Narcosantos

Once you pass the 1st episode which is a bit too long (but helpful to understand the main character's personality and motivation) the series gets better and better with a great finale which keeps you on the edge of your seat for 60 minutes. The 6 episodes format is perfect as it allows to develop the story enough while being crisp at the same time.

The story is well built and well paced, the acting very good - not surprising as the show features some top actors from the Korean movie.

Hwang Jung Min nails it as per usual in his role as the ruthless, devilish drug king and finds perfect chemistry with Ha Jung Woo who is equally impressive in this guy-next-door-turned-hero.

Great suspense and action, a must watch for fans of the genre!

It would be absolutely unfair to compare this series to Narcos, but it's a gripping and exciting thriller nonetheless which gives you a glimpse into a less known story within the War on Drugs era. The casting is excellent, the action sequences and dialogues are brilliant, and the characters were so great that you'd feel like rooting for all of them regardless of whether they're good guys or bad guys. And well the setting - who doesn't like a classy narco story set in the Latin tropics?

But the main thing for me was the CINEMATOGRAPHY - Korean shows always kill it when it comes to this department. It's a slow burn yet taut thriller that's so much fun to watch, it's easy to look past it's only con - there is no genuine cultural characteristics of the country of Suriname on display here, would've definitely liked to see more of Surinamese culture in general, even though the entire series seems to be set in the region.

I am a big fan of the "Narcos" and "El Chapo" shows. So for me there was not a single doubt in my mind to give "Narco Saints" a try... And off course I didn't want to wait too long and decided to watch this show immediately!

But just before I started watching this show, I did some research. Because what on earth are a bunch of Korean guys doing in South America: drug trafficking in Suriname, a country far from their homeland. I was even more surprised to see carton boxes with dutch logos on several of the movie posters/photos. It just didn't make sense to me... But after some checking, it all seems to be based on a true story. The names of the people I however could not find back on the internet. But in the president of Suriname, I think I recognized Desi Bouterse. It is a well-known fact that - as president of Suriname - Bouterse murdered many people and is/was involved in drug trafficking. That there isn't yet a crime show about Bouterse himself, is a wonder by itself...

After watching part of the show, I was actually positively surprised by the quality of it. With the blockbuster show "Squid Game", we have already seen that korean media production can be off pretty interesting quality. And "Narco Saints" seems to confirm that "Squid Game" was not some kind of one-time miracle, never to be repeated again. You can clearly see that the producers and showrunner (director) of "Narco Saints" have done their homework by thoroughly studying the original "Narcos" and "El Chapo" shows. Especially in the first few episodes of "Narco Saints" you can see back elements like the news snippits with a voice-over from the main character.

An important point that I want to make is the choice of language and subtitling. I find it always difficult whether to chose to watch it in either (1) the original language with english subtitles, or (2) dubbed in english... Like many of you, I don't understand a word of korean. The fact is however that korean people speak so fast, that subtitles are often impossible to read fully before they disappear. So I had no alternative than to chose english dubbing. It's a pitty however that the english dubbing isn't of a too high quality. It would have been so much better if they had asked the real actors to also do a dubbing in english. This so that at least we have the english voices from the real actors. But I have to admit... watching the show with the current low quality english dubbing is still a nice experience.

Overall, the show was a great watch. The acting is great and many action scenes are very good. The visual effects however could have been better. When it comes for instance to some jet fighters taking off, you can clearly see that it was a fake.

All-in-all, it was over 6 hours of pretty good content. I think though that the director should have edited it down to somewhere between 4.5 and 5 hours. Episodes 4,5 and 6 could have been better told in two episodes of maximum 45 minutes. Especially episode 5 became a "bit" too repetitive and predictable.

I don't know why they decided to not use real names in a production "based on true facts", but this is something I hope will be changed in a second season. Because I truly hope we will see more narco shows produced by koreans! And off course any next season should again be based on true facts! I wouldn't even mind if it would then focus on drug crimes in other countries. I honestly would even be interested to see a show about the real meth druglords from Asia.

One small remark that I want to make... It was pretty obvious that Rolex sponsored the show through product placement! At one point they even put a Rolex sticker on an antique wall clock. That was pretty funny to see actually :-)

I think I watched half of this series with my eyes closed since I don't really like to watch violence, but I do like true stories so wanted to see it. Even with my eyes closed at some of the most violent scenes, the grotesque audio was enough to visualize in my head what was happening. The true story in itself is indicative of what really does go on out there, and unfortunately in this instance a private citizen unwittingly gets himself involved in a huge US DEA kingpin/drug bust operation because the Korean (lead male) went to the country innocently with his buddy to export/import some skate (seafood that looks like a stingray) which is a delicacy in Korea but gets thrown away in the South African country. They wind up getting getting caught in a scheme and getting involved in this operation when one of the investigation officials involves them w/o their knowledge with drugs on their boat. Of course they get caught and now they are in it for real. This was an operation that was reminiscent of the El Chapo bust. The characters were cast perfectly and the ending was satisfying.

It's a simple plot but masterful at the same time one of the best tv shows i have seen in 2022 I enjoyed every minute and never got bored Koreans are really great actors All the actors did a great job I really love the cooperation between Netflix and Korea it produces really great works and i hope to see more masterpisece soon like that As for directing the director made a great effort and maintained the pace of work and the balance between drama and action The series ended on time without delay The same for the writer he made great characters and drew their sides and features well I highly recommend the series to people who love the atmosphere of espionage mixed with excitement biography and action they will have a nice time with this series and the beautiful thing is that it does not need a lot of time.