Lovers in Prague

YA Entertainment | 1080 minutes | 2005 | Not Rated | Standard DVD reviewed by: Fusion3600

Choi Sang-Hyeon (Kim Joo-Hyuk) is a dedicated police officer, so when he is given a commendation by the President of South Korea, it is a most deserved honor. He was given the award for courage in the line of duty, a fact that Sang-Hyeon is quite proud of and can't wait to tell his girlfriend about. His girlfriend is Kang Hye-Joo (Yoon Se-Ah), who is in Prague for an education, as paid for by her loving boyfriend. But when he calls to tell her the good news, she tells him she isn't in love with him anymore and that he should forget about her. This shocks Sang-Hyeon, but he refuses to accept such a sudden break, so he travels to Prague in an effort to reclaim his love. But once he is in Prague, things take some unexpected turns, so even if he does indeed find romance, will it be with who he expects?

I don't watch a lot of melodramas, but given how good some of the recent K-Dramas I've seen have been, I decided to take a chance on Lovers in Prague. This series runs eighteen episodes, so it is rather compact, but little time is wasted and the show proves to be great entertainment. The problem with melodrama is that so many substandard shows have used these elements with poor results, which then shines poorly on the entire genre. But in Lovers in Prague, those same well tread elements are skillfully used and coupled with well developed characters, it works. So while I wouldn't normally praise these kind of simple romantic entanglements, the twists and turns are well done here, both in writing and performance. This is emotional stuff, with hard topics faced and no simple solutions can be found. I found Lovers in Prague to be a terrific series and with such a limited run, it doesn't demand much time, so this release is well recommended.

The episodes are presented in full frame, as intended. The image looks good, but isn't as refined as it could be, as softness is an issue at times. Even so, the image is clean and never soft to an extreme, though grain is evident at times. The colors and contrast look good, with bright hues and accurate black levels. So the visuals won't bowl you over, but the show still looks solid.

The original Korean soundtrack is preserved via a solid, but rather basic stereo soundtrack. This show is driven by dialogue, so there isn't much need for surround presence. The music has good presence however, so when the audio does need a boost, it is provided. The main emphasis is on dialogue though and since the vocals are always clear and crisp, there isn't much else I can report in this department. This release also includes English subtitles.

This release includes no bonus materials.