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A husband and father is heading home with his daughter's birthday cake when a tunnel collapses trapping him inside his car.

Disaster movies are meant to be filled with tension and drama. This film did not fail in giving its viewers a healthy dose of both. While it is a bit drawn out, it is a decent movie that I found to be enjoyable. It is hard for me to review disaster movies simply because to have the right amount of tension you need a curiosity as to what might happen next. Knowing too much takes away from the anticipation about what might happen next. So, I'm just gonna be short and sweet about it by saying that it is a good film that had me confidently saying that had I been this fella, I would never have to work again because I would have sued the socks off of everybody.

I don't watch enough world cinema, let alone South Korean films, the country that gave us incredible flicks like Oldboy and Sky Blue (Wonderful Days) so when I see there's a showing at my other local cinema, I had to go and I didn't regret it.

Seong-hoon Kim, director of the highly acclaimed A Hard Day (now on my watchlist) tells us a story of a business man (Jung-woo Ha) who is on his way home to wife and daughter and unfortunately becomes trapped in a near fatal accident when a tunnel collapses on him and his car. We see his blight as he struggles to survive and how he comes to terms with the reality of what's happening.

There's a superb balance between him and the outside world who is attempting to rescue him, witnessing empathy, sympathy and later tragedy but also the lack of, from the media and politicians causing conflict about what's the right thing to do.

It's touching, when seeing the lengths people will go to in offering help in a time of crisis, like the radio station for example, playing him messages of support each day. This show of humanity reminded me of the epic TV movie of the late eighties, Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure and the more recent World Trade Centre, only fundamental difference, this not being a true story.

Sometimes I felt like being a passerby, watching the train wreck happen right before you, seeing things going from bad to worse without being able to lift a finger to do anything. But on the flip side it's purposefully comical to display another side of what it is to be human.

There's incredible performances for the three key characters, especially Cloud Atlas star Doona Bae who plays his grieving wife having to deal with the press whilst trying to do as much as she possibly can to aid the rescue. And Dal-su Oh is superb as the chief, who's in charge of the operation who has this moral obligation to save him.

The film is loaded with tough decisions and moral issues questioning you, what would you do if you were either of the three characters. It did drag, but only ever so slightly for the 126min running time. Has got an amazing score from Young-Jin Mok and the set pieces are on point with some amazing camera work.

I wouldn't recommend this for viewers with fear of tunnels or claustrophobia but a great drama with some amazing performances, a must-see for world cinema drama fans.

Running Time: 7 The Cast: 8 Performance: 9 Direction: 8 Story: 7 Script: 8 Creativity: 8 Soundtrack: 8 Job Description: 8 The Extra Bonus Points: 0

71% 7/10

In South Korea, the Kia Motors dealer Lee Jung-Soo (Jung-woo Ha) is driving home with a birthday cake to celebrate the anniversary of his daughter. While crossing a tunnel, it collapses and Lee is trapped inside. Using his cellphone, he is capable to communicate with the rescue team leader and with his wife. Now Lee must survive waiting for the rescue.

"Teo-neol", a.k.a. "The Tunnel", is a dramatic thriller about the rescue operation to save a man trapped inside a collapsed tunnel. The storyline is engaging, with good performances and melodramatic dialogs between Lee and his wife. This disaster movie shows a sharp criticism to politicians that wants to use tragedies to show up with the victims; to the press that disturbs people that is seriously working to sell "fresh" news to the audiences; and to the quality of public constructions in South Korea. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil):"O Túnel" ("The Tunnel")

Tunnel surprised me. I had barely glanced at the cover when we picked it up, and put it on figuring it would be good background noise for reading my book.

Well, the book didn't get read, but the movie did get watched.

I liked how quickly it leaped right into things. No real build up, no explaining things, just suddenly this person is in a horrible situation, and now you've got to watch to see how it unfolds.

There were a few humorous moments that injected some needed levity. Only one of them actually felt forced, and that was toward the beginning of the film so it was pretty easy to overlook.

Within minutes of getting into this, I found myself texting one of my friends and telling her what was happening in the movie. Then texting my partner and telling him that Tunnel was one of the better movies we'd rented in a long time.

This is a well-shot, well-acted movie. While it didn't blow me away, it did manage to get me completely wrapped up in it. Definitely worth watching!

A man is on his way home when the poorly constructed tunnel he is driving through collapses, leaving him trapped.

"Tunnel" comes to us from writer-director Seong-hun Kim, who is likely not very well known in the United States, though some fans of Korean cinema may have seen his previous film, "A Hard Day" (2014). The star of "Tunnel" is Jung-woo Ha, who you will most likely recognize from "The Handmaiden" (2016), which is being heavily promoted by Amazon. (Perhaps the PR folks behind "Tunnel" can build off of this?)

This is one of those films that works well because it relies on a very simple plot with a high amount of tension. We have just about the smallest stage possible (the inside of a car), though it does cut to other areas from time to time. (Would it work better if it just stayed in the car? Maybe.) Others have said the film runs a bit too long, and I have to agree. Although you can often make a "slow burn" go for two hours or more, this one may not hold the tension as well as it could. I don't know. Opinions will vary.

"Tunnel" is out now (May 2017) from WellGo, available on DVD. Why it is not being released on Blu-ray is unclear, and the DVD is very much a bare bones affair. While the movie is good enough to stand on its own, there is literally nothing on the disc that would make it an improvement over a streaming option.

Tunnel is a movie that I wish had a stronger directorial vision behind it. The concept of someone being trapped under a pile of rubble and rocks for two hours may sound like a daunting challenge - more than 'may', it is. To hold our attention and to mount suspense and create a connection to that character (especially if we don't know him, or her, super well before-hand) when it is a one-person show is difficult. Major pros like Robert Zemeckis (Cast Away) or Danny Boyle (127 Hours) can get to the nitty gritty by a) having a tremendous actor to anchor it, and b) to have some very distinctive settings or moments that let us out of the place we're stuck with the characters at (in one case a deserted island, in another trapped also by rocks). Put these two things together and you may have a vision of solitude and simple goddamn survival that can keep the audience's attention.

In Tunnel, it's an OKAY type of that movie, but its first half gets bogged down through some comedy (yes, comedy, or what can come close to it here), and a side story where our main character, Jung-Soo (Ha Jung-Woo), already caught after driving through a tunnel that collapses all over the car, discovers a woman is trapped in her car (along with a very cute pug). It does add some humanity to the character, showing his kindness over little things like how to space out water, but she also doesn't last in the story very long and her impact on the outside world - this is one of those 'Timmy Fell Down the Well" stories, of course, so the media covering it and the authorities and construction people working at the site become a whole entity unto themselves - isn't strongly felt.

If it had been it could've added to something, but this is making me put aside what I did like about the film, which is primarily the second half. In the first section, as our Kia Dealer is still under (yes, he tells some random people, oddly unprompted, he works as a Kia dealer because... uh, product placement I guess?) it has the occasional odd jokey moment. Not necessarily a terrible thing, some levity or moments of lightness can help to punctuate the potential-certain doom this man is facing, but it's kind of clumsily done. Maybe it's funnier to South Korean audiences than to me, where things like a construction man picking up an egg after it's fallen on the floor due to a part of a roof collapsing from rain and eating it. For me, I kept thinking 'Uh, hey, guys, tension, suspense, start mounting it, come on!'

But then we come to where things take a bad turn - it might even be more like 2/3rds of the way through (this is a 126 minute movie and it feels every moment of it) - as characters screw up, and in a way that no one is fully to blame for (outside of some gross incompetence, but not anything to get furious about), and it looks like it'll take longer and longer to dig our man out. And this moment is excellently played by Jung-Woo, when he is told the terrible news, and all the while his wife (Doona Bae, who you might remember from such films as CLOUD ATLAS, yes, that's her as the main girl, and JUPITER ASCENDING, so also some highly expressive, spot-on talent) is off to the side also angry and sad and embarrassed as a bad situation becomes worse and worse.

I saw this movie as a double feature of my own making at the local cineplex where before the other film was Train to Busan. That is certainly the better film, but I was struck by how in both films, but this one it's stronger without being too in-your-face about it, there's this sense that humanity MUST work together, or things will simply fall apart (metaphor much with the tunnel collapsing and the, oh, nevermind). When it becomes a more dire story, the director Kim Seong-Hun, steps up his game for dramatic tension and down-to-the-last-OMG-minute suspense, and it picks up greatly. I didn't completely dislike those moments early on where they try to humanize everyone, but the tone felt off in a way that was a little distracting, also with that side plot that has affecting moments (how can it not with a woman trapped in her car), but the mood wasn't kicking, it lacked an energy or momentum for our hero that we could dig in to as well (or perhaps that sense of 'huh, will he really get out of this or not?) It's a decent and competently made movie with some excellent moments; if you're a connoisseur of Korean cinema I'm sure it'll make your day or night. It also doesn't make for essential thriller viewing either.

The title says it all. Then I read its synopsis and right away I knew how much should I expect from it. Because this might be a fresh attempt in the Korean film, at least for the first time I'm seeing in a Korean film, but not from the world cinema. Yeah, I have seen plenty, and I'd liked most of them. But this film was much, much better than it had been rated in the internet. The story, the main event starts without wasting any time. There's no initial developments like intros. When the thriller-adventure parts commences, reveals everything you have to know.

Just over 2 hours long, the story frequently switches back and forth to where a man got trapped in a collapsed tunnel road and the outside where people and rescue team gathered. Like any other similar themed film, it borrowed a handful of clichés, but still you can witness the effort for the avoidance. Like if you see something or someone's crucial part come into play, usually you would predict what might happen to it in the later part of the story. Since those are unavoidable, they simply skipped in the final act as it is understandable and not to waste developing them to some extent.

So a man is fighting for his survival after a disaster strikes. But he got a cell phone signal buried under a deep mountain that I could not get. Anyway, he does make know his state of condition to the outside world. Soon they all rally to get him out. This film is not entirely a serious episode, despite the theme was. A little bit of satire. If that's how the film was intended or not, at least I had a couple of good laughs. Kind of reminded me 'Peepli (Live)', about the media circus in such situation. But that is the truth, what todays media have become, because of competition among themselves.

❝Don't be weak and say you'll die, just live.❞

The trapped man has to make sure about food and water to survive till the rescue team reaches him down which could take a week or more. Yeah, they kind of mention the recent Chile event which was made into the film, 'The 33'. His portion of the story is like the combination of '127 Hours', 'Buried' and of course that Chilean film. There are lots of things happen, you could say twists and turns. Kind of too much at some point, the way they added more contents to it, but decently it all worked out.

Meanwhile, on the outside world, not lags behind. It has its own set of characters and its circumstance events. Lots of fun and also highlights wrongs. Particularly like I said, the media and how politicians make use of such incident for publicity. And the final one about the construction firms and their shoddy works for profits. They have dug on these topics, but did not go deeper, because to keep it lighter and entertaining film than all about awareness.

All the way an engaging narrative. Means a long film, but very swiftly told story. Visually, it was a well made film, like everything's looked natural and believable. You could not differentiate the CGI/green screen work and the real objects of those disaster parts. But not the technical details such as drilling or the hollow space where he stays alive. When the narration progresses, it gets even worse, like you would say how could that even possible or just they wanted it that way to end the tale.

A small part of the end kind of skips, but that's good for the film than dragging it for another half an hour. The casting was good, they all performed well, but my favourite was Oh Dal-su. As usual, I loved his part, one of the finest supporting characters in the world cinema. It's not a great film, but good, and acceptable as what it is. In the end feels like worth it. So I decided to suggest it for those who are interested, but could not decide whether to go for it or not, and for the Korean film fans outside the Korea.

7.5/10

A well directed movie that showcases a simple plot that eventually gets complex as different characters emerge. The interesting part, however, which most viewers may agree is the feel and ambiance of the movie. It could start as humorous, intense, then suddenly feelings of despair transforms to hope.

Given my love and admiration of the Asian cinema, then of course I jumped at the chance to get to sit down to watch the South Korean movie "Tunnel" (aka "Teo-neol"). I had not even heard about it prior to getting the chance to sit down and watch it, nor did I read the synopsis. It is South Korean, and that is reason enough to give it a chance.

"Tunnel" was an adequate disaster movie, although it was somewhat of a different approach on a disaster movie. It is not your usual large scale end-of-the-world type of disaster movie, but instead a personal one that followed the horrible events of one person.

The effects in the movie were good, and were realistic. And the effects definitely added to the sense of it feeling real and claustrophobic.

Now, the cast in "Tunnel" was quite limited, which added pressure on the individual actors and actresses to perform to carry the movie. And I will say that the performers in the movie definitely lived up to their jobs and did good jobs in bringing their characters to life on the screen.

"Tunnel" felt somewhat long, as the movie ran for more than two hours. It would have benefitted tremendously if they had been more thorough in the editing room and cutting the movie down to about an hour and a half instead. Some parts just felt tedious and were little more than just fillers.

However, unlike many of the multi-million dollar Hollywood disaster movies with bedazzling special effects, then "Tunnel" is not the type of movie that you can watch again and again.

t doesn't seem long ago when Korean film makers were dazzling the world with prizewinners at International festivals such as Oldboy and Pieta. As well as these harsh ,violent films there were gentle odes to Buddhism (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring) and the magnificent Untold Scandal, which set the story of Dangerous Liaisons in the Joseon Dynasty period.

South Korea has one of the strongest national film industries of any country, but they haven't had an international hit for several years. Many of its most acclaimed directors have either gone of the rails (kim Ki Duk) or made films for America (Park Chan Wook and Joon- ho Bong.

I watched Tunnel at Wimbledon cinema (shown there because of the large Korean community in New Malden). Although it was a perfectly decently-made film I wondered why it was so unusually bland. If it hadn't for the frequent jabs at the Korean government, or references to recent safety disasters such as the Sewol Ferry sinking, this could have been a Hollywood blockbuster.

Driving to work one morning, car salesmen (Jung-soo) finds himself spending longer than he would to like at a gas station when an old man mishears him and puts to much petrol in his car. On they way, he calls his wife Se-hyun and tells her he has bought a cake for his daughter's birthday (why is it always the kid's birthday in these films?) Then, as he enters the tunnel, he is caught in the middle somewhere when a rockslide causes the tunnel to collapse.

Luckily, he can still make communication with the outside world because his phone still has 82% battery; and even 150 metres underground he always has a perfect mobile phone reception. Calls are made between him and wife Seohyun, as well as the head of the rescue operation Dae-kyoung (O-dal su).

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I'm not sure why anyone would want to make a film about a man stuck in a tunnel. The possibility of doing anything new with it are so small. There's little in the way of tension. Although film tries to show the lack of water and how he must carefully ration at each ho The film only really becomes exciting when he learns that the tunnel is to be re-built after the chances of finding him alive are considered to low. Then he has to race against time to find his way out), although why he didn't think of this before I have no idea.

Bae Doona has little to do in this film and we don't learn anything about their relationship beside the fact that they have a four-year old daughter. The film contains some humour (usually towards the incompetence of the tunnel builders who couldn't remember how many ceiling fans they had put in) and there's even a cute dog who has somehow survived under the fallen rubble.

It looks like this film is one for Koreans only.

Rating: 5/10

If they have cellphone reception, they could've shared or pinned his location via GPS on Line (The Messenger they use), Google Map, or whatever convenient app they have. In a realistic situation, that is what anybody, let alone a whole team and country of concerned people, should have naturally thought of. Otherwise the movie has decent plot points and twists to keep you engaged.

The film was thrilling and exciting, but I did find the running time a bit too long. The film became a bit of a dragged out rescue mission, although it is never boring. I did find the silly-ish humor inappropriate at times considering the nature of the film and sometimes the rescue workers seemed incompetent. Then again, maybe is was just to lighten the mood a bit. In general, though, this was a great production with some really tense scenes, and also very claustrophobic at times.

Tunnel is a survival/catastrophy movie. And a good one.

In the first scene the movie sets the tone. It has slight comedic elements but mixed with a sad tone and the subtext is about responsibilitys. Who takes responsibility for what? The main character stops at a gas station and an old man works there who makes mistakes all the time. The owner had to pay 8000won because he filled diesel in one's car. After that the main character is trapped inside a collapsed tunnel. Who is responsible for that? The builders?

Unfortunately not. It's the state. In a democracy the people. The rescue teams, the workers and the tax payers. As the movie progresses the politicians, the business men and the press are trying to exploit the situation. The one responsible for the poorly constructed tunnel force the building of another one which means the stop of the rescue mission. But instead they should be the ones clearing up the mess.

Tunnel makes it very clear. The rich make more and more money and try to save money on the lives of middle class people. Their wages are exponentially higher compared to middle class peoples because they argumenting with higher responsibility for hundreds of jobs. But if they fail and hundreds of people loose their jobs it's the state, the welfare, the families who are responsible to take care of them.

Tunnel is a great movie about the unbalanced responsibility situation in the neoliberal world.

This is a successful disaster film, dark tunnel, tense atmosphere, but the most desperate is the darkness of the human heart

Too easy to guess the ending, I don't know, me too boring watching this, maybe because it's too real?! Need some plot twist here.. but thanks for the survival information here

I was drawn to this film because of the creative challenge of making a claustrophobic situation interesting. Additionally, I sensed a fair amount of directorial confidence because of the 2-hour length of the movie.

"How is the director going to fill a 2-hour movie about a collapsed tunnel?"

This drew me to the film. And overall, I had a decent experience with the movie. Yet, despite keeping my attention, there wasn't a lot of memorable material to take away from the movie itself.

I think the most interesting aspect of the film was the political connotations that were subtextually embedded with the protagonist:

The shoddy infrastructure, barely propped up by half-assed supports. The reliance on the U.S. for the right drone model. The need for an english translation at a crucial point in the rescue.

All in all, these messages are not subtle, but they are not clumsy either. And not knowing anything about South Korea from a socioeconomic standpoint, I can only assume that the director is attempting to establish a dialogue about some more serious issues.

Or...it could just be a movie about a collapsed tunnel.

Difficult to know what to say without any spoilers as the plot says enough. However, I have never been more engrossed in a movie than in this one. I felt as if I were in the tunnel with him. The tension kept me on the edge of my seat, full of emotion. Superb acting I almost forgot I was only watching a movie. South Korean and Asian movies are far better than western productions and I am sick of hollywood nonsense. Watch this and perhaps you will understand my opinion more.

Another decent Korean offering, Tunnel is worth taking in if you're tired of Hollywood productions and you'd like to take in something different. Recommended.

Lee Jung-soo is driving home with his daughter's birthday cake. He's driving through a tunnel when it collapses on top of him. His wife Se-hyun is desperate in the outside world. Dae-kyoung leads the effort to rescue him. Jung-soo finds fellow survivor Mina and her little dog.

I was expecting Daylight for some reason and it bothered me that he didn't seem to be trying to dig himself out for a long time. Then he finds Mina and her little dog. It's when he's struggling with the water that I fully committed to the movie. This is not a hero. It helps to have the great Bae Doo-na as the desperate wife. She does the heavy emotional lifting. I could do without the happy ending and a sadder rescue with only the dog would be more compelling. He marks the days on the wall which could show that he almost made it out. That would be the sad ending that this movie deserves.

I really enjoyed this film, it's a disaster movie about a guy that gets trapped in a tunnel, very simple plot and Ha Jung Woo plays his role great. I watched it around a year ago and I still remember it to make this review today. Would recommend.