Directed by:
Bong Joon-Ho
Set in 2031, the entire world is frozen except for those aboard the Snowpiercer. For seventeen years, the world's survivors are on a train hurtling around the globe creating their own economy and class system. Led by Curtis (Chris Evans), a group of lower-class citizens living in squalor at the back of the train are determined to get to the front of the train and spread the wealth around. Each section of the train holds new surprises for the group who have to battle their way through. A revolution is underway. Along the way, they have to co-opt Namgoong Minsoo (Song Kang-ho), an addict of a synthetic hallucinogen called Kronole, he who designed the security system, namely the locking mechanism of the gates between all the train cars. As Curtis and his team try to work their way from car to car from the tail to the front, their priorities are influenced by what they see, what they learn, and by revelations including secrets from their individual pasts.
Cast:
- Chris Evans as Curtis Everett.
- Song Kang-Ho as Namgoong Minsoo.
- Ed Harris as Wilford.
- John Hurt as Gilliam.
- Tilda Swinton as Minister Mason.
Critical Response:
Film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 255 reviews with an average score of 8.1/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Snowpiercer offers an audaciously ambitious action spectacle for filmgoers numb to effects-driven blockbusters." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 38 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "universal acclaim". Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the piece an "A" rating, stating, "Snowpiercer sucks you into its strange, brave new world so completely, it leaves you with the all-too-rare sensation that you've just witnessed something you've never seen before ... and need to see again."
In 2020, Snowpiercer was ranked by The Guardian number 8 among the classics of modern South Korean Cinema. The film appeared on several critics' lists of the ten best films of 2014.
Between its South Korean opening on 27 June 2014 and 23 October 2014, the film earned US$86.7 million worldwide. The film holds the domestic record for the fastest movie (domestic and foreign) to reach four million admissions, which it achieved on its fifth day after premiere, and another record for the highest weekend figure (from Friday to Sunday) for a Korean film, with 2.26 million viewers. The film took in $171,000 on its US opening weekend, averaging around $21,400 per theater. The film grossed US$59.8 million in South Korea and its largest international market was China, with $11.1 million.
A South Korean-Czech co-production, the film marks Bong's English-language debut; almost 85% of the film's dialogue is in English.
