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.
