The Slave Hunters (aka Chuno)

Summary: The Slave Hunters (aka Chuno) is a 2009 South Korean historical drama that follows the story of Lee Dae Gil (Jang Hyuk) and his band of trusty sidekicks (Hang Jung Soo & Kim Ji Sook) as they track down runaway slaves for reward money. When a politician hires the motley crew to track down a runaway general-turned-slave (Oh Ji Ho), they find themselves embroiled in a political conspiracy that might just cost them their lives. Lee Dae Gil's tragic background and the search for his first love (Lee Da Hae), a runaway slave from his household, adds additional twists and turns to the 24 episode historical melodrama.

-1 star for the weird assassin chick

Recommendation: I have watched several period dramas of late and The Slave Hunters, despite being several years old, is easily one of the best productions among them. This includes competition like: Iljimae: The Phantom Thief, Jung-Yi: Goddess of Fire, and Bridal Mask. From the cast, sets, costuming, script, and fight choreography, I found the series largely flawless and possessing a unique visual quality. It was so good that it earned a spot on my TOP TEN DRAMAS! list. There were some issues toward the end of the series with the music being overpowering in critical scenes and muffling the dialogue. But with subtitles that isn't much of an issue. I highly recommend this drama for fans of this genre and keep a box of tissue nearby because you will shed a few tears. I made the critical mistake of watching the last episode on a train... in public. It wasn't pretty.


Other Thoughts: The main character Lee Dae Gil, as portrayed by actor Jang Hyuk, bears some similarities to Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow. He's the anti-hero with the heart of gold, who ultimately does the right thing as long as no one knows about it. Jang Hyuk gave this character a certain swagger and bravado that makes it hard not to draw the comparison. Despite this, I think he still owned the role and brought a complex and emotionally/physically scarred character to life. This is probably one of my all time favorite characters from a k-drama. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that he is also shirtless, or mostly shirtless, for the first quarter of the series and flaunting some seriously cut muscles. Between him, General Choi (Han Jung Soo), Wang Son (Kim Ji Sook) and Song Tae Ha (Oh Ji Ho) there was a visual buffet of muscley-goodness-eye-candy for the ladies to enjoy.

The Three Amigos

With all that muscle on screen, it's no wonder the characters spent so much time fighting. The Slave Hunters, hands down, has some of the slickest fight choreography that I've seen in a k-drama. I am not generally a fan of action heavy shows but the scenes were so well done that its hard not to admire the work of the film crew, director, and actors. I recently started watching The Blade and Petal and, by comparison, the fight sequences in that drama look slow and cumbersome.

Last, but not least, I want to point out that Park Ki Woong makes an appearance in the last several episodes of the series. If I made a list of my favorite actors, he'd be on it so this was a nice surprise. Plus, he plays a bad guy! I thought he pulled it off nicely and it was a great warm-up for his later role in Bridal Mask.

I could say great things about this drama all day so I will end with another recommendation to watch this series.