Chapter 317

Inside the huge premiere screening hall, third-year student Zhou Qiao looked eagerly at the big screen.

He is a military film buff, but what he basically watches are Hollywood classics like Black Hawk Down, Spy Shadow Layers, Tears of the Sun, Behind Enemy Lines, and Island of Death.

As for domestic films, he has watched the trilogy The Great Decision, especially the first part, which he has seen countless times, and many classic lines come to mind instantly.

Unfortunately, in recent years, there have been far too few exciting domestic military films.

Last year's Assembly Call he went to see, but he didn't find it very thrilling, because the film's main selling point wasn't a particular battle, and the war scenes were just so-so.

He also wrote a film review analyzing why Hollywood military films are better, and posted it on the Douban website.

In short, Hollywood military films have more intense battle scenes—for example, Black Hawk Down is urban combat, Tears of the Sun is jungle warfare, Spy Shadow Layers mainly involves infiltration and hand-to-hand combat; in any case, the battle scenes are quite stimulating.

Secondly, the protagonists have formidable opponents, such as enemy nations, terrorists, or high-level traitors within—essentially powerful organizations, rather than reckless lone warriors.

What attracts him most, however, are all kinds of cool modern weapons and equipment, such as Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, F16 fighter jets, M1 main battle tanks, C130 transport aircraft, Black Hawk helicopters, Global Hawk drones, Hellfire anti-tank missiles, etc. —just looking at these makes him feel the ticket price is worth it! Moreover, modern tactical maneuvers, like various formations, postures, hand signals, code names, how fire teams provide overlapping cover while advancing, and how snipers select positions and conceal themselves, give a direct sense of realism.

By comparison, domestic military films are lacking in far too many aspects.

As a result, over these many years, no high-scoring modern military film has been able to emerge.

The reason is also simple: the important elements of Hollywood classic military films are difficult for domestic films to resolve.

Take the most basic "opponent" problem: aside from casually making anti-Japanese god dramas, other film and TV works cannot pit themselves against any country, and even self-defense counterattacks are too easily brought up.

The 2000 TV series War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which invested 33 million yuan and had 170,000 people participate, has been stuck in the vault for over twenty years and still cannot be aired!

Therefore, whether it's Rush Out of the Amazon or Wolf Warrior 1, they can only go after a few well-fed lone warriors, lacking any behind-the-scenes mastermind or conspiracy, making the plot very bland.

Furthermore, there is a lack of presentable modern weapons; even if they existed, they could not be taken out to torment the crew, so it's only natural that modern domestic military films are not anticipated by the market.

Many military film fans have long since stopped expecting anything.

Until Jiang Heng announced that he would film The Infantry Glory, a sci-fi war theme.

After that, for a considerable period of time, domestic military film fans were all in a state of great excitement.

They discussed on forums, tieba, and QQ groups what Jiang Heng's film would be like—should there be an aircraft carrier? If they could see a Chinese aircraft carrier appear in the film, that would be worth it.

Compared to other directors who brag during promotion but whose films disappoint many viewers upon release, Jiang Heng's reputation remains high.

A host of military film fans have long awaited The Infantry Glory, saying they will go to the cinema to watch it as soon as possible.

But only a handful managed to snag tickets to the premiere screening, and Zhou Qiao was one of the lucky few.

So he doesn't really care about celebrities or publicity stunts.

Just like attending a wedding, he only cares about the banquet and the big elbow, never mind how the ceremony goes!

Fortunately, Jiang Heng and company didn't waste much talk, and we finally got to wait for the preview screening.

Inside the theater, the lights dimmed and the big screen lit up.

After the opening animations of Dragon Mark and Outstanding Rising Film Company, in the dark starry sky, Hu Jie appeared in the void, bare-chested and wearing only a pair of briefs.

Because it's the 3D version, the sense of realism is quite strong, as if a real person were standing right in front of them. The audience in the hall were somewhat puzzled, wondering what the situation was—whether Hu Jie was employing a beauty trap or trying to imitate The Terminator!

Moreover, what's with Hu Jie's silly, goofy expression? As for terms like "sunlight descending to earth," "Shenhe Gene System," and "Invincible Body," most viewers found them somewhat hard to understand.

Fortunately, the plot is still understandable; Hu Jie's portrayal of Ge Xiaolun likely died from a mistaken strike to the temple during a street brawl with Liu Chuan, played by Ding Haifeng, and some system inside his body saved him.

Moreover, the black armor that the system gave Ge Xiaolun still looks quite handsome.

After "repair" was completed, Ge Xiaolun returned to reality and engaged in a major showdown with Liu Chuan in the alley.

Neither of them noticed their own ferocity—for example, Liu Chuan tore out the outdoor unit of an air conditioner with his bare hands, and Ge Xiaolun had his head smashed into the concrete after being hit, yet it seemed like nothing happened.

The audience kept exclaiming in astonishment, this fight was both clumsy and fierce! Afterwards, the female police officer Qilin played by Kelala, along with two other colleagues, appeared.

The young lady wore a hat, a blue short-sleeve top, and a black short skirt; she looked spirited and impressive, her figure striking, instantly drawing the gaze of almost the entire audience.

"Damn, where did Director Jiang find this actor? What a great physique!"

"He's also quite handsome, so cute and fierce!"

"She should be the cute type, but with that stern expression, she's really impressive!"

The audience buzzed with discussion, and in the guest seats, Kelala, who played Qilin, was excited beyond herself.

In South Korea she was just a minor internet celebrity, and at best she only managed to land a second female role in a TV drama.

Now, in The Infantry Glory, as the first female character to appear, her image is this good—she's definitely destined to become a rising star.

Actually, not only the audience, but some bosses and directors present also noticed Kelala's beauty.

Wang Zhonglei's eyes lit up as he muttered, "Little brat, what great fortune you have to find such a beauty!"

On the big screen, a very handsome white fighter jet with a strong sense of modern technology swooped across the sky, instantly making many viewers feel 'spirited'.

Especially military enthusiast Zhou Qiao, who couldn't help but say, "Holy shit, what fighter jet is this? Even the American F-16 looks inferior to it—how was this filmed?"

He seemed, in an instant, to have his mind filled only with this "nonexistent" fighter jet; even the Rose played by Liu Yifei could not attract him much.

Because, a more thrilling and shocking scene appeared.

That is the fighter jet piloted by the Rose, which is to land on the Grand Canyon aircraft carrier of the South Sea Fleet.

But on the broad, calm sea surface, a carrier formation lay still.

The Grand Canyon aircraft carrier among them was huge and tall, with a very long deck, and most importantly, more white fighter jets were parked on it.

Rose piloted the fighter jet, gracefully cutting across the sky, then steadily landing on the deck.

After a few beautiful cut shots, the audience in the venue was about to erupt.

(End of chapter)