Half-Life (1995 film)

Half-Life (Hanja: 半感氣 Hangul: 반감기 : bangamgi) is a 1995 South Korean adult animated science fiction thriller film written by Kim Ji-woong and directed by Yoon Young-ho. The plot follows Park Dae-jung, a South Korean scientist who must escape the fictional Kershner Research Facility after it is invaded by aliens.

Half-Life was released by under Hyundai Film in South Korea on 25 May 1995, and received a North American release by  on 22 June. It was an unexpected commercial success in the United States, grossing $79 million in the box-office.

Unlike most of Sangman Animation's mockbusters, Half-Life received generally positive reviews, with praise targeted at decent animation, action sequences and the soundtrack.

Plot
In, , South Korean theoretical physicist Park Dae-jung arrives late for work at the Kershner Research Facility. As part of an experiment, he pushes an unusual material into a machine, called the anti-mass spectrometer, for analysis. The spectrometer explodes, creating a "resonance cascade" that severely damages the facility and opens a portal to another dimension, Xen. Surviving scientists urge Park to head to the surface, where he defends himself against hostile Xen creatures and the HECU (Hazardous Environment Combat Unit), a special unit of United States Marines sent to cover up the incident by killing all of the hostile aliens and any Kershner personnel they find.

Heading to the surface, Park learns that scientists from the Lambda Complex may have found a way to close the portal. Park travels to the other end of the facility to assist them. Along the way, he activates a rocket engine test facility to destroy a giant tentacled creature and uses a disused railway system to reach and launch a satellite rocket. After he is captured by the Marines and left for dead in a garbage compactor, he escapes and makes his way to an older part of the facility. There, he discovers Xen specimens collected before the incident. Overwhelmed by the alien forces, the HECU Marines pull out of Kershner and begin airstrikes. Scaling cliffs, navigating destroyed buildings, and traversing through underground water channels, Park arrives at the Lambda Complex, where scientists learn the portal is being forced open on the other side by a mighty entity. They have developed teleportation technology that allows Park to travel to Xen, where he is tasked to stop the entity.

In Xen, Park encounters the remains of researchers who ventured there before him and Park defeats the Hunteor, a huge egg-laying headcrab. At a factory creating alien soldiers, he enters a portal that sends him to a vast cave. There, Park confronts the Manippiam, the entity maintaining the rift, and destroys it. Park is summoned by the mysterious G-Man, who has been watching his progress in Kershner and praises him. The G-Man explains his "employers" wish to employ Park. Park then accepts, and the G-Man congratulates him and places him into stasis to await his next assignment.

Voice cast

 * Lee Jae-myung as Park Dae-jung
 * as Security Guard Rang Yo-han and the G-Man
 * Jang Seung-gil as Security Guard Tang Hae-il
 * Lim Soo-ah as the HEV Suit
 * Zoey Clarke as the Transit System Announcer
 * Brody Carlson and Ruben Ratliff as the Kershner Security Guards
 * Theo Murphy, Finbarr Walker and Cayson Blackwell as the Kershner Scientists
 * Jonathan Woods and Davon Wheeler as the HECU Soldiers
 * Riley Woods as the HECU Commander
 * as the Manippiam