**Beware** as of this review, the links given in the comments section, the quality of the video with english sub is terrible unfortunately. To those debating on watching, I'd hold on until a better quality is out.
Story | I was thinking this was going to be a typical romantic comedy movie and I was expecting a different plot from the trailer (1. didn't read the plot online, just went right in and watched it! and 2. there were no subs for the trailer) It's the typical bad boy, nerdy girl somehow become connected because of an old school type of chain letter. Which is the one aspect I loved. It's so randomly funny you can't help but laugh because it's not completely unbelievable, well, at least to me. There was also so much more to this story than what I wrote that I was amazed they were able to fit so much into this movie.
Cast | Darren Wang is a flat out stud. I don't know if it's his charisma or his smile that pulled me in but I really enjoyed his acting. He was able to play a delinquent in a way where he could still be seen as bad but he had such an adorable side. I liked how his face showed certain expressions, without words you could easily tell every emotion his character was feeling and I love when actors can pull that off. I fell in love with his character fairly quickly. Also have never watched anything with Vivian Sung but I quite liked her and her acting. She gave her character a personality that was easy to like. I'm always scared of the awkward nerdy type of characters, they either annoy me or I love them. There's really no in-between. Her and Darren worked perfectly together. Their friendship just seemed like it formed so effortlessly in the movie. Side characters didn't have much for me to judge. I really enjoyed the friends in this movie. They didn't have much screen time but when they were around they added some more comedy into the mix.
Music | Taiwanese movies/dramas usually never disappoint with OSTs and I really liked the ending theme song.
Rewatch | Most definitely! I sat through 2 hours of terrible quality. Subs were hard to read so I'll have to come back. And after that I'll probably come back again because this movie was such a hit.
Overall | Like I said, a refreshing movie. I don't know what it was. For a movie, the plot moved at a very nice pace, there weren't too many cliches, the character's development seemed so natural and nothing seemed too rushed. The director did an amazing job with this project and I highly recommend everyone add this to their list and watch it!
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It reminds me of the 90’s, no mobile phones, no computers, no social media, no music streaming, no downloads, no iPods, no internet friends...it reminds me of days where things were more organic, more simple, when your mother told you off for spending too much time on the phone to your friends, when you wrote letters to your idols and posted them hoping to get a reply, when you read girly magazines all the time and dreamt about your gorgeous idols and recorded their favourite videos on VHS and after a while screamed at the TV because the image started to break down as the tape started to erode from the millions of times you watch that recording. Why is the tape ruined? Why? Why??? Those were the times where you listened to music on a walkman, tape after tape after tape, those were the times where you spoke to your friends on your house phone and met up after school to go out and your parents didn’t call you to find out where you were because they knew where you were and it was safe to play outdoors and hang out with your friends... yeah, the popular kid would always exist, fun, cool, amazingly gorgeous and the bad boy, the epitome of an outcast, exuding this charm one didn’t quite know how to define... Old times....
Those who experienced the 90’s one way or another will relate to this movie a lot. It’s all there, the wanting to go to a concert and don’t find tickets, the favourite singer or the favourite band one will always remember with fondness... Andy Lau, yet it could have been Savage Garden, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi... the one guy that made your heart beat so fast it seemed like it had a life of its own and would come out of your chest straight into his to show him just how much you cared...the guy that defended and protected you, the guy, that guy...then then...the now...the job you worked hard to achieve, the long hours you put in to go be hated by your colleagues or envied...the gorgeous boyfriend that becomes like a comforting piece of furniture, instead of the man you’re with...the routine...and the looking back to the days when you were happy, when you fought for something that mattered, when you were with people that mattered, longing for the guy that mattered, realizing that your life resembles nothing of what you then thought it would be, that your adults days are filled with...a whole lot of emptiness... you look back and see what you were and what you have become, what you wanted and what you’ve got, you realize that you’re not happy so you decide to take control of your life and start to live it the way you were meant to live it all along but life... life that has given you everything had actually not given anything worth fight to keep until now.
I cried watching this movie. It’s not often that a film brings me to tears but Our Times did. It was not their times, it was our times, it was not their story, it was our story, our, mine, yours, our story, our times. Maybe if it was now or even 10 years ago the story might have been different but as such is a fantastic homage to a decade that meant a lot to so many girls and still means a lot to so many women.
Funny how, despite Our Times have passed things still remain pretty much the same nowadays with social media and phones and streaming and the lot... well, the gist of it at least, the idols, the pop culture, the friends, the hot guy, the troublemaker...so it makes me wonder if our times are really over or they never will be over as they live with us in our memories. Our Times will always be ours, will always be special and will always be part of us whether we’re 20, 30, 40, 50, 50, 70 or 80 years old and that friendship, that love and those dreams no one can take away from us.
For all of the above, to me the movie is a perfect 10 out of 10.
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The movie isn't too romantic and it has many funny scenes with very good actors and actresses that suit the roles perfectly.
This is a move that I would definitely re-watch.
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Asian teenage rom-com starter pack:1) not-so-good-looking female lead
2) bad boy male lead
3) beauty transformation
4) some type of bet
5) bet backfires and the two leads fall in love
6) but they don't know how the other feel
7) love triangle (usually with a more good-looking character)
8) "make the best of our youth"
9) follows a time line
10) first love = endgame
Bonus 11) The actors are going to become household names after...
Number 10 is really the reason why I kept coming back. I just have the awful attachment to those kinds of stories and just makes me believe in them more...even if the chance that they'll happen in reality is slim. But anyway, the point is: teenage Asian rom-coms follow this similar path. Of course, there's some changes here and there but the initial idea remains and Our Times is no exception. It likens with another Taiwanese hit, You're the Apple of My Eye and Thai hit, Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Yet I enjoyed watching all three. Why? Because of the nostalgia. (And yes, I'm weakness in these type of plots.) Thing is, these type of movies, like Our Times is of course, not for everyone. It has its target audience and I guess it's able to reach them successfully. All these movies I mentioned, including Our Times tries to tickle a millennial's nostalgic heartstrings which is really a big thing in Asia. You feel it alongside the movie, that is why timelines work.
And Our Times used that. Cameos by well-known actors like (no spoilers allowed so...) made that feeling stronger since many of us young adults, grew up watching them.
With that, we are able to remember our own first loves. Not to mention that Our Times has beautiful cinematography and soundtrack. The plot is nothing new but the comedy is still spot-on. Darren Wang and Vivian Sung (both in their early 20s by the way) play their respective characters well. I do think that Our Times, however, tried to twist things a little to make it a little more interesting (though still relaying on common romance tropes) but still trying to stretch things a little.
In the end, it's not a movie for everyone. But for those it wants to reach, I believe it does. It's a fun, light-hearted watch that tries its best to deliver a message for us youngsters out there.
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I watched this movie recently and honestly this is one of the best movies I’ve seen – I kid you not – in YEARS. It’s breathtaking and gave me nostalgic feels.
If you look at the story it’s not special on the surface, as some of the other reviewers pointed out, but this movie approaches the bad guyxgood girl motive adequately. So often it is done very poorly, but here, the development of their relationship is understandable. The acting is done very well, I had the feeling that especially the actors playing the teens merged with their roles.
From the start, I liked the gangster. I guess I have a heart for the bad ones since, as a rule, they are more complex than the good ones. I find the female lead very likeable. She’s cute and innocent but not bubbly or annoying. I wasn’t bothered by any of the other characters; they contributed their parts to the story and made the whole thing more vivid and enjoyable, so did the music.
Thinking about the ending, it is realistic and suits the story. I was completely satisfied. This movie has a proper length. Neither it is too short nor is it too long.
Throughout the movie I smiled, I laughed, I cheered mentally, and I also cried – a lot actually. Now you can say that I am a rather emotional person, however, the truth is that the characters grew on me and I experienced them as humans, not just fiction. I didn’t feel like watching a movie, I felt like I was looking through a window. This means the actors/the director/everyone who had contributed to this movie are highly skilled people.
There are things which I didn’t get properly, so I definitely will rewatch this movie. Nonetheless I give “Our Times” the highest rating because I think it deserves the overall 10/10.
This movie has everything: romance, humor, drama, a bit of action, and I highly recommend you to watch it. To me, this movie is far better than most Hollywood productions nowadays.
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The nostalgic feeling to the movie is great and I think the funny moments are often actually funny, which is a good. In terms of a coming of age movie there were some great moments that were cliched but charming and reminded me of something out of 10 Things I Hate About You. The rollerskating scenes were great, the school auditorium scenes, etc. I also thought that once the love triangle really got going things were really cooking, and the painful tragedy of unrequited love/miscommunication in first love was well played.
Things that I don't think worked so well are the cliched medical plot lines (including the reason that he had to move away? And they lost contact?), the dumb tragic backstory, the ENDING WITH THE CHARACTERS GROWN UP, and some of the more intense gang-related scenes felt pretty cringey and ridiculous. I think this movie is enjoyable because of the connection between the leads and the heart-ache and sweetness of their relationship, but it is certainly a flawed film with whole parts that really just don't work.
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The story was spectacular. It's typical and overused, but it was done well! There wasn't one long draggy story, but multiple ones that led to a strong ending. It focused on different aspects from being insecure to being criticized for being in a certain clique, and it was just amazing. I laughed like crazy, almost teared up, and had a fun time! There were some characters i thought that could've had more character development because they stayed the same practically throughout the entire film. As well, they didn't focus too much on the parents or teachers, which I would've like to see more of.
The main theme is beautiful. Not something I would listen to by itself, but suited different scenes perfectly! I didn't pay much attention to the insert songs, though. I thought that it was clever to leave some scenes without music to make it more touching and really emphasize on those parts.
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Wish there was more?
I don't watch movies a lot, but I decided to remedy that by downloading several.Didn’t know from where to start, I choose this one featuring Vivian Sung, a particularly funny actress who never fails to make me laugh.
The movie begins with an adult Truly, the perfect ordinary office worker, overhearing her colleagues mocking her. She goes home and discovers an old book from her high school days, and suddenly, our beloved Vivian Sung appears as the young Truly. The entire movie unfolds as a flashback of her youth, allowing us to understand how she navigated high school as an ordinary girl, not particularly studious, with two best friends, a crush on Andy Lau, and an interest in Ouyang, the school's most popular guy.
The movie was a cliché, but oddly I didn’t mind it at all. While every element seemed familiar from old series or movies, I watched it as if I had never encountered the plot before. It was really funny as expected, and I wasn’t bored at all.
The main leads were really cute together, they had great chemistry and I enjoyed how their friendship developed—studying together, going out together, taking on missions, skating together, you name it. It really made me nostalgic for high school vibes.
Overall, it was a good movie, well worth the time. The positive vibes left me with a sense of satisfaction, and I have no regrets about watching it.
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Our Mafia
Our Times manages to execute a variety of cliche conventions and provide a light hearted, feel good movie.The story was pretty fun to watch and was very easy to follow.
Despite having the cliches, they are executed well, with teenage looking teenagers and decent acting. Though there are some parts where bad or subpar acting stands out. Most of it was solid especially on the more emotional scenes.
Music and ost solid as hell. Iconic. 10/10.
The first time I heard of this film, I was watching it with my cousins and my aunt. The scene we were watching was when Ayuan drowned. My cousin proceeded to blurt out, why is he called Ayuan, he can't even swim that far. He should have been called Ajin. Yuan means far, jin means close. That is all.
The film starts off as a solid 7-8 aNd as the story progresses, this shit builds into like a solid 8.5. And then theres like this 10 minute window where it turned into a solid 9.5. Very well executed. Also was very happy they addressed some real world concerns such as consequences of head injury. There was alot of foreshadowing and pay off from earlier scenes in the film that made it very very satisfying to watch.
Solid as hell.
Really enjoyed the film.
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also school background and story presentation are done well. but major credit goes to acting. this movie is completely performance driven. wang darren and sung vivian did great jobs emoting hsu taiyu and truly. they were silly, adorable, caring and loving through out. romance between them felt natural and never forced. the characters other than Main Characters are also interesting to watch and were acted well. their performance made me buy story with usual romance tropes, that are sometimes relatable
music is good. there is this one song which caught my attention. cinematography and settings were good and made it feel like an old movie with bright colours.
however, i fell in love with actors here so much that i was disappointed that they were not casted as grown ups. i also have certain complaints with the ending. i wish things could have been better without that. nevertheless,for someone who are new with story will be able to thoroughly enjoy.
if you really want to watch a movie that reminds you of your crushes, first love, first break up . you can watch this. you will enjoy it.
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