Operation Chromite
Writer
Starring
MusicLee Dong-joon
EditingSteve M. Choe
DirectorJohn H. Lee
Producer
  • Jeong Tae-won
  • Kyu C. Lee
Production companiesTaewon Entertainment
Distributor
ReleasedJuly 27, 2016 (South Korea)
Runtime1 hour 51 minutes (111 minutes)[1]
CountrySouth Korea
Language
BudgetUS$12.7 million[2]
GrossUS$50.9 million[3]
Operation Chromite (film)
Hangul^인천_상륙_작전
Hanja仁川上陸作戰
LkOperation Inchon Landing

Operation Chromite (Korean: 인천상륙작전) or Battle for Incheon: Operation Chromite in US, is a 2016 South Korean spy war film co-written and directed by John H. Lee. It is a fiction based on a true story of Operation X-ray by ROK Navy Intelligence Unit and Operation Trudy Jackson by US Military Intelligence Unit (including KLO and CIA), depicts espionage which took charge for preparatory stage of Operation Chromite (Incheon Landing Operation, Battle of Inchon) in Korean War.[4][5][6]

Produced by Taewon Entertainment, presented by Finecut. In South Korea, released 27 July 2016, which the date concluded the armistice agreement of Korean War, distributed by CJ Entertainment.[7]

Plot

In 1950, just a few months after North Korean forces have overrun most of South Korea, an American-led UN coalition is deployed to Korea to aid the struggling South Koreans. General Douglas MacArthur devises a secret plan to attack behind enemy lines at the port city of Incheon. The risky strategy is opposed by leaders of the other military branches, forcing MacArthur to devise a clandestine operation to gather essential information from within occupied Incheon by coordinating a weeklong South Korean intelligence operation known as "X-ray".

The linchpin of this top-secret incursion, Captain Jang Hak-Soo of the ROK Navy Intelligence Unit (a former Korean People's Army officer who defected to South Korea after seeing his father executed in front of him by his fellow communist officers), and seven members of the X-Ray unit disguise themselves as a Korean People's Army inspection unit and infiltrate the North Korean command center in Incheon, coordinated by the Soviet-trained commander Lim Gye-Jin, a protégé of Kim Il Sung. Their prime objective is to determine the placement of North Korean defenses (such as mines and artillery) and the tactical characteristics of the Incheon harbor (notorious for swift currents and major tidal surges), and secure a lighthouse crucial to the landing's success.

Immediately suspicious of Jang's "inspection mission", Lim attempts to impede his comrade's investigation and orders his staff to monitor the new arrivals closely. The U.S. command relays MacArthur's orders to obtain navigation charts showing naval mine placements in the harbor and prepare a strategy to assist the coalition forces with landing an amphibious assault in a narrow two-hour window between tides. When contacts within the South Korean military intelligence unit known as KLO (Korea Liaison Office, predecessor to present-day South Korean Headquarters of Intelligence Detachment, or HID) warn Jang that time is running out to successfully complete the mission, he pushes his group to extremes. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, MacArthur prepares Operation Chromite, an invasion force of 75,000 UN troops and over 200 warships, to imminently depart for the Korean Peninsula.[8]

Cast

English dubbing

Reception

The film was number-one on its opening at the South Korean box office, grossing US$18.47 million.[7] with around seven million tickets sold as of December 2016. It grossed US$50 million worldwide.[2]

In the United Kingdom, it was 2017's best-selling foreign language film on home video, above Your Name in second place.[11]

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 40% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10.[12] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13]

Extended cut

A South Korean release of the Blu-Ray version put the extended cut at 141 minutes.[14]

Sequel

Main article: The Battle of Jangsari

The Battle of Jangsari 9.15, a sequel to the film Chromite, was released in 2019, the second part of a trilogy.[15] The film covers a later small attack at Jangsari, intended to draw North Korean attention from Inchon.[16]

Accolades

AwardCategoryRecipientResultCitation(s)
53rd Grand Bell AwardsBest New ActorKim Hee-jin[17][unreliable source?]
Best Costume DesignOh Sang-jin
Best MusicLee Dong-jun
Best Sound Recording
Best Visual EffectMoon Byung-yong, Cho E-suck
Popularity AwardLee Beom-soo
New Rising Star AwardKim Hee-jin
(Tied with Choi Ri of Spirits' Homecoming)
24th Korean Culture and Entertainment AwardsWomen's Best Actor AwardJin Se yeon[18]

References

  1. ^ "Operation Chromite (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 3 November 2016. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Operation Chromite (2016)". The Numbers. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Operation Chromite (2016)". Korean Film Biz Zone
  4. ^ Kim, Dong-joo. "The cast for movie Operation Chromite finalized". StarN News. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  5. ^ "Operation Chromite to pay homage to hidden heroes of Incheon Landing". The Korea Herald. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  6. ^ 영화'인천상륙작전'실재 주인공에게 듣다
  7. ^ Kil, Sonia (31 July 2016). "Liam Neeson's Operation Chromite Tops Korean Box Office". Variety. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  8. ^ Lowe, Justin (12 August 2016). "Operation Chromite: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-12-05.[dead link]
  9. ^ Kil, Sonia (12 August 2015). "Liam Neeson Joins Korea's 'Operation Chromite' As General MacArthur". Variety. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  10. ^ Hancocks, Paula (27 July 2015). "Liam Neeson on Korean War film: 'We are all very concerned' by Pyongyang". CNN. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  11. ^ Statistical Yearbook 2018. United Kingdom: British Film Institute (BFI). 2018. pp. 97–8. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Operation Chromite (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Operation Chromite Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Operation Chromite (Blu-ray) (Full Slip Numbering Extended Edition) (Limited Edition) (Korea Version) Blu-ray Region A". YesAsia. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  15. ^ "The Battle of Jangsari (Korean Movie – 2018) – 장사리 9.15". HanCinema. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  16. ^ "Megan Fox to appear in Korean film". The Korea Times. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  17. ^ "Winners Of The 53rd Grand Bell Awards Revealed" Archived 29 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine. soompi.com
  18. ^ "ko:대한민국문화연예대상" (in Korean). emna.kr. Retrieved 2021-01-30.