Inchon (1981)

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Robin Moore (screenplay) and
Laird Koenig (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 September 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

LOVE. DESTINY. HEROES. War Changes Everything.

Plot:

A noisy and absurd re-telling of the great 1950 invasion of Inchon during the Korean War which was masterminded by General Douglas MacArthur. |

Plot Keywords:

Invasion | Inchon | 1950s | General | Douglas Macarthur

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Laurence Olivier	...	Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Barbara Hallsworth
Ben Gazzara	...	Maj. Frank Hallsworth
Toshirô Mifune	...	Saito-San
Richard Roundtree	...	Sgt. Augustus Henderson
David Janssen	...	David Feld (scenes deleted)
Kung-won Nam	...	Park
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Turkish Brigadier
Rex Reed	...	Longfellow (scenes deleted)
Sabine Sun	...	Marguerite
Dorothy James	...	Jean MacArthur
Karen Kahn	...	Lim
Lydia Lei	...	Mila
James T. Callahan	...	Gen. Almond
Rion Morgan	...	Pipe journalist

Also Known As:

Inchon! (South Korea) (working title)
Oh, Inchon! (South Korea) (working title)

Runtime:

South Korea:140 min | USA:105 min (edited version) | USA:140 min | USA:140 min (premiere version)

Country:

South Korea | USA

Language:

English | Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Inchon, South Korea

Company:

One Way Productions

Trivia:

The movie had an estimated loss of $44,100,000.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film is supposed to take place at the beginning of the Korean War in 1950 even though the extras in the press room scenes all have late-1970s clothing and haircuts.

Quotes:

[opening title card]
Titles: This is not a documentary of the war in Korea but a dramatized study of the effect of war on a group of people. Where dramatic license has been deemed necessary, the authors have taken advantage of this license to dramatize the subject.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Weirdsville (2007)

To quote Bob Seger: shame on the Moon....

It's inescapable that "Inchon" is a bad movie. I mean, look at its pedigree:

*Funded by Moonies (Reverend Sun Myung Moon dipped deep in his pockets for this one),

*A morbidly stupid script (originally authored by the screenwriter for "The Happy Hooker"? Please....),

*A director working under haphazard circumstances (Young did great with the James Bond films but language barriers ruined countless shots and drove the cost of the film sky high),

*A cast that is capable of greatness but not in this instance (Bisset, Gazzara, Roundtree, Janssen, Mifune, Olivier!!!!),

*And a budget that most frequently disappears from the screen (how can $48 million not show on the screen? This is the movie that answers that question).

I saw this many moons ago (get it? Ha ha....) at my local theater on a double bill with "The Last American Virgin" (yes, you read right) and I think "Virgin" suffered from the association.

And Laurence Olivier has been in great things ("Wuthering Heights", "Rebecca", "Henry V", "Richard III", "Spartacus", "Sleuth") but has also been in his share of very bad things ("The Betsy", "The Boys from Brazil", "Dracula"/1979, "The Jazz Singer", "The Jigsaw Man", "Wild Geese II"). But as a putty-faced, mascara-smeared, gravel-voiced variation of General Douglas McArthur (more like his Loren Hardeman character from "The Betsy"), Olivier washes away all he'd accomplished with his Shakespeare work and takes on the guise of a wax dummy (with almost as much expressiveness).

And the movie itself? Forget everything you thought you knew about the Korean War and all its planning, maneuvers and troop placements. It's just about soldiers running back and forth, explosions, ships sailing far out of camera range and Douglas McArthur reciting the Lord's Prayer. Oh, and Bissett bouncing around. That's entertainment (sort of)!

On top of all of this, there was always the fear in its first-run status that Moonies would be posted at every theater in America to recruit Moonies-to-be. I escaped that but not the movie itself.

In the end, I can see why this one isn't on video or TV or even bootlegged on Ebay. "Inchon" may have been an important battle but the only thing the movie is important for is showing that it can waste more money that "Heaven's Gate". Congratulations!

No stars for "Inchon" - it shall NOT return.