TRAIN TO BUSAN | FILM REVIEW AND OPINION

Train to Busan is a 2016 South Korean action movie directed by Yeon Sang-Ho. The film mostly revolves around a zombie apocalypse that breaks out on a high-speed train traveling from Seoul to Busan. The movie was written by Park Joo-Suk and produced by Lee Dong-ha.

Top actors were starred in this movie like Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-seok, Jung Yu-mi, Kim Su-an, Kim Eui-sung, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee. The cinematography was done by Lee Hyung-deok and edited by Yang Jin-mo. It was released on 13 May 2016 in Cannes and 20 July, 2016 in South Korea.

The length of the movie is about 118 minutes. It was film in Daejong Station, Daejong south Korea.

The film was selected for the 2016 Cannes Film Festival's Midnight Screenings. It became the first Korean movie to break the audience record for that year, with over 10 million viewers. In July 2020, a standalone sequel called Peninsula was released.

The movie's crew tried to mimic the movements of the zombies in games such as 7 Days to Die and Ghost in the Shell. The train's exterior was also shot using an LED plate rear screen technique. The zombies' blood vessels were also painted with an airbrush.

SYNOPSIS

Su-an is the daughter of Kim Su-an, who is married to Gong-woo, a divorced workaholic. He rarely sees his daughter anymore and, in order to celebrate her birthday, he bought her a Nintendo Wii. To make up for their awkward moment, he agrees to take Su-an to her mother’s home.

This is a truly thematic film, as it takes place in the past while father and daughter journey through the present.

SOME FACTS ABOUT THE MOVIE

Actor Ma Dong-seok used to be a personal trainer for actor Gong Yoo. Filmmaker Edgar Wright was a big fan of the 2004 zombie comedy, which he referred to as the best zombie movie he's ever seen.

Train to Busan is the first live-action film by director Sang-ho Yeon. It was released in 2016. He worked as an ex-member of the K-pop group Wonder Girls.

Train to Busan became the first Korean film to gross over $103 million globally. Its predecessor, Seoul Station, was also released in 2016.

Due to how Train to Busan performed, there were rumors of a sequel. However, three years later, Yeon decided to start work on another movie entitled Peninsula.

film's premiere was at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It became the first South Korean film to have wide release in India in multiple languages.

Train to Busan was the highest grossing Korean film in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. It was nominated for an Asian Film Award in 2017 for Best Actor.

The film was also released in a different language dubbed version in India. The New York Times' film critic, Jeannette Catsoulis, praised the movie for its subtle class warfare.
The film reunites the two actors who played the roles in the 2011 film Silenced, Jung Yu-mi and Gong Yoo. On August 7, 2016, the film became the first Korean film to reach 10 million ticket sales.

CAST

Gong Yoo as Seok-woo
Kim Su-an as Su-an
Ma Dong-seok as Yoon Sang-hwa,
Jung Yu-mi as Seong-kyeong
Choi Woo-shik as Min Yong-guk
Ahn So-hee as Kim Jin-hee,
Kim Eui-sung as Yon-suk
Choi Gwi-hwa
Jang Hyuk-jin as Ki-chul
Park Myung-sin as Jong-gil
Ye Soo-jung as In-gil
Jeong Seok-yong
Han Seong-soo
Kim Chang-hwan as Deputy Kim Jin-mo
Shim Eun-kyung
Lee Joo-shil

SUMMARY OF THE MOVIE

The film begins with a team of emergency responders preparing to spray down a chemical leak. As they approach the area, a van hits a deer, which they presumed was killed. The deer then walks away unharmed. Then, fund manager Seo Seok-woo comes into the picture.

He is a selfish workaholic who has caused him to lose his family and his daughter. On the next day, Su-an’s birthday, her father asks why he should not let her travel to see her mother. He is also busy with work.

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Feeling guilty, he watches a video of Su-an crying while her mother performs at a recital. He then decides to take his daughter to meet her mother the following day. They then board a KTX 101 bullet trains to Busan.

Other people on the train include a working man named Yoon Sang-hwa, his pregnant wife, and a selfish businessman named Yon-suk. They are joined by a high school baseball player, a train attendant, and a homeless man.

A woman named Shim Eun-kyung suddenly jumps onto the train as it gets off the station. During this time, a commotion breaks out and a train attendant tries to help her. The train attendant then joins the woman who collapsed and started attacking the other passengers.

The passengers then start to barricade themselves inside the cars.

The passengers are also taught that the only way to fight the zombies is by hearing their prey. They also learned that the doors can’t be operated by the zombies. When the infected co-workers called him to tell him about the outbreak, Seok-woo tried to secure his daughter and himself for safe travel. He also lectures his daughter about not caring about other people.

After reaching the station, the passengers discover that the soldiers have turned into zombies. Many of them are killed as they try to run back to the train. Fortunately, most of the passengers survived. In-gil, Su-an, and Seong-kyeong hide inside a restroom as the train they were on gets closer to the infected areas. The passengers who reboard the train proceed to a quarantine zone.

After learning that their loved ones were trapped inside the train, Kang-hwa and Seok-woo decided to fight the zombies by freeing them. They eventually learn that the zombies can only see them through the cars as they move forward. After freeing their loved ones, Kang-hwa and Seok-woo head toward the front of the train.

They hope to convince the other passengers to stay away from the doors in order to prevent the outbreak from spreading.

As the train gets closer to the zombies, Kang-hwa and In-gil try to give Seok-woo enough time to get the other passengers out. As the train gets closer to the zombies, In-gil and her sister watch in horror as the other passengers are killed. She then opens the door to the front car to let the zombies inside.
Behind a locked partition, Seok-woo and his group are unable to help the other passengers.

The train stops at the East Daegu station due to the debris that has accumulated on the tracks. The survivors also try to get closer to the new train engine. Yong-guk sacrifices himself to save Jin-hee, who he believes will become a zombie.

A different train stops their progress. However, after a derailment, they get trapped under the train. Fortunately, Seok-woo managed to get out while the homeless man sacrificed himself to help the other passengers.At the same time, the train captain gets bitten by a zombie and tries to help him. He is forced to fight against a zombie-slaying train captain.

After getting bit by Kang-hwa, Seok-woo tries to fight back, but he gets thrown out of the train by his friend Yon-suk. As he prepares to turn into a zombie, he tells Seong-Kyeong how to operate the train.

Su-an and Seong-kyeong make their way to a tunnel outside of Busan before the debris blocks the tracks again. The soldiers on the other side of the tunnel watch as Su-an sings a song that she can't sing before.