User reviews

Life on Mars has a solid story, however it doesn't really deliver in the end, though the serial killer story was intense at the begining. The small cases that took place and created the puzzle of the main story, the relationship between the members of the police team and the performances, were the highlights of the series. Especially the cases were really interesting and entertaining. The bromance and the dynamics of the team were so good that I'm wishing that there would be a second season, taking that epilogue in mind and the fact that they didn't really explained why he went back in time and how. But overall, it was enjoyable.

Generally, crime & investigation genre drama seems boring. Sometimes they cannot keep pace with the little cases or incidents inside the drama which create loopholes! But this drama is different! While watching the drama you will become a part of it, you will feel thrilled about each cases! Though it has crime, investigation : this drama is not boring or slow paced at all! trust me! If you love investigation drama with solid plot, UNPREDICTABLE cases, vivid thoughts, lots and lots of funny moments (will make you laugh harder, refresh your mind) unlike other dramas: go watch this drama!

I will never forget the characters especially kang dong chul

I really love this crime thriller drama. It has Signal (2017) vibe. You will fall in love with characters. The story between year 2018 and 1988 even though I don't fully understand the reason how Han Tae Joo can transport from time to time. But this drama will open your eyes as some of the cases are based on the true events ! Definitely recommended !

Overall it's a good series and I really hope it end well but its quite disappointing. The acting for the main character was amazingly done. And I really hope that season 2 will come but maybe it will not happen.

Great acting, great cinematography and really great and unique storyline. Usually with these kinds of storylines you get so many plot holes but in this drama everything matches and has a logic behind it. Honestly I am baffled why the number of reviews (and I'm guessing overall viewers) are so low compared to other dramas. It could be due to the fact that there is no bold romantic relationship involved, although it exists. Overall, first 3 episodes couldn't get me hooked but starting ep 4 it was addictive and I think this is going to be one of the most memorable drama endings I have ever watched. No forced sad/happy ending or trying to just wrap things up. It was really satisfying to me.

I thought it was good that the show brought up the difference in how women were treated in Korea 30 years ago. I know that Korea is still a very patriarchal society, and so much so that it drives a lot of Korean women to leave the country, and seems to be very big part of the reason for the abysmal birth rate of Korea (2nd lowest in the world). It also seems like a lot of effort was spent on recreating the Korea of 30 years ago. A big part of the charm of such a show is seeing how things have changed. It seems that from similar shows that take place in the current ear, things have changed a lot.

But not sure it this is so representative since 1988 is right after the constitution reform which followed decades of being under a fairly repressive dictatorship, and I would sort of expect a lot of repercussions from the change, and it does not seem like this is so evident in this series.

I am American, so not familiar with what Korea was 30 years ago. However, there is one fact I was able to check up on, and that was smoking. In 2000 it was about 35%, vs about 20% today, and at that point it was already in a steep decline. That would indicate that it had to be somewhere in the 50% range in 1988, and so few men probably did not smoke--And we see no smoking. See modern Korean series with lots of smoking, which I think it probably excessive, and none in this series. Too bad they did not try to do more to make it truly.

I watched the original BBC show, which is great. But this one has more stories and I think depth. The actors are great, the South Korean 80s fantastically recreated, music, direction... I could say that I like more this one than the original and the original is very good! (even though I gave to both 9 stars).

This show was one of the best shows that I've ever seen. Good acting, strong story, beautiful drama, good comedy, interesting cases and overall enjoyable with a lovely vibe. I don't like how repeatedly the dolly zoom was done but i like the direction and camera scenes and the lighting. I'm giving this show two stars only because of the bad ending which wasn't satisfying to me. I understand what happened but i'm not happy with the ending at all! I don't expect to watch a second season as the only reason that kept me watching was the explanation which wasn't satisfying as i said, so i'm not excited to watch another season.

Big fan of the original Life on Mars(LOM) and Ashes to Ashes (ATA), not so keen on the American attempt to replicate LOM.

This however was a refreshing, unique and exciting take on both BBC productions. It was a lot of fun, extremely engaging and a just a little bit creepy at times which is great for a crime drama.

The writers managed to take the skeleton characters and stories of LOM and ATA and totally make it their own.

I would have loved a second season but sometimes when writers try to write from scratch it doesn't work out (re: Game of Thrones final season -.-)

I've not watched a lot of foreign language shows but this made me very keen to watch more and broaden my horizons.

Great acting, excellent chemistry amongst the cast, outstandingly hilariously nostalgic, nice twist in storyline I'm totally 100% glad I watched this despite my initial prejudice against the 2 protagonist whom I've only seen play bad guys roles. They've both exceeded my expectations and that's what i call real actors Thank you for this Can't wait for the follow up series although i think it's already about time as I'm watching this 5 years behind Please please come up with a new season soon Thank You Thank You Thank You.

Kudos to the rest of the cast and the great cinematography of making the scenes look and feel in 1988. I think most of us have forgotten all the simplicity life offered those times and how we're blessed with advance technology and hopefully means to really make life a better place for the lesser people. With money comes power and hopefully those in power will contribute instead of creating sustainability only for themselves.

I'm not a fan of the writing style that pushes the viewers too hard to interpret and speculate. You're expected to accept whatever is presented to you. If writers were to do so, they need a better structure and understanding of world building. Take for example the British series Utopia, it does it brilliantly.

The director must really love the Dolly zoom, although it looked good but I wish there was more visual variations even at the cost of it being experimental. You are already pushing your skill ceiling in all departments so why not shoot for the moon?

Anyway, it's a solid watch and will probably appeal to everyone.