Surprisingly Great

Rating: 9/10 (27 March 2017)

I have to say that we generally avoid movies with sub-titles and Asian films. We want to watch the movie, not read the sub-titles and most Asian films do not make sense to me because of the cultural differences. Train to Busan had both these as strikes against it, yet for some reason, we decided to give it a shot, fully expecting to hate it and have another selection going in short time. Boy were we wrong!! About fifteen minutes into the movie, the main characters had been introduced, the stage set and the roller-coaster started heading down the first hill. And a roller-coaster ride it was. We were on the edge of our seats: anxious, happy, sad, shocked, the full gamut of emotions.
This is a zombie film, but it is an intelligent zombie film. The director does not resort to cheap gags and scenes that all of the zombie films now-a-days fall prey to. In many respects, it reminded me of World War Z and very well could have occurred in the same universe.
Sang-ho Yeon, who also wrote the screenplay, did an amazing job with direction. He gave the film depth and subtle levels.
Yoo Gong and Soo-an Kim, who play the father and daughter respectively, were so believable in their roles. The majority of the cast deserve praise for their work: you hate who you should hate, you like who you should like you change opinions about the ones you should change your minds about. But it does go beyond the simple classification of "good guys" and "bad guys".
Whether you like zombie movies or just a good "who lives, who dies" film, give this little gem a shot. You will be surprised.