Harbin - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Harbin



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
I had high hopes for Harbin going into this viewing session. Over the years, the South Korean film industry has proven itself time and time again to be the modern “Hong Kong” of the Asian cinematic world. They’re putting out great action movies, solid period piece films, and their horror selection is top-notch. Knowing this was ‘based’ on a true life story and looked fun from the trailers, I was all in to watch this tour de force action/drama. ESPECIALLY when I noticed it got the rare Atmos release (most of Well Go USA’s titles don’t have an Atmos track). Sadly, when I came out of the viewing, I had a different opinion. The film has some great ideas and great setups, but is excruciatingly slow and plodding with its narrative. Something that hamstrings a lot of the enjoyment in the near 2-hour war drama.

Visually striking and stunningly cast, the period piece war drama from Woo Min-ho follows the story of the Korean independence faction as they attempt to free themselves from the Japanese annexation of them in the early 1900s. Our hero turns out to be activist Ahn Jung-geun (Hyun Bin) as he attempts to craft a plan to assassinate the prime minister of Japan in 1909, shortly after their annexation by Japanese expansionism. The film opens with our protagonist walking over an icy wilderness venue, eventually filling us in with WHY he’s doing so, as well as the backstory of Ahn and his compatriots. All of the buildup to why they’re undergoing this desperate mission, as well as the familial and personal reasons for why Ahn himself is leading this expedition with his fellow freedom fighters.

As you can guess, this is a fairly simply plot from the get go, with the main focus of the assassination attempt fueling a complex plan (despite the simplicity of the rest of the plot) that led them to the try and liberate their country from the Japanese aggression. The violence in the film is brutal and tightly shot, with Ahn and his compatriots slaughtering those in their way, leading up to a controversial moment where Ahn actually spares the life of Japanese Major Mori Tasuo (Park Hoon), sparking some serious controversy among his fellow guerrilla fighters. While it may seem kind and merciful to do so, the rest of the freedom fighters view it as highly suspicious, especially considering that they are already having a problem with moles and defectors, leading them to cast suspicion on Ahn over what his motives really are in the whole thing.

Harbin is very atmospheric and moody, with long shots of icy hellscapes, dark shadow-covered tents, and whispering behind enemy lines as they attempt the impossible. But at the end of the day, Harbin suffers from some fairly large pacing issues, with the first two acts feeling like they’re over 2 hours apiece, despite the entire film clocking in at 1 hour 56 minutes total. By the time the payoff comes in the third act, I was already worn out and, sadly, checking my watch to see if the film was up. The actor's heavy background melodrama does more to hinder the plot moving forward than it does flesh out their characters (though it DOES do a decent job of that), BUT, I will give the film this. It has some incredible action sequences that are brutal, bloody, and downright nasty to watch at times. Those brief moments of intense wartime violence elevated the film up to a moderately entertaining standpoint, but still wasn’t enough to really make the movie that great.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

I’m going to sound like a broken record with all these foreign Well Go USA releases, but I can’t find out much information about the shooting style of cameras, nor the master for this release. I’m going to guess a 4K master due to the 4K UHD release (and how the film looks to the naked eye) and the obvious use of digital cameras, but this is simply a guess and should be taken as that. That being said, the final result on Blu-ray is fantastic. The film’s opening shots of Ahn traversing the icy hellscape are quite stunning, with a wonderful mixture of deep blues and ice whites to create that mottled “blue ice” look ala Interstellar. Fine details are mostly great, though I did notice some crushing and banding in the darker spots where Ahn and his men are planning their attack. This results in some slightly lost detail levels due to the crushing, and the banding is a mild eye sore (though not too bad. I’ve seen much worse from Well Go Blu-rays over the years, and the banding is quite minimal). Overall, this is a great-looking Blu-ray, and I wish I could have checked out the 4K UHD due to how amazing this looks.









Audio:

Mmmm, oh yeah, this is the good stuff. Harbin’s Dolby Atmos track is quite the stunner, allowing for some really kinetic action sequences, but also utilizes the directionality of the next-gen audio tracks in regards to ambient nature noises, or the crashing and bashing of the combat. Voices are tight and clean up in the front of the room, and the surround channels (rears and sides) make great use of the wartime violence. I was a bit surprised by the overhead usage, as I expected a LITTLE more, but when I turned down my main channels and surrounds, leaving only the overheads intact, I felt they were a bit light. There are some cool discrete sounds during combat scenes, but their use for anything outside of the violence felt a little minimalistic. However, I wouldn’t take more than a ¼ point away from the whole score for that little bit, as the rest of the track is a real treat. Especially the bass, which is earth-shattering and goes nice and deep during the battles.











Extras:

• Making Of
• Theatrical Trailer
• Well Go USA Trailers

Final Score:

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Harbin isn’t a bad concept, and has a lot of things going for it. But sadly, it coasts along on the overarching sentiment of heroism and liberation to really push it over the finish line. But while it is a bit of a cliché at times, and the pacing is pretty slow, this is by no means a bad or uninteresting film either. The action sequences are fantastic, and the beautiful cinematography had my jaw hanging low for over half the film. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, making me really want to see the 4K UHD disc that Well Go USA released as well. Either way, solid enough watch as long as you understand this is a bit of a slow burn.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Hyun Bin, Park Jeong-min, Jeon Yeo-been, Lee Dong-wook
Directed by: Woo Min-ho
Written by: Min-Seong Kim, Min-ho Woo
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Korean: Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD Core)
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 114 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: April 1st, 2025

Recommendation: Solid Watch