The Battle at Lake Changjin

[Drunk Monk]

The Battle at Lake Changjin

The 2nd highest grossing film of 2021 (beat by Spidey), the highest grossing Chinese film and non-English film so far, the biggest Chinese budget ever, by three top directors, Tsui Hark, Chen Kaige, and Dante Lam, and starring wushu champ Wu Jing. 

This film is big. And long. Nearly three hours. 

There are some massive scenes - huge battles - couldn't tell how much was CGI but several scenes looked like hundreds if not thousands of soldiers. That was impressive. And some of the landscapes were stunning. 

It was commissioned by the CCP propaganda dept (that's what it's called - at least the chicoms are honest about calling it propaganda). It's a chapter of the Korean war about the People's Volunteer Army going up against ... yeah, US troops. It's rough. MacArthur comes off poorly. American soldiers are bleating, living in comfort of Thanksgiving feasts, with air strikes and tanks. The Chinese are in the freezing snow, eating tiny moldy potatoes. 

There's some major action pieces. The first big battle happens at the one hour mark and rocks for like twenty minutes of explosions and ultravi. 

Wu is a commander, saddled with his young punk brother. Their other brother was KIA in a previous campaign. The other soldiers have a rugged nobility and are brimming with patriotic self sacrifice. 

Did I like it? Well, it's a fast forward to the fight scenes. The length of it put me off. Honestly, I don't know much about the Korean War beyond what I learned in M.A.S.H. This is overly historical, spending way too much time introducing significant generals and such. There's a subplot about Mao and his son that could've been completely cut. 

Wu Jing was good, like he always is. 

Only D00M recommended for the fight scenes tho. Not sure how D00M is with anti-American propaganda. It doesn't phase me much. In fact, it kinda fascinates me. 

Part two drops in two weeks for Lunar New Year. It's gonna be huge too. There was a huge teaser trailer at the end of this for that. It's poised to take the box office in PRC, and consequently the world.

[Greg]

I worked with a man who's grandfather fought in this battle so I read a book about it. Much like DM, most of my knowledge about Korea was MASH. I'm kind of interested to see the movie but probably will see it only if it drops in my lap.

[cranefly]

Part two drops in two weeks[...]

Wait.  Wha?

So, a double dose of overly long?

Then again, I shouldn't judge something I haven't seen.  Who knows.  It could become my favorite movie of all time.

But like Greg, I think I'll wait for it to drop in my lap.

[Drunk Monk]

hmm, let dm figure a way to drop in your laps...

...and not as in lap dance.  oh hell no. why would you even go there? wait, is that a $20 in your hand?




the annoying thing is that the preview for part two (coming out for chinese new year) looks pretty kick ass. and it's wu jing so i'm obligated to watch it...

[Drunk Monk]

It's too big.

No, no, not the lap dance. Stop bringing that up.

Too big for my free dropbox, even when zipped. At least it's failing to upload. 

But if someone had a bigger dropbox or ftp method, their laps might be full of drops. Well one big drop. So big. Even when zipped. You'd have to unzip this bad boy and let it's biggity bigness flop into your lap.

[Greg]

Don't you have a 1TB Dropbox like the big time documentarians?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Don't you have a 1TB Dropbox like the big time documentarians?

Wait -- he eats documents?

[cranefly]

On reflection, I probably should see this.  I was born during this battle -- or thereabouts.  The problem is, I wasn't paying attention -- distracted by some shiny colorful baubles hanging above the crib.  Or maybe I was paying attention, but this battle was my very first memory to fade away.  Either way, I really should revisit the time.  Yeah.  Right after I finish the Colbert Questionert.

[Drunk Monk]

Well, if there was a BIG time documentarian amongst D00M who might grant access to the brotherhood, a hi-res file with subs might just appear in his lap for the slow 2+ hour grind. 

Come on Big boi. Show us the 1TB.

[Drunk Monk]

Want the goods? They’re in Greg’s big boi lap. 

Dance for it.

[Drunk Monk]

According to THR, Part 2 just crossed $901.5 M and is on track to be PRC's first $1B film (sources are varied - Box Office Mojo says $105M, Deadline says $300M - whatev it's a lot as i foretold).

So just so we know, is that a big part 1 in your lap Greg or are you just happy to see us?

[Greg]

Why would I be happy to see you?

[Drunk Monk]

According to THR, Part 2 just crossed $901.5 M and is on track to be PRC's first $1B film (sources are varied - Box Office Mojo says $105M, Deadline says $300M - whatev it's a lot as i foretold).

Sorted. The 901.5M was the overall box office for PRC for LNY. 

TBaLC2 has now crossed $400M. 

If anyone wants to see Part 1, it's in Greg's lap. That's that big bulgy bulge there. Just grab it. Grab that bulge. 

I do D00M recommend this because it's one of the biggest films in the world, with the caveat that it should be viewed with your finger on that fast forward button. There's some absolutely stunning scenes, but there's a lot of talky talk in between - full on propaganda talky talk - which gets tiresome.