Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Guard Post Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 19, 2008

A deadly virus turns a small border post upside down in South Korean helmer Su-chang Kong’s “The Guard Post” (2008). An abundance of graphic imagery and red paint will surely entice horror-junkies, but the picture has much more to offer. Distributed by UK-based Showbox Media.

Somewhere on the South Korean-North Korean border. A military unit is dispatched to check on a small border facility where something terrible has happened – someone has massacred its staff. When the unit arrives the first thing they see is Corporal Kang (Young-hoon Lee), naked and covered with blood, holding an axe. A medic in a severe shock is also discovered but he is unable to speak immediately.

Sergeant Noh (Ho-jin Jeon), the unit’s commander, has only a few hours to solve the mystery. He must report back to his superiors at 6.00 AM on the following day and explain exactly what caused the killings at the border post. Things get real messy when the newly- arrived soldiers are infected with a deadly virus.

Infected

I decided to do a little bit of research on Su-chang Kong’s The Guard Post prior to receiving this Blu-ray disc. I had seen a few sporadic comments claiming that The Guard Post is a genre picture with plenty of gore, but I did not really know what to expect from it. So, I started reading. Much to my surprise, however, the more I read about the film's plot, the more confused I got.

Some of the reviews I checked claimed that The Guard Post was an ambitious project but not as good as the director’s better received R-Point (2004). Others insisted that it was a stylish but strange film mixing a number of different genres. Of course, there were also those who simply stated that The Guard Post was “great”.

So, the Blu-ray disc arrived, I popped it into my player, and started watching.

The first thing I did after I finished The Guard Post was to go back and look up Ho-jin Jeon’s body of work. What a terrific actor! I will make sure to see as many of his films as possible. Hopefully quite a few of them are available in an English-friendly form.

I also went back to reread some of the reviews for The Guard Post. What I glanced through prior to seeing the film led me to believe that I would be experiencing a “zombie picture” of some sort with plenty of gore. But this isn’t what I saw, so I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t imagining things. Half an hour later I was positive, I wasn’t.

What I did see was a thought-provoking drama about a group of young soldiers struggling to come to terms with a horrific tragedy. Yes, there were plenty of graphic scenes where the camera showed intimidating close-ups of the soldiers’ infected bodies, but to claim that The Guard Post is a “zombie picture” is a gross oversimplification of paramount proportions.

The key message in The Guard Post is actually about morality. Yes, it is related to us in a very unusual fashion, but if you strip the film’s narrative from all the shocking imagery what you would see is a very believable situation. Not surprisingly, a lot of the reviewers couldn’t quite come to terms with Su-chang Kong’s blending of drama, mystery, and horror, so they felt confused.

The mystery element in particular is very strong. I liked how Sergeant Noh managed to put the scattered pieces of this puzzle together – he was meticulous and very effective in his analysis. I also liked how the more the creators of The Guard Post revealed the less comfortable I felt predicting the finale. So, when it all came to end I thought that there was certainly enough substance in this film to match its style.

The Guard Post Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC, and granted a 1080p transfer The Guard Post arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Showbox.

This is the second release I've seen from Showbox-Cineasia now, the first one being the Thai martial arts film Chocolate, and, once again, I like the video treatment quite a bit. The film is very dark and by all means extremely graphic. There is plenty of gore here and the camera certainly does not shy away from showing as much of it as possible. Strangely enough, lighting is minimal. A lot of the action taking place inside the military facility for example is veiled in darkness, and it takes awhile to get used to it. This being said, however, clarity and contrast are, in my opinion, of very good quality. Once my eyes got used to the specific look the makers of The Guard Post opted for, it was much easier to follow the story. Furthermore, edge-enhancement and macroblocking were not an issue of concern either. The color-scheme is also pleasing – the blacks are deep and lush, and the blues, in a number of different varieties, convincing. Finally, I noticed a few tiny specks here and there but they were not something that detracted from my viewing experience. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc which you will be able to play on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

The Guard Post Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Korean Dolby Digital 5.1 and Korean Dolby Digital 2.0. Well, first of all I am a bit surprised that the The Post Guard has not received a DTS-HD MA track, I am unsure why there isn't one here. This being said, the Korean Dolby Digital 5.1 track is actually quite good – there is plenty of action in the rear channels (especially during the shooting scenes inside the military facility) and the dialog is exceptionally clear. The bass is also potent and I can only imagine how well The Post Guard would have sounded with a DTS-HD MA mix. As it is, I am simply missing that high-quality resonance HD audio mixes deliver. For the record, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or dropouts. I also wish to note that the English subtitles are fixed, meaning that you won't be able to turn them off with your remote control.

The Guard Post Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

On this Blu-ray disc you will find a story board, a trailer gallery, and three featurettes (all in standard-PAL): The Briefing Room, The Barracks, and Guard Post - Head Office. The majority of the content here addresses the production values of the project as well as the manner in which everything was put together. I'd recommend taking a look at Guard Post-Head Office.

The Guard Post Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I wasn't sure what to expect from Su-chang Kong's The Guard Post. Prior to receiving this disc, I did a little bit of research to find out exactly what I would be seeing and, suffice to say, the overwhelming amount of the comments I read about the film were very misleading. This is not a straightforward "zombie picture" at all, it is a film about morality and fear told in a rather colorful fashion (red being the key color).