Train to Busan and Kingdom are better. So only watch this if you want to see Hyun Bin in a zombie movie. It's quite grandly produced but the story isn't that good and it's not as exciting. Perhaps it's because I watched Kingdom first and that is better. It's not fair to compare a series with a movie but this movie felt like it lacked cohesion.
Plot summary
Lee Chung is a Prince of Joseon, but he has been taken hostage to the Qing Dynasty. He enjoys boozing, womanizing and gambling. He is also an excellent swordsman. His older brother Lee Young will succeed to the throne and brings Lee Chung to Joseon. He returns after more than 10 years. Soon, Lee Chung faces monsters that run rampant in the night.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Movie Reviews
Not as good as Kingdom
Generally solid
RAMPANT is a companion piece to the Korean hit TRAIN TO BUSAN, taking the same concept and the same kind of zombies but throwing them into a historically medieval period, the classic Joseon era we see so much of in Korean cinema. I admit to being spoilt when it came to viewing this film; many of the ideas and plot components I'd already seen in the excellent TV series KINGDOM, which came after but which I watched first. KINGDOM is undoubtedly the superior production - particularly the first series - but RAMPANT has a lot going for it, too, with a plot matching the usual political skullduggery with some very ferocious zombie attack sequences. It's well made and engaging, a little slow at certain moments, a little over the top at other times, but generally solid viewing.
No train for these zombies
So yes the movie or the companies releasing the movie brag about this being from the makers of Train to Busan. And yes as one would expect there are zombies here too. Just in an old setting. Eastern meets the undead. And while this is not an entirely new concepts (chinese Ghost story comes to mind),the scope of everything is way bigger here.
And the use of CG effects too. I did catch myself thinking, WWSBD? SB standing for Shaw Brothers and their low budget effects, that were still quite something. If you don't mind some obvious CGI (not everything is smooth and can be spotted quite easily),and like action packed horror movies with a little bit of eastern flair .. well, you are on the money here. Characters could have been a little bit more enganging and the story is quite simple ... but again, this is about having fun (if you don't mind the gore of course)