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Train To Busan is out now on a 4K Blu-ray disc for the first time, and opens in the Jinyang quarantine zone, where a man accidentally runs over and kills an animal, except that it gets up and comes back to life as a zombie! EEK!
Early on, workaholic Dad Seok-woo (Gong Yoo – The Silent Sea) buys his daughter, Soo-an (Soo-an Kim), a Nintendo Wii for her birthday, not realising he already bought one (as well as the fact they were released ten years earlier – so, a little bit late for these, surely?), while the kid just wants to go to Busan to see her mum.
So, it’s all aboard the KTX101 train, along with plenty other members of the public, including Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok) and his pregnant wife, Seong-kyeong (Jung Yu-mi), along with school kids including Jin-hee (Ahn So-hee). Alas, also getting onboard is a woman who’s clearly been bitten…
You do feel a sense of danger for the passengers as their train heads off, spotting other people on the platform being eaten, before they know they’re not in a safe place, which leads to some gruesome effects with twisted bodies, and zombies falling out of windows. But how are they so resilient?
Can it be the answer when one passenger sees Busan as being the only safe place to go to, thus suggesting uncoupling the train’s engine and taking that to Busan on its own?
So, Train To Busan is a zombie film where some will live and some will… I guess, live forever. However, it’s very amusing – and sometimes a bit cheesy, even if the continuity between where carriages and zombies were didn’t always match up.
Plus, I did laugh when the TV news tells them to “stay calm and trust the government”. The Tories? Jeez, no chance!
Still, on a budget of $8.5m, they’ve done a damn sight better than most high-budget mainstream fare of late.
And, after Snakes on a Plane, I wonder what Samuel L Jackson would make of Zombies on a Train? 😀
The film is presented in the original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio, in 2160p high definition, and looks stunning in both light scenes – when the horde of zombies is after those still human, whether inside the train or out – and the dark scenes, such as when a train goes into a tunnel and you just hope they can get clear of the undead.
The extras are brief, but worth a look, mainly for the Making Of Train To Busan (17:29), showing B-roll footage of the filming, plus brief interviews with director and cast members; and the Trailer (1:44) in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. However, note that the trailer is for this film, not Seoul Station as listed on the back of the box.
Train To Busan is out now on 4K Blu-ray Blu-ray and DVD.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
7.5 10 10 2 |
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OVERALL |
7.5 |
Cert: 
Running time: 118 minutes
Year: 2016
Chapters: 12
Cat.No: OPTU4561
Distributor: Studiocanal
Released: May 27th 2024
Picture: 2160p High Definition
Language: Korean
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), Dolby Atmos
Widescreen: 1.85:1 (ARRIRAW (2.8K))
Subtitles: English SDH
Disc Format: BD100
Director: Sang-ho Yeon
Producer: Lee Dong-ha
Screenplay: Sang-ho Yeon, Joo-Suk Park
Music: Young-gyu Jang
Cast:
Seok-woo: Gong Yoo
Seong-kyeong: Jung Yu-mi
Sang-hwa: Ma Dong-seok
Soo-an: Soo-an Kim
Yon-suk: Kim Eui-sung
Yong-guk: Choi Woo-sik
Jin-hee: Ahn So-hee
In-gil: Soo-jung Ye
Jong-gil: Myung-sin Park
Captain of KTX: Jung Suk-yong
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.