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