Ashfall (film)

***Ashfall*** (Template:Ko-hhrm), also known as: *Mount Paektu*, is a 2019 South Korean disaster film directed by Lee Hae-jun and Kim Byung-seo, starring Lee Byung-hun, Ha Jung-woo, Ma Dong-seok, Jeon Hye-jin and Bae Suzy. The film was released in December 2019 in South Korea.

## Plot

Paektu Mountain, an active volcano straddling the China–North Korea border, suddenly erupts, causing severe earthquakes in both North and South Korea. Pandemonium ensues on the Korean peninsula, with more eruptions predicted in the area. To prevent another disaster, Jeon Yoo-kyung (Jeon Hye-jin) plans an operation based on a theory by Professor Kang Bong-rae (Ma Dong-seok), who had studied Mount Baekdu and its possible future eruptions.

Jo In-chang (Ha Jung-woo) is assigned to be the captain of a special forces team taking part in the operation. Jo In-chang contacts Lee Joon-pyeong (Lee Byung-hun) who is part of the Korean People's Army in North Korea as a spy. Meanwhile, Jo In-Chang's pregnant wife Choi Ji-young (Bae Suzy) is alone in Seoul and struggling to survive amidst the disaster.

In-Chang departs with his team on a plane, and they parachute after their airplane malfunctions. They locate Joon-pyeong, who was being held in a North Korean prison, and seek his knowledge in finding the correct mine closest to Paektu's caldera. After threatening his dying wife to disclose the location of his daughter, Joon-pyeong guides In-chang's team to a power station, and they extract a piece of uranium from a nuclear missile. This alerts the American garrison in South Korea, which sends soldiers to stop Joon-pyeong from delivering the uranium piece to several gangsters from China.

Meanwhile, Ji-young encounters a tsunami while she was on the way to evacuate from Seoul. She manages to survive and eventually rescued by the US military, and met Professor Kang, who was also evacuating to the United States after his disillusioned feelings with the South Korean government. Due to the earthquake, Ji-young and the evacuees cannot board the ship bound for America and Professor Kang helps her, and he decides to stay to continue helping the South Korean military to prevent the final eruption of Mount Paektu. At the military base, where the US military took control from the South Korean army, Yoo-kyung steals the military documents and sneaks out to meet Kang and Ji-young at a secluded place to contact In-chang.

Back at the North, In-chang and Joon-pyeong evade the Americans and reach Bocheon, a town near Paektu Mountain. Joon-pyeong meets his frightened daughter Soon-ok, and just as the Chinese gangsters was about to kill him for failing to deliver the uranium, In-chang gives the uranium, but sets its timer to coincide with Paektu's eruption. Although the American soldiers also arrive to take the uranium, they and the Chinese gangsters flee when Mt. Baekdu erupts again, triggering more earthquakes. After Professor Kang updated In-chang about the location of the final eruption, In-chang and Joon-pyeong bring the uranium to an abandoned mine (which was the same location where the final eruption would take place). Joon-pyeong takes the bomb into the mine's depths, leaving In-chang to go with Soon-ok, whom he adopts. The uranium bomb explodes and while Joon-pyeong was killed, the bomb's detonation stops the earthquakes, saving many lives in the Korean peninsula.

One year later, North and South Korea together oversee the reconstruction of the peninsula. In-chang and Ji-young have a baby son.

## Cast

* Lee Byung-hun as Lee Joon-pyeong (Chosongul: 이준평, *I Jun-pyeong*)
* Ha Jung-woo as Captain Jo In-chang (Hangul: 조인창 대위, *Jo In-chang Daewi*)
* Ma Dong-seok as Professor Kang Bong-rae (Hangul: 강봉래, *Gang Bong-lae*)
* Jeon Hye-jin as Jeon Yoo-kyung (Hangul: 전유경, *Jeon Yu-gyeong*)
* Bae Suzy as Choi Ji-young (Hangul: 최지영, *Choe Ji-yeong*)

### Cameo

* Jeon Do-yeon as Sun-hwa, Joon-pyeong's wife
* Byeon Woo-seok as Bodyguard
* Yang Dae-hyuk as Agent

## Production

Production on *Ashfall* ended on 21 July after five months of filming.

## Release

The film was released 19 December 2019 in South Korea. Internationally, it was released on 20 December in the United States, 24 December in Taiwan, 1 January 2020 in Hong Kong, 2 January in Singapore and Malaysia, 8 January in Indonesia, the day after in Thailand and Australia, and 31 January in Vietnam.

## Reception

### Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of **Lua error in Module:Rotten\_Tomatoes\_data at line 136: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).** based on **Lua error in Module:Rotten\_Tomatoes\_data at line 136: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).** reviews, with an average rating of **Lua error in Module:Rotten\_Tomatoes\_data at line 136: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).**.

## References

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1. ↑ Template:Naver title
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Ji-yoon, Hwang (2019-11-21). [TBA "Lee Byung-hun, Ha Jung-woo Team up for Disaster Blockbuster"] Check `|url=` value (help). *Chosun*. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
3. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "A-list actors team up for $17 million movie 'Mount Paektu'"] Check `|url=` value (help). *The Korea Times*. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
4. ↑ [TBA Ashfall (2019)]. IMDb. Retrieved on February 7, 2020.
5. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "총 겨눈 이병헌vs하정우 '백두산' 폭발급 긴장감"] Check `|url=` value (help). *Naver* (in Korean). 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
6. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "'Ashfall' brings new threat to Seoul: a volcano: Disaster movie asks what people will do to protect their loved ones"] Check `|url=` value (help). *Korea Joongang Daily*. 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
7. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "'Ashfall' actors confident about film's eye-catching scale, storyline"] Check `|url=` value (help). *Yonhap News*. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
8. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Yoon, Min-sik (2019-12-03). [TBA "Dictator's assassination, volcanic eruptions at Paektusan coming to big screens soon"] Check `|url=` value (help). *The Korea Herald*. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
9. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "LEE Byung-hun and HA Jung-woo Wrap MOUNT BAEKDU"] Check `|url=` value (help). *Koreanfilm*. 2019-08-08. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
10. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "이병헌 하정우 마동석 전혜진 배수지 '백두산', 긴장감 넘치는 보도스틸 공개"] Check `|url=` value (help). *Breaknews* (in Korean). 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
11. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "[IS포토] 전혜진, 영화 백두산에서 냉철한 판단력을 가진 '민정수석'으로~"] Check `|url=` value (help). *Ilyoseoul.co.kr* (in Korean). 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
12. ↑ [TBA '백두산' 하정우 "배수지와 부부 연기, 나이차 크지만 용기 내 촬영" [엑's 현장]] (ko) (2019-11-19).
13. ↑ [TBA 수지, 홀터넥 드레스 소화 '여신 강림' (백두산)] (ko) (2019-11-20).
14. ↑ Yoo, So-kyung (19 December 2019). [TBA '백두산' 이병헌 "전도연 등장, 존재감 너무 강해 걱정도.." (인터뷰)]. Daum. Retrieved on June 21, 2020.
15. ↑ [TBA '청춘기록' 박보검X박소담X변우석, 캐릭터 포스터 공개…설렘 한도 초과]. X Sports News (14 July 2020).
16. ↑ [TBA Ashfall - Cast (Korean Movie, 2019, 백두산)] (December 20, 2019).
17. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Jean, Noh (2019-12-18). [TBA "CJ announces pre-sales and release dates for action drama 'Ashfall'"] Check `|url=` value (help). *Screen Daily*. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
18. ↑ [TBA Ashfall]. Fandango.

## External links

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* Template:IMDb
* Template:Hancinema film

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