Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula Blu Ray Review (Well Go USA)

Peninsula (반도; Hanja: 半島; RR: Bando, Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula, & Train to Busan II) is a 2020 action–horror film co-written & directed by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, The Fake, Seoulyeok, & RedaKai).  It’s a sequel to the 2016 film Train to Busan. It was co-written by Ryu Yong-jae. It was produced by Dong-ha Lee (Train to Busan, Kai, Seoulyeok, Hwayi: A Monster Boy, & The Cat). The budget was $16 million & it grossed $39 million worldwide at the box office.Republic of Korea Marine Corps Captain Jung-Seok (played by: Dong-won Gang from Master, Haunters, & Duelist) is driving his elder sister, his nephew Dong-Hwan, & his brother-in-law Chul-min (played by: Do-yoon Kim from Lucky Monster, The Wailing, & Yeom-lyeok) to a ship to escape a zombie outbreak in South Korea. After someone gets infected, he makes a hard choice & leaves some family behind. Four years later in Hong Kong, a guilt-ridden Jung-Seok & Chul-min are recruited by Chinese mobsters for a mission with two other Koreans to return to the quarantined peninsula to retrieve an abandoned food truck which contains US$20 million in bags; After surviving the dead, they are ambushed by a rogue militia Unit 631 led by Sergeant Hwang (played by: Min-Jae Kim from Deranged, Unstoppable, & The Good the Bad the Weird). Jung-Seok is rescued by two sisters Jooni (played by: Re Lee from Witch’s Court & How to Steal a Dog) & her younger sister Yu-Jin (played by: Ye-Won Lee from Romang). The imprisoned Chul-min is forced to take part in a series of timed survival games between prisoners & the infected. Private Kim (played by: Kyu-Baek Kim from Monstrum, Swing Kids, & Parasite) & Captain Seo (played by: Kyo-hwan Koo from A Werewolf Boy, Jane, & Maggie) discover the cash in the truck & put together a plan to escape the peninsula. Jung-Seok must save his family, retrieve the money back, fight off the corrupt military, & get past the army of the dead to carry out his dangerous mission. Can he pull it off? or Is he trapped in hell on earth????I’ve never seen Train to Busan before so my review might be kinder than most of them out there so far. I had nothing to compare when I went into it so I didn’t have really high expectations like others because the original film was very popular when it was released. I know lots of people consider it the best Korean zombie film ever made & one of the best in the sub-genre in general. From what I gathered, that one is more story based & it’s emotional where you actually care about the characters. This one doesn’t have much of either. Most of the roles here are unlikable so you actually want them to get devoured by the dead in this. This is pure adrenaline rush & a fun experience with no baggage. Peninsula is a very entertaining action horror hybrid & it delivers all the goods when it comes to those genres. It’s loaded with violence, action, fast zombies, gore, & it has a chaotic atmosphere to it. The special fx & production design are top notch for this sequel. It has a nice pace to it, it never lets up & it’s fun the whole time. It was much better than expected & it’s one of the biggest surprises of 2020 for me. The replay value is very strong & it’s the type of feature to enjoy with a group of people. It’s mindless fun & it’s basically a popcorn flick in zombie form. It’s been a wild year & there hasn’t been that many new horror films because of it but this is one of the best so far. RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s talk about the high definition presentation & special features from Well Go USA! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks stunning on blu ray. I can only imagine what the 4K looks like but unfortunately I wasn’t sent that version for review, The stylized cinematography will keep your eyes on the screen the whole time. It has all kinds of audio options which includes Korean: Dolby Atmos, Korean: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, Korean: Dolby Digital 2.0, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, & English: Dolby Digital 2.0 on the home video release. It has English subtitles. It has an almost 9 minute “Making of” section with a variety of small segments which includes “The Sequel”, “The Action”, “The Director”, & “The Characters”. It has interviews with the director & a few members of the cast. They go over all the basics here. It’s a quick promotional piece for the feature. They chat about the sequel, action, director, & the characters in this like the titles suggest. It’s in Korean with a English subtitles. It has a “Teaser” & a full length “Trailer” for Peninsula. It also includes a slipcover & a DVD copy of the release. I am currently giving away free copies of this on my Instagram & Facebook pages for a contest. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!