A realistic look at disaster

Although JK Youn spent five years producing Haeundae, one of the most expensive Korean movies ever made, it is far from being good as a disaster film.

The Korean director was inspired by the 2004 South Asian tsunami and took almost two years to write the script, hoping to create something very different from the average Hollywood disaster movie.

Haeundae shows no heroism. It realistically portrays the impossibility of a single human beating the power of nature, which tends to be what happens with Western disaster films. The star-studded cast is brilliant, with no one member outshining the others, adding to the realism.

With a budget which was only a fraction of a typical Hollywood film, the computer graphics are obviously less impressive than those of blockbusters such as The Day After Tomorrow.

In fact, the classic ingredients of a disaster movie are lacking: the CGI is not especially noteworthy, the actual disaster, the tsunami, doesn't happen until an hour and a half of cheesy Korean drama have passed, and there is no respect-the-earth message as you find in most Hollywood versions.

If you want big thrills, a planet at risk and a clear hero, buy Independence Day or Knowing.