TRAIN TO BUSAN (aka Busanhaeng)
(Starring Yoo Gong, Su-am Kim. Written by Joo-Suk- Park, Sang-ho Yeon. Directed by Sang-ho Yeon)
I realize that writing a review on this movie is pretty useless as most people have already seen it. But in the slight possibility that I might turn one person onto this movie that is unaware it, it will be worth it. After watching THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD it really hyped me up to rewatch TRAIN TO BUSAN as it is one of the best zombie movies I have seen in some time… it may be my favorite zombie movie of all time, although it is difficult to compare a movie like this to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or Fulci’s ZOMBIE as each movie, for its time, was great and it really isn’t fair to compare them all on the same level as they are all good movies.
First off, if someone were to tell me there is this awesome zombie movie that was made in South Korea, I would have laughed in their face. An Asian zombie movie just doesn’t sound scary, I would be proven wrong on a grand scale.
The story revolves around fund manager Seok-woo (Yoo Gong), a man dedicated to his work and fails to pay any attention to his young daughter Soo-an (Su-an Kim). Seok-woo’s failed marriage has his wife now living in Busan and Soo-an desperately wants to see her for her birthday present. Seok-woo attempts to talk her out of it as she is too young to go by herself, but then decides he can ride with her there on the train and still be back to work in the early afternoon. The two enter the train and shortly after an injured woman gets on board unnoticed. Later, when a stewardess finds the injured woman, she is convulsing and then makes a full transition into a zombie and bites the stewardess… thus starting the infection as one bites another until a large majority of the people on the train are turned into zombies. Now it is a fight for survival to try and make it to Busan, which is believed to be the only place that isn’t infected.
(Starring Yoo Gong, Su-am Kim. Written by Joo-Suk- Park, Sang-ho Yeon. Directed by Sang-ho Yeon)
I realize that writing a review on this movie is pretty useless as most people have already seen it. But in the slight possibility that I might turn one person onto this movie that is unaware it, it will be worth it. After watching THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD it really hyped me up to rewatch TRAIN TO BUSAN as it is one of the best zombie movies I have seen in some time… it may be my favorite zombie movie of all time, although it is difficult to compare a movie like this to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or Fulci’s ZOMBIE as each movie, for its time, was great and it really isn’t fair to compare them all on the same level as they are all good movies.
First off, if someone were to tell me there is this awesome zombie movie that was made in South Korea, I would have laughed in their face. An Asian zombie movie just doesn’t sound scary, I would be proven wrong on a grand scale.
The story revolves around fund manager Seok-woo (Yoo Gong), a man dedicated to his work and fails to pay any attention to his young daughter Soo-an (Su-an Kim). Seok-woo’s failed marriage has his wife now living in Busan and Soo-an desperately wants to see her for her birthday present. Seok-woo attempts to talk her out of it as she is too young to go by herself, but then decides he can ride with her there on the train and still be back to work in the early afternoon. The two enter the train and shortly after an injured woman gets on board unnoticed. Later, when a stewardess finds the injured woman, she is convulsing and then makes a full transition into a zombie and bites the stewardess… thus starting the infection as one bites another until a large majority of the people on the train are turned into zombies. Now it is a fight for survival to try and make it to Busan, which is believed to be the only place that isn’t infected.
Su-an Kim, Yoo Gong, and Yu-mi Jung in TRAIN TO BUSAN.
What is great about this movie is the story connects you with the small group trying to get to Busan. Seok-woo is pretty heartless and continually tells his daughter to only worry about herself, and not worry about what is happening to others. But Soo-an is too caring and continually tries to help people in this disaster and it soon makes her father see that in order to survive it will take a group effort with everyone helping each other. Also in the group is the tough guy with his pregnant wife, the two elderly sisters, the baseball team with the Asian teenage girl in the typical schoolgirl outfit, a homeless guy and one businessman that would throw his own mother to the zombies in order to survive.
The zombie attacks, which are pretty much nonstop, are no short of excellent. The hordes of zombies come after them are so fast that at times they cascade over each other like a wave. There is a scene in which helicopters are over a parking lot and zombies fall out of the sky, crash on top of cars and the pavement, just to get up in a disjointed fashion and begin to attack… too cool. At one point the group makes a stop at a station where the police are supposedly in charge, but they soon find out that the cops are now zombies and they must race back to the train. They have to fight their way back and attempt to get on a running train, once upon they need to get back to the other end of the train to the rest of the group, and have to fight zombies all the way through. They soon find that when it gets dark the zombies are lost and only react to sound, so the group time their movements to when the train goes through tunnels and move through the darkness, but once they get to the car with the rest of the survivors, all being bossed around by the rich businessman, they won’t let them in. They have to break down the door in order to enter and then they are forced into the next car as the businessman fears they are infected.
The businessman really has no heart whatsoever. Trapped in a small train bathroom with another man, he looks out the door to see multiple zombies wandering the isle. The other man asks the businessman if the coast is clear, he tells him “yes” and when the man sticks his head out the door the businessman kicks him into the isle and as the zombies eat him while the businessman makes his escape.
The zombie attacks, which are pretty much nonstop, are no short of excellent. The hordes of zombies come after them are so fast that at times they cascade over each other like a wave. There is a scene in which helicopters are over a parking lot and zombies fall out of the sky, crash on top of cars and the pavement, just to get up in a disjointed fashion and begin to attack… too cool. At one point the group makes a stop at a station where the police are supposedly in charge, but they soon find out that the cops are now zombies and they must race back to the train. They have to fight their way back and attempt to get on a running train, once upon they need to get back to the other end of the train to the rest of the group, and have to fight zombies all the way through. They soon find that when it gets dark the zombies are lost and only react to sound, so the group time their movements to when the train goes through tunnels and move through the darkness, but once they get to the car with the rest of the survivors, all being bossed around by the rich businessman, they won’t let them in. They have to break down the door in order to enter and then they are forced into the next car as the businessman fears they are infected.
The businessman really has no heart whatsoever. Trapped in a small train bathroom with another man, he looks out the door to see multiple zombies wandering the isle. The other man asks the businessman if the coast is clear, he tells him “yes” and when the man sticks his head out the door the businessman kicks him into the isle and as the zombies eat him while the businessman makes his escape.
The businessman attempts to negotiate a better seat on the train.
The entire movie is structured so well that it is just sheer entertainment to watch. Each scene is better than the last and many zombie attack firsts are viewed here. An over turned train with hordes of zombies pressed up against the windows looking onto their victims underneath the train until they crash through the glass. A zombie grabs the back of a moving engine car and holds on as multiple zombies pile on top of him forming a giant pile of zombies being pulled down the track. Surprisingly, there are no guns at all, all fighting is with baseball bats or fists.
Of course Seok-woo goes through a major change throughout this process and his views on life are dramatically changed. And Soo-ann crying at the end of the movie is so believable that you figured some North Koreans came over and beat her in between takes to make her tears appear real.
Obviously I can’t say enough good things about this movie. Yes, there are subtitles but the dialogue is minimal and having to read is no real deterrent from the action. There has been talk of remaking the movie in English, which was suppose to happen at the end of 2018 but I can’t find anything to validate that anything has been started. I really fear that corporate Hollywood is just going to screw it up and be more concerned on how they can tie the picture in with some McDonald meal or some other media money making blitz and destroy a great movie. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Of course Seok-woo goes through a major change throughout this process and his views on life are dramatically changed. And Soo-ann crying at the end of the movie is so believable that you figured some North Koreans came over and beat her in between takes to make her tears appear real.
Obviously I can’t say enough good things about this movie. Yes, there are subtitles but the dialogue is minimal and having to read is no real deterrent from the action. There has been talk of remaking the movie in English, which was suppose to happen at the end of 2018 but I can’t find anything to validate that anything has been started. I really fear that corporate Hollywood is just going to screw it up and be more concerned on how they can tie the picture in with some McDonald meal or some other media money making blitz and destroy a great movie. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Next time he'll call Uber.
George Romero, the father of zombie movies, always said zombies should move slow. I grew up with slow moving zombies (although I think the zombies moved fast in CANNIBAL APPOCOLYPSE but I haven’t seen that in a long time), and I guess I was just used to it. But I remember reluctantly going to see the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD thinking it was going to suck and was completely blown away by fast moving zombies! Fast moving zombies are way scarier. With slow moving zombies you got a chance, you can out run them, you can hit them pretty easy. You just don’t want to boxed into a corner with a horde of slow moving zombies coming at you. But fast moving zombies… you’re screwed no matter what.
I rarely give any movie five coffins, but I have no hesitation in giving TRAIN TO BUSAN five. This is fun from beginning to end and I have already seen it at least six times and will probably watch it several more in the future.
I rarely give any movie five coffins, but I have no hesitation in giving TRAIN TO BUSAN five. This is fun from beginning to end and I have already seen it at least six times and will probably watch it several more in the future.
