The Best Sageuk Movies
My all time favorite sageuk (period drama) movies, in no particular order. For Korean gangster movies, please check out my other list, The Best Korean Gangster Movies. For other Korean movie genres you can also throw an eye here, The Best Korean Movies.
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- DirectorLee Joon-ikStarsKam Woo-seongJung Jin-youngKang Seong-yeonTwo clowns living in Korea's Chosun Dynasty get arrested for staging a play that satirizes the king. They are dragged to the palace and threatened with execution but are given a chance to save their lives if they can make the king laugh.
- DirectorLee Joon-ikStarsSong Kang-hoYoo Ah-inMoon Geun-youngSet in 18th century Korea, long-ruling King Yeongjo's struggle with his son, Sado, sees the king take extreme measures in order to deal with his heir.
- DirectorLee Joon-ikStarsSol Kyung-guByun Yo-hanLee Jeong-eunThe story of Jeong Yak-yong's brother, Jeong Yak-jeon when he was exiled to Heuksando in 1801, and meets an energetic young fisherman.
- DirectorJe-yong LeeStarsJeon Do-yeonLee Mi-sookBae Yong-junIn late 1700s Korea, Lady Cho challenges the playboy Lord Jo-won into seducing and sleeping with her husband's coming young, virgin concubine. Lady Cho agrees to sleep with him if he succeeds.
- DirectorDae-woo KimStarsLee Beom-suOh Dal-suLee Ha-eunA noble, high-class scholar starts to write erotic novels in 18th century of Chosun dynasty. He falls in love with a king's woman.
- DirectorDae-woo KimStarsKim Ju-hyukRyu Seung-beomCho Yeo-jeongA servant falls in love with a girl whom his master also desires. Although the girl loves the servant, she also longs to improve her station in life.
- DirectorChang-min ChooStarsLee Byung-hunRyu Seung-ryongHan Hyo-jooA look-alike commoner is secretly hired to take the place of a poisoned king to save his country from falling into chaos.
- DirectorLee Myung-seStarsHa Ji-WonGang Dong-wonAhn Sung-kiSet years ago in the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the story follows a young police officer named Namsoon (Ha Ji-won) who, along with her fellow officers, discovers a counterfeit ring operating out of the area they've been assigned to protect. However, as the criminals aren't just printing up their own money, they also plan to use it to topple the economy and take down the government. As her investigative work continues, Namsoon soon makes the acquaintance of a young man known only as Sad Eyes (Gang Dong-won), for the way that he looks out at you from underneath his hair - he doesn't say much, but he's got that look and that's all it takes to pique Namsoon's interest in him, even if she shouldn't be thinking those thoughts about someone she might have to toss in jail. Of course, Namsoon can't deny her feelings even if the object of her affection belongs behind bars, and it's not long before she's starting to act on her emotions.
- DirectorYoon Jong-binStarsHa Jung-wooGang Dong-wonLee Sung-minA period action film centered on a militia group who turn against an unjust nobility.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsKim Myung-gonJung-hae OhKim Kyu-chulDespite its falling popularity, a father teaches his two children the Korean musical tradition of Pansori (one singer accompanied by one drummer).
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsChoi Min-sikAhn Sung-kiYoo Ho-jeongIn a time of political and social unrest in nineteenth-century Korea, an uncouth, self-taught painter explores his natural talent amidst the repressive world around him.
- DirectorIm Kwon-taekStarsHyo-jeong LeeCho Seung-wooSeong-nyeo KimA governor's son falls in love and marries a beautiful girl, the daughter of a courtesan. Their marriage is kept a secret from the governor who would immediately disown him if he found that his son married beneath him.
- DirectorBae Chang-hoStarsKim Myung-gonYoon Yoo-sunKim Jong-gooSeventeen-year old Soonie is married to the ten-year old son of the local Korean medicine doctor. Married to a child, Soonie is subjected to the hard life of the traditional daughter-in-law. Ten years pass and her husband, who has gone away to study, returns with a stylish 'modern woman' dressed in Western clothes. When Soonie finds out that the woman is carrying her husband's child, she quietly packs her bag and leaves. The film is divided into five episodes, following her life.
- DirectorKyun-dong YeoStarsLee Jung-jaeKim Ok-binSeok-hun KimKorea, 1724. Once upon a time in the Choson Dynasty, Chun-doong falls in love at first sight with a beautiful woman whilst in the middle of a fight. Her name is Seol-ji and she works as a kisaeng, a high-class courtesan. When she is delivered by accident to Chun-doong's tavern to work as a maid, he is the happiest man in the land until she is snatched away by her rightful owner, Man-deuk. He vows to get her back, but alone he is no match for Man-deuk, a fierce gang boss with political connections. While still despondent without Seol-ji in his life, he is challenged to a friendly fight by Man-deuk's main rival, gang boss Jjak-gwi. When he accidentally knocks him into a coma, he is hired as the replacement boss. Jjak-gwi was en route to a gathering of the nation's gang bosses at Man-deuk's inn where Seol-ji now works. During the assembly, Man-deuk almost initiates a war in the underworld when he brings Seol-ji into the negotiations. But Man-deuk has his own reasons to plot the downfall of the Jjak-gwi gang, including larger ambitions to betray the king and seize ultimate power.
- DirectorShin Jae MyungKim Su-Jin-IHa YooStarsZo In-sungJu Jin-moSong Ji-hyoA historical drama set in the Koryo dynasty and focused on the relationship between a king and his bodyguard.
- DirectorHwang Dong-hyukStarsLee Byung-hunKim Yoon-seokPark Hae-ilIn 1636, King Injo hides in the mountains to avoid being part of the Qing dynasty.
- DirectorJ.Q. LeeStarsHyun BinJeong Jae-yeongJo Jung-SukKing Jeongjo (Hyun-Bin) attempts to protect his royal powers from the conflict of two factions: Noron and Soron.
- DirectorJoo-Ho KimStarsCha Tae-hyunOh Ji-hoMin Hyo-rinIn late 18th century ice is a commodity more valuable than gold. When corrupt officials conspire to form a monopoly and fix its price, a gang of 11 professionals is formed to steal all the royal ice blocks in five storage for a night
- DirectorKim Sung-suStarsJung Woo-sungAhn Sung-kiJu Jin-mo1375. Nine Koryo warriors, envoys exiled by Imperial China, battle to protect a Chinese Ming Princess from Mongolian troops.
- DirectorJae-Hoon ChoiStarsJang HyukKim Hyeon-sooJoe TaslimThree different swordsmen -- a swordsman who is going blind, the best swordsman in Joseon Dynasty, and the best swordsman in Qing Dynasty who aspires to be the best even in the Joseon Dynasty -- meet each other for their own reasons.
- DirectorKwang-shik KimStarsNam Joo-hyukZo In-sungPark Sung-woongA historical film about the siege of Ansi Fortress and the epic eighty-eight day battle that Yang Man-chun and his Goguryeo troops fought against 500,000 invading Tang dynasty men to defend it.
- DirectorHur Jin-hoStarsChoi Min-sikKim Seung-hunHan Suk-kyuOne of the most important figures of Korean royal history King Sejong develop a 20-year relationship with engineer and inventor Jang Yeong-sil, a truly remarkable scientist based on their common interest in astronomy.
- DirectorHan-min KimStarsChoi Min-sikRyu Seung-ryongCho Jin-woongAdmiral Yi Sun-sin faces a tough challenge when he is forced to defend his nation with just 13 battleships against 300 Japanese enemy ships in the Battle of Myeongryang.
- DirectorCho Jung-RaeStarsLee Yu-riPark Chul-minKim Dong-wanTen years of King Yeongjo's reign, Hak-gyu, a talented street singer travels all over Joseon in search for his kidnapped wife. By his singing, one by one, people start following to his journey filled in sorrow and joy.
- DirectorLee Doo-yongStarsJi-in YuWon NamkungJeong-sun HwangAn attractive young woman has been called on to help rid a haunted family of its demons - the male heirs all die young, and one is now in a coma - she has to clear the environment where several exorcists have failed before her.
- DirectorTae-Jin AhnStarsRyu Jun-yeolYoo Hae-jinShin Chi-youngA blind acupuncturist, who strangely, is able to see normally at night, and happens to witness the death of the crown prince.