WarHistoryAction

The Sacrifice

In 1953 the Korean War is entering the final stage. The People's Volunteer Army of China has launched its last major battle in Kumsong. In order to arrive on time and deliver enough ammo to the Kumsong front line, the soldiers have to defend themselves against the never ending bombardments of enemy bombers and race against time to repair the last bridge, all while facing supply shortages and with inferior equipment.

Release Date : 2020-10-23

Language :Mandarin

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : China Film Group Corporation

Production Country : China

Alternative Titles : The SacrificeSacrificeJingang ChuanSacrifice CN

Cast

Character Name : Zhang Fei

Original Name : Zhang Yi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Guan Lei

Original Name : 吴京

Gender : Male

Character Name : Liu Hao

Original Name : Li Jiuxiao

Gender : Male

Character Name : Yan Rui

Original Name : 魏晨

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gao Fulai

Original Name : Deng Chao

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Du Jiang

Gender : Male

Character Name : Seventh Company lieutenant

Original Name : 歐豪

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Qiu Tian

Gender : Female

Character Name : Halazi

Original Name : Liu Xianda

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stone

Original Name : Shi Haozheng

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hu Sheng

Original Name : Zhou Siyu

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 张哲

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ma Lei Zi

Original Name : 万沛鑫

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 刘彦希

Gender : Male

Character Name : Andrew "warthog" Hill

Original Name : Vladimir Ershov

Gender : Male

Character Name : USAF pilot Smith / narrator

Original Name : Viktor Kulikov

Gender : Male

Character Name : USAF pilot Coiln

Original Name : Richard Dubintsov

Gender : Male

Reviews

@jw

2023-01-21

The heroic struggle to bring a dynasty of nasty dictators to power. While the main topic is a military bridge to get troops across the river, most of the movie is about the AA gun crews, and the bomber crews. The dramaturgy is a bit over the place, but that happened in US war movies as well. Don't expect a dramatic arc or a conclusion. The heroism gets rather absurd though in the last quarter. Yes, it is a question of perspective; and that is the Chinese perspective. Sacrificing many, many Chinese lives to demonstrate military strength (which may make sense) and to bring the dictatorial family in North Korea to power. Sacrificing one's life not for the defence of one's homeland, but for a vile dynasty in another country - that is something one could be a little critical of, at least in retrospect. This film is a big production, with all the heroism and production values that Hollywood puts into their patriotic US films. It follows the usual, probably by now internationally standardised patterns; great cinematography, lots of extras running in period uniforms, explosions, gore, heroism, some CGI, suspense, drama; some hooks so the viewer can connect emotionally - it's all there, and reasonably well done. (The cuts are slightly annoying in their modernity.) And why not, a Chinese war movie. Switching the viewpoints between chapters is a good move, but no novelty. (It also saves money per screen-time, as often as they repeat scenes here.) If you were making a movie today from, say, Italian perspective supporting Hitlers rule, uncritically, that would have similar smell. With the tiny difference that Nazis Germany lost, and the open-air prison North Korea still exists today.