K-Movie Review: Train to Busan

Chandra Joshi, Delhi

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, Train to Busan is a South Korean action horror film released on July 20, 2016. The movie premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival in May and got so much attention from people all around the world.  The movie is the story of an unidentified virus that spreads across South Korea and turns people into Zombies. The virus spreads due to a chemical leak at a biotech plant. This is about the fighting and struggle by the people for survival on the train from those who are infected. Train to Busan was the first Korean movie of the year 2016 to break the audience record of over 10 million theatregoers. The movie was a blockbuster hit both domestically and internationally!

_{Picture Credits: MyDramaList}

We all have seen many Zombie movies but still why this movie was a blockbuster hit? Want to know the reason? But before that let’s get into the cast. Train to Busan cast has our Goblin Star (2016 most hit K-drama) Gong Ji-cheol better known by his stage name Gong Yoo, Kim Su-an, Ma Dong-seok, Jung Yu-mi, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee and Kim Eui-sung. 

Characters and their roles

Gong Yoo played the role of Seo Seok-woo who is a brilliant fund manager but at the same time, he is a self-centered person. He is estranged from his family and a divorced father who lives with his daughter and mother. He always put his work over the family and neglected his daughter for many years. Kim Su-an played the role of Seo Su-an, the daughter of Seo Seok-woo, a little girl who wanted to be loved by his father. She is always quiet and never shares feelings with his father because of the emotional distance between them. Ma Dong-seok played the role of Yoon Sang-hwa who is a lovely husband and always takes good care of his pregnant wife and soon-to-be-born baby. A character that fights to protect his family from the infected people. Jung Yu-mi played the role of Seong-kyeong, the pregnant wife of Yoon Sang-hwa. She is pregnant but, in the disaster, she makes rational judgments and takes care of the people around her together with his husband. Choi Woo-shik played the role of Min Yong-guk. A high school student and baseball player who is going to Busan with his team members for a baseball match. Ahn So-hee played the role of Kim Jin-hee a female friend of Yong-guk and the cheerleader of the team.

_{Picture Credits: Rotten Tomatoes}

Plot

The story begins with Seo Su-an. She wants to celebrate her birthday with her mother who lives in Busan. Her father Seo Seok-woo tries to stop her from going but in the end, he decides to take her to Busan by an early train from Seoul station. They take the train and just before the train departure, a lady who is not well enters the train without anyone noticing. Soon she turns into a zombie and attacks one of the staff members of the train and infection starts setting inside the train. 

All the cast characters of the movie, a husband and pregnant wife, two elder sisters, one homeless man, baseball students and a cheerleader and the other supporting actors are on the same train in different coaches. Soon all of them realise and see the news about the apocalypse of the Zombie virus all over the city. Now the real chaos starts inside the train. Infected people turn into fast, focused, violent and flesh-eating zombies in seconds and start infecting the others. Soon all the characters of the movie Seo Seok-woo, Seo Su-an, Yoon Sang-hwa, Seong-kyeong, Min Yong-guk and the other supporting characters meet and start helping each other to get into the safe cars of the train.

_{Picture Credits: Rotten Tomatoes}

Why should you watch it?

Will they all survive? Will people come to rescue them? Will they be able to reach their destination? You must watch the film for that. And about the movie, it is purely entertaining, full of amazing action scenes, full of horror, and some heartbreaking scenes, full of emotions and with a beautiful message of sacrificing to help others. Also, the movie won the Audience Choice Award for the Most Popular Film and Best Foreign Language Film Award and Director Yeon Sang-ho won the Best New Director Award for the film.  All the characters have done an excellent job in the movie.

Please note for the trailer “Viewer discretion is advised.”

So, if you are bored and you still haven’t seen this movie you must add this movie to your watch list, get ready to get a thrill while watching this and do let us know all about it in the comment section below!