Snowpiercer
DVD - 2014


Opinion
From Library Staff
Another movie co-written/directed by Bong Joon-Ho and starring Song Kang-ho (a winning combination!). This sci-fi action film is a South Korean-Czech co-production which takes place on a train carrying the last of humanity.
This is Bong Joon-ho pre-Parasite. Even though this film didn't get quite as many accolades, he was already getting very good at commentary about social disparity and climate change (I'd actually argue that this might even be a little better?). In time for the TV show, watch the original movie: T... Read More »
Snowpiercer is a magnificently weird look at a world where a climate change experiment has rendered the earth a snow-covered, uninhabitable wasteland and what's left of humanity travels on a train that traverses the snowy hellscape and never stops. The train has a strictly segregated caste system... Read More »
From the critics

Community Activity
Quotes
Add a QuoteWilford:
From a very young age, Mr. Wilford's love of locomotives was apparent. When I grow up, I want to live in a train. Forever! Forever! His early dreams were realized when he founded his transportation empire the Wilford Industries. But his greatest dream was to construct a luxury locomotive 'cruise' line Connecting the railways of the entire world into one! A circular railway that extends for 438,000 kilometers and completes one circle every year. Impervious to the extreme cold of the Arctic and the scorching heat of the African desert. Wilford's miracle train is self-sustaining and possesses the most sophisticated designsand advanced technology known...
Opening narrative:
Good morning. On this day, July 1st, 2014, at this hour, 0600. We are at the very first airport in the world...The CW-7, which despite being the topic of so much controversy over the past 7 years, has continued development. Protests from environmental groups and a number of developing countries continue...It has been claimed that W-7 is the answer to global warming. And we are witnessing it! World leaders, who argue that global warming can no longer be ignored, today 79 countries will begin dispersing CW-7 into the upper layers of the atmosphere. Spray out into the upper layers of the atmosphere and surprisingly bring down average global temperatures to the finest levels. ...
From IMDb: Order is the barrier that holds back the flood of death. We must all of us on this train of life remain in our allotted station. ... Would you wear a shoe on your head? Of course you wouldn't wear a shoe on your head. A shoe doesn't belong on your head. A shoe belongs on your foot. A hat belongs on your head. I am a hat. You are a shoe. I belong on the head. You belong on the foot. Yes? So it is. In the beginning, order was proscribed by your ticket: First Class, Economy, and freeloaders like you. Eternal order is prescribed by the sacred engine: all things flow from the sacred engine, all things in their place, all passengers in their section, all water flowing. all heat rising, pays homage to the sacred engine, in its own particular preordained position. So it is. Now, as in the beginning, I belong to the front. You belong to the tail. When the foot seeks the place of the head, the sacred line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.

Comment
Add a CommentAbsolutely stupid,waste of 2 hours of time. Must be bored to produce a movie after destroying the world and making it for the enjoyment of some rich old bastard who thinks he is god.No stars.Shit movie even with Chris Evans in it.If you are high and drunk don't even watch it,you will just be more depressed.
Survivors of Earth's second Ice Age live out their days on a luxury train that ploughs through snow and ice. The train's poorest residents, who live in the squalid caboose, plan to improve their lot by taking over the engine room. I found out this was taken from a graphic novel series but it makes it as a 2 hour movie. It has a steampunk look to it which supports it's apocalyptic, techno-suicidal theme. The idea seams ridiculous but it's just a prop for the action-filled plot which is copied in other movies (World War Z, Mortal Engines, etc.) Remarkable acting by Chris Evans and certainly, Tilda Swinden who's alway good. The metaphor is obvious: humanity's downfall amidst the technology which fails to save them. Having seen that in awhile ... like just last week ... five times. Good action movie if you like dark themes and over-the-top characters.
I think to fully appreciate this movie, I recommend reading all of the SnowPiercer graphic novels, and watching the bonus part about what it took to cram 5 books worth of ideas into this movie.
I found the way each characters from different class systems and functions view themselves and others quite interesting. What is tolerable/acceptable to one isn't for another.
Similarly, I'm sure there's many other ways to perceive this movie, depending in the viewers vantage point.
You would have to like Chris Evans to like this movie. All the shots without him in them were quite good. :-)
The direction is straight action movie, which means any scene that could have had emotion is flat.
If you finish the movie caring about what has happened to any of the characters I would be surprised.
One of the Best Sci Fi films of the past 10 Years.
An absolutely brilliant movie, nothing to add to previous positive comments. For me, the most memorable scene is the one in the school. Note the right-arm gesture of the teacher, followed by the students, coupled with the 1930s set and costumes. And Ed Harris is outstanding (as ever) in the final speech, a warning for our times.
Snowpiercer is an in-your-face metaphor for humanity hurtling toward climatic destruction on the rails of technology, a stratified society doomed to loop around an endless track in a metal tube isolated from nature. There are caricatures and stereotypes; the ridiculous decadence of the first class passengers is a bit over-the-top. However, the plot moves along quickly to a more meaningful conclusion. The most powerful scene is Chris Evans describing the first months of starvation on the train for the have-nots, a speech that will connect to an act of redemption. Warning: the hand-to-hand combat using primitive weapons is graphically violent, although not gratuitous; desperate people resort to what’s at hand to survive.
If you're not the type to look for deeper meanings and metaphors, this movie probably isn't for you. If, knowing the whole story, you're the type to watch a movie again just to see the allusions you may have missed, you'll probably love it.
I found it to be a silly and violent movie. And what was up with the ending?!
This movie cannot be watched lightly. It must be watched and rewatched to find the subtleties. Thematically, it is a metaphor for society. Artistically, the different layers within the setting challenges us to predict and be surpised. Someone said this movie was boring: boring is the axe that bores into the skulls in some of the scenes. Boring might seem the shoe speech to an audience incapable of listening critically and relating the deeper ideas to ideas already apparent in history. As for the train going on forever within those environmental conditions and without derailing, it is, once more, a metaphor for society, and a sharp criticism at that.