Save the Green Planet! 4K (2003)

 

The 2003 Korean original that was recently remade by director Yorgos Lanthimos as BUGONIA is getting a two-disc 4K restoration release from Arrow Films.

Conspiracy theorist Lee Byeong-gu (Ha-kyun Shin) is convinced that pharmaceutical boss Kang Man-shik (Yun-shik Baek) is actually an alien from Andromeda, whose race intends to invade the earth. He kidnaps the man, shaves off all his hair so he cannot communicate with his fellow aliens, and imprisons him in the depths of Lee’s mountain hideaway where he tortures him.

But there’s other stuff going on as well. Lee’s mother has been in a coma for four years which again Lee believes is due to the aliens, whom he also blames for the death of his girlfriend. But a lot of other people from Lee’s past have gone missing, too, and the police are closing in on him. Is he mad, or is there something to what he believes?

A wildly original work that combines comedy, science-fiction, horror and more in a great big melting pot that’s unlike anything you’ve seen before, unless of course you’ve seen BUGONIA, in which case it’s worth pointing out that Lanthimos streamlines and calms down director Jang Joon-hwan’s vision somewhat. SAVE THE GREEN PLANET! has more screaming, graphic torture, and some scenes do go on a bit too long. There’s also the always controversial (and in this case I would argue unnecessary) use of real atrocity footage near the end, so be warned. 

Arrow’s set consists of two discs. The first is UHD and contains the new 4K restoration of the film along with two commentary tracks. The first is with the director and the star who reminisce about the production. The second is from critic and producer Pierce Conran and SFX artist Dan Pierce, both huge enthusiasts for Asian cinema in general and Korean cinema in particular. You also get a two minute introduction from the director and the 32 minute Q&Q from the 2024 BFI screening of the film.

Disc Two is a Blu-ray and contains new interviews with the director (28 minutes) and DP Hong Kyoung-pyo (16 minutes) as well as an unboxing video of the rare Korean DVD release that also included a soundtrack CD, filmstrip, flannel and bottle of menthol rub. There are also two short film from the director - Hair and Lazy Mirror, as well as a new interview with the director about his short film Imagine.

The rest of the extras are archival and include making of featurettes on the CGI (14 minutes), art design (23 minutes), SFX (9 minutes), makeup (5 minutes), stunts (14 minutes), music (15 minutes), behind the scenes (11 minutes), the circus performers (4 minutes) and some interviews (16 minutes). There are more archival interviews as a separate extra, totalling an extra 32 minutes in all. Then there’s  the promotional material including footage of the premiere (11 minutes), fan Q&A (19 minutes), and talks with fans (11 minutes). You also get nine deleted scenes with director introduction, trailers and still galleries including Hidden Images which is worth checking out. Arrow's limited edition set also comes with a double-sided poster, booklet and reversible sleeve. 

Jang Joon-hwan’s SAVE THE GREEN PLANET! is out from Arrow in a two disc set (one 4K UHD and one Blu-ray) on Monday 16th February 2026

Three and Three...Extremes (2002 & 2004)

Arrow are releasing a double disc Blu-ray set of producer Peter Ho-Sun Chan's two Asian horror anthology pictures, both of which contain work by some of the most famous directors working in that part of the world. But before we get started, let's clear up what might be a little confusion. THREE EXTREMES was released first by Tartan DVD in the UK, with its predecessor THREE then being released as THREE EXTREMES 2, so if you're wondering where the 'sequel' to THREE EXTREMES is in this set it's here under the correct title. OK - now let's take a look at what we get:

Disc One: Three (2002)

THREE, as the title suggests, offers us three short (ish) stories over a two hours running time. These consist of Memories directed by Kim Jee-woon (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) in which a woman wakes up in the road with no memory of how she got there. Meanwhile a man consults a psychiatrist because his wife has seemingly left him but he has no memory of it. It's not difficult to guess how these tie together but the appeal of Memories is in an execution which offers us some atmospheric compositions and an excellent music score by Byung-woo Lee. 

        Second is The Wheel, a slightly confusing tale from Thai director Nonzee Nimibutr. Puppeteer Master Tao is dying and asks that his beloved puppets be destroyed,. They aren't of course, and this leads to all manner of mayhem and murder. A jealousy subplot is shoehorned in and by the end it's still not terribly clear why or how the puppets have caused the mayhem that has ensued. 

        Last is Peter Ho-Sun Chan's Going Home, which is essentially a love story told within the exceedingly grim environs of a tower block due to be demolished.

New extras include new interviews with Peter Ho-Sun Chan (20 minutes), Kim Jee-woon (15 minutes) and Memories DP Hong Kyoung-pyo (6 minutes). Archival material includes two more interviews with Chan (55 minutes in all), Kim Jee-woon (16 minutes) and Going Home star Eugenia Yuan (12 minutes). There's also a 16 minute making of.

Disc Two: Three...Extremes (2004)

THREE was so successful that Peter Ho-Sun Chan was able to attract even bigger Asian talent for this sequel. Fruit Chan's Dumplings offers a unique and delightfully disgusting take on youth treatments, Park Chan-Wook (OLDBOY, THE HANDMAIDEN) gives us Cut, in which a film director is terrorised by an insane actor who has wired his wife up to a piano with every intention of cutting off her fingers, and Takashi Miike concludes the film with Box, a tale about a stage show featuring two young sister contortionists and a jealousy that leads to something horrible. 

Extras include new interviews with Peter Ho-Sun Chan (16 minutes), Fruit Chan (a whopping career-spanning 43 minutes) and Takashi Miike (18 minutes) as well as archival interviews with Fruit Chan (15 minutes), Dumplings star Bai Ling (19 minutes) and three makings of for Dumplings (15 minutes), Cut (21 minutes) and Box (18 minutes). Those who still have their old Tartan DVDs may want to hang onto them as the feature length version of Dumplings isn't included here. There's also the usual booklet, double-sided poster and sleeve.

THREE and THREE...EXTREMES are out in a double disc Blu-ray set from Arrow Films on Monday 20th October 2025