MovieChat Forums > Busanhaeng (2016) Discussion > What's up with all the hype it gets?

What's up with all the hype it gets?

posted 8 years ago by botrytis
15 replies | jump to latest

I watched this movie because someone on 9gag posted this with the title "one of the best zombie movies" or something. I was really curious what's all the fus about.

I enjoyed it right from the start as some of the asian actors were really over the top (I mean most portion of the asian movie culture somehow relies on over-the-top acting, I don't know why though), and I found them funny, for example the truck driver at the beginning.

So it was enjoyable, and the whole zombie-transformation was really kinetic, and exciting. The World War Z like zombie pile wave however wasn't, though. I couldn't find it scary or frightening, it's more of an "exciting" movie really. It was like watching some anime, because many moments were like grotesque and fantasy-like.

The characters... now, they were typical... honestly. There was a fat, strong guy representing somekind of a "tank" archtype character from the history of RPG. There was the industrial, urban father with his daughter, havin' somekind of a connection distance between them. A**hole alpha-male asian guys, also typical, like taken from any anime movies. Baseball team ... like from the 80's honestly. And the governor-type of guy being a selfish pig, and we can go on and on...

Now, the dramah... Jesus Christ, the drama. The overuse of dramatism is also a type of thing which is usual in the eastern entertainment (different culture, really), and for the typical ending, where the father got bitten has to sacrifice himself... damn, one of the most OVER-THE-TOP scene I ever witnessed in any movie EVER. And let's not talk about the "BOSS-FIGHT"... like it was written by a little child thinking "and the governor-type of guy get's an extra power, because... damn, I don't know, because why not, but he must be a special zombie dude"... following a really awkward duel between him and the father...

The enjoyment from the beginning just dropped down gradually as the movie ended, because there wasn't really new, or ... how should I say, anything special about the story, the happenings, it was... again, typical zombie story, with awkward decisions and momentums.

So, even though it was kinda messy what I was writing above, you might get the idea what I'm trying to say here. There are more interesting zombie movies out there like Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, REC ... hell, even Resident Evil (1)... or if you want something less serious there is Shaun of the Dead, or Zombieland.

And I'm not saying it is a bad movie, because it has some interesting solutions: just like I said, the kinetic zombie-transformation and walking was exciting and well made, but honestly... 97% fresh on RT? 7.6 on imdb? This movie has many flaws, and overall cheesy as hell... come on people ... generic at it's best.

[–] marione 8 years ago

I agree, just saw it with two friends and if I hadn't had them beside me to make comments about every questionable/annoying thing in this movie I would never have finished watching it. Then I looked up the rating and seriously 7.6? The Assassination of Jesse James has 7.5 and that's the best movie ever (that is if you're into beautiful cinematography, good music, good acting, using your brain to think, and a gray view of the world, which too many people unfortunately just can't appreciate)

[–] jirshon 8 years ago

Typical characters yes, although for a zombie film, it very much relied on character traits a lot more than usual. It sounds like you have many problems with the movie as if treating this as an Oscar bait film, but it's a zombie movie. And as a zombie movie, it did the genre some justice after a couple decades of sub par storytelling. This movie did a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat, and I'm unsure why you can't see the reasoning for its great reception? I hate zombie movies most of the time because usually some amateur filmmaker enters the scene and makes a very low level zombie flick and they always suck. Train to Basan was a breath of relief in that category, I thought.

[–] botrytis 8 years ago

Well to each his own.

[–] poirot-9 8 years ago

guy get's
generic at it's best.
80's

*gets
*its
*'80s

Stop abusing the apostrophe! Also "dramatism" doesn't mean what you think it means...

[–] botrytis 8 years ago

Oh I'm sorry englishman, and thanks for the corrections. But you know what I meant by that.

[–] Sleazy_E 8 years ago

I agree with most things. Also the movie went on for way to long. It should have ended after 90 minutes. The story and the characters weren't interesting enough for it to be 2 hours and something.

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[–] TheBeardedWonder 8 years ago

Yeah it was a good little movie, and I will probably watch it again later. But it's nowhere near the best zombie movie ever hype it's been getting. If you made this movie in the USA it'd be laughed at by critics and seen as the silliest plot imaginable. I agree it was overly dramatic and just slightly too long. It wasn't a bad movie by any means, I don't mean to make it sound that way. But like you said it has a lot of flaws that people seem to be overlooking simply because it's a foreign film with lots of acclaim...

'Get yourself a real dog. Any dog under 50 lbs is a cat and cats are pointless' - Ron Swanson

[–] klruck 8 years ago

An english version is being made:
http://variety.com/2016/film/asia/train-to-busan-english-remake-gaumont-1201933494/

[–] Korios 8 years ago

Gaumont mentions that the film will be set in the US, which I think is a mistake, because the US has no bullet (or even particularly fast) trains. It would make much more sense to set the film in Europe. One crucial aspect of the plot is the tunnels, so the tunnels below the Alps in the Swiss-Italian borders, or those of the French-Italian borders would be ideal. Meah, my guess is that they will kill the tunnel part.

Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.

[–] diego_hentschke 8 years ago

good movie

but its a 7 or 8 at best

[–] lndultsch 8 years ago

I was totally sold on the movie. Sure it takes a little bit of time to get used to Korean cinema, especially the acting, but if you look beyond that, the movie builds tension like a mother****er, relentlessy, the zombies are terrifying, and while I do enjoy a good gorefest, it does all that without relying on much gore at all. It's too bad you didn't get into it. Personally, I'd rank it alongside the likes of the Dawn of the Dead remake or 28 Days Later.

-Posts are edited because I grammar-nazi myself too-

[–] nvnnklc2011 8 years ago

Agreed...

I thought Rottentomatoes gave it a high score because it didn't suffer from the same retarded mistakes Hollywood zombie movies make and it was even worse :D
Like every Western cliche + a sh*tload of SK ones.

Also it made fun of the audience a couple of times. Like when they were trying to sneak around them in tunnels, they zoomed in on 3 baseballs. Could've collected them to throw them later on as a sound distraction.
And the blindfold coat discovery - literally never mentioned again.

I didn't just hate it I HATED it

[–] 8 years ago

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