Underequipped but relentless Chinese soldiers fight Americans in North Korea during the Korean War in winter 1950, ultimately forcing a retreat.
I remember three parts of the movie particularly:
- Living Chinese soldiers lie still in a valley of rocks as American fighter planes sweep overhead and shoot at what they think are just dead bodies.
- The Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with copious amounts of food while the Chinese divide amongst themselves a few moldy potatoes.
- Retreating Americans happen across a sculpture-like group of Chinese soldiers who, too loyal to leave their assigned post, literally froze in place.
More about the movie and the real-life battle.
Is this an important movie? Well, it cost a lot (reportedly over US$200 million), and it earned a lot, too. In fact, for a while, it was the top highest-grossing film of all time in China, surpassing the 2019 sci-fi hit Wandering Earth, which as you may know is based on a story by Cixin Liu, author of the award-winning Three-Body Problem. Currently The Battle at Lake Changjin is ranked second, following the animated fantasy adventure Ne Zha 2.
A sequel, The Battle at Lake Changjin 2, came out in 2022.
