It never occurred to me that the bear was supposed to be a direct threat to them.

Me neither, Dana. I interpreted it as the creator intended, a hopeful sign of life. My main concern was that they would try to kill and eat it but maybe it was the LAST POLAR BEAR EVER so they should wait. My friend put forth another idea that I hadn't considered: that the polar bear is a Kronol-induced hallucination.

I really liked the movie, but I don't think it's the Second Coming of science fiction or anything. It's every dystopian movie you've ever seen but ON A TRAIN. The worldbuilding is simultaneously clever and fascinating, delivered piecemeal throughout the movie, and completely puzzling, failing to explain how many things could possibly exist on this train after all this time. It's entertaining and compelling, with strong performances, and it has fabulous action scenes. Plus some weird kookiness here and there that may or may not be meant to make the audience laugh. Also, though the protagonist is a white man, there are plenty of women and PoC in key roles. It doesn't quite live up to the hype, but it does stand out in this market, and, like with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, summer blockbusters could stand to learn from it.

(This may be the only movie ever made where all the white people die and the only remnants of humanity are two PoC. )

I'm with Dana. I took it simply as a sign of life and didn't think any differently.

I guess it didn't make a lot of money stateside? Wiki says its budget was $40 million and it made more than double that in Korea alone, so despite the lackluster US box office, I'm guessing it's considered profitable.

Personally, I loved the film. Sure, it was not large with logic, but it had gumption and momentum and this weird off-beat sense of humour, and I didn't think it was grimdark despite the subject matter and the violence. I particularly loved the structure of the film, where every time a door opened, there was this "what next?!" type anticipation. Kept me on my toes, it did.

I guess it didn't make a lot of money stateside?

It was barely released, though!

Snowpiercer is a perfect example of why I really like tv shows and films from overseas. I just like a WTF quality to some of the movies I watch.

I really dug it, and got sign of life from the Polar Bear. I also assumed they'd raid the train to help set up their new lives.

I just like a WTF quality to some of the movies I watch.

The movie did have a big heaping of The Wacky. I enjoyed it the most when it got weird and surreal, I admit. Like the whole bit with the Fish in the Axe-Battle car, which made me laugh and laugh (especially when Curtis slipped on the fish and fell on his ass, which was THE BEST). The shoe on the head! The gorgeous aquarium car and the WTFness of the sushi bar. The rave! The gun-totting hugely pregnant schoolmarm! The ridiculous awesomeness of the terminator dude who just REFUSED TO DIE.

The political allegory was super-sledgehammer-y though, and I liked more when it felt more like a satire. There were parts of the movie that also felt like a fable. Well, it had a quest narrative, of sorts. Instead of following the yellow brick road to meet the Oz, they had to pass through a bunch of train cars to get to the Sacred Engine, and when they got there, it wasn't quite what they were expecting.

I haven't seen Snowpiercer , don't know if I will, due to Issues. So I'm reading the whitefont to be sufficiently forewarned. Whether I see the movie or not though, in my head it now ends with Man-Eating Penguins. And that's Awesome.

I am Epic, although in my head it ends with penguins eating Captain America. Which is...odd.

Oh, I had one question. Near the end, the other kid, not Timmy down in the well, but the freckled Irish-looking one with the red curls, goes into some kind of a capsule or a vehicle and takes off by himself. Any guess in what's going on with that?