Sea Fog Blu-ray - Sung-bo Shim

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Sea Fog" or "Haemoo" )

directed by Sung-bo Shim
South Korea 2014

SEA FOG is one of the Korean wave's most potent stories and a visually arresting action-packed effort. Telling of an illegal immigrant operation in South Korea, focused on bringing 30 mainland Chinese star-watchers to the hustle and bustle of Busan and Seoul, which ends in terrifying tragedy, SEA FOG is a tense thriller and a blistering viewing experience. Produced by the legendary Bong Joon-ho (THE HOST) and with a cast that includes the great Kim Yoon-seok (THE CHASER) and K-pop icon Park Yoo-chun (formerly of TVXQ), SEA FOG is an adventure on the high sea that ranks as one of East Asian cinema's most masterful recent achievements!

***

In the midst of the IMF Asian financial crisis of 1997, fishing boat Captain Kang (Yun-seok Kim, CHASER) is going under financially, unable to catch enough to pay his crew - second-in-command Ho-young (Sang-ho Kim), drum winch duty man Kyung-koo (Seung-mok Yoo, MEMORIES OF MURDER), young and inexperienced Dong-sik (Yoo-chun Park), nominal engineer Chan-wook (Hee-joon Lee, HELPLESS), and the actual engineer Wan-ho (Seong-kun Mun) who is not on the crew list since he is hiding from debt collectors - afford fuel, and keep his unfaithful wife (who has already mortgaged their restaurant) happy. In a desperate move, he agrees to use his boat for a smuggling job only to discover that the freight will be Chinese immigrants looking for better jobs in South Korea. The initial deposit divided among them is enough at first to allay the crew's concerns over getting caught, but they soon find themselves in over their heads as the ship goes out in the middle of torrential weather to rendezvous with a freighter. The captain is disturbed to discover that there are two women among the immigrants, and they soon become the focus of the other men's interests, with Hong-mae (Ye-ri Han, COMMITMENT) suspicious of the special attention she receives from Dong-sik (who dove into the choppy waves to save her from drowning) and Yool-nyeo (Kyung-Sook Jo) willing to do what is needed for a little comfort. The crew discover that the rest of the passengers are just of their seeming acts of benevolence. When one man stands up to what they assumed to be reasonable treatment given the circumstances and refuses to hide in the fish hold, the Captain comes down on him hard and frightens the rest into compliance. When the danger of being caught becomes too real, it is left to the Captain's discretion what to do with the "cargo", and the tragic events that transpire turn the ship into a hellish charnel house that brings out paranoia, madness, and ruthlessness as the crew turn on the passengers and each other as an impenetrable sea fog surrounds them and blinds them to outside dangers. Directed by Sung-bo Shim - screenwriter of MEMORIES OF MURDER - and written by Joon-ho Bong (director of SNOWPIERCER).

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 13 August 2014 (South Korea)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Film Movement - Region 1 - NTSC vs. 88 Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the DVD Review!

Box Cover
		Coming to Blu-ray in October 2025 by Film Movement:
Distribution	Film Movement Region 1 - NTSC	88 Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:50:48	1:50:53.647
Video	2.40:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.31 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	Disc Size: 36,817,182,378 bytes Feature Size: 34,410,350,592 bytes Average Bitrate: 35.00 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	Korean/Chinese Dolby Digital 5.1; Korean/Chinese Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo	DTS-HD Master Audio Korean 1943 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1943 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) LPCM Audio Korean 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English, none	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Film Movement Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.40:1 Edition Details: � Bonus short film 'Sea Child' (Minha Kim, 16:9; 7:32) � Previews DVD Release Date: August 2nd, 2016 Amaray Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: 88 Films Disc Size: 36,817,182,378 bytes Feature Size: 34,410,350,592 bytes Average Bitrate: 35.00 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Visual Effects REEL (2:02) • All About Bong - an Interview with Jean Noh (10:33) Blu-ray Release Date: March 26th, 2018 Standard Blu-ray Case inside cardboard slipcase Chapters 12

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The 88 Films Blu-ray looks great o a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. Shot with the Arri Alexa this looks very impressive in 1080P resolution. The improved detail and contrast are evident in the captures below. This is in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio and the widescreen is sweet in HD - slightly brighter than the SD and looking excellent in-motion. I was surprised how good this film looked on my system - plenty of 'wow' visuals.

88 Films give the option of a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (16-bit) or a linear PCM stereo (24-bit) - both in the original Korean. There are plenty of sea-faring effects and some deft separations that add some nice atmosphere to the film presentation. The stereo exports some depth as well. Sea Fog has some orchestral music from The City of Prague Philharmonic and it works well sounding subtle but notable in the lossless. There are optional English subtitles available on the Region 'B'-locked Blu-ray disc.

Extras include an un-described 'Visual Effects' reel with split-screen sequences running a scant 2-minutes plus a 10-minute piece entitled All About Bong - an interview with Jean Noh who is the deputy Asia editor and Korea correspondent for Screen International. She shares some interesting information on co-screenwriter of Sea Fog, producer/director Joon Ho Bong (Mother, Snowpiercer, Memories of Murder.)

Plenty of atmosphere here... it has a creepy intensity and covers many themes from guilt, survival-ism, infatuation, illegalities and had a political inclination as well. I really liked it and loved my Blu-ray viewing. Recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: Film Movement's dual-layer, progressive, anamorphic DVD is encoded at a relatively high bitrate given the other content on the disc and probably looks as good as it can in SD considering the hazy foggy, smokey look of much of the film. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is active throughout with the sound of crashing waves and shipboard noises and translation of the dialogue is provided as both optional English subtitles and closed-captioning which also translates the same onscreen text as the subtitles. Extras include a bonus short film and six trailers.

- Eric Cotenas

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