Film Name: 危机航线 / High Forces
This year’s National Day has already begun, and I took the opportunity of the screening to watch the commercial genre movie “High Forces”, which focuses on action and crime.
In my memory, the high-altitude crime theme of a class of films rarely seen in the country, even if it is a similar movie, can remember only “Crash Landing”, “The Chinese Pilot” and so on a handful of …… Therefore, just the relative scarcity of the subject matter and freshness, the film will account for a not small The Chinese Pilot”.
After watching “High Forces”, I have to admit that although the plot design is rather ordinary, the character settings, action scenes and visual effects have exceeded my expectations, and the scenes of high-altitude fighting and forced landing in the city have added a lot of color to the film.
As for my deepest impression, the movie in many places in the “anti-cliché” performance, this kind of crazy criticism of some of the common sense, so that the film has a kind of crisp and clear sense of cool, and formed its own distinctive features.
[Friendly reminder: there will be spoilers below].
There are a lot of commercial crime action movies with hijacking plots, and some of the more famous ones in the past are “Air Force One”, “Con Air”, etc. The isolated space, the battle of wits and courageous negotiation, and the inescapable fights make this kind of movie naturally have dangerous and exciting points of view.
But at the same time, the special environment also gave birth to the corresponding restrictions, otherwise it is a blind death …… That’s why I think “High Forces” everywhere let go.
For example, the hijackers can’t just shoot at the airplane, because it may damage the internal structure of the plane and lead to a crash, and also can’t kill people indiscriminately, because the hostages are important bargaining chips for them to negotiate with the outside world and to protect themselves – as a result, the hijackers in the movie shot and killed a couple of people at the very first appearance, and it directly knocked me out of my mind.
Just when I wondered that the movie has a major bug, it immediately jumped subtitles that it is a special bullet, will only hurt people but can not hurt the plane …… So, the next can be shot in the airplane pain.
In addition, the villain Mike is a bottomless madman, say kill on kill, the protagonist Gao Haojun is also a decisive, no “hero baggage” of the ruthless role, which will be more heavy on both sides of the violent degree of the battle.
High altitude crime drama restrictions are common sense, comply with the rules certainly have to comply with the rules of the fun, but sometimes it is inevitable to suffocate, and “High Forces” as if all the insurance is lifted, which of course does not comply with the rules, not safe, but this also means that the movie becomes more thrilling and painful.
I noticed that many of the sequences in the movie were shot at “top” strength, and everything imaginable was included, such as opening the hatch, stripping the airplane, and parachuting at low altitude, etc. A stewardess, who had just completed the challenge of parachuting a while ago, dared to jump out of the plane with a parachute bag to save people, which was really a big game.
In addition, “High Forces” there are a lot of anti-routine places: Gao Haojun a horse on the dead hand, there is no scruples (excuses) to kill; learned that he talked to his daughter Xiaojun for many years did not communicate with his own daughter, Gao Haojun immediately identify themselves, and do not engage in any twisted concerns or late surprise; airline boss Li Hangyu is not a dark villain, but to give up their lives to save the plane! The responsible person ……
Maybe there are too many bitter hatred and beating around the bush, so I watched the movie all the way straight to the style, but I feel quite refreshing.
A big movie has to have a big scene, which has to mention the emergency landing at the end of “High Forces”, which is also the climax of the whole movie.
After solving the hijackers, the plane is already only 5,000 meters above and below the ground, and in the case of not being able to get to any nearby airport, they have to land on the highway, the film provides a number of different perspectives of the cabin, the cockpit, the landing gear, the dispatch room, the onlookers, etc., which together constitute a panoramic group portrait of the forced landing.
Not to mention the outrageous and interesting operation of using two heavy trucks to form the front wheels of the plane, paired with live-action and CG optimization of the sets, and a high-gloss soundtrack, the exciting audio-visual effects before and after the plane’s landing are really pulling out all the stops, and that part alone is worth the price of admission for me.
Let’s move on to another interesting aspect of the movie: the “berserk” personas of the two protagonists.
Andy Lau’s Gao Haojun and Mike Qu Chuxiao’s Mike, both suffer from mania, and it would have been a bit risky to put the same symptoms on the two characters with the heaviest roles, but fortunately High Forces is more “manic” on the whole, and the actual effect isn’t bad at all.
The movie has a unique way of arranging special shots for both of them, with Gao Haojun in red when he is sick and Mike in green when he is sick.
Mike’s condition is more understandable, he is sick but not cured, and more often than not, he is indulging and amplifying his rage and anger, which makes him a violent, paranoid, irrational and inhuman villain.
It is impossible to talk about any villainous charisma or style, but it must be recognized that this kind of person is the most terrifying when he does bad things, because he is almost unreasonable and unrestrained.
In contrast, Gao Haojun is a lot more complicated.
On the one hand, he can’t help himself from time to time losing his temper, getting into fights and road rage, causing his wife to be separated from his family (PS: while watching the movie, I also thought of a storyline linked to “The Wandering Earth 2”, in which Andy Lau drives his wife and daughter in a car and gets hit by a car again), and he almost loses his job;
On the other hand, Gao Haojun has been subjectively trying to control himself, and separating from his wife and daughter in order to receive better treatment until his health is basically restored.
That’s why the scenes where Gao Haojun almost gets sick (or has a manic relapse) are so good, because he’s always afraid of losing control of his emotions or else he won’t be able to go back to his family, but he has to unleash his anger and use it in order to protect his family in a critical situation.
Honestly, when I watched the movie, I always felt that Andy Lau was not a good guy, he was ruthless and deadly, especially when he lost control of himself and killed his daughter after her headset was broken by the robbers, there is no such thing as a “decent demeanor”. ……
This is not a perfect hero image, Gao Haojun even more than most of the lone heroes are in a mess …… So, he seems to have flesh and blood.
Mike and Gao Haojun, who both suffer from mania, are a good contrast, indulgence and self-control, widowhood and deep love, although their emotional undertones are off the track, but ultimately what can be harvested is determined by their own choices.
Finally, I’d like to mention the ending of “High Forces” – probably due to the deep impression of the movie’s anticlimax, I felt as if I’d been anticlimaxed once again when I saw the incredibly conventional happy ending.
Battered and bruised, Gao Haojun climbs down from the plane, confirms that his wife’s life is not in danger, and embraces his long-separated daughter in a solid embrace, so that all the pain of the past is no longer worth mentioning.
Chivalry and family reunion are nothing more than that.
National Day holiday to watch a hilarious drama after the robbery, quite good.
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