Haeundae (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Disaster	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Making Of Trailer-Theatrical Trailer-Eastern Eye
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	102:34
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Je-gyun Yun
Studio Distributor	CJ Entertainment Madman Entertainment	Starring	Kyung-gu Sol Ji-won Ha Joong-Hoon Park Jeong-hwa Eom Min-gi Lee Ye-won Kang In-kwon Kim
Case	Alpha-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	Byung-woo Lee

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Korean Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Korean Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	Yes
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Haeundae is South Korea's stab at the disaster movie genre. Appropriately for the region, it's all about whopping great tidal waves, specifically one great tsunami heading for the mile-long tourist beach in the city of Haeundae.

     Prior to the good stuff, Haeundae offers us an hour or so of bland comedic drama to establish a handful of characters for us to care about when the mayhem begins; a little like a week's worth of Home and Away before the effects from a Roland Emmerich opus. Those soapy threads include:

• A union rep for the waterfront businesses falling in love with the young woman he promised to protect when her father died aboard a fishing boat he was captaining during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
• A corrupt property developer fighting the waterfront folks as he wants to redevelop the land their businesses are on.
• A rich city girl, with a screw loose upstairs, having a whirlwind romance with a local lifeguard after he saves her, much to the disapproval of her wealthy friends and suitors.
• A scientist, who is desperately trying to warn the city of the risk of an impending mega-tsunami, meeting his young daughter for the first time when his ex-lover returns to town on business.

     At the time it was made Haeundae was the most expensive Korean film ever made and one of the country’s highest grossing films. The film employed the same effects houses that were behind A Perfect Storm and The Day After Tomorrow and they did not skimp. The effects are well and truly up to the standard of Hollywood fare. The final half hour of the film, which depicts the actual waves and flow-on explosions and stunts, is truly breathtaking. It is a shame the first hour or so of aimless melodrama needs to be waded through before the good bits get going.

     The version of the film offered on this disc is the shortened International version of the film, which runs around a quarter of an hour shorter than the South Korean domestic cut.

Video

     The film is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced. The video is quite watchable, but far from great.

     The image is reasonably clear, but focus a little soft. Edge enhancement is noticeable throughout, as is mild grain. There is relatively poor shadow detail, which makes following a handful of key night-time scenes somewhat more difficult than it should be. The colour palette is a little washed out, which is most noticeable during the daytime scenes although it is consistent throughout the film.

     Mild macro blocking is present in the image, although few are likely to notice it. There is no sign of film artefacts in the transfer.

     The film features bold yellow English subtitles which are quite easy to read and reasonably easy to follow, but are occasionally clumsily timed.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The Film features a Korean Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 Kbps) audio track and a Korean Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 Kbps) audio track.

     The audio is clean and clear. Dialogue is at a good level in the mix and easy to discern.

     The film features a fairly stock standard orchestral score which fits the film well and is well represented in the mix.

     The film makes good use of the surrounds. There is good usage for environmental effects during the dramatic phase of the film and particularly exciting sound during the action parts. The subwoofer is fairly quiet save for the action scenes, where it is put to decent use for all manner of bangs and clangs.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Making Of Featurette (11:30)

Assorted on-set footage taken during of the filming of a number of the film's action sequences, along with a couple of brief on-set interviews with cast members (in some cases whilst they are still out of breath from completing stunt work). Short and to the point.

Theatrical Trailer

A South Korean theatrical trailer that largely plugs the action in the film.

Easter Eye Trailers

Trailers for other films.

    Haeundae is not presently available in Region 1, but is scheduled for a May 2010 release under the title Tidal Wave.

    Various editions exist in Region 3, most of which are purported to contain iffy subtitles. For now, Region 4 is the safest bet for an English-friendly release.

     Imagine watching a week's worth of Home and Away then changing the channel to see the half an hour of action from 2012 or A Perfect Storm and you will have a fair idea of what you are in for with Haeundae.

     Video is fair. Light scenes are a little washed out and dark scenes are muddy but it is certainly watchable. Audio is particularly good. The extras are limited but worthwhile.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall