Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2021 Chinese epic war film called,
The Battle at Lake Changjin. Spoilers ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
The movie begins with a soldier named Wu Qianli coming home from the war, carrying the urn of
his late brother, Wu Baili. On his way, some teenagers, including his younger brother Wu Wanli,
pulls a prank on them by throwing rocks at the river. Qianli calls his brother and then he
immediately charges at the soldier in uniform, but Qianli overpowers him. Squeezing his face,
Wanli finally recognizes his brother and runs home to tell their parents.
At home, Qianli apologizes as he tells his parents that Baili died in battle.
Later that night, the family talks about Qianli’s job in the military.
According to him, he’s the company commander, leading about one hundred fifty people.
He then tells them that the government allotted them a piece of land. Qianli promises his parents
that he will build them a house. Upon learning that he still needs to leave, his mother becomes
worried, but Qianli assures her that the war is over and there is no battle anymore.
Afterward, he lets his brother holds his gun, when suddenly, soldiers arrive in their village,
telling Qianli that his leave is canceled. The next day, Wanli tells his brother that he wants to
go with him, but Qianli refuses. Telling him that according to Baili, the two of them are enough to
fight for the family. Then, the scene cuts to the 15th of September year 1950, when the “Battle of
Incheon” is currently taking place. Then, we see American warships raining fire on the island,
while aircrafts drop bombs in a village near the Yalu River, crossing the Antung Chinese border.
The scene changes to General Douglas McArthur talking to the soldiers and media, telling them
that they will take back Seoul, in order to make Korea whole again. He also assures them that the
war will end immediately. Meanwhile, we see the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission,
Peng Dehuai, riding on a plane while reading some documents. Going back to McArthur, he talks with
Edward Almond, the commander of X Corps, reckoning that the war will be over before Thanksgiving.
Then, in Beijing on October 4, 1950, Mao Zedong, the chairman of the People’s Republic of China,
along with his committee, is having a meeting regarding the situation in North Korea.
The next day, Mao Anying, the eldest son of Zedong, greets Dehuai as he visits their home
where he talks to Zedong about the war. Zedong states that he doesn’t want to fight the war, but
they have to in order to protect and secure the future of their country to which Dehuai agrees.
Dehuai then suggests that they should have an army in the eastern front that can be
stationed at the Lake Changjin to fight against the U.S. Army.
After the meeting, Anying talks to Dehuai and asks him to allow him to be his first soldier.
Dehuai refuses but to his luck, his father shows up and tells Dehuai to allow him to go. Then,
we see the U.S. Army discuss its plan to cross the 38th Parallel.
This move of the Americans came to the attention of Zedong and tells his
committee that they must act immediately. Zedong then appoints Dehuai as the Chief
Commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army as well as the Political Commissary.
Meanwhile, due to the smooth progress of their plans, the Americans are confident of winning
the war in no time. Although with some battles arising, McArthur believes in his soldiers.
Afterward, we see Dehuai is informed that the Americans are moving at a fast pace.
Deng Hua, the deputy commander of the CPVA, adds that the enemies have already
assembled in the Lake Changjin, planning to form a pincer attack.
Then, Dehuai starts forming a strategy to counter the Americans.
The scene changes to Zedong ordering his men to send a telegram to Dehuai to inform him that the
9th Corps of CPVA will be deployed to Kanggye and Lake Changjin to deal with the enemies.
Then, we see that Qianli is part of the 9th Corps of the CPVA, leading the 7th company.
When their commander, Song Shilun arrives, he commends Qianli and his company’s good work.
He then talks to the soldiers about the importance of fighting for their
home as he shares the story of a young boy he met that wants to join the army.
He tells them the order that they will head north to fight with the Americans and aid Korea.
But to Qianli’s surprise, the boy that Shilun is talking about is his brother, Wanli. He scolds his
brother for following him but takes him in anyway. Later that night, they boarded a train. There,
Qianli talks to Platoon Leader Lei and asks him to teach his brother like how he taught him.
The 7th company welcomes Wanli by playing him off and when Qianli returns, Wanli tells him
that they’re bullying him. But Lei states that they’re just testing his brother’s character.
Qianli tells his brother that he should have fought back,
but Wanli reasons that they outnumbered him. Qianli tells his brother that in war,
the enemy won’t take pity on you just because they outnumbered you. He then
announces to everyone that they will commence an enlisting ceremony for Wanli. During the ceremony,
Qianli reminds everyone that they will be facing one of the strongest armies in the world,
but they are all carrying the will of everyone from the 7th company, even those who have died.
As punishment for causing a commotion, Qianli refuses to give Wanli a gun.
Angry, Wanli quits and tries to jump off the train. Luckily, he’s stopped by other
soldiers and he sees how beautiful the Great Wall of China is. Seeing this, Qianli orders
him to stay standing on the train doors until morning and afterward, agrees to give him a
rifle. Upon handing the gun to him, Lei reminds Wanli not to point the gun at his own people.
Arriving at the Ji’an East Station Chinese Border, they are instructed to deliver twenty
radio transmitters to Korea. Then, they spot a U.S. Scout Aircraft. Seeing this,
the soldiers quickly board the train. Just when they crossed the Yalu River Bridge on
the China-Korea Border, the train needs to stop because there was an ongoing repair on the tracks.
Unfortunately, while the soldiers are resting, U.S. aircraft start dropping bombs at them,
forcing the soldiers to evacuate the transmitters and flee from the train. Fortunately, all the
transmitters and cipher soldiers are safe, but they are forced to continue moving on foot.
They reach a dried-up lake and passed by several dead bodies when they hear another
U.S. aircrafts coming. The soldiers lay down and pretend to be dead but the Americans still
shoot them over a bet. They killed several members of the 7th company, including another
young soldier who befriends Wanli. The surviving soldiers prepare to fight back,
but the planes turn around as they’re called on to report to another area.
They immediately attend to their wounded comrades and grieve the dead.
Later that night, they reported 8 damaged transmitters, but luckily, all the cipher
soldiers are safe. Afterward, Qianli comforts his brother who’s grieving the death of his friend.
When they continue moving, Lei finally gives Wanli bullets, saying that they might encounter some
enemies on the way. The next day, the American soldiers are still searching for the soldiers.
But they find nothing as the soldiers bury themselves, camouflaging on the snow.
The scene changes to the soldiers hearing gunshots nearby. They decided to check on it and discovers
a battle between Chinese and American soldiers. Upon discovering that it’s their comrades,
Qianli decides to help while Lei will lead the other soldiers on their way to Taeyu-dong.
As they enter the battle, the commander of the other company tells Qianli that their mission
is to blow up the U.S. signal towers, preventing any communication in and out of Lake Changjin.
Meanwhile, a soldier notifies Lei that Wanli is missing. Realizing that he joins the battle, they
stop. But they hear the incoming reinforcements of the Americans. Lei plans to intercept them
before they arrive at the battleground. Then, we see Wanli joins the battle but cannot do anything.
But seeing his brother struggling, he finally manages to kill enemy soldiers.
Then, Wanli shows his marksmanship by throwing grenades at the enemies.
The battle ends with the Chinese soldiers winning as they destroy the US signal tower.
After the battle, Qianli reminds his brother that in the army he must always follow the orders
because disobedience might cause problems, worse is death, to their comrades. Then,
at the U.S. Airport in Hagaru-ri, General Almond and another American General named Oliver Smith
argue about the changes that Smith is doing, believing that the war will take
longer than expected, but Almond still believes in McArthur’s words that it will be a fast war.
Going back to the 9th Corps, they managed to deliver the transmitters. Seeing their condition,
the senior commander orders Liu, a pseudonym that Anying uses in the army, to help and take them
somewhere to rest. Meanwhile, Lei approaches Qianli and is surprised that he’s writing
a farewell letter to his parents. Lei tells him that it’s not good and convinces him to change it.
On the other side, Liu lends his pen to Wanli who’s signing his self-criticism letter.
Afterward, he asks his comrade how many American soldiers he must kill to be considered a hero,
but Liu tells him that he’s already a hero as soon as he steps on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, the 9th Corps is ordered to get back to the frontlines again, in Lake Changjin,
to face an expected attack from the Americans. Without question,
the 7th Company stands up and prepares for departure.
This made Liu remembers his conversation with Dehuai about civilians willingly offering
their lives for the country. As the night falls, the 9th Corps heads to Lake Changjin.
Back at the 9th Corps Headquarters, the senior commander orders that they
must send the padded uniforms to the combat unit on the frontlines as soon as possible.
Then, we see the soldiers staying hidden in the mountains, freezing and lacking food supplies.
Meanwhile, we see that American soldiers are celebrating Thanksgiving in their comfortable
uniforms while having a feast. Shortly after, Smith is notified that their pilots reported
that they intercepted a signal in Dehuai’s headquarters. With that information, they
send planes to the area and the Chinese soldiers immediately evacuate to the air-raid shelter.
But Liu remembers that they don’t have any large-scale maps aside from that on the wall
and he quickly runs back. Unfortunately, he dies in the bombing. Because of the bombing,
they lost communication with Taeyu-dong. Dehuai then gives honor to Liu and we see Zedong sadly
walking outside their house. Afterward, Dehuai ordered a violent strike against the enemies.
Then, we see the senior officers come up with a strategy to win the incoming battle.
Meanwhile, in the U.S. Western Front HQ,
the Americans receive the report that Chinese soldiers are attacking simultaneously.
Then, we see the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment that is stationed in Lake Changjin surrounded
by Chinese soldiers. While on standby, Wanli asks Qianli if he was there when their brother,
Baili died. Qianli tells Wanli that Baili lost the other half of his body because of an explosion
and he can’t do anything to help him no matter how he tried. He then revealed that Baili asks him to
take his life to end his suffering. Wanli asks his brother to let him stay by his side so that if he
ends up like Baili, Qianli will be able to help him too, which makes the older brother emotional.
The next day, the Chinese soldiers calculate the movements of the enemies and are determined to
eliminate Smith and his Corps. When night falls, the soldiers get on their way to the highland
where they will block the enemy’s route. On November 27, the year 1950, the senior commander
ordered the commencing of the general assault. In Singhun-ni, Lake Changjin the battle begins.
The Chinese soldiers charge at the American soldiers, surprising them with their assault.
The Americans have no time to prepare and are forced to react and fight on the spot,
enabling the Chinese to gain the temporary upper hand. They are able to take down trucks,
and towers, but tanks are a real problem for them.
Not long after, the Americans get their pace and manage to even up the battle,
also killing many Chinese soldiers. Qianli manages to destroy a tank after attaching a bomb to it.
Meanwhile, Wanli also manages to destroy another one after he throws a grenade inside the tank.
General Maclean, the commander of the 31st Infantry Regiment orders a full retreat.
But Qianli manages to shoot Maclean, fatally wounding him.
Wanli then arrives and is about to execute Maclean but his brother stops him.
Afterward, the Chinese soldiers begin wrapping up the place when the enemy reinforcements arrive.
A soldier manages to take down an aircraft, but it successfully drops a smoke marker.
Thinking quickly, Lei puts it into a truck and drives alongside the retreating U.S. soldiers.
The aircraft then mistakenly attack their own troops but Lei is also killed in the process.
His comrades attend to him, granting his death wish not to be left alone.
Wanli then remembers his moments with Lei, while Qianli emotionally puts his name on his records,
determined to win the war and bring his men home, in honor of his friend and mentor’s life.
Then, we see different battles between the Chinese and American armies where the Americans
are forced to retreat due to the overwhelmed and simultaneous attacks of the Chinese army.
We also see a Chinese soldier named Yang Gensi, the last surviving man in his unit who’s been
fighting for 24 hours and warded off 7 waves of attacks from the enemy, bravely charges at the
enemy with a satchel charge. Meanwhile, the 1st Division of U.S. Marine is retreating towards
the Hungnam Port when they come across Chinese soldiers that are frozen to death on their post.
Smith salutes them while thinking that fighting against men with strong will
like those of the Chinese, they, the Americans, are not ordained to win.
In an on-screen narration, it is stated that on December 24 of the year 1950,
105,000 soldiers of the U.S. 10th Corps evacuated from the Hungnam Harbor.
The battle of the Lake Changjin is said to set a perfect example for annihilating a U.S. reinforced
regiment during the war to resist U.S. Aggression and to aid Korea. We then see in the background
the wounded soldiers and a pile of dog tags that belong to the fallen. Meanwhile, Gen. McArthur is
silently seating alone, defeated. As the Americans evacuate through their ships, the victorious
Chinese soldiers are all cheering on the shore, raising and waving their guns and flags.
The movie ends with a caption that states “The great spirit from the war remains timeless.
The mighty martyrs of the PVA will never be forgotten.”