Seobok: Project Clone Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

Seobok: Project Clone Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 4, 2022

Roy Huggins built two successful television series out of the idea of a man on the run, including The Fugitive, which borrowed a few "ripped from the headlines" elements from the then au courant story of Sam Sheppard, a doctor who had been accused of murdering wife, but who insisted he was innocent even after having been convicted (Sheppard's case also helped to inspire a host of other projects, including The Lawyer and My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story). Two years after The Fugitive became a ratings smash in 1963 (trivia lovers will know its 1967 finale would go on to score the then biggest viewing audience of all time), Huggins returned with Run for Your Life, which basically removed the "criminal" aspect, but which once again featured a solo male traveling from adventure to adventure, albeit this time in the form of a guy with a mortal disease who wants to check as many items off his "bucket list" as possible before he makes his exit. While Huggins wasn't involved, a third series in this putative genre came and went pretty quickly in the 1970-71 season. The Immortal basically turned the premise of Run for Your Life on its head by positing a focal male character who was not about to die, but who in fact found out that his blood was "specially powered" and kept him immune from disease and aging. That fact attracts the interest of (because of some differences between the movie of the week pilot and the actual series) a couple of aging billionaire types who want access to a "magic potion" (i.e., the character's blood) to keep them alive. The Immortal only managed to limp through about half a season, but someone involved with Seobok Project Clone might have seen it, since this Korean film often plays like an Asian flavored reboot, albeit arguably with a hint or two of Akira on tap as well, just for good measure.

Seobok Project Clone evidently was screened theatrically in Korea as Seo Bok, which is evidently the Korean version of the Chinese name Xu Fu, an actual historical character who was sent on a search for an "elixir of immortality" circa second to first centuries BC at the behest of that era's version of an aging multi billionaire, Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Qin Dynasty. That fact probably resonated relatively well with Korean audiences, but it may have been deemed less than helpful for us bird brains over here in the West, leading to the addendum Project Clone, which lets the proverbial cat out of the bag from the get go, despite the actual film's attempts to keep the audience in the dark for at least a little while.

The film of course begins discursively, with allusions to a top secret scientific experiment which someone has gotten wind of, leading to calamitous results for that individual. A quick succession of not very well introduced characters enters the fray, one of whom, Ki Heon (Gong Yoo), may initially come off as a some addled drug addict on the hunt for a quick fix, but who it is revealed is a former intelligence offer suffering from a mortal brain tumor and who is using hard to find prescription serums to alleviate his symptoms. Ki is contacted by his former employers and let into the top secret confines of an apparent freight ship, which is where he's introduced to Seo Bok (Park Bo-Gum), the world's first successful human clone who has been genetically engineered to provide life giving serum from a port "installed" in his neck. Ki is hired to protect Seo Bok after the "secret" has been leaked.

Unsurprisingly, the mortally ill cop and the kid with miraculous healing powers, who's been kept in isolation all these years, go on the run together. But the film also works in a "psychic disturbance" angle that seems positively designed to evoke memories of Akira, and Seo Bok's "special set of skills" are very much like some of the chaos caused by Akira in that film. There's an almost hilariously overwrought metaphysical angle, too, providing supposed "deep meanings" as characters discuss life, death, and, you know, God and all. There's a somewhat veering tone here, with some of the film seemingly designed to provide "futuristic sci fi" thrills, and other elements supposedly wringing "comedy" from things like the "bubble boy" Seo Bok not knowing how to utilized chopsticks.

Seobok: Project Clone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Seo Bok Project Clone is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists a couple of different Arri Alexa models and a 2K DI as relevant data points. This is a nicely sharp and well detailed looking presentation, with some really appealing choices in the palette, which can vary from a kind of overall teal ambience in some of the "artificial reality" Seo Bok is first seen in, to some later scenes that emphasize neat looking peach and orange tones. Detail levels are typically excellent throughout, with only some passing deficits in fine detail afflicting a few of the darkest moments.

Seobok: Project Clone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Seo Bok Project Clone features some nicely boisterous audio in either Korean or English courtesy of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks (as usual with releases from Well Go USA, there are Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks in each language as well). I toggled back and forth for a while between the two tracks and noticed no differences whatsoever in terms of general mix and amplitude, but it's easy to stick with the "Korean" track in any case even if you don't like to read subtitles, since quite a bit of that track happens to be in English, despite its "official" designation. The sound design is frequently quite hyperbolic, with a lot of nice side and rear engagement and some extremely forceful LFE. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly for the most part, though some of the heavy Korean accents can make their English a bit difficult, and unfortunately the optional English subtitles only translate the Korean language material.

Seobok: Project Clone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (HD; 4:01)


• The Characters (HD; 3:27)


• International Teaser (HD; 1:13)


• International Trailer (HD; 1:50)


• U.S. Trailer (HD; 1:37)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on Making Of is essentially a Play All button. The disc is also authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the U.S. Trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Packaging features a slipcover.

Seobok: Project Clone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The film itself may not actually end up delivering all it aims for, but if there are any Asian language experts out there reading this review, I would absolutely love a lesson in etymology or at least orthography to find out how Xu Fu managed to morph into Seo Bok. The screenplay here has pretensions toward profundity, but never really fully delivers. Technical merits are solid for those who may be considering making a purchase.