''Fasten Your Seatbelt'' (; lit. "Rollercoaster") is a 2013

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by actor

Ha Jung-woo Kim Sung-hoon (born March 11, 1978), better known as Ha Jung-woo (), is a South Korean actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer. One of the highest grossing actors in South Korea, Ha's starring films have accumulated more than 100 mil ...

, in his directorial debut. The film made its world premiere at the 18th

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...

, and was released in theaters on October 17, 2013.

Plot

A plane headed from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Haneda Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Gimpo Airport Gimpo International Airport (), commonly known as Gimpo Airport , formerly rendered in English as Kimpo International Airport, is located in the far western end of Seoul, some west of the Central District of Seoul. Gimpo was the main interna ...

with a Hallyu star on board runs into an unexpected storm and is in danger of crashing. A plane full of absurd characters―both crew members and passengers such as a businessman, a monk and a

paparazzo Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...

—go through a series of comical shenanigans.

Cast

* Jung Kyung-ho as Ma Joon-gyu *Ha Sung-chun as Han Gi-beom,

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Kim Jae-hwa Kim Jae-hwa (born September 1, 1980) is a South Korean actress. Career Kim made her acting debut in 2009 in the film ''Harmony'' and she started to gain recognition following her role as Deng Yaping, Chinese champion of table tennis compe ...

as Kim Hwal-ran, head

stewardess A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...

*Choi Kyu-hwan as Kim Hyeon-gi, tabloid reporter *Kim Gi-cheon as Heo Seung-bok, Zha Cai Airlines chairman *

Kim Byeong-ok Kim Byeong-ok (born October 11, 1960) is a South Korean actor. A veteran supporting actor, he is best known for his role as Mr. Han in '' Oldboy''. Career In 2015, he was featured in a controversial Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: En ...

as monk *Kang Shin-chul as Kang Shin-choo,

chief purser Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Kim Sung-kyun Kim Sung-kyun (born May 25, 1980) is a South Korean actor. Kim began his career in theatre, then made his screen debut as a gangster boss's faithful henchman in '' Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time'', followed by supporting roles in '' The Ne ...

as Jo-rong, steward *

Ko Sung-hee Ko Sung-hee (; born June 21, 1990) is a South Korean actress. She played her first leading role in the fantasy-period drama ''Diary of a Night Watchman ''Diary of a Night Watchman'' () is a 2014 South Korean television series starring Jung Il ...

as Minamito, Japanese stewardess *Kim Ye-rang as Chan-mi, stewardess *Lee Ji-hoon as

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

*Son Hwa-ryung as Chun-nyeo, chairman's

executive assistant A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

*Hwang Jung-min as Cha Bok-soon, middle-aged female fan *Im Hyun-sung as

co-pilot In aviation, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is the pilot who is second-in-command of the aircraft to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command o ...

*Kang Han-na *Kim Joon-kyu *Lee Soo-in *Kim Jae-young *

Ko Kyu-pil Ko Kyu-pil (born May 2, 1982) is a South Korean actor. He debuted in the 1993 South Korean children's film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Child ...

as Ma Joon-gyu's manager

Production

Ha Jung-woo said he'd always had the desire to study about film more, so he seized the opportunity to approach this movie not as an actor but as a director. "Having pondered what kind of film I should make, I came to the conclusion that I would only be satisfied if the audience could enjoy it and get some laughs. This naturally led me to write a comedy," Ha said. Ha reportedly wrote the script based on his friend and fellow actor

Ryoo Seung-bum Ryoo Seung-bum (born August 9, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He made a name for himself in his older brother director Ryoo Seung-wan's eclectic films, notably '' Die Bad'' (his acting debut in 2000), ''Arahan'' (2004), '' Crying Fist'' (2005), ...

's real-life experience. The flight from Seoul to Tokyo normally only takes about two hours, but Ryoo once experienced plane

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...

that went on for almost seven hours, during which he genuinely thought he was going to die. Ha cast Jung Kyung-ho in the leading role as an arrogant and paranoid Hallyu star. Ha and Jung belong to the same agency

Fantagio Fantagio () is a South Korean entertainment company that operates as a record label, talent training and management agency, as well as movie and K-drama production company. The company was founded in September 2008 as N.O.A. Entertainment (stan ...

, and were both theater majors at

Chung-Ang University Chung-Ang University (CAU; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is widely regarded as one of the best universities in South Korea. The university operates two campuses: main campus located in Dongjak District, Seoul, and a ...

. This was Jung's first acting job after his discharge from

mandatory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, and his character's appearance and wardrobe was inspired by

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

star

G-Dragon Kwon Ji-yong (; born August 18, 1988), also known by his stage name G-Dragon (지드래곤), is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and fashion designer, known as the " King of K-pop". G-Dragon is the recipi ...

. Most of the actors in the cast have also worked with Ha before—even the music director, a colleague he first met while working on ''

My Dear Enemy ''My Dear Enemy'' (; lit. "One Fine Day") is a road movie starring Jeon Do-yeon and Ha Jung-woo as two ex-lovers who reacquaint themselves while driving around Seoul. The film takes place over one rather uneventful day, and subtle emotions and chem ...

'' in 2008. The film was shot in 20 days, and producer Kwon Nam-jin described Ha as a director who makes "quick and rational decisions" while making the atmosphere on the set bright and funny. In order to build a strong ensemble, one of Ha's casting conditions was to read the screenplay every day with the entire cast for two months, conducting intensive rehearsals as if they were preparing for a stage play.

Box office

Though ultimately not a big hit, due to its low budget ''Fasten Your Seatbelt'' broke even in just four days, attracting 200,000 viewers in the first six days of its release.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * *{{hancinema film, Fasten_Your_Seatbelt, Fasten Your Seatbelt South Korean comedy films 2013 films South Korean aviation films 2013 comedy films 2013 directorial debut films 2010s South Korean films