February 21, 2006

A Quick Look at the 부활 (Rebirth) DVD

(Posted In Asia DVD News Drama TV )

buhwaldvdcap.jpgIt's out! Or, well, it will be out in two days. But if you've read how much of a discovery last year's KBS TV Drama 부활 (Rebirth) has been, you know waiting for the DVD has been like having to walk with a deep wound.

We first reported about the show, starring Eom Tae-Woong and Han Ji-Min, last Summer. I was just starting to watch the first few episodes on KBS World, and while Korea was going through the 'Kim Sam-Soon' syndrome, this show caught my interest even more. It was, strange. Twitch readers familiar with the industry know that, as good as they can be, TV Dramas rarely venture into genre (with the obvious exceptions: tearjerkers, family dramas, historical dramas, romantic comedies and trendy dramas). I was pleasantly surprised to see something so fresh, a mixture of giallo and whodunit tropes, with the unmistakable Korean touch. I reviewed the show in November, with the small hope it would come out on DVD soon. I mean, they were releasing lame 'Korean Wave' Dramas via sumptuous sets, with English and sometimes even Japanese subtitles. Why not THIS?

Few weeks before the end of the year, and the DVD was announced. Waaahh... finally. But it turned out the wait would be much longer. TV Dramas might be selling better than film DVDs in Korea, but it's still a tiny market, and throwing a product like this (with a huge following online, but not exactly great ratings, although it touched the 20% around its end) in the market was quite risky. Still waiting for news on the release, my 'panel' and I nominated 'Rebirth' as the Best TV Drama of 2005. And, thankfully, in the meantime all the various fanclubs and supporters of the show kept harassing KBS Media to hurry up with the release, and do the show justice.

Well, seems they did. This thing looks magnificent. Not only it's a Director's Cut, but it also has 4 hours of extras, English subtitles (Drama only), and I'd say even the boxset looks good. DVD Prime just released caps of the Menu Design, and again I'm impressed. The DVD is out on Thursday, and even if you'd never touch Korean TV Dramas with a ten foot pole, I'd say with confidence you can take a look at this. It's just a superb show, with the kind of love for storytelling which seems lost in today's TV Drama world. A little word of warning though: there's another version of 'Rebirth' out on DVD, sold by KBS America. This is a barebones version of the show, without extra features and the additional Director's Cut footage, only the normal episodes with English subs.

The first thing which jumped at me is that there's a an 'explanation' track for those who can't see the show, just like in a few recent releases -- 말마톤 (Marathon) and 내 사랑 토람이 (My Lovely Toram) on top -- quite a nice touch.

So if you're interested, you can get the DVD here (if you live in North America), or here (rest of the world). And I'll review this baby soon, extra features included.

» Posted by X at February 21, 2006 10:00 PM
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Reader Comments

I don't really care about tv dramas, but after reading this, i'm really curious, to say the least. thanks for the dvd review info.

» Posted by orien at February 22, 2006 01:52 AM

you keep teasing me, i've got it ordered, simply waiting now...

» Posted by logboy at February 22, 2006 03:18 AM

X, I thought the release date's still Feb 28? Well, I won't believe anything until I get the email from Yesasia that says "we've shipped your Resurrection (finally) and it's time to pay, baby."

» Posted by thunderbolt at February 22, 2006 03:33 AM

dvd.co.kr sez 24. I (want to) trust 'em. ^_^

YesAsia will ship a little later, I guess.

태릉선수촌 (Taereung National VillagE) is coming out too (heard great things about this, even though it's a Best Theater thing).

» Posted by x at February 22, 2006 03:46 AM


i have to buy this drama soon!

been reading your reviews and your take on Rebirth is making me gaga to buy this and watch it myself.

hope that it lives with your excellent review =)

(btw, off topic, on your comment that Wedding was the worst drama of 2005 - i dont agree, it may not be the best but its not the worst either, hehehe... =) )

» Posted by maysapaw at February 22, 2006 09:32 PM

Just received this note from Yesasia:

"With reference to the following item 'Revenge - The Director's Cut Limited Edition(English Subtitled)(KBS TV Series)' in your order xxxxxxx, the expected ship out date has been revised to Mar/15/2006.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding and support."

Somebody in Yesasia must hate me. WAHHHH!!!

May I borrow your set, X?

» Posted by thunderbolt at February 23, 2006 04:49 AM

Still haven't been notified by PapaDVD, and all the major Korean e-tailers list either 2/24 or 2/28. Who knows...

I don't even get pissed anymore, the Korean DVD market is like going to war with a faulty rifle. Sometimes it shoots well, sometimes... and they have some of the best authoring/producing companies out there. The distributors instead...

» Posted by x at February 23, 2006 05:17 AM

i see not date change at where i ordered it (dvdfromkorea.com) so far... yesasia dates are always compensating for getting stuff into their stock so they dont generally match actual release dates, but is suspect this will have been because theyve heard the sets delayed anyway so theyre just doing said compensation.

» Posted by logboy at February 23, 2006 10:47 AM

officially moved to 3/10. 아이고...

» Posted by x at February 23, 2006 10:37 PM

Took a quick look, and it seems there were problems with some of the discs. People who ordered from the KBS Media site got it already, but it's better waiting a couple of weeks (Madmad now says 3/17) than having to go through weeks of people asking for a recall.

되는 일이 없다 정말...

» Posted by x at February 23, 2006 11:21 PM

now seein that march 17th date turning up at dvdfromkorea.com too... dont want to have to send anything back to korea for a recall, so quite happy with the delay for them to correct any problems... thing is, such a large set, if theres any problems it could be months before you found out...!

» Posted by logboy at February 24, 2006 03:51 AM

Papadvd moved it to the 28th only. In these cases, it's hard to know what will happen. DVD.co.kr had the 6월의 일기 (Bystanders) DVD out on 2/28 until a day before release, which ended up being 2/8, I think.

So might not be 3/17 after all. If they complete their checking before, might come out next week, or a little later. Hard to tell when stuff like this happens.

But no biggie for me either. Still have 3-4 Dramas to finish and I have a bunch of film DVDs coming before I can devote time to this.

» Posted by x at February 24, 2006 04:57 AM

x, any idea who will be the distributor/publisher for the Taerung's Athletic Village DVD set? This is something I've been wanting to get ever since watching the 1st of the 4 epis (not to mention it has Lee Minki, whom I've become a fan of w/ the Drama City "My Older Brother" back in 2004). I was even surprised to find a daum cafe dedicated to this MBC Best Theatre.

Do you think it will carry subs?

As for the change in date of the Resurrection Director's Cut...I was really mad when I saw the date yesterday, but after reading the comments, I've been slightly appeased. That just means I'll also have to wait another how many weeks before I get the Rosy Life DVD set as well because it's on the same order as the Director's Cut.

» Posted by creidesca at February 24, 2006 04:39 PM

Taereung is released by 'MBC Production' which might just be Bitwin, but I don't really know. 2 Discs, no subs, and probably no extras. But I'm just happy to see it. Now someone MUST annoy SBS until they release 박치기왕 with Park Sang-Myun. Sounds like a low-rent Foul King, but I'm somewhat interested.

I got the 장미 set, it's pretty nice. Haven't started looking at it yet, but the Rebirth set should be good too.

Bitwin's also releasing that HD TV Movie with Jung Sung-Hwan soon. Barely heard of it, but the more releases the better, I guess.

And of course, Sweet Spy is out in March or April. Princess Hours is almost a given by now (almost 27% last ep!), and maybe My Girl has a decent chance too.

» Posted by x at February 24, 2006 11:11 PM

이런 니기미... pushed to 3/30 now. Are they gonna make us wait until Easter for this?

» Posted by x at February 28, 2006 09:12 AM

shipped. got my email saying its been sent now, two weeks earlier than the new mid-march date they put up recently after that error was discovered...

» Posted by logboy at March 3, 2006 03:18 AM

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