Escape the apocalypse –
“In an abandoned world, the only rule is survival.”
(Some spoilers for the (film and animated prequel below.)
Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the original (Train to Busan) might be described as Snowpiercer with zombies, with a dash of World War Z and Mad Max: Fury Road thrown in for good measure. But that doesn’t really do the film justice. Gong Yoo stars as Seok-woo, a divorced, workaholic fund manager who missed his daughter Su-an’s singing recital and decides to take her to visit her mother in Busan for her birthday to make it up to her.
Just as the train is pulling out of the station, a young woman jumps aboard, already infected with a strange sickness. She turns into a zombie, and, well, you know how this goes: the plague spreads rapidly throughout the train. The survivors do their best to stick together against the zombie horde but must contend with inevitable complications — such as having to change trains at a station overrun with the undead.
The film earned largely rave reviews from critics — Edgar Wright, who directed the (zom-com) Shaun of the Dead , called it “the best zombie movie I’ve seen in forever” on Twitter – and it grossed $ 614 million globally. What set Train to Busan apart from typical zombie fare was the skillful mix of well-drawn characters and social commentary — something at which Korean entertainment is currently excels (see: (Parasite) (Kingdom ). It let audiences witness the rapid spread of the disease along with the passengers as the train passed through city after infected city.
I especially appreciated how well it captures the complexities of human nature in the midst of a terrifying epidemic, with people behaving both altruistically and selfishly ( the latter often to the detriment of survival). For example, surviving passengers holed up in a train car refuse to let other survivors in, leading to the death of one of a pair of elderly sisters. The remaining sister deliberately lets the zombies into the car in revenge. But for every character who escapes by ruthlessly pushing someone else into a zombie’s path, there are those who nobly sacrifice themselves so that others may live — the best and worse of humanity.
YouTube / Well Go USA
YouTube / Well Go USA
YouTube / Well Go USA
YouTube / Well Go USA
YouTube / Well Go USA
YouTube / Well Go USA
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