| The Volunteers: To the War | |||||||||||||
| Native Name: |
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| Director: | Chen Kaige | ||||||||||||
| Editing: | Li Dianshi | ||||||||||||
| Runtime: | 140 minutes[1] | ||||||||||||
| Country: | China | ||||||||||||
| Language: | Mandarin | ||||||||||||
| Gross: | $121.4 million[2] [3] | ||||||||||||
The Volunteers: To the War is a 2023 Chinese war film directed by Chen Kaige. Set during the Korean War, the film is intended to be the first installment of a planned trilogy from Chen depicting China's involvement in the war.
The film was released on 28 September 2023.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the new China faced a situation of "internal and external troubles". Since the outbreak of the Korean War, the US military has repeatedly provoked on the Sino-North Korean border, and civilians have been bombed. In order to safeguard the hard-won peace and long-term stability for generations, in October 1950, Chairman Mao decided to send the People's Volunteer Army led by Comrade Peng Dehuai to fight in Korea, and the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" kicked off. Our senior leaders conducted a series of careful discussions and deductions, and sent Premier Zhou to Moscow to request support. This is a "national war". On the Korean battlefield, even though there was a huge gap in armament strength, our army exchanged heroic sacrifices for successive victories; on the diplomatic stage, the delegation of the People's Republic of China appeared at the United Nations for the first time, and China's new voice won international respect. New China, not giving up an inch of land to promote national prestige; new youth, high-spirited to protect their country
Production on the film began in July 2022,[4] and finished thirteen months later in August 2023.[1]
A trailer for the film was released on April 21, 2023.
The Volunteers was released in China on September 28, 2023, timed to coincide with the country's National Day on October 1.
The film earned $34.7 million in its first four days of release, behind Under the Light and The Ex-Files 4: Marriage Plan.[5] The film fell below expectations at the box office.[6]