TV Squid Game

Discussion in 'TV/Movies Discussion' started by MarshmallowAddiction, Oct 3, 2021.

  1. MarshmallowAddiction

    MarshmallowAddiction Well-Known Member

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    Cover:
    [​IMG]
    About:
    Squid game is based on a modern-day survival thriller (from what I learned/researched from!) in Seoul where destitute (destitute = poor) people are lured into playing simple children's games to win money or die trying. But the skates are high and deadly.


    Does the drama include any violence?
    Yes it does include violence. Nevertheless, the series is certainly disturbing, although its violence and gore never reaches the bloody levels of "The Walking Dead," instead relying on an cunning psychological horror that wraps its tentacles around you.


    Why is it called 'Squid Game'?
    As mentioned in the first episode, “Squid Game” is named after a children's game played on a court that is shaped like a squid. It's among the six games that the contestants have to play on their quest to leave the island alive.


    As you would have seen the trailer, friends sharing clips and pics of each episodes, etc. This drama is getting more and more popular as it streams over Netflix. I personally have been recommended by friends over social media and more about watching this Korean drama.

    Discuss below and rate (If you have watched any episodes!) what you think of this Korean drama.
     
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  2. Goblinslate

    Goblinslate Well-Known Member

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    Do you realize that when you are watching this show and enjoying it, you are in fact the same as the ringleader who is doing the same? Just a thought, nothing serious.
     
  3. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

    Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Bruh

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    It’s a 4.5/5 for me.

    Brings you back to your childhood (if you played games similar to those) except just a lot more expensive. Like mate, at least let us take the bodies home so it can be donated for science or sold for money.
     
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  4. thatweebudontknow

    thatweebudontknow Apparently I exist

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    if you like squid game you should watch Alice in borderland, it's better
     
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  5. frozenlimabeans

    frozenlimabeans Well-Known Member

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    I liked Squid Game. The actors acted extremely well, to the point where I kinda forgot that they were actors. This is coming from someone who would rather watch any other anime than a live action show/movie. My friends kinda forced me to watch it, but now they're sick of me rewatching the show.

    They also recommended Alice in Borderland, but I couldn't get into it. Mainly cause I read the manga years ago and could not get invested in a live-action adaptation like how I did those years ago (((Alice in Borderland is very good in both medias, I just already have nostalgia for the manga version). I guess I'm easily entertained
     
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  6. IceLight303

    IceLight303 Well-Known Member

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    Not my interest sorry. I did hear that the number they used actually belongs to someone. They have received hundreds of phone calls.
     
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  7. kkgoh

    kkgoh Well-Known Member

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    It's a good drama that should be watched on its own merit.

    There's a lot of comparison by fans of "Alice in Borderland" (JP, 2020), but that's an entirely different scenario. Sure there are similar game mechanics, competitions, death duels, etc. But so did "Running Man" (1987) and countless other dystopian media. Comparing the two is pointless. I've seen both.

    Squid Game pulled it off with a relatively tired old genre, by focusing on simple, yet important themes. Class/wealth gap issues, questionable humanity when pushed to the brink of survival, and the idea that players have actual agency, even if it's sometimes a false choice.
    They CHOOSE to collectively play the game, or quit, albeit under somewhat false pretenses (not being fully aware their lives were on the line), unlike other media where players are forced into it (Battle Royale, JP 2000). They CHOOSE to make various decisions throughout the games, whether it's ostracizing women and elderly, or blatantly getting blood on their hands when they've run out of the excuse that the hosts were the killers.
    Even in "Liar Game" (JP, 2005) participants didn't necessarily have a choice as they were completely tricked into playing.

    That aspect of choice makes the series HUGELY relatable since it really highlights the hard choices we have to make in life (e.g. poverty vs death). Given the levels of poverty and violence in Chicago, I often wonder if residents here would play the game if they were given the same choice. It makes you think when you hear of stories of single-moms who can't even flush their toilets due to lack of water. Or teens who are practically forced into gangs and made to gun down rivals as a test.

    Squid Game's acting chops and production values are definitely there. So many cameos of famous actors and incredible job by lead actor Lee Jung Jae. If you watched his films, you would be impressed with how he managed to transform himself. It's like watching Tom Hanks playing serious roles .... until he played Forrest Gump. It's an astonishing transition.

    The sets are incredibly well designed and simple. There are very strong, clear themes, from colors to oversized toys, etc, that's almost bewildering. Not much CGI, just good old fashioned cinematography. The camera angles and panning are almost perfect, letting the actors do their work and capturing all their expressions and struggles in the simplest of actions/games (check out the Tug of War episode).

    I thought the best episode was #6 "Gganbu". Where everything slowed down, players were paired up in a nostalgia set (old alleyways), and made to compete with a simple game of marbles. The build up for this episode came from several episodes before, when camaraderie was formed and the players had only started to trust each other. Sae Byeok and Ji Yeong's story was the best.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2021
  8. Jojo775

    Jojo775 Honorary Algae Knight

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    I'm curious when the genre started, I thought maybe 1997 The Game but @kkgoh thanks for giving an even earlier one.
    I wouldn't call it a tired old genre, hardly anything's been done in it besides a few manga and Kaiji, Akagi?
    So it originated from Hollywood in 1987? but it seems to fit more of Asian culture, then again I could easily see Americans participating in this shit, maybe more than other western nationalities.

    Episode 3: why doesn't detective call coast guard, ferries are slow. I mean I know he went Rambo or Bond for the show, just saying it shouldn't happen IRL.

    Damn those masked guys don't have good conditions either, are they getting payed a lot?

    I guess the bad guys are keeping Korean culture alive hur hur.
    On a serious note, it's a perfect mix of darkness, comedy and heart warming scenes.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2021
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  9. kkgoh

    kkgoh Well-Known Member

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    Probably artistic liberties. The cop also:
    (1) was looking for his brother and immediately calling the police might have gotten his brother into trouble (it's a death game for the poor after all), and
    (2) he didn't have enough evidence to warrant any major action yet.
    So he spent all his time collecting evidence before trying to leave with it.

    I wasn't sure if he finally managed to send out evidence from his phone though? The light refraction off this phone made it hard to see.

    The pink soldiers seemed like a mixed bunch. You feel like you're uncovering an entire hidden world without exposition as you're watching, a little bit like "John Wick". I thought it was a brilliant cinematographic/set design move to just dress participants in green tracksuits and soldiers in pink hazmats suits, with simple mask symbols showing their hierarchy. It made a big contrast of "us" vs "them", remove most class distinctions, and sort of dehumanized everyone as well. Wonder if designers borrowed this idea on COVID pandemic imagery.

    Not sure where the pink soldiers got recruited from. Some seemed like criminals, others were clearly brain-washed zealots unafraid of death. I think the zealots were always the ones high up the hierarchy ("square" or "triangle"). The low level "circles" were the ones that displayed the most emotion.

    The scene with the rich international VIPs was cringeworthy though.
    A lot of lousy acting and exaggerated foreigner bias :) But I guess it's fair game given a history of lousy western depictions of asian characters.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2021
  10. frustratedguy109

    frustratedguy109 Well-Known Member

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    It was good, but I find most of it quite predictable. It's probably because I read/watch too much. The only thing I found surprising was the identity of the host (mostly because I didn't even wonder about that).

    I do wonder about the masked men though. How are they chosen? Why do they do what they do? We only see 4 of them unmasked: the square who gets executed, the circles #28 & #29, and Front Man. You can see the square peacefully accepting his death for being unmasked. Also, one of the ones working with #28 tells the doctor about how the organization only cares about the players, not the masked men. You really have to wonder why so many of them are willing to go through this.

    I believe I saw the 4G LTE icon on the corner of his phone, indicating that his data connection was working. However, we don't know if the signal was strong enough or consistent enough to finish sending his data. At any rate, we see at the end that even a year later, the game continues. That means either:
    1. The data was not sent.
    2. The investigation was squashed.
    3. The investigation in ongoing and airtight with no obvious results to show yet.
    EDIT: Wow, I didn't know that double-posting would mean the new content is added to the old post. Before, I always deleted the old post first and reposted everything in a single post.
     
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  11. Jojo775

    Jojo775 Honorary Algae Knight

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    Just watching it now, this is not regular cringe, it's absolute cringe!
     
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  12. kkgoh

    kkgoh Well-Known Member

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    I blame Hollywood "Deliverance" (1972) for all the homosexual rape depicted in movies :rolleyes:
     
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  13. Jojo775

    Jojo775 Honorary Algae Knight

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    There wasn't any rape though? There was close face to dick scene but we know how that ended...
    I unfortunately remember Oz prison show, it was pretty good but damn so much male gay rape.
    Just finished watching and there are even more similarities to Kaiji...I see they made Liar Game tv show with the same rating on IMDB so watching that next. Maybe it will be even better coz I think I remember from manga LG had better games, as well as Kaiji and Akagi...
    Though I also remember in LG a prostitute madam(owner&manager of other loli prostitutes) loli who attacked some big american military guy with panties or something, but he resisted coz he thought of his wife... don't think that will be in the show :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
    Squid Game had a bit too much brute force and gun executions.

    Oh and I was rooting for scum gangster vs UG...who wouldn't root against UG haha.
    That bridge though... my feet would start sweating and I'd be the only one to slip and fall lol.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2021
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  14. Ral

    Ral Not a Well-Known Member ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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    Wasn't he basically running an illegal investigation for the sole sake of finding out what happened to his brother?
     
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  15. frustratedguy109

    frustratedguy109 Well-Known Member

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    I can't remember exactly if ep 3 was the one that left off as soon as he saw the ferry, but that was really his only chance to call it in. After that, he had to masquerade as #29 and couldn't pull out his phone since all the masked men had to gather together on the ferry. When he first saw the ferry, this is the situation:
    1. A bunch of (consensually) knocked out players (which he might not even know about)
    2. A bunch of masked people (suspicious, but not illegal)
    3. A bunch of vans and a ferry (nothing illegal here)
    The only thing he could make an issue about would be the knocked out players since he doesn't know it was done consensually. However, the whole reason he's going rogue in the first place is to find out how his brother is connected to this. He hasn't found his brother yet, so he's understandably reluctant. Also, even if the players did not give consent before being knocked out, they would be unlikely to file charges about it given what he heard about their desperation for cash. Even if they filed charges for that, it would be much less serious than the deaths that were described (and what he would probably want to go after). Note that it doesn't count as kidnapping because they agreed to go even if they didn't agree to be gassed.

    After getting on the ferry and before getting on the island, he killed #29 in what can be described as excessive use of force. Then as said, he had no chance to make a call in secret. Once he arrived on the island, there was no cell signal.
     
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  16. kkgoh

    kkgoh Well-Known Member

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  17. Jojo775

    Jojo775 Honorary Algae Knight

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  18. zodal

    zodal New Member

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    Head count: In episode 6 it's starts with 39 people. Take away 1 leaving 19 teams of 2. Losers get killed leaving 19 plus the extra comes to 20. Yet at the beginning of episode 7 the count comes to 17 instead of 20.
     
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  19. frustratedguy109

    frustratedguy109 Well-Known Member

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    It means there were some pairs who were unable to decide on a winner. For example, a player has only one marble left. He knows that the other player is definitely going to win. He refuses to play and continues to drag on the match for a few more seconds of life.
     
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  20. kkgoh

    kkgoh Well-Known Member

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    I knew there'd be an American version ...

     
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