On the occasion of the August 1st Founding Day, we have decided to take you back to the ceiling of Chinese war movies, which can be described by words such as "unprecedented, magnificent epic, highly restored, and huge production": "Armageddon, Great Turning, Great March" series.
To make a brief introduction, the series is in chronological order: the "Armageddon" series, the "Great Turn" series, and the "Great March" series.
Among them, "Great Armageddon" consists of three parts, namely: "The Battle of Liaoshen of The Great Armageddon", "The Battle of Huaihai of the Great Armageddon", and "The Battle of Pingjin", of which the first two were released in 1991 and the "Battle of Pingjin" was released in 1992.
The filming of "Armageddon", in addition to recording and restoring history, another reason is to present the 70th anniversary of the party, I can't imagine that time has flickered, and 30 years have passed, and this year has been a hundred years.
As a series of films with serious significance in many aspects such as "history, politics and culture", the unpretentious attitude of "Armageddon" is first reflected in the producers, screenwriters and review committees of the series. The more than 400-word unit name alone says that "Armageddon" is already the ceiling of Chinese war movies, there is no doubt.
In January 1986, the shooting task of the huge "Armageddon" series was handed over to the Bayi Film Studio, which finally decided after discussion: Li Jun, the third generation of Chinese directors, at the age of 64, served as the general director of the "Armageddon" series.
Born in 1922, Li Jun was a director, participated in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, directed classic works such as "Serf" and "Shining Red Star", and was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate for the "Great Armageddon" series, but Rao was so, Li Jun still set up a chief director for each of the "Great Armageddon", Yang Guangyuan of "Liaoshen Campaign", Cai Jiwei of "Battle of Huaihai", and Wei Lian of "Battle of Pingjin".
Here we need to introduce Wei Lian of "The Battle of Pingjin", director Wei Lian independently directed two "Great Turning" films in 1996 four years later after the three "Armageddon" series of films, of which "The Great Turning Point of Advancing into Dabie Mountain" enjoys a high degree of popularity in China, compared with "The Great Turning of the Great Turn" is slightly inferior.
Speaking of the start of the filming of "Armageddon", after director Li Jun took command, Bayi Factory gave its full support, all employees went to battle, and the group performance hired more than 150,000 person-times, in addition, the military regions and units drew out about 130,000 cadres and soldiers to participate in the filming of "Armageddon", which can be seen in several magnificent epic long shots in the film.
Including the Kuomintang troops on the march, they were all neatly formed, brightly armored, and numerous, and could not see their heads at a glance.
As the title suggests, the so-called "Armageddon" must be a contest of full strength between the two sides, for war, weapons are indispensable, in "Armageddon", a total of 160 tons of explosives, 50 tanks, 100 cars (can be blown up), more than 1.7 million empty shells, more than 10,000 real shells, etc., as well as a large number of artillery, aircraft, ships and other large military equipment.
Such a completely live-action war movie that does not require any special effects, I am afraid that it will be difficult to appear again in the future, like a thousand artillery in the film roaring at the same target at the same time, thunderous and unmatched.
Meaningful, attitude, input, talent, the "Armageddon" series deservedly become, the ceiling of Chinese war movies and even world war movies, such as the beginning of the first "Liaoshen Campaign" of "Armageddon", the chairman watched the Yellow River thawing shot, only this scene, the crew waited on the edge of the Yellow River for 2 years, which is the determination of "Armageddon".
After the success of the "Armageddon" series of films, Wei Lian, the director who has always participated in the filming of the series, independently directed the "Great Turn" series 4 years later, namely: "The Great Twist of the Battle of Lu Southwest" and "The Great Turn of the Great Twist into Dabie Mountain".
Different from "Armageddon" to reflect the momentum of "decisive battle", "Great Turning" as a strategic task, more shows the commander's strategy, so "Great Turning" has more "literary drama" space, many of which are depictions of ordinary soldiers, full of humanistic atmosphere, which is very rare in war films.
In the same year of "The Great Turning Point", bayi Film Studio's "Great March" series of movies was simultaneously produced and released one after another, and the new series consisted of 4 films, according to the chronological order of release, namely: "The Great March to Liberate the Great Northwest", "The Great March to the South Line", "The Great March to sweep the Great Southwest", "The Great March to the Great War of Ninghuhang".
The 4 films in the "Great March" series, from different times and geographical locations, depict the desperate struggle of the enemy in the process of liberating the whole country, and the bravery and tenacity of our army.
Moreover, because it is a multi-front operation, the commanders of the front line are different, and they can better express the comrades-in-arms who are closely around the chairman, their superb command art, and their revolutionary enthusiasm for the cause of the people's liberation.
In the entire "Armageddon, Great Turn, Great March" series, there is another place worth mentioning: several times in the film, there are real historical images of that year, like the bridge section of the liberation of Shanghai.
There is also the scene after the liberation of Shanghai, when the People's Liberation Army passes in front of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai citizens and teachers and students of the university are welcomed by the scene, using real historical images of that year, which is very rare.
When the time comes to 2021, this year's "Armageddon" TV series version was released, directed by Gao Xixi, but according to the reaction of netizens, everyone still agrees more with the "Armageddon, Great Turn, Great March" series in the 1990s, believing that the series is the ceiling of Chinese war movies.
This year is 2021, from the first part of the "Armageddon, Great Turn, Great March" series, it has been a full 30 years, the old saying is 4 generations of centennials, the series has passed at least a generation, is still an insurmountable classic, I believe that this epic giant film volume of the series of movies, its influence will continue.
Text/Sharp Film Review Editorial Department: Handsome Qi
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