Saturday 26 January 2019

Air Strike

Movie: Air Strike / Unbreakable Spirit / The Bombing
Chinese Title: 大轰炸 / Da Hong Zha

Release Date: October 26, 2018

Genre: History, War
Language: Mandarin
Director: Xiao Feng
Origin: China / United States
Source: Based on the true events during the Bombing of Chongqing

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Synopsis and Plot Summary

From 1938 to 1944, the Japanese invasion launched air strikes on Chongqing. Brave men and women took up arms to fight for their country.

Fun Facts

Filming took place in Xiangshan Movie & TV Town.
Filming lasted six months from May to August 2015.
Li Weipin was the first person to work on the script in 1996. In the first three years, he visited libraries and different locations to interview survivors of the war. He completed the first draft in 1999. There were plans to make it into a movie in the early 2000's but failed due to budget concerns. Li Weipin made even more changes to the draft and finally created the main storyline. By the time a movie was in plan in 2011, Li Weipin was 85 years old.
The cast and crew filmed the big tunnel massacre scene in the summer. The director attempted to recreate the intense situation at the time. The cast and a few hundred extras were crammed inside a narrow tunnel.
Janine Chang completed all of her explosion scenes. As she played a reporter, she had to walk towards the explosion when others were running away from it. She had her hair tied up at first but thought that a war reporter would likely have short hair so she made the suggestion to the crew and chopped off her hair.
In 2016, Shi Jianxin, former chairman of Kuailu, got the company involved in a scandal surrounding fake box office results for IP Man 3. Shi Jianxin later fled to the US after being put on the wanted list on accusations of fraud. The company had to pull out from the movie.
Cui Yongyan became a whistleblower when he exposed Fan Bingbing for signing a yin yang contract for the movie. He also accused the movie of inflating the budget to engage in money laundering.
A presscon was held to deny the rumors. The production stressed that all expenses for the movie were according to budget and did not exceed the budget of 1.5 hundred million yuan.
It was set to be released on August 17, 2018 but postponed due to tax evasion allegations brought upon Fan Bingbing.
It was set to be released on October 26, 2018. Fan Bingbing's involvement in the movie was completely removed during promotions in China. However, the premiere was still cancelled and only the North American release proceeded as scheduled.
After the cancellation, Director Xiao Feng said on social media that it was time to let go. He said that letting go is not giving up but that it was a pity for the movie that took 8 years to make and the hard work of everyone involved.
The version that aired in select theaters outside of China was heavily edited. Fan Bingbing's screen time was reduced to 9 seconds.

Cast