New Japanese Snowpiercer Trailer And A Sneaky Way To See The Film Early

By Brent McKnight | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Those of us in the U.S., Canada, and other regions of the globe that fall under the grasp of The Weinstein Company may have zero idea when we’ll finally see Bong Joon-ho’s English-language debut Snowpiercer, or even if we’ll get a director-approved cut of the film, but that hasn’t stopped the movie from opening in the rest of the world. While it is frustrating to watch everyone else get to see the highly-anticipated adventure, multiple releases does mean that we get to see more trailers than usual, like this new one from Japan, where the film opens on February 7. This is a small solace, but it’s what we have to cling to. There’s even more good news for those among us with region free players, because the film already has a French Blu-ray release scheduled.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the Snowpiercer saga, TWC, which owns the domestic distribution rights to the film, has demanded at least 20-minutes worth of edits, to the 120-minute director’s cut. The film has already opened to box office records and widespread critical acclaim around the world, and since the cuts are primarily story and character, designed to speed up the pace and dumb the movie down so that, as Harvey Weinstein has said, Middle-American audiences can understand the film, you can’t help but feel insulted.

Though this latest trailer, which comes from Twitch, features a ton of new footage, it doesn’t spoil anything. Like before, this video highlights the discrepancy between the haves and have-nots on a train, the only survivors of a new ice age that has taken over the world. Within these metal confines, rebellion seethes, until the oppressed masses in the rear cars, led by Curtis (Chris Evans), rise up against those with the power, who live in opulence at the front, led by Mason (Tilda Swinton). Also like before, this trailer does a fantastic job of hyping you up, and getting you excited to see this movie that most of us can’t see.

Having already opened in South Korea, France, and Hong Kong, Japan is next on the docket, along with some Scandinavian countries. In fact, you can already pre-order the Blu-ray in France, where the graphic novel the film is based on originated. Set for a March 26 release, there are two versions. A standard version comes with a 52-minute documentary, while the deluxe package includes that, special packaging, as well as two books. You get a 60-page sketchbook and an 80-page behind-the-scenes look at how the production brought the comics to life.

Since most of us don’t have a region-free Blu-ray player—I used to, it was rad, but it died the death of a true cinematic warrior—maybe before too long we’ll hear news of a Korean home release. That seems much easier, assuming we can track a copy down, because the U.S. and Korea share the same region code. Considering that Snowpiercer debuted there in August, and tons of movies that hit theaters around that time have already found their way to home video, I have hope that we could see this before long. I have to cling to something since the Weinsteins didn’t give me a release date for Christmas.