Back in the ’80s, a movie landing a new song from a hot band was very important. Teens would flock to a film knowing that it featured a fresh track from Kenny Loggins since they’d been hearing it on the radio for a month. Over the decades, the importance of new songs has dwindled. Today’s filmmakers want to create a playlist of their favorite ’70s songs. It was a bit of surprise to notice that part of the promotion of Signal: The Movie Cold Case Investigation Unit is a new song from BTS called “Film Out.” BTS has been a major force in K-Pop over the last few years. They even had a special McDonald’s menu. Even though it is a rather poppy song, the movie is a supernatural police thriller.
The movie is an extension of a TV series that ran in Japan after being adapted from a show in South Korea. If you haven’t seen the original series, don’t worry. The opening of the movie is a summary of the show including how Lieutenant Kento Saegusa (Kentaro Sakaguchi) finds an old police walkie talkie and discovers that the person on the other end is officer Takeshi Oyama (Kazuki Kitamura). This might sound normal except one of the cops is talking in 2009 while the other is originally in 2019. The two use each other to solve cases. Now they are tackling the biggest case of their careers on either end of the decade.
In the present time, a government official dies in a car wreck. Initially it’s thought that his driver had a cardiac issue and lost control of the wheel. But after the autopsy, they come to the conclusion that he and the official died from a toxic gas getting inside the car. This is the same toxic gas used by a terrorist organization a decade earlier. This leads to Lt. Saegusa getting into contact with Oyama. Back in 2009, the police arrested the last of terrorists who were using the same toxin. Who is it over a decade later that’s doing the same sort of crime? The case gets complicated fast when it’s uncovered that someone within the police department was burying evidence. This leads to Saegusa finding himself having to track down suspects while avoiding the bad cops that want him silenced.
Signal: The Movie Cold Case Investigation Unit is a good shocking thriller. There’s plenty of action as the cops are being chased around on their eras. Having only seen the clips from the original series, it does feel like they amped up the action and intrigue for the movie. The motorcycle chase at night is exciting. The science fiction element really comes into play in the last act, but there’s no need to spoil the moment. It is interesting to see how the Japanese handle their police shows and elevate them to a movie. The big shocker is thinking how 2009 was so long ago. Signal: The Movie Cold Case Investigation Unit is perfect for someone who enjoys police shows and craves a science fiction twist. Plus it all wraps up with BTS during the end credits.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. There’s a lot of dark scenes in the movie so the higher resolution helps. The audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 in Japanse so you can hear the walkie-talkie clearly. There is also a DTS-HD MA 2.0 mix in case you don’t have surround sound. The movie is subtitled in English.
DVD with the movie and trailer.
Trailer (1:32) sets up the supernatural element of the walkie-talkie and a killer returning after 12 years. Plus you hear the BTS song.
Shout! Factory presents Signal: The Movie Cold Case Investigation Unit. Directed by Hajime Hashimoto. Screenplay by: Kôsuke Nishi. Starring Kentarô Sakaguchi, Kazuki Kitamura, Michiko Kichise, Yûichi Kimura, Tetsuhiro Ikeda, Tetta Sugimoto and Kaede Aono. Running Time: 121 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: March 15, 2022.
