07.27.07 5:00 AM CDT
• TV & DVDs
• Robert DeSalvo
If you’re game for a sure-to-be classic monster movie along the vein of Jaws or Jurassic Park, you should check out The Host from Magnolia Home Entertainment, which just came out on July 24 on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD. This surprising South Korean hit—the highest grossing film of all time in that country—is about an unremarkable family thrust into a life-threatening crisis when a monstrous mutant emerges from the Han River and snatches a young schoolgirl. The government claims that the hybrid fish-reptile-amphibian monster is the host of an unidentified virus and locks down the area, crippling the family’s efforts to comb the labyrinthine sewers along the Han River before it’s too late for the little girl.As with any box-office explosion that detonates in the Far East, Hollywood has already sniffed out this gem for an American remake. But aside from moving the story to these shores and throwing in a bunch of American actors for viewers allergic to subtitles (if you’re one of those, there is an English dub track on The Host), there is no compelling reason to tinker with this monster mash. The effects aren’t akin to a man in a rubber suit tromping through a set of toy buildings and trucks here. Instead we have the digital dynamos from Weta Workshop (King Kong, The Lord of the Rings) and The Orphanage (Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, Sin City) responsible for creating this convincing monster as it wreaks havoc along the shores of the Han. It’s also in the sometimes amusing, sometimes heartbreaking way this awkward family handles their unexpected crisis that elevates this film above just another creature-on-a-rampage flick.
Brave next-gen pioneers will definitely want to savor the clarity of the eye-popping Blu-ray version of The Host. If you want to know more about director Bong Joon-ho’s inspiration for his unique river monster and how it was brought to life, be sure to explore the exhaustive behind-the-scenes features included on the discs as well.
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Comments on this entry:
I agree! This was a great movie -- great fun, that is, and a surprisingly pleasing film. It was nice to see a horror/monster film that was funny without being campy.