Pandora (2016 film)
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''Pandora'' () is a 2016 South Korean
disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...
written and directed by
Park Jung-woo Park Jung-woo (born 1969) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Park is a screenwriter turned director, and probably ranks as South Korea's most well-known screenwriter for his famous stories such as ''Attack the Gas Station'' (19 ...
, starring
Kim Nam-Gil Kim Nam-gil () is a South Korean actor, producer, director, singer and philanthropist. He is best known from leading roles in disaster blockbuster '' Pandora'' (2016); crime thriller ''Memoir of a Murderer '' (2017); adventure film '' The Pirate ...
. The film was released in South Korea on December 7, 2016.


Plot

Jae-hyeok is a young man who works at the local nuclear power plant, which is the only thing providing the town with energy, and also provides most of the jobs. Jae-hyeok lives with his mother, sister in law, and nephew Min-jae. Jae-hyeok, who lost both his father and brother to radiation in his early years, wishes to leave the town and the plant behind him and work on a
fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing. The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was es ...
to make money for his family, but is discouraged by everyone he knows. Pyeong-seok is a member of the plant, who tries to get the president to shut down the plant, but he dismisses the claims, saying nothing will happen. One night, the animals of the town mysteriously run into the water. Then, the next day, while Jae-hyeok is working, an earthquake suddenly strikes the town, causing one of the nuclear reactors to overheat. Attempts to cool it down are botched, as water does nothing to stop it, and that due to the reactor's age, coolant valves were too severely damaged to be fixed in time. Meanwhile, the president and his government debate allowing the reactor to vent radioactive particles into the air to relieve pressure from the core. The President insists on evacuating at least those closest to the reactor first. This backfires when the reactor stack explodes from the pressure as the workers were too late to try and vent steam into the air, leading to a full
nuclear meltdown A nuclear meltdown (core meltdown, core melt accident, meltdown or partial core melt) is a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term ''nuclear meltdown'' is not officially defined by the Internation ...
. As the workers attempted to flee, the whole basement caves in, killing or injuring most of the crew. Jae-hyeok is one of the few to get out, and continues to get people to safety, until he collapses from
nuclear radiation Ionizing radiation (or ionising radiation), including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some particles can travel ...
. Meanwhile, the KCDC quarantines the town's residents not far from the reactor. After Jae-hyeok's girlfriend, Yeon-joo, gets proof that the reactor exploded and delivers the news, the KCDC locks the town's residents in the evacuation center and put up an internet jammer, rendering their phones useless. Yeon-joo spreads the word and later the residents manage to break out and get back in the buses to continue evacuating. Back at a local hospital, situations grow tense as Jae-hyeok's health continues deteriorating, the medical team runs out of medical supplies and almost all the nurses have abandoned the sick and injured as public authorities also abandon the town, but he and several others were saved as one nurse had decided to stay and treat the injured. Despite the firefighters' efforts, the reactor is not cooling down and some firefighters start to suffer from radiation poisoning. Upon discovering that spent fuel rods are losing coolant due to the damage it sustained by the earthquake, the only option is to send a team in to seal the cracks of the tank to prevent coolant from escaping. Jae-hyeok, though initially resentful with the government for their negligence, reluctantly agrees to a
suicide mission A suicide mission is a task which is so dangerous for the people involved that they are not expected to survive. The term is sometimes extended to include suicide attacks such as kamikaze and suicide bombings, whose perpetrators actively commit s ...
with his crew, calling a distraught Yeon-joo before getting on a bus back to the town. Jae-hyeok remembers his childhood times before the nuclear disaster, before coming to the plant. With the crack underneath the coolant tank growing bigger during the mission, and no time left, Jae-hyeok suggests they blow up the tank to allow the spent fuel rods to fall into the basement, effectively creating a new tank. However, because of the growing cracks, there is no time to set up the bombs and then seal the door; both of these steps must be done all at once, meaning that one will not be leaving out alive. Jae-hyeok; the only person who knows how to detonate bombs out of all others, willingly goes in. Having been exposed to too much radiation, he knows there is no hope going out alive, nor the time to live, and he chooses to sacrifice himself to save his other workers and his family and stop the disaster. He allows the workers to seal himself into the waste room and flee the area. In his final moments, Jae-hyeok uses his helmet-mounted camera to broadcast a farewell message to his family and Yeon-joo before blowing up the tank, killing himself in the process.


Cast

*
Kim Nam-gil Kim Nam-gil () is a South Korean actor, producer, director, singer and philanthropist. He is best known from leading roles in disaster blockbuster '' Pandora'' (2016); crime thriller ''Memoir of a Murderer '' (2017); adventure film '' The Pirate ...
as Kang Jae-hyeok, the childish protagonist, who works at the nuclear power plant *
Kim Young-ae Kim Young-ae (; 21 April 1951 – 9 April 2017) was a South Korean actress. Career Kim Young-ae began her acting career when she joined MBC's 3rd Open Recruitment in 1971. She made her acting debut in the TV police procedural ''Chief Inspe ...
as Mrs. Seok- the mother of Jae-Hyeok, who owns a restaurant and lost her husband and other son to a similar accident * Kim Ju-hyeon as Yeon-joo, Jae-hyeok's fiance, who works as a tour guide at the power plant. She is also Jae-hyeok's childhood friend *
Jung Jin-young Jung Jin-young may refer to: * Jung Jin-young (actor) (born 1964), South Korean actor * Jung Jin-young (singer) Jung Jin-young (; born November 18, 1991), professionally known as Jinyoung, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, record producer ...
as Pyeong-seok, one of the heads of the plant, who grows more concerned about safety of the plant *
Moon Jeong-hee Moon Jeong-hee (born January 12, 1976) is a South Korean stage, film, and television actress. She has won Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in '' Deranged'' (2012) and Best Supporting Actress award in Buil Fi ...
as Jung-hye, Jae hyeok's sister in law and a widow who lost her husband (Jae hyeok's brother) *
Kim Dae-myung Kim Dae-myung (born February 16, 1981) is a South Korean actor. He began his acting career in theater, then rose to fame in the television series '' Misaeng: Incomplete Life'' (2014), as well as ''Hospital Playlist ''Hospital Playlist'' () ...
as Gil-seop, one of Jae Hyeok's friends, who aids Jae Hyeok in the nuclear mission *
Lee Geung-young Lee Geung-young (born December 12, 1960) is a South Korean actor. He graduated from the Department of Drama in Seoul. He debuted in 1977 and after completing his mandatory military service, he debuted in 1982 as the 10th public relations actor fo ...
as Prime Minister *
Kang Shin-il Kang Shin-il (born November 26, 1960) is a South Korean actor. Kang graduated from Kyung Hee University with a degree in electronic engineering, but he soon put aside his studies and spent most of his time in Daehangno, Seoul's theater district, ...
as Mr. Kong, a grumpy old nuclear power plant worker and father of Gil-seop * Yoo Seung-mok as Mr. Kam- the other power plant head, who suspects something is off about the plant *
Joo Jin-mo Joo Jin-mo (born Park Jin-tae on 26 September 1974), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films '' Happy End'' (1999) in which he won Grand Bell Awards for Best Supporting Actor, ''200 Pounds Beauty'' (2006), ...
as Minister * Song Yeong-chang as New Director * Kim Young-woong as Mr. Hwang *
Kim Myung-min Kim Myung-min (, born October 8, 1972) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the television series '' Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-shin'' (2004), '' White Tower'' (2007), ''Beethoven Virus'' (2008), ''Six Flying Dragons'' ...
as South Korean President *
Kim Hye-eun Kim Hye-eun ( born March 1, 1973) is a South Korean actress. Kim began working as an announcer for the MBC network in 1997, first at a local affiliate in Cheongju, then later as a weathercaster of the main news desk in Seoul. After eight years ...
as First Lady * Oh Ye-sul as New Nurse


Release

''Pandora'' is the first Korean film that has been pre-sold to
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. In November 2016, three weeks before the theatrical release, the company acquired exclusive international rights for streaming ''Pandora'' in 190 countries.


Awards and nominations


See also

*
Fukushima 50 Fukushima 50 is a pseudonym given by English-language media to a group of employees at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, a related series of nuclear accidents resulted in ...


References


External links

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Pandora
' at Naver Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Pandora South Korean action drama films South Korean disaster films 2016 films 2016 action drama films 2010s disaster films Films directed by Park Jung-woo Next Entertainment World films 2010s South Korean films