wow..something new in the kdrama world..at least, to me..i'm stoked..

Bang bang boom. Can't wait.

$1.7 million per episode?! Wow. What's the average, typical cost of producing a drama? Blame it on the high budget, explosive scenes, and great stills, but I'm getting a lot of movie vibes from the drama alone! Converting the drama to film probably won't be too tough judging from all the promotional features being released.

Expensive or not, Iris looks exciting! I've never seen an action drama before; Sweet Spy is the closest to the genre out of the ones I've seen.

@spurf, my soundeffect is "KA DA BOOMMMM"

Hope the actors/actress give explosive performance as well. Can't wait for this.

Wow !!! James Bond drama ??? Hope it delivers with that amount of money.

(Omg, Javabeans replied to my comment! Gasp. So this is what a fan moment feels like)

Lol. ;)

Anyways, you're right - $0.85 million is still a lot! I'm not sure what the average cost per TV episode is here in the U.S., nor in Korea, so I don't have a good base for comparison...But that'd be an interesting report.

I am really excited for this drama so lets hope it does't disappoint. There needs to be more action packed spy dramas! It premiere's on my mom's b-day...hopefully I will still be able to catch the premiere.

Let's see...right now I've got a fusion sageuk going (Hong Gil Dong); an extremely sad melodrama (I'm Sorry, I Love You); a fantasy (My Fair Lady); a sports drama (Dream) and a comedy (Smile). Do I have room on my plate for an action show with explosions and hot guys with guns?

OH HELL YEAH! :-D

@Molly:

"Omg, Javabeans replied to my comment! Gasp. So this is what a fan moment feels like"

I KNOW! :) it's like when jb used my headers. so excited!

<3 u javabeans! :)

this is why i like your drama reviews JAVA we have similar tastes because i also thought Cain & Abel and East of Eden was complete crap. All that money and all those SO CALLED CASTING directer could afford. Was a group of veterans ACTORS with over exaggerated facial expressions and who have a hard time delivering lines without crying or yelling. Cain Abel had the opposite OKAY acting with a lackluster story. So im expecting IRIS to put that money to good use like hiring people WHO CAN DELIVER LINES WITHOUT OVERDOING IT. IN other words please let this be good LOL.

with kim tae hee in it, i think the ratings will be great. Koreans just love her, though her acting is mediocre

yes, i'm hoping soooooo much that IRIS will be a good drama...
it will premiere on KBS in 2 weeks, but i have to wait a month (maybe more) for KBSW... TT

"Cain & Abel and East of Eden was complete crap."

That's because neither drama had EXPLOSIONS like Iris!! Iris's "Boom! Boom! Pow!" > All Other Shows Combined In History Of Kdrama and Mankind

Hey, I recognize the place in Budapest Hungary on the last picture!!

@ bbm

according to KBSW website, IRIS will only premier in November.

11.11.09 to be exact..

@D, 11 November??!! darn it!!
thank you btw for your information

well i suppose watching the ka-boom and uber hotness of LBH without subtitles will suffice until november...
hhmmmm.... maybe i should just download the episodes if i'm not patient enough :P

I'm almost glad it's getting colder - now I'm gonna have a perfect excuse to stay home all night and watch IRIS!

*insert soundeffect here*

Wow, this looks awesome. Action movie-quality like. I'm impressed, but I reserve judgement till I see it.

KBSW should hired more translators! I wish they give the people what they paid for ..good translation and fast. Free fansubs are better than them. :(

$17 million per EPISODE???

Whoa. I mean, wow. I wonder how much the actors got paid if that much money went into production.

I agree with javabeans; I wonder how much story will be involved. I love explosions and car chase scenes as much as the next female, but if there's no substance backing it up, it'll be an empty watch. Like a Steven Seagal movie.

I want. . . .hmmm. . . .75% action, 15% intrigue and 10% romance. I say 10% because I can already see that Kim Tae Hee is the romantic lead and the less I see of her being weepy and sad eyed, the better.

"Wow, this looks awesome. Action movie-quality like. I’m impressed, but I reserve judgement till I see it."

Ditto Sere. I've been disappointed so much recently I'm almost afraid to have high hopes. But you just can't help being pulled in by the "explosiveness" of this drama. Hehe...

The expectations are high and growing.

Inasmuch as I like explosions as much as the next guy, explosions aren't everything.

Witness the Mission Impossible II, a mish-mash of explosions and crazy stupid plot points that make no sense. I STILL don't understand how the bad guys were supposed to make money off the derivatives deal. I mean, doesn't the Australian government (or wherever they were) have the SEC?

Will the Australian SEC, after watching the bad guys make a $1B off of the deal, simply say, "Oh, here we have a WMD style pump and dump.... what do our regulations say about releasing a bio WMD and trying to pump and dump? NOTHING??! You mean they get away with it???? Arrrggh!"

Anyhoo. That is a small small sample of the lunacy that makes up MI:2 plot points....a testament to how badly the script was written, which distract 120% from the slo-motion Woo-esque action scenes that I grew addicted to watching Hardboiled, the Killer and a Better Tomorrow.

IRIS better not suck. You cannot blame the explosions for the sucking. It will be 100% the fault of the writers (and not KTH).

Could be the first action Kdrama that doesn't suck IMO
(:

@ 24 Samsooki

Aww, no, I loved MI:II! Actually, I love all the Mission Impossible movies and the action scenes in MI:II did distract me from the logic!fail. Like the scene at the end where badguymissingathumb is NOT Tom Cruise?? And the fight in the sand? It did seem a bit slower and more dramatic that the first MI, which was amazing.

The most IMPLAUSIBLE movie of all time (but which I love all the same?). FACE OFF. OMG, the day when that will become possible will NEVER COME, at least I hope not. Nicholas Cage acted in all his creepy glory there. "You take his FACE. . . .OFF."

Heh.

@26, mishane:

Not to get too far off-topic, and not to spoil the movie for those who haven't seen MI:2, but here's the premise of the entire movie from the bad guy point of view:

1. steal pathogen.
2. invest in derivatives in a company that makes the cure.
3. release pathogen.
4. company stock goes through the roof.
5. they make money, after paying a fortune in capital gains taxes.

That's the plot, I'm being completely serious. Didn't a single person say, "that's gotta be the stupidest idea in the history of dumb ideas"? How could that ever work? I mean, you have all these smart bad guys, right? They are super smart and motivated, and not one of them sat back and said, "wait. wait...... no, I don't think this is going to work...we forgot that we would never be able to cash in the options.... this is entirely a waste of time. We should have just robbed a bank. "

That said, John Woo is the bomb. Can you imagine if John Woo directs a k-drama? OMG, how awesome would that be???

John Woo presents: Hardboiled Doves and Pianos On The Beach.

LBH is a classical pianist with terminal cancer of the eyes who is also an assassin who soothes his angry soul by playing ballads on a white piano on a private beach. SHG plays his love interest orphan fashion designer who is also his next target. Binnie plays an ambidextrous gun-toting and possibly bi-sexual piano-tuner who may or may not be in love with both LBH and SHG.

Lots of slo-mo, lots of piano ballads, lots of tension between LBH, SHG and Binnie!!!!! 16 episodes, and a 17th episode after it gets extended with ratings in the 40% range.

Been waiting for this drama since they first announced it. Can't wait!!! It's going to be badass!

@ 27, Samsooki

Okay, where do I sign up for THAT one? I'd be willing to pay-per-view, NO problem. :-D

Hope the writer will give equal screen time for each of actors and actresses in the drama but again most of them are just "supporting"cast..aish! Hmm... with all the explosions and gun chasing, wonder if our hero would die in the end?wonder also if any of the character he did in his previous dramas/movies ever die except of course... storm-shadow... maybe:P
Oh well, whatever the outcome, just plead that the writer won't let KSY's character dies!

IRIS! 2 weeks! IRIS! 2 weeks!

And yes, I, like everyone else is scared to death that it might suck. But I'm convinced that somehow I can make it work...explosions, LBH, and 30 secs per ep of TOP with a deadly weapon. Yep, I think I can handle it.

IRIS! 2 weeks! IRIS! 2 weeks!

Hmmm, let me think, a hot cast who can act, guns,explosions,action, whats not to love? Throw in a plot with twists and turns and you've got me.

@ 27: Oh Samsooki, that is an awesome fantasy, especially Binnie's bi-sexual tendencies...do I want to watch that! Ahhem. I mean, it would be a great character added to Binnie's resume. Oh heck, I'm with langdon813, where do I sign up? SHK + Binnie or LBH + Binnie would make such hot couples, it'll be explosive without the explosions. Gosh, it's getting hot in here, I'm losing my train of thought. Samsooki *points finger* - all your fault.

IRIS - eep, Drool Team activate, duck explosions and molest/swoon over LBH with our collective mind power.

Samsooki - add this new synopsis to your epic space drama - you naughty daddy-to-be, suggesting that LBH-SHG-Binne star in a drama together, imagine the jealousy, pain, rage that would cause to our beloveds.

waaaaaa cant wait to see it!
mostly because of the Hungarian scenes x3 these pics were taken in Hungary, the last one is definitely the Western Railway Station building x3
*excited*

@ 22 mishane you said it best i hope they focus less on romance and more on story. Only because i dont want to see KTH or anyone else crying over LOVE because then the story becomes mediocre especially if you cast the wrong people.

I hate explosions. Waste of money and bad for the environment. I'd rather see LBH running around toting guns. He is the only guy I know who looks sexy running around with weapons.

LBH and action now those two go together. But yeah hope they have good safety precautions on the explositions in this one. Would not want LBH to get injured ....but so excited for IRIS. Can't wait for it to premiere.

@Samsooki,

"LBH is a classical pianist with terminal cancer of the eyes who is also an assassin who soothes his angry soul by playing ballads on a white piano on a private beach. SHG plays his love interest orphan fashion designer who is also his next target. Binnie plays an ambidextrous gun-toting and possibly bi-sexual piano-tuner who may or may not be in love with both LBH and SHG."

Wow, you just described Belleza's perfect drama!! O_O

Boom boom pow + Waaaaaaa + Pianos at the beach = Ultimate FTW

I love me some big loud splashy explosions in foreign countries.

i love me some hot and sweaty LBH more though.

@Samsooki - please please please make your synopsis a reality. please. and then JB could recap it. and all would be right in the world. kthx.

@mishane,

"I want. . . .hmmm. . . .75% action, 15% intrigue and 10% romance. I"

I've look at the bills, and I've worked out the breakdown for the $85,000 per episode

Boom Boom: $15,300
Pow: $15,700
Cast Salary: $40,000
Lee Byung Hun's Immortality Cryogenic Chamber: $10,000
TOP's Big Bang Semi-Automatic: A $200 value for only $3,999!
Kim Tae Hee's 8 inch Diameter Natural Beauty: Priceless

There's some things money can't buy. For everything else, use Oppa Pout Wiggle.

@belleza,

haha! :)

I think we should hold no preconceptions on KTH. Might be that she wins a baeksang for her acting.... I'll be completely neutral when watching this.

Cool..can't wait to watch this drama...

sorry but anything with kim tae hee as the main actress has never impressed me.

i love the rest of the cast...but her acting skills are a bit lacking to be starring opposite of LBH.

Hi, I want to greeting all of IRIS team.IRIS is a perfect drama.I like all of actors and actresses from including in this drama,especially Kim tae-hee. Congraculation of getting award from this drama,Kim tae-hee.IRIS will be stand as a excellent drama in my heart than other Korea dramas. from Myanmar(a korea movies lover)..........................