12 Foreign Films That Show Hollywood How A Genre Film Should Be Done
6. Train To Busan
Country: South Korea
Genre: Action/Horror
Plot: This one has a particularly great premise: a zombie outbreak set on a high-speed express train. Screenwriters will be jealous they didn't come up with that idea themselves.
South Korea is one of the best foreign cinemas in the world and they do blockbusters particularly well. They take Hollywood genres, add specifically Korean themes to the template and really focus on the characters, meaning they'll often be more interesting than American studio pictures.
Train to Busan is a good example of a Korean blockbuster, as well as a perfect mixture of spectacle and character development. It not only offers painfully tense and claustrophobic thrills, but it also creates compelling characters that we don't want to see dead. As a result, this is an excruciatingly suspenseful ride you won't want to miss. Aside from too many people dying at the end and the odd lull here and there, this is very easy to recommend.
TTB is proof that it's not hard to fit dramatic depth in alongside the thrills, as well as a reminder of how nice it'd be to see more Asian blockbusters in wide release over here.
Remake?
Gaumont, a French studio, is planning to remake Train to Busan in English. In fairness, it's a superb concept which doesn't feel specific to South Korea, so this could work as long as they emotionally engage the audience like the original did.