Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

The Flu Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 23, 2014

Director Kim Sung-su’ "The Flu" (2013) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Korean distributors CJ Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailer and teaser; audio commentary by the Korean director; deleted and extended scenes; making of featurette; and more. In Korean, with optional English, Korean, and Korean SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The blockade

The film begins in Hong Kong where a group of illegal immigrants are loaded into a giant container. One of them looks seriously ill. The container is then locked and shipped to South Korea.

In the city of Bundang, two Korean gangsters try to release the immigrants but discover that only one of them has survived the trip. The young man runs away from them and then disappears somewhere on the outskirts of the city.

Soon after, one of the gangsters becomes ill. By the time his partner figures out what is wrong with him, a number of other people he has been in contact with begin feeling weak and nauseated. Then they begin vomiting and collapsing.

In a matter of hours large parts of Bundang become paralyzed. At first people try to help each other, but later on panic and become hostile. The authorities attempt to restore order, but many of the people that are sent to help the infected also become sick. Eventually, the president is informed that there has been a massive flu outbreak in Bundang and that urgent measures are needed to contain it. With army units on the ground, the city is closed and massive camps are built to isolate the infected. Meanwhile, a group of doctors and local officials begin discussing how to create a vaccine for the deadly flu virus.

The events in director Kim Sung-su’ film The Flu are seen through the eyes of two characters: The first is rescue worker Jigu (Jang Hyuk, The Client, The Age of Innocence), who finds himself protecting a little girl after people begin dying on the streets of Bundang; the second character is the girl’s mother, Dr. Kim In-Hae (Soo-Ae, The Sword with No Name, Sunny), who must find the survivor from the container and together with her colleagues try to develop a vaccine before the deadly flu virus reach Seoul.

The film, which was apparently inspired by true events, moves very quickly and at times looks a bit uneven, but for the most part its intensity is appropriate. The footage from the camps and mass graves where the infected are placed is especially good.

The long debates between the Korean president, his advisers and the American specialists, however, are very awkward. There are a lot of dull and utterly unconvincing patriotic speeches followed by elaborate action sequences which create the impression that one is viewing a long segment from a filmed version of an exotic video game. Needless to say, the finale is far from satisfying.

The film is still worth seeing for the excellent buildup. The early stages of the city blockade are wonderfully shot and really give one a good idea how easy and quickly fear can collapse a modern society.

The two leads are very good, though both are trying too hard to be nice with the little girl who becomes infected. There are two excellent cameos by Ma Dong-Seok and the always very entertaining Yu Hae-Jin (here playing a bubbly rescue worker who can’t get a date).

The Flu was lensed by cinematographer Lee Mo-gae, who is probably best known for his contributions to Kim Jee-woon’s The Good, the Bad, the Weird and I Saw the Devil.

The Flu Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Kim Sung-su's The Flu arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Korean distributors CJ Entertainment.

Aside from some extremely light banding that I noticed during a couple of daylight sequences, the high-definition transfer is very good. Both close-ups and panoramic shots boast outstanding depth and clarity, making it exceptionally easy to see even very small objects and details. Contrast levels remain stable throughout the entire film. Colors are rich and very well saturated. Image stability is excellent. Lastly, when projected the film remains crisp and tight around the edges. All in all, this is a strong and very pleasing technical presentation of The Flu. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

The Flu Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Korean DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, CJ Entertainment have provided optional English, Korean, and Korean SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The film has a very active sound design and a few of the action sequences could test the muscles of your audio system. While these sequences are not long, they are very intense and have some very good surround effects. There are no balance issues. Finally, the dialog is clean, crisp, stable, and easy to follow. (Small portions of the dialog are in English). The English translation is good, but there are a couple of small grammatical errors.

The Flu Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of featurette - raw footage from the shooting of the film with comments from cast and crew members. In Korean, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080i).

• Storyboards - storyboards to film comparisons with comments from director Kim Sung-su and members of his crew. In Korean, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080i).

• Deleted/Extended Scenes - deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary by director Kim Sung-su. In Korean, not subtitled. (10 min, 1080p).

• Interviews - tech crew interviews. In Korean, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080i).

• Teaser - original teaser for The Flu. In Korean, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080p).

• Trailer - original trailer for The Flu. In Korean, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - audio commentary with director Kim Sung-su. In Korean, not subtitled.

The Flu Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A couple of years ago I would have said that the events in The Flu are improbable -- or at least as they are filmed. However, after all the disturbing news reports about the Ebola outbreak in Africa in recent months, I have to admit that the film made me feel quite unconformable. CJ Entertainment's technical presentation of The Flu is excellent, and as far as I know this is the only English-friendly Blu-ray release of the film. RECOMMENDED.