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Released by: Well Go USA
Released on: December 11, 2012.
Director: Jee-woon Kim, Pil-Sung Yim
Cast: Doona Bae, Joon-ho Bong, Ji-hee Jin, John D. Kim, Kang-woo Kim, Jun-hee Ko
Year: 2012
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The Movie:
An anthology film directed by Jee-woon Kim and Pil-Sung Yim, 2012's Doomsday Book is an interesting experiment that, if a bit long, proves to be a pretty interesting watch - and what with the whole Mayan calendar thing coming to a head at the time of this writing, it's pertinent as well. As you may or may not have gathered from the title, the stories here deal with the end of the world. The movie unfolds in three chapters as follows:
Brave New World:
Directed by Pil-Sung Yim , the first story follows a meek and somewhat nerdy young man named Yoon (Ryu Seung-bum) is less than impressed when his mother and father decide to take his sister on vacation and leave him home alone. As he works for the military as a scientist they assume he won't be able to take time off and so they head off for fun and relaxation and leave him with a large list of chores to do in their absence. As Yoon sifts through the mountains of garbage and leftover materials that his family has been hoarding, he starts dumping the moldy food he comes across. Later Yoon talks pretty Kim (Go Joon-hee) into going out for dinner with him to his favorite barbeque restaurant. One thing leads to another and before you know it, they've eaten contaminated food and start to… change.
This is a trippy and at times almost psychedelic take on an otherwise somewhat typical 'infection/zombie/plague' type story, Brave New World is well acted and interesting enough to hold our attention. It's also gross enough to get under our skin a bit, particularly if you're one of those who are icked out by moldy food and what not. The film does interesting things with its take on modern media reporting tactics and it tacks on some interesting Biblical references as well.
Heavenly Creature:
A computer scientist named Park (Kim Kang-woo) is called to a monastery to help the Buddhist monks who call it home 'fix' the robot servant they have employed there. When he arrives he learns that the problem isn't that the robot has malfunctioned so much as it is that the robot has found enlightenment. Unsure what to do but very obviously feeling at risk over this development, Park and his employers try to figure out exactly what to do here.
Directed by Jee-woon Kim and very obviously inspired by the work of Isaac Asimov not just in tone and concept but in the visuals department as well, this is a pretty interesting take on the 'robot comes to life' concept that has been exploited plenty of times prior in movies as varied as I, Robot to Short Circuit. Stylishly shot (the robot is incredibly cool looking) and intelligently acted (Park's internal conflict over this situation always feels very real) it poses more questions than it answers but is no less interesting for it. The odd twist at the end seems out of place at first but once you let it digest and think on it some, this turns out to be the best of the three stories that make up the movie.
Happy Birthday:
Last but not least, this collaborative effort between Jee-woon Kim and Pil-Sung Yim is the lightest of the three stories in the movie. Min-seo (Jin Ji-hee) is a young girl who finds herself in a bit of hot water when she breaks the eight ball in her father's billiards set. She decides to use her uncle's computer to order him a new one in hopes that it'll arrive before her father finds out what has happened, but the site she orders it from is run by aliens who fulfill her order by sending a giant eight ball in the form of a meteor towards the Earth.
The weakest of the three stories and one that is a little out of place beside the two more cerebral earlier chapters, this one is played more for laughs and entertainment value than for social commentary. It's amusing enough and at times genuinely funny in how it shows the media reacting to the impending collision with the meteor. Again though, it feels at odds with the darker material that came before it.
Ultimately, however, Doomsday Book is worth a watch. The production values and performances are strong across the board and the effects hold up well too. There are a few moments here and there where you have to wonder if some more judicious editing might have helped to quicken the pace a bit but otherwise, this is an interesting and decidedly different sort of anthology film well worth watching.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Doomsday Book looks excellent in AVC encoded 2.35.1 widescreen in 1080p high definition from Well Go USA. Shot on digital video, the transfer shows no dirt, debris or print damage obviously but demonstrates beautiful color reproduction and solid black levels throughout. Some minor shimmering is present here and there but there are no noticeable problems with edge enhancement or any serious compression artifacts. Detail is strong from start to finish and texture is impressive as well. No complaints, the movie looks great.
The only audio option on the disc is a Korean language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix while subtitles are provided in English only. This isn't a super crazy aggressive mix but there's definitely plenty of nice surround activity noticeable when the movie asks for it. Levels are balanced nicely, the track demonstrates range and depth throughout and there are no issues at all with any hiss or distortion. The subtitles are clean and easy to read and free of any obvious typographical errors.
Extras are slim, limited to a trailer for the feature and trailers for a few other unrelated Well Go USA properties.
The Final Word:
Flawed or not, Doomsday Book gets a whole lot more right than wrong. It's stylish, beautifully shot, well acted and just really well made and on top of that it is both interesting and thought provoking. Well Go USA's Blu-ray roll out is short on extras but it looks and sounds great, making this one easy to recommend.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
