FILMMAKER REACTS to SQUID GAME Season 1 Episode 1: Red Light, Green Light 

As a Korean American, I agree with your theory that the Korean language is particularly well suited for emotional acting. The language, and just Korean social interaction in general, is incredibly expressive; hand gestures, elongating and/or shortening vowels, etc. Great catch b, have fun watching!

Finally, a youtuber that doesn't pre-judge people like, "Oh, he deserves it. I would never get into debt," blah, blah, blah. It can happen to anybody folks if the right conditions and life situations are met, unfortunately.

James: **Is already heartbroken just with the father and daughter eating and he is taking in their situation** Dear Jesus this series is gonna rip this poor man to shreds.

"Such good acting". The actor who played our main guy Gi-Hun is the youngest person to win a Best Actor award in Korea. He still hold this record. He started as a model but was spotted by movie producers from a TV commercial he was in. His role in Squid Game is a huge departure from his past roles which are mostly authoritative, strong, badass, gangster type of characters. His fans are shocked to see him scrawny (instead of the usual brawny) and unkept, but he totally nailed this role.

The phrase they actually use for "Red Light, Green Light" literally translates to "The hibiscus flower bloomed~" (obviously changed for easier localization reasons). The title of this episode translates to "The Day the Hibiscus Flower Bloomed." this sounds more innocent (and therefore more menacing in this context) to me.

I think you are the first reactor who understood early that these things happens in real life. Like you tried to imagine to be in their shoes. Some people react to this show and always complaining about these certain characters do things. But this is real guys.. a lot of people facing these kind of struggles every day

That part where Gi-hun gives the cup and straw back to Sae-byeok wasn't scripted. The bump was but not the stuff after. Even when unintentional, this is ultimately great because it still showcases Gi-hun's core. That he's ultimately a good hearted person. Just adds layers!

"that's our boy!" Same James, same. I really love the use of Gong Yoo in this really minor role. His reputation in Korea, and now internationally, is so good that seeing him in this aspect makes you trust the game process.

What I really liked about this was that unlike other "death game" shows and movies. They used older & average looking people. The people that society would avoid And ignore or ridicule and judge harshly. They make you care for them, unlike hollywood where these characters would most likely be portrayed as untrustworthy or a bad guy. In this show we know they've done wrong but you still care. None of the characters feel "one note".

"That's our BOY!" love that you watched Train To Busan before this so u recognize him haha

Yes the acting is top tier in this show! So consistent with the main cast

I struggle with addiction myself so there is a lot in this series that I can relate to!

You're in for a fun ride with this series! I was expecting it to be really predictable because I thought the concept would be done like other battle royale stories but I was pleasantly surprised and found it unpredictable at times. Glad you're starting it! That first episode does a great job of getting people hooked!

Can't wait for you to get through the whole series. Especially those hard hitting episodes toward the end that we all know very well now lol

Hi James, this is my first time watching your reactions. I wanted to check out your channel because of your Squid Game reactions. Wow, because you are professional in the film industry, you point out things, that we the average Americans do not even think about when watching foreign contents. I mean I did watch my share of Squid Game reactions but this was the first time anyone has mentioned that the Korean language may be a factor in the expressive, emotional acting. I'm just sitting here like, "Damn, how come I never thought of something like that?!" We are just so into the storyline and whether it's good entertainment or not at the end of the day. Your depth of knowledge, your analysis, discussion, sense of humor are greatly appreciated!! I will definitely watch Squid Game again with you!! Thanks James and keep up the great work!!! 🔥👍✌

Better late than never!! Can’t wait to watch this with you!

Idk if it was intentional that they put our boy from train to busan in a train station, but it was a nice touch

Jung Jae who is the main character is an excellent actor. Best films with him are Assassination, Operation Cromite with Liam Neemson, New World, The Thieves, Warrior of the Dawn and Typhoon.

Be careful reading the comments, unless you've seen it already on patreon. As I'd hate someone to give you spoilers! Love all your reactions and just finished this show myself so can't wait for the rest 👍

impressive that the series was created, written and directed all by Hwang Dong-hyuk alongside that Netflix reportedly only spent $21.4M for the series. the set design and production value is fantastic. after you complete the series there are a couple of behind the scenes features with some great looks at the sets.

this series is definitely one of my favorites atm and i’m glad you got to react to it! also you’re probably the first reactor that didn’t quickly judge Gihun and his actions and how you didn’t completely invalidate him. he’s a flawed character for sure and you understood him very well. anyways can’t wait to see more of your thoughts on this show!

I have watched the show in its entirety when it first came out, and let me tell you, it is truly phenomenal. you have a great show ahead of you

something that I love about this show is the perfect acting, I mean, they are soooo gooood at that!!

The set design and lighting in this show are absolutely phenomenal. Can't wait to see how you react to later episodes!

Been waiting for this all day, my man. Some of the best written characters I’ve ever seen on tv. I’m so excited for you to watch this series.

The scary lookin' doll in this K-drama literally says in Korean, "The Rose of Sharon has blossomed!" for our, "Red light, Green light!" FYI, The Rose of Sharon (무궁화) is the national flower of Korea. ✌✌🙏

"I'm going to stick with him, man. If I see anybody counting, they probably know what's up." Welp, you ain't wrong with that one XD

You're really going to dig this one The writing and story is so good.

The easiest trick with the currency exchange is to take 3 zero's off of the Korean Won to get the American dollar. It isnt 100% accurate, but it gives an ok comparison.

This series is freaking crazy! Like if Jigsaw teamed up with Dr. Seuss 😶

I really loved Squid Game!! Does anyone have any other recommendations to dive into South Korean media more? I have already seen Parasite, Train to Busan, and Old Boy

The Doll in Red Light Green Light is a super popular Korean children’s character so if it was an American translation it would be like Mickey Mouse or Sponge Bob executing people

The main actor is in a brilliant Korean Gangster film from a few years ago called 'New World', which I highly recommend

Strap yourself in James cause this show, is just getting started😉

I love how different the impression of Gi Hun is from episode one till ep 5 when you see what he saw at work. But you are one of the few able to see him as human most people really judge him at first

Since you asked about the conversion rate its 1USD = 1175 Won, so just taking off 3 zeros will get you the right ballpark, slight overestimate. So the 100,000 Won he was playing the slapping game for was a bit under $100 (85 to be exact)

Tbh, I probably wouldn't have survived this game.

You’re in for one wild ride, James! Amazing series.

Finally! ;) *rubbing hands* Finally a Series i get the Level of Detail i want and Emotions to feel. i was totally blind watching it in 1 bench watch, loved it so much!

running man is such an entertaining show & i love seeing other people reference it. i started watching when i was in high school & it really skyrocketed my interest in the culture. it’s the reason i’d even know what ddakji & a couple of the other games are.

I love that you brought up kami sama no itori. I've read many death game manga but none, while good, were as great a read as that. And the prequel manga that leads up to the story is pure insanity.

Squid Game is officially here!! Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE FIRST TIME WATCHING will be uploaded Wednesday! Enjoy the day!

The card flip game is almost exactly like POG's but with slapping your opponent lol

1,000 won is approximately $1 US (a little less), so just divide all the amounts by 1,000 and you get a good estimate of the scale of their debts/prizes.

Talk about moving on, interesting that I finished this show three weeks ago but just couldn’t move on and stuck in a loop of RU-vid reactions 😵‍💫

Set design in this show is so good, the stairway is very M.C Escher inspired.

my boy bringing the best shows to us 👏👏

yoooooooooooo LETS GO! can't wait for you to see more of this series!

This is a great show. Episode 6 is seriously rough. I watched the whole series in one night….intense, lol.

I agree with you. The guy from Train to Busan is a good looking guy and I’m a straight guy.

Loved this show. I started watching and ended up watching the whole thing in one sitting. I think thats about 9 hours.. I never do that

Ah yes. You're in for a good time with this one James. Hope you good and stay safe man

Ahhh, SO happy you watched this in Korean with subtitles! The best way to see this. 👍❤️

So glad that South Korean entertainment is starting to trend! It’s well deserved. Their entertainment is incredible and I’m constantly recommending it to my friends and family

Dude was a terrifying villain in "Deliver Us From Evil".

Invested.... yep. This is such a good series amidst a lot of crap being produced today. It's fun to watch people thinking it's hype and getting hooked. Enjoy the roller coaster ride that is Squid Game.

I like the part where many of us will be lying-in-wait for your specific reactions to specific moments...

James made it! I also look forward to having a career and being behind the eight-ball in popular viewing culture, instead of being ahead of the curve because I have way too much free time between works.

i didn't realize this until after i watched this a few times, but when he's getting slapped in the beginning it doesn't end after he won the 100,000. he had a lot more money when they were done, so he kept going until he had like a million.

I didn't think many people knew about kamisama no iutoori. I instantly thought of it when I saw all the fanfare and premise.

The claw machine was foreshadowing high-stakes children's games

5:24 TRUE. Man, when I watched the movie Pandora (starring Kim Nam-Gil) - I really love the character development of the lead. I like it when you mentioned it. Got you a sub here. :)

4:13 in regards to origins here are some relevant bits from Wikipedia article; summary: prevalence of squids around Gadeokdo island and the three kingdoms period of Korea Squid ttaeng (Busan) Squid ttaeng (오징어땡) is a regional variation of the squid game that is popular in Busan. The game usually involves ten or more participants. The origin of the game is assumed to be influenced by both the large presence of squids in the waters around Gadeokdo island and by the popularity of squids as a snack among local children. The game starts by dividing two teams, with at least ten people per team. A squid with a pentagon-shaped body and a round tail is drawn. The team that wins a game of rock paper scissors becomes the defensive team and the team that loses becomes the offensive team. If the offensive team reaches the house of the defensive team and screams "Ttaeng", the game is won by the offensive team and the two teams change sides.[5] Squid unification game Squid unification game (오징어통일놀이) is a regional variation of the squid game that is based in Haenam. The game is said to have originated from the Three Kingdoms period of Korea when the three kingdoms were fighting for land. In this version, the area which the offensive team has to reach while passing the defensive team is called the "unification area".[6]

Currency conversion is about 1 USD to 1,000 KRW. So whatever total they say just knock off the last three zeroes. They said he's 160,000,000 KRW in debt, which is approx $160,000 USD.

This is a great series, I just hope people don't meme it to the point that everyone starts to hate it.

Finally I saw a you tuber who analyze this movie very well.

I had the exact same thought about being on all fours when I watched this episode.

I will wait and binge these all in one go :-) can't wait for it.

OHHH MY GOD I know this is a year old but when you mention As The God's Will or Kamisama no lutoori i scremt a scream because of how borderline evangelic about the manga and reminded me so much of squidgame! 😭 I wish it was more known but im so happy you are a fan to. The mangakas best work I feel!

James I love your videos man stumbled upon your channel 2 days ago and I am having a great Time, legend

I hope I can see all the episodes with you!

I watched the final episode yesterday after binging all the previous ones and then getting so caught up with work, I couldn't find the time to finish. The ending felt like a hundred years and like halfway around the globe from where it started, for lack of a better description.

I said the same thing about crawling. That ground looks like prime slippage material.

16:12 When the playstation becomes self-aware and wants to turn the tables

I was watching shawnceenimas series on this and I was praying you would, thought it was too late so I gave up hope but this is a great surprise man

wait u watch Running Man? this man is cultured 🤣 I grew up watching Running man and although i dont follow it anymore , running man is a part of my teenage years and it's actually where i first heard of korean games like the ddakji, dalgona carving and the korean ver of red light green light

15:56 yeah he actually said sister. But it’s not the normal everyday word for sister. It’s the formal Han-Mun so kinda funny.

I’ll just say this show knows exactly what characters to make you like…

Really about to rewatch this whole series through ur channel😭🔥🤞🏼🖤🤧

Really good call on the crawling probably being a better strategy than running, never thought about that!

Holy crap - please hurry with more episodes of this show! I've been dying for you to do this!!!!😀👍👍

12:44 The current exchange rate of the amount of debt 456 (I struggle with their names too) owes (160 million SK won) is $ 122,725.75. Around 123k USD. The prize money of 456 billion won currently equals $ 349,768,397.66. Around 349.77 million USD (by the time of commenting - Dec 11 2022, 6 PM GMT).

The best is yet to come

James came through with the strats. Im dying picturing him on all fours trying to get to the finish line. Panicking while people are getting bodied. 😂😂

I'm actually glad you waited to do this one simply for the fact that you were told to not watch with CC English Subs. Some Korean youtubers and I'm sure other ethnicities dove into how closely the subs followed the spoken language and they all said the non-CC was pretty accurate but still not fully conveying the emotion... while the CC was downright laughable at times. Almost as bad as the englished dubbed which I suggest watching like 10 minutes of because its hilariously bad. But Korean spoken with non-CC English is the way to go. You hear all the real emotion conveyed in the actors voices. And they are all SUCH GOOD ACTORS.

Hi! I just found you and you are already my favourite, you are very nice and perspective, not straight away judging people, love your reaction so much, already subbed 😊😊😊

This show is the best argument for an Universal Basic Income that I've ever seen.

Can't wait to see your reaction to this! Always love your insight to story beats

Yup. Hit the middle. That's the trick.

Maybe I should start feeding my neighborhood cats fish heads instead of Purina...

The Infinity Staircase was a nice touch.

crawling, yes! would also minimize your profile (thinking of the sensor more than the guns here), avoid last minute swaying or stumbling, and might even decrease the odds of your clothing moving or other triggers.

When my friend first told me about this show I thought it was a rip off of SAW but then I watched it and holy Mary on a pogo stick it was good

Better late than never, more than excited to watch this again!!

For the part in 16:00 (ish) he does say "sister" but it is different to how you'd say sister in English! He says 자매님, the 님 meaning that he is using formal language regarding her (implying at least some basic, if not friendly, respect) which is hilarious because he was trying to shake her out of her collar lol Korean has a lot of informal and formal nuances based on social hierarchy and not following it can be incredibly rude or even insulting.

youtube fucked around and took you out my algorithm for a minute for some reason. Welcome back my G. Hype city!

I think you would really appreciate the Korean thrillers Oldboy and I Saw The Devil. As "mainstream" as they may be for US audiences it's not without good reason.

I don't usually watch foreign films but Korea has been killing it with Busan, Parasite, and this. As an American used to watching like 99.99% American filmmaking, I'm proud there's another breakout champ emerging.

I really think you should react to the movie JSA: Joint Security Area. It’s a movie by Park Chan Wook (Oldboy), starring Song Kang Ho (Parasite, The Host, every Bong movie basically). I wrote an essay about how Korean cinema always makes you sympathise with the bad guy and that the lines between good and evil are always blurred. I related this to their feelings for North Korea and how that the whole good/evil blurred lines in Korean cinema represents that country divide. JSA is the perfect movie for that, which was one of the focuses of my essay. Highly recommend, it’s incredible. The other movie I talked about was I Saw The Devil; also another movie in which good and evil is blurred much like Oldboy. I Saw The Devil is also brilliant but is a thriller, whereas JSA is more of a whodunnit drama that pulls on your emotions. There’s a specific line spoken by the main soldier in JSA: “What’s wrong with people of the same blood being friends?” that lead to me to writing that essay.

eyyyyyyyyy you watched Dddakji on Running Man first too? LEGEND. My boy needed Kim Jong Kook to help him out