Inchon (film)
Inchon (film)
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Inchon (film)

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Inchon (film)

Inchon (also stylized as Inchon!) is a 1981 war film about the Battle of Inchon, considered to be the turning point of the Korean War. Directed by Terence Young and financed by Unification movement founder Sun Myung Moon, the film stars Laurence Olivier as General Douglas MacArthur, who led the United States' surprise amphibious landing at Incheon, South Korea in 1950, with Jacqueline Bisset, Ben Gazzara, Toshiro Mifune and Richard Roundtree.

Inchon's plot includes both military action and human drama. Characters face danger and are involved in various personal and dramatic situations. The film concludes with the American victory over North Korean forces in the Battle of Inchon, which is considered to have saved South Korea. Produced on $46 million with filming taking place in South Korea, California, Italy, Ireland and Japan, it encountered many problems during production, including a typhoon and the death of cast member David Janssen. Both the Unification movement and the United States military provided personnel as extras during the filming.

After premiering in May 1981, the film was released theatrically in the United States and Canada in September 1982, before being quickly withdrawn due to critical and financial failure. Though the film never received a home video release, it has occasionally been broadcast on television. It was the largest financial loss in film of 1982, earning less than $2 million against its lofty budget and resulting in losses of around $41 million. Reviewers at the time gave it consistently negative reviews and later commentators including Newsweek, TV Guide and The Canadian Press have classed Inchon among the worst films of all time.

The film depicts the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War, which took place from September 15 to 19, 1950, and is considered the turning point of the war. The protagonist of the film is General Douglas MacArthur, who led the United States surprise amphibious landing at Incheon in 1950.

North Korean soldiers are moving past the 38th parallel north into South Korea in June 1950. People flee to Seoul. One of the displaced people is Barbara Hallsworth, a U.S. Army major's wife who lives in a village on the 38th parallel. She is chauffeured to Seoul in a limousine, picking up five South Korean children along the way. After her chauffeur is killed, she drives them to a safe location called the Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Along the way, she shoots a North Korean soldier.

Meanwhile, Barbara's husband, Frank Hallsworth, is attempting to break off an affair with a young South Korean woman, Lim. Her father Saito is aware of his daughter's affair with Frank and does not disapprove. Frank receives word of the invasion by the North Koreans, and he travels north in an attempt to locate Barbara with the assistance of army sergeant August Henderson. August encounters Barbara and fixes her vehicle's battery, and then reunites her with Frank.

Journalists David Feld, Park, and Longfellow are attending a press conference held by MacArthur in Tokyo. MacArthur, however, does not show. He agrees with his wife Jean MacArthur that he is the only person who can rescue South Korea from the invasion by the North Koreans.

Hallsworth and Lim succeed in turning on a lighthouse to signal 261 U.S. ships, and Saito activates mines in the channel. Lim dies during the ensuing battle. The U.S. troops drive out the North Korean forces and the cheering people wave South Korean and American flags. The film proper ends with MacArthur reciting the Lord's Prayer; after this scene, a newsreel of MacArthur is shown.

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