on bittorrent during the last two weeks. (HDTV 720p English + Dutch Subtitles)
http://bit.ly/kYKLtx

IRIS opening dialog, Episode 1,
Have you ever heard of the "Pan-European Picnic" by any chance? In 1989, Hungarian communists opened their border to allow thousands of refugees to leave for the West. After that the fall of the Berlin Wall happened, and that's how the Cold War ended. You are being given an independent assignment. If you succeed with this mission, just as what Hungary did to unify East and West Germany, your success will be instrumental in unifying the North and South Korea.
Who is my target?
Yoon Sung Chul.
Do you mean the Prime Minister of North Korea?
Yes.

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011 3:13 AM

MAL4PREZ

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
I wanna say I've heard of it, but have no idea from where.

Keep this bumped, so I'll be reminded to go check it out. I am intrigued.

The blurb on hulu said the series got raves. It's probably gotten write-ups reviews all over the place. I'm thinking it's like 24 for Korean TV. Very popular, very big budget.

Excellent quote, Two. Have you watched it? I definitely enjoyed getting immersed in Korean politics for a change, rather than the same old US stuff. Sure, it's just as overly dramatized as a Western political thriller. But the history and major players are different. It's refreshing that the show doesn't give a shit what the US is up to. It's all about the politics between North and South Korea.

And btw, not that I think Auraptor and Two share this particular interest: the lead guy is HOT.

Too bad all the gratuitous shirtlessness goes away after the first 6-7 episodes.

I'll be bumping and awaiting feedback...

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011 3:20 AM

MAL4PREZ

Can't find a shirtless picture, but here's at least sleeveless LOL!

Um... so I don't sound completely shallow, I must add that, like Mal, this guy won me over by how cool his character is. Hotness is not just looks!

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011 5:24 AM

STORYMARK

Looks interesting. I'll have to check it out.

I'm also interested in another Korean TV series called "Special Investigation Report" (or "record", Ive seen both, must be a translation issue) which is apparently a loose remake of the X-Files.... but set in the 17th century.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011 7:04 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by mal4prez:
Excellent quote, Two. Have you watched it? I definitely enjoyed getting immersed in Korean politics for a change, rather than the same old US stuff. Sure, it's just as overly dramatized as a Western political thriller. But the history and major players are different. It's refreshing that the show doesn't give a shit what the US is up to. It's all about the politics between North and South Korea.

I'll be bumping and awaiting feedback...

I jumped ahead last night to see how the plot twists. I downloaded IRIS, The Movie (2010).
I was told not to do that by a reviewer because the stripped down for speed 2 hour movie misses much of the character development in the 20 hour TV show. That's no problem for me. http://goninmovieblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/iris-the-movie/

The story does have a Serenity connection, as far as the psychology of villains. Even though the North Korean agents who infiltrate Europe know that South Korea is better than the North, they don't resign because they have been disillusioned. They don't quit their mission. If you assume that the Operative is as real a person as a N. Korean agent, he is not quitting the Alliance and joining a monastery because of Miranda. Throwing himself on a sword for being a failure? That was just badass talk to intimidate a loser he is about to kill (refer to Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction). And like Jackson, the Operative can show compassion to a worthy enemy rather than pointlessly having Mal gunned down.

I hope to see the Operative regret that decision in the sequel to Serenity.

In case you don't remember Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson says to someone he may assassinate:

Select to view spoiler:

There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17.

“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.”

I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker 'fore you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011 7:32 AM

MAL4PREZ

Quote:
Originally posted by two:
I jumped ahead last night to see how the plot twists. I downloaded IRIS, The Movie (2010). I was told not to do that by a reviewer because the stripped down for speed 2 hour movie misses much of the character development in the 20 hour TV show. That's no problem for me.

Oh no! You're silly! Why would you do that? That's like watching the Firefly series squished into a single 1 hour episode! You lose all the juicy good stuff! Are you gonna go back and watch the whole thing? Sometime I'll watch the 2 hour movie just so I see they cut it down.

OK, but you did save yourself from some slow spots. There is a fair amount of repetition in the series. That's the danger of watching a long running show as quickly as I did - I didn't need all the flashback reminders and got a bit impatient with them now and then.

Speaking of flashbacks - how cool is it to start a series with a 10 minute action clip with a cliffhanger, then go into a flashback that lasts something like 4-5 episodes? I don't think American TV would try anything like that. It assumes a lot about the attention span of the viewer. I'm not sure how they handled it in the movie, but in the series that first 10 minutes of action is rehashed in much more detail the second time through. Turns out that a lot more happened during the assassination job in Hungary than was shown in the series intro!

Anyway, all that goodness about the bad guys is part of what I'd like to chat up. And the politics, and the plot twists (a few doozies!), and the way the characters change. If enough people watch it and get interested, I'll start a spoiler thread where we can dig in. I really don't want to give anything away here!

I know the Pulp Fiction quote well. Jackson is so powerful in that! Isn't it great having interesting bad guys? And good guys that aren't flatly, purely good?

Quote:
I hope to see the Operative regret that decision in the sequel to Serenity.

If only!

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011 7:49 AM

MAL4PREZ

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
I'm also interested in another Korean TV series called "Special Investigation Report" (or "record", Ive seen both, must be a translation issue) which is apparently a loose remake of the X-Files.... but set in the 17th century.

Interesting. Looks like there are many cool things happening on Korean TV! I will look at this when this obsession with Iris relaxes a bit.

It might be a while.

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