The most intuitive feeling of the film is the two words "hot". The whole film is similar to "Black Hawk Down", supported by five battle scenes, and the breathing in the middle is only enough for two trips to the toilet. In other words, 80% of the time is spent on "fighting", and there are many kinds of tricks, and they are rarely repeated.
The prelude part of the film is an anti-pirate hostage-taking operation with sea and air cooperation. Snipers and commandos take advantage of the time to wipe out the gangsters. The story is simple and neat, demonstrating the extraordinary combat ability and sacrifice spirit of the Navy’s "Jiaolong Squad." . In the feature film, the Jiaolong team went ashore for the first time and was responsible for evacuation of the nationals from the downtown area. This part was filmed in the downtown of Casablanca in Morocco. The complex terrain and the powerful firepower of the enemy forces once made the team into a bitter battle. The hot scene is reminiscent of the Jordanian street shootout shown by director Lin Chaoxian at the beginning of "Reverse War", which is thrilling and exciting. But until this part, it can only be said that it is the existing level of domestic films, and it is not amazing.
Starting from the third battle, the "open-and-hang" play that really made the adrenaline soared came on stage. The Jiaolong team received an almost impossible task to go deep into the hinterland for dozens of kilometers to rescue a female diaspora who was taken hostage by terrorists. On the way, the government army was ambushed and lost all losses. Only the team and female reporter Xia Nan survived. The ambush began with a mortar attack. Under the powerful firepower of the bandits, the team faced the triple mission of saving people, eliminating snipers, and destroying the mortar position. The battle was cruel and tragic. The contest between the new sharpshooter Gu Shun and the enemy sniper left a deep impression. Interested audiences can compare this scene with similar scenes in new European and American films that reflect the war on terrorism, such as "Road of the Hyena" and "The Hurt Locker". I think the popularity is far too high.
The rescue of the hostages is the highlight of the film. The Jiaolong team has not forgotten our army's fine tradition of mobilizing the masses, and successfully replaced the hostages with the cooperation of local women. However, the endless accidents made the fighting unavoidable. I think Lin Chaoxian's handling of this paragraph has reached the international first-class level. The four clues of hostage, support, contact, and breakthrough go hand in hand, but they are explained in an orderly manner. The four battlefields have a clear spatial relationship, and they echo each other, and each of them is intertwined with each other. Although there are only eight soldiers against hundreds of terrorists, the quality of a blockbuster film was shot. Relying on spatial relationships to create suspense is a very clever action film technique, but it has always been the weakness of Chinese filmmakers. Compared with the war scenes in previous domestic films, I think this scene is a qualitative improvement. This battle also ended with the open tank battle and the spectacle of sandstorms, with the "Linyi" ship shelling the terrorist positions in the middle, heartily.
The last battle scene of chasing terrorists mainly relied on the fate of the characters to create dramatic tension. The beating girl Jiang Luxia finally showed her skills in a hand-to-hand scene. The new generation of snipers also overcome psychological obstacles and grow up smoothly. Another highlight of this game is the peculiar terrain of the desert and the infiltration of the dragon team's flying wings.
After analyzing the five battle scenes of the film, we will find that they are all "fights", but the rhythm is clear. With the size of the space, the nature of the mission, and the types of weapons, although it is the main theme movie, there are not many slogans. It is all the precise rhythm and spectacle that dominate the film. This type of war movie is not to be said to be unique in China, but it is also very rare in the international film scene in recent years. This is not only a manifestation of director Lin Chaoxian's outstanding ability, but also inseparable from the strong support of the Chinese Navy.
Director Lin started his career by shooting police action movies. In his early years, he became famous with films reflecting the Hong Kong Flying Tigers such as "G4 Agents" and "Reloaded Police". The baptism of the bandit movie, already has a wealth of shooting experience in shooting action scenes, and has also tried other types of action themes such as "Broken Wind" and "Guild War". In 2016, he directed Operation Mekong, which was also adapted from real international events, and won both box office and word of mouth. He is one of the few domestic directors with experience in making war blockbusters. The quality presented in "Operation Red Sea" once again proves that Lin Chaoxian really knows how to use good steel on the blade. In fact, domestic movies do not lack investment, but they lack excellent executives who know how to "burn money".
The support of the navy is also crucial. The warship Zhang Hanyu commanded in the film was the "Linyi" ship that had participated in the evacuation of Chinese nationals from Yemen. The various light and heavy weapons in the film were eye-opening, perhaps because of this. Action was listed as the No. 001 of the "Dragon Standard" in 2018. Some military fans on the Internet pointed out that none of the weapons in the film were of PLA-standard equipment. However, this point has been explained in the film because it is inconvenient for our military to carry weapons to land, so it accepted the EU weapons and equipment provided by the host country.
They are all movies with the main theme of "promoting our country's prestige", and they are unavoidable to be compared. Compared with "Wolf Warrior 2", "Operation Red Sea" is obviously more advanced in production and style. The pattern of Leng Feng taking the beauties of various countries on adventures is actually a legacy of Jackie Chan movies. The setting of annihilating armed mercenaries with bows and fists must be combined with the exaggerated setting of action movies to understand. In contrast, "Operation Red Sea" has more investment and more battle scenes. It is a "heavy industry film" with a more international war blockbuster style. I think it also has more significance in opening up the genre of domestic films. Of course, "Operation Red Sea" also has its weaknesses. Lin Chaoxian always pays attention to people's stress response in extreme situations. This makes the pace of the film extremely fast, and there is no room for respite, but for ordinary audiences, it may not be as close to the people as the lonely heroes. Lovable. There are also some lines that are awkward and awkward, which makes people a little bit playful.
"Operation Red Sea", like "Wolf Warrior 2", assumes a political stance at the end. The navy's declaration of defending sea areas, like the "Flood Dragon", which is brave to attack, marks the arrival of a new era of the rise of great powers. In "Exodus", the Israelites led by Moses were chased by Pharaoh's army to the end. At this time, it was God who separated the Red Sea and opened a broad road for them. In the Yemen incident, it was our powerful navy that conquered the turmoil of the Red Sea and saved the nationals of various countries. In a speech, Zhang Hanyu compared his role as the captain with Li Moran's role as Deng Shichang in "Jiawu Fengyun" and praised the prosperity of the country. A strong country is naturally worthy of pride, but after chanting the slogan "the brave are fearless, the strong are invincible", we must also remember that the ancestors originally said that "the brave are fearless, and the benevolent are invincible." This world has never lacked power. What it lacks is the value of "pleasing those who are near, and those who are far away", that is, soft power.
Kazama Falcon
February 11, 2018
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