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Inchon (film)

Inchon (also stylized as Inchon!) is a 1981 epic 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, alongside Jacqueline Bisset, Ben Gazzara, Toshiro Mifune and Richard Roundtree.

Inchon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTerence Young
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Robin Moore
  • Paul Savage
Produced byMitsuharu Ishii
Starring
CinematographyBruce Surtees
Edited by
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Production
companies
Distributed byMGM/UA Entertainment Co.
Release dates
  • May 4, 1981 (1981-05-04) (Washington, D.C.)
  • September 17, 1982 (1982-09-17) (North America)
Running time
140 minutes (Premiere cut)[1]
105 minutes
Countries
  • South Korea
  • United States
Languages
  • English
  • Korean
Budget$46 million
Box office$5.2 million[2]

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 a cast member. 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in May 1981, the film was released theatrically in the United States and Canada in September 1982, before being quickly withdrawn due to critical and financial failure. Never receiving 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 Canadian Press have classed Inchon among the worst films of all time.

Plot Edit

The film depicts the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War, which took place September 15–19, 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. A subplot in the film involves an American couple who encounter difficulties in their relationship because of the ongoing war.

Inchon begins with North Korean soldiers moving past the 38th parallel north into South Korea in June 1950. People flee to the country's capital, 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, her 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, that he is the only person who can rescue South Korea from the invasion by the North Koreans.

Hallsworth and his former lover succeed in turning on a lighthouse to signal 261 U.S. ships, and the South Korean woman's father activates mines in the channel. She 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.

Cast Edit

Production Edit

Financing Edit

Sun Myung Moon formed One Way Productions in 1974, with Japanese newspaper publisher Mitsuharu Ishii as its head.[3] Before deciding on making a war film, Moon and Ishii considered making biopics of Jesus or Elvis Presley.[4][5] In 1978, psychic Jeanne Dixon was consulted to communicate with the spirit of General MacArthur, and Dixon said that MacArthur's spirit endorsed the production of the film.[6][4][5] Dixon also helped choose Terence Young, known for the James Bond films Dr. No, Thunderball, and From Russia with Love, to direct the film.[4][5]

Inchon was financed by Moon and Ishii.[7][4][5] Moon was involved with the film's production from the very beginning.[6] Ishii, a member of the Unification movement in Japan and a friend of Moon, served as the film's producer; and Moon, although credited as "Special Advisor on Korean Matters", contributed $30 million to One Way Productions.[6][8][9] Moon initially did not want the public to know that he was behind the financing of the film and its production;[4] however, upon the film's U.S. release, Moon was identified in newspaper ads as the film's "special advisor".[10] Ishii said he was instructed by God to make the film.[8] Additional funding was provided by Robert Standard, the associate producer and a member of the Unification Church of the United States.[6][11]

Ishii said he was a member of the Unification movement "just like a Catholic is a member of the Catholic Church and I believe Rev. Moon is very sincere about doing the Lord's work". Ishii was president of the World Daily News, which is published by Moon's media conglomerate News World Communications which also published other newspapers, including The Washington Times in the United States.

Inchon was initially budgeted at $18 million,[12] but cost $46 million to produce.[2][13][14] Attempts to solicit funding from Japanese banks fell through, and so the entire project was funded by Moon and the Unification Church.[15]

In his book Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, author and scholar of religion J. Gordon Melton noted that "Moon has attempted to project his ideas into all areas of American society" and cited Inchon as an example.[16] Moon later said in a talk to movement members: "Why did we put so much effort into the movie Inchon? No matter what the result the motivation was for people to understand about MacArthur. I wanted to show how MacArthur loved God and loved people. MacArthur came to Japan after World War II and put the nation back together. He really respected and loved the people. He also loved God very much and fought with great strength against tyranny and communism. That is what I want the people to understand."[17]

Writing Edit

Ishii was inspired to write a film with an international cast after watching a South Korean dramatization of the war. He wanted the film to be an "entertaining action film", but also said he was "very interested in depicting MacArthur as a human being and I want the world to know how miserable the war was for the Korean people."[6]

Moore commented on the writing process: "The theme I had to deal with in Inchon was too big for a movie that was less than two hours. When Toho was originally involved, they wanted a love story between an American boy and a Korean girl. My technique is to research and then fictionalize, a technique I used successfully in French Connection. But I had to fictionalize the real landing at Inchon, making it seem that a lighthouse was a pivotal factor when in fact it wasn't. I couldn't do that, which is why other writers were brought in."[18]

Ishii instructed Moore to include an emphasis on General MacArthur's spiritualism and faith in divine guidance. He told Moore to include three separate love stories in the film, "one between two Americans, one between two Koreans, and one between an American and a Korean". Moore explained that "the love stories were supposed to tell the story of the tragedy of Korea, the tragedy of the Korean War". Ishii stated to Moore that he did not wish for the movie to turn into an "anti-Communist tract". Prior to the completion of the film's screenplay, the film's producers encountered difficulties obtaining an affiliation with a movie studio. Ishii said that North Korea placed pressure on Toho Studios through labor unions in Japan, requesting that the studio pulled out of its affiliation with Inchon. The labor unions criticized the film's production, saying that it was influenced by Moon and his Unification movement, in addition to the Korean CIA and was part of an effort to support the president of South Korea. Because of this criticism, Toho Studios canceled its participation in the Inchon project.[6]

Casting Edit

Laurence Olivier was paid $1 million to play General Douglas MacArthur in the film.[4] He was contracted for six weeks of filming, and received a payment of $250,000 upon signing the contract and the remainder was given in four subsequent installments.[15] His salary came out to $50,000 per day.[18] In addition to this fee, Olivier also received $2,500 per week for his expenses.[15] Olivier was interviewed during the film's production and explained why he agreed to be part of its cast: "People ask me why I'm playing in this picture. The answer is simple. Money, dear boy. I'm like a vintage wine. You have to drink me quickly before I turn sour. I'm almost used up now and I can feel the end coming. That's why I'm taking money now. I've got nothing to leave my family but the money I can make from films. Nothing is beneath me if it pays well. I've earned the right to damn well grab whatever I can in the time I've got left."[7]

Olivier researched the role by traveling to Norfolk, Virginia to visit the MacArthur Museum, and speaking with Alexander Haig, who had served as aide-de-camp to MacArthur.[15] Haig told Olivier that MacArthur's voice sounded like W. C. Fields, and Olivier tried to imitate this.[5] He enjoyed working with accents and obtained recordings of MacArthur's voice. He was interested in various inconsistencies in these recordings, and especially in the difference in vowel sounds made by MacArthur.[7] During filming, the makeup process for Olivier took two and a half hours, but after it was complete, he thought he neither looked like himself nor like General MacArthur.[15]

The 72-year-old Olivier, who had been in poor health for years, suffered during filming in Seoul because of the summer heat. Director Terence Young recalled that between takes Olivier lay on a cot, virtually immobile with pain and exhaustion, but that when needed "he dropped fifty years and stepped forward without complaint".[19]

Richard Roundtree, known for the title role in the film Shaft, portrayed the character of Staff Sgt. Henderson in the film.[9] Janssen, known for his role in television series The Fugitive, accepted a part as a journalist to work with Laurence Olivier.[20] Actress Karen Kahn portrayed the young Korean lover of Major Frank Hallsworth in the film. In a subsequent interview with The Press Democrat, Kahn said of the film: "It was supposed to be this Gone with the Wind. And it was the worst movie. It's in some of those worst-films-of-all-time books. After that movie I quit. I just couldn't take L.A. I was really thin-skinned. So I just got out."[21]

Young was paid $1.8 million, Jacqueline Bisset was paid $1.65 million, Ben Gazzara was paid $750,000, David Janssen was paid $300,000, Roundtree was paid $200,000, and Rex Reed was paid $6,000 per week. Prior to Gazzara receiving the role for Frank Hallsworth it was offered to Nick Nolte for $1.5 million.[12] Olivier and Young later sued One Way Productions for $1 million each citing overtime.[22]

Music Edit

Jerry Goldsmith wrote the score for the film.[23] The music was recorded at Rome's Forum Studio in July 1980 and was fraught with difficulties—the studio was not large enough for his orchestra, and room noise made by the players and their equipment affected the tracks.[24]

In spite of the problems, Goldsmith was pleased with his score, describing it as a chance to "create interesting music out of a bad situation". The original 1982 soundtrack LP comprised 38 minutes of music, edited and assembled by Goldsmith and engineer Leonard Engel into an ideal listening experience rather than a chronological one. The album was issued on Regency Records; Intrada Records prepared a remixed edition of the complete score in 1988. In 2006 Intrada revisited the score and issued a two-disc set, with the original LP making its compact disc debut on disc 1 and the entire score presented in film order on disc 2.[25]

Disc 1: Original LP Presentation
No.TitleLength
1."Main Title"2:22
2."Resignation"2:10
3."The Bridge"3:30
4."The Church"3:57
5."The Mines"4:19
6."Task Force"3:06
7."Medley"2:13
8."Love Theme"3:00
9."The Tanks"3:41
10."Lim's Death"3:12
11."The Trucks"3:00
12."Inchon Theme"3:21
Total length:38:27
Disc 2: Complete Score Restoration
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue and Main Title"3:48
2."The Bridge"3:30
3."The 38th Parallel"1:17
4."Medley"2:13
5."Love Theme"3:00
6."The Aftermath"0:53
7."The Tanks"3:41
8."A Change of Course"1:13
9."The Church"2:24
10."MacArthur's Arrival"0:50
11."The Harbor"1:15
12."The Trucks"3:00
13."Corpses"1:18
14."The Children"0:48
15."The Apology"2:38
16."The Lighthouse"2:28
17."The Clock Watcher"0:35
18."The Mines"5:37
19."Resignation"2:10
20."The Landing"1:18
21."Lim's Death"2:09
22."The Scroll"2:21
23."Task Force"3:06
24."Inchon Theme"3:21
Total length:55:23

Filming Edit

Shooting took place in Hollywood, Rome, Ireland, Tokyo and Seoul. The involvement of Moon was "adamantly denied". Moon recommended editing and reshooting changes to the film's script, which "caused the production to return to South Korea three times, Rome twice and Los Angeles twice."[6][7][1]

The film included several technical errors. Cut-out cardboard pieces were used to depict military aircraft during battle scenes in the film, and one film critic said viewers were almost able to identify the threads attached to the cardboard cut-outs. Footage of a digital watch was spliced into the film, though this technology would not be invented for twenty-five years after the film's time period.[6] There were other problems. Bisset developed laryngitis during the film's production.[5] A set-piece for the film included a re-created version of a lighthouse at Incheon, but this was obliterated by a typhoon.[26] The death of David Janssen during production called for extensive reshoots.[27]

During the filming of the landing at Inchon a mistake was made in which the ships turned right rather than left. This was due to an aide, whose walkie-talkie was broken, not relaying the correct information due to fear of embarrassment. The filming mistake cost around $500,000. $1 million was spent to bring the crew back to film the three minute scene depicting MacArthur's victory parade. Principal photography cost $26 million and reshoots in other countries cost $22 million. Sidney Beckerman was paid $350,000 to consult Ishii during the editing process.[28]

The production hired Samuel Jaskilka, a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General who took part in the Battle of Inchon as a company commander, as technical advisor to the film.[9] A portion of the movie was filmed aboard the USS Cleveland, an Austin-class amphibious transport dock during an amphibious operation off the coast of South Korea in 1978.[29] The United States Department of Defense allowed 1,500 soldiers from the United States Army and United States Marine Corps to participate as extras in the film, at a cost of $77,000.[6][9][26]

The Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea, founded by Moon in 1962, was featured in the film, along with many Unification movement members.[6] After shooting had finished in South Korea, Olivier returned to England. He was needed in South Korea to shoot the final scene, but as a concession to his poor health, was allowed to film in Rome instead.[7] The film's director Terence Young was not happy with the completed version of the film and said, "the producers have turned Inchon into a Korean propaganda movie."[6] Ishii said: "No problem. We have 20 nations who want this movie."[9]

Release Edit

The world premiere was held in Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1981, via special screening at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,[6][9] as a benefit for retired United States Navy personnel chaired by Senator Alfonse D'Amato.[30] This was the only time the film was screened in its full 140-minute version.[7] Between 25 and 100 protesters came to demonstrate outside the Center.[9][31][32]

The gala was a benefit for retired Naval personal sponsored by D'Amato, but he declined to attend when it was announced that Moon would be in attendance.[33] Twelve Congressmen signed on as honorary members of the benefit committee. Although an additional forty-eight Members of Congress accepted tickets to the premiere, Lawrence H. Suid wrote in Guts & Glory that "... no more than fifteen or sixteen were willing to brave the pickets outside the Kennedy Center protesting the Unification Church and its involvement with the movie."[6]

On February 13, 1982, President Ronald Reagan, himself a former film actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild,[34] screened the film in the White House.[35] He noted in his diary: "Ran Inchon—it is a brutal but gripping picture about the Korean War and for once we're the good guys and the Communists are the villains. The producer was Japanese or Korean which probably explains the preceding sentence".[36]

Promotion Edit

The Unification movement wanted to distribute on their own, but Young told them this would result in a "total disaster".[15] The Church did however front the full $11 million promotion budget.[37] The press releases made many mystical claims, such as of a B-29 bomber pilot seeing the face of Jesus Christ during the war, or of MacArthur's spirit causing his face to appear on a photograph of his office door.[6] The press kit also claimed that MacArthur had endorsed the film from the spiritual world (MacArthur having died in 1964).[35]

Distribution Edit

Inchon screened at the 35th Cannes Film Festival in May 1982 but failed to interest any buyers despite a $250,000 publicity campaign,[27][38][39] which included hiring the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan to arrange a large party and give out promotional Inchon jackets.[38]

In August 1982, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contracted distribution rights.[30] One Way Productions came to an agreement with MGM that it would cover the costs associated with advertising and distributing if MGM agreed to distribute Inchon for a profit share of only 15%.[37] The normal profit fee for distributors was 30%.[37] One Way also convinced Moon to change his credit from spiritual advisor to special advisor.[40]

The film, cut to 105 minutes, was released in the United States on September 17, 1982,[8] but was swiftly pulled from theater exhibitions due to poor commercial performance. It was never shown in the United Kingdom.[41][15]

Home media Edit

After its release, Inchon was never theatrically rereleased, and never issued on videocassette or DVD.[1][42] However, it did air on U.S. cable television outlet Goodlife Television Network, at the time owned by the Unification movement.[43] Bootleg copies circulated from individuals that had copied Inchon from these television broadcasts.[43]

Response Edit

Box office Edit

The film's total North American gross was $1.9 million.[7] It eventually took in $5.2 million at the box office.[2] Inchon lost over $44 million, and was the year's largest cinematic financial failure.[13][44] In 1989, a survey released by the entertainment research firm Baseline identified Inchon as "the biggest box-office fiasco of the 1980s".[13][45]

Inchon has been included on multiple lists of box office bombs.[46][47] Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune placed Inchon as number six in a "list of Hollywood's 10 worst mega-flops".[48] Wilmington noted that Inchon displaced the 1980 film Heaven's Gate as "the bomb of the decade".[48] The Washington Post described Inchon as "one of the biggest commercial disasters in film history".[49] In 1995, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that The Guinness Book of World Records called Inchon "the biggest money-loser in film history".[46] Inchon was one of the "10 costliest movies", adjusted for inflation, at $173 million in 1997 dollars.[50] In a 2006 list of "The top 10 biggest box office failures", Kat Giantis of MSN Movies placed Inchon as tied with Battlefield Earth (a science fiction film based on a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, the fact this film was based on a book written by the founder of the Scientology religion meant that it was heavily promoted by Scientologists) for number seven.[51]

Critical reception Edit

Most newspaper reviewers gave negative reviews, among them were The Boston Globe,[52] The Philadelphia Inquirer,[37] The Miami Herald[8] and The Washington Post.[53] In The New York Times, critic Vincent Canby commented, "Inchon is a hysterical historical epic, somewhat less offensive than The Green Berets and far funnier...Inchon looks like the most expensive B-movie ever made."[1] A review in Variety commented, "Olivier is convincing in his role throughout most of the saga, the only member of the cast to achieve that status. The screenplay generally treats all others as one-dimensional buffoons, giving them lines that are unintentionally laughable. One reason is that all plot digressions are simply window dressing to the film's focus on the brutally invading North Koreans and the big-scale counterattack by the good guys. No speaking roles are given to the Communists, for example."[54]

Moon founded The Washington Times in Washington, D.C., as a part of his international media conglomerate News World Communications in the same year Inchon was released.[55] According to The Times' rival The Washington Post, a full-length two and a half page version of a film review of Inchon written by critic Scott Sublett that was originally planned for the September 16, 1982 issue of The Times was killed by the newspaper's publisher and editor James R. Whelan.[31] Whelan told Sublett that The Times had a conflict of interest with regard to reviewing Inchon, and would not print his review.[31] Instead, The Times printed a one-paragraph critical synopsis of the film, also written by Sublett, which said in full: "Puerile dialogue, perfunctory acting and haphazard construction doom from the start this visually impressive would-be epic about love and dead Reds in wartime Korea. Olivier (in a performance that is the nadir of his career) joshes, minces and rolls his eyes absurdly as Doug MacArthur. The script, by Robin Moore, is pure twaddle – a cross between South Pacific and The Green Berets."[31][56] Moore is the author of the novel The Green Berets, upon which the 1968 film was based.[57] On September 21, The Washington Times printed The New York Times′ review of the film.[58] Reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert selected the film as one of the worst of the year in a 1982 episode of their program Sneak Previews.[59]

Later commentary Edit

Multiple commentators have described Inchon as the worst film ever made, including The Washington Post,[60] Newsweek,[61] TV Guide[5] and the Canadian Press.[62] Inchon was later profiled in multiple books on worst in film, including The Hollywood Hall of Shame by Harry and Michael Medved,[63] and The Worst Movies of All Time by Michael Sauter.[64] In 2000, Kenneth Lloyd Billingsley, writing in the libertarian magazine Reason, said about a proposed film on Stalinism: "A film like this could easily have turned out as big a didactic dud as the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's 1982 bomb, Inchon, with Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur."[65] A 2009 review by Phil Hall for Film Threat was less negative, and he disagreed with the characterization of the film as the worst ever made, "I was genuinely surprised — this is hardly among the very worst films of all time. That's not to say it is a good film. It is a dull and forgettable movie, and I would never recommend it. However, its reputation for being among the bottom of the cinematic barrel is wholly undeserved."[43]

A review in Brassey's Guide to War Films by Alun Evans was critical, calling the film "Arguably the worst war picture made in the last quarter of the 20th century".[66] Robert Niemi commented in his book History in the Media: Film and Television, "Plagued with a terrible script, horrendous production problems, and shoddy performances all around, the resulting film, Inchon ... was bad beyond belief."[4] Niemi wrote that Olivier's performance "was a low point in an otherwise distinguished film career".[4] In his biography of the actor, Olivier, author Terry Coleman called the film "probably the worst he ever made and one of the best paid".[15] Author Lawrence H. Suid wrote in Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film that "what combat the film portrayed lacked any believability or authenticity... As a result, the movie met with almost unanimous critical disdain."[6]

Accolades Edit

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ a b c d Canby, Vincent (September 17, 1982). "'Inchon,' at last". The New York Times. p. C9. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Box Office Mojo staff (2009). "Inchon (1982)". Box Office Mojo. www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  3. ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 188.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Niemi, Robert (2006). History in the Media: Film and Television. ABC-CLIO. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-57607-952-2.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g TV Guide staff. "Inchon - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Suid, Lawrence H. (2002). Guts & Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 395–401, 720. ISBN 0-8131-9018-5.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Vermilye, Jerry (1992). The Complete Films Of Laurence Olivier. Citadel Press. pp. 214–216. ISBN 0-8065-1302-0.
  8. ^ a b c d Kelleher, Terry (September 20, 1982). "'Inchon reflects only the cult of bad moviemaking". The Miami Herald. p. 5C.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Allen, Henry (May 5, 1981). "Pickets & Politics at the Second Battle of 'Inchon'". The Washington Post. p. B1.
  10. ^ "Advertisement for Inchon". The New York Times. September 17, 1982. p. C7.
  11. ^ Vagg, Stephen (March 10, 2020). "Ten Billionaires Who Were Stung by Hollywood". Filmink.
  12. ^ a b Medved & Medved 1984, p. 190.
  13. ^ a b c "'Inchon' Tops List of '80s Flops". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. November 29, 1989. p. E1.
  14. ^ Rickey, Carrie (Knight-Ridder Tribune News Service) (December 28, 1989). "$44.1 million loss earns 'Inchon' dubious honor". Austin American-Statesman. p. G3.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Coleman, Terry (2005). Olivier. Macmillan. p. 423. ISBN 0-8050-8136-4.
  16. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (1992). Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. Routledge. p. 298. ISBN 0-8153-1140-0.
  17. ^ Ocean Church and America Sun Myung Moon, 1982
  18. ^ a b McCabe, Bruce (September 17, 1982). "Movies Bruce McCabe - Moon and Inchon". Boston Globe. Globe Newspaper Company.
  19. ^ Laurence Olivier: A Biography, Donald Spoto, Cooper Square Press, 2001, p.393.
  20. ^ "The David Jansen Archives". Retrieved March 16, 2010.
  21. ^ Garcia, Chris (October 30, 1994). "Windsor mom gets break in 'Village'". The Press Democrat. p. Q5.
  22. ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 198.
  23. ^ Ryan, Desmond (September 19, 1982). "On movies - For the moviemakers, it was a billion-dollar summer". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. I03.
  24. ^ Joe Sikoryak, pgs. 3-4, liner notes, Inchon Intrada Special Collection No. 35.
  25. ^ Douglass Fake, ps. 5-7, liner notes, Inchon Intrada Special Collection No. 35.
  26. ^ a b Schlueter, Roger (May 22, 2006). "Answer Man". Belleville News-Democrat. p. 1C.
  27. ^ a b Ryan, Desmond (June 6, 1982). "On movies: Bond is booming, but 'Inchon' may be a very costly bomb". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. L03.
  28. ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 193-195.
  29. ^ Kinney, C.H. (March 1, 1979). "OPNAV REPORT 5750-1" (PDF). USS Cleveland (LPD-7). www.history.navy.mil. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  30. ^ a b Pond, Steve (August 12, 1982). "Epic deals". The Washington Post. p. E7.
  31. ^ a b c d Romano, Lois (September 18, 1982). "Review is Killed". The Washington Post. p. C1.
  32. ^ Washington Star (May 5, 1981). "Critics carry warning signs: It's Moon". Boston Globe. Globe Newspaper Company.
  33. ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 195-196.
  34. ^ . Screen Actors Guild. Archived from the original on December 28, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  35. ^ a b Gorenfeld, John (2008). Bad Moon Rising. PoliPointPress. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-9794822-3-6.
  36. ^ Reagan, Ronald, The Reagan Diaries, 2009, HarperCollins ISBN 0-06-155833-8, ISBN 978-0-06-155833-7
  37. ^ a b c d Ryan, Desmond (September 20, 1982). "Review - MacArthur as a soldier of Christ". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D01.
  38. ^ a b Goldfarb, Michael (May 23, 1982). "Notes From All Over". The Washington Post. p. E3.
  39. ^ United Press International (May 18, 1982). "Disputed Korean Film Creating Stir at Cannes". The New York Times. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  40. ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 196.
  41. ^ King, Susan (August 20, 2002). "Film flops: Even Hollywood greats trip up - Murphy's 'Nash' may earn him a spot in the hall of shame". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. p. 06.
  42. ^ Weinberg, Marc (May 1982). "Money for Nothing". Orange Coast Magazine. Emmis Communications. p. 104. ISSN 0279-0483.
  43. ^ a b c Hall, Phil (February 20, 2009). "The Bootleg Files: Inchon". Film Threat. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  44. ^ Hadleigh, Boze (2001). The Lavender Screen. Citadel. p. 195. ISBN 0-8065-2199-6.
  45. ^ Aucoin, Don (November 19, 1989). "Really gross earnings". Boston Globe. Globe Newspaper Company. p. 12.
  46. ^ a b Guthmann, Edward (July 23, 1995). "Big-Bucks Bombs That Hit Hollywood". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 27. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  47. ^ Tugend, Tom (December 7, 1989). "Biggest Bombs". The Jerusalem Post. p. 06.
  48. ^ a b Wilmington, Michael (April 14, 1996). "Films that went splat - From 'Intolerance' to 'Cutthroat Island.' 10 of Hollywood's messiest box-office disasters". Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
  49. ^ The Washington Post staff (September 9, 1994). "Terence Young dies - Directed Bond movies". The Washington Post. p. B6.
  50. ^ Wilmington, Michael (December 14, 1997). "The costliest". Chicago Tribune. p. 1.
  51. ^ Giantis, Kat (2006). . MSN Movies. movies.msn.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  52. ^ McCabe, Bruce (September 18, 1982). "Korean War as pop cartoon". The Boston Globe.
  53. ^ Arnold, Gary (September 17, 1982). "'Inchon': An Epic Bungle". The Washington Post. p. D1.
  54. ^ Variety staff (January 1, 1981). "Inchon Review". Variety. www.variety.com. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  55. ^ AROUND THE NATION; Sun Myung Moon Paper Appears in Washington from The New York Times
  56. ^ "Did D.C. Times kill critical review of movie?". The Miami Herald. Associated Press. September 19, 1982. p. 19A.
  57. ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 189.
  58. ^ "D.C. Times fires back". Milwaukee Journal. September 21, 1982.
  59. ^ . Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  60. ^ Mayo, Mike (April 13, 1997). "Hollywood's untaped resources - worthwhile movies don't always make it to video". The Washington Post. p. G7.
  61. ^ Boedeker, Hal (July 21, 1989). "The Magic of Olivier his film legacy sets standard for all actors". The Miami Herald. p. 36G. The worst of his choices was probably taking on the role of Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1982's Inchon. Newsweek called Inchon 'the worst movie ever made, a turkey the size of Godzilla.'
  62. ^ McKay, John (Canadian Press) (March 23, 2004). "Welch fleshes out worst in film". The Record (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada). p. E4.
  63. ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 186.
  64. ^ Sauter, Michael (1999). The Worst Movies of All Time: Or, What Were They Thinking?. Citadel Press. p. 197. ISBN 0-8065-2078-7.
  65. ^ Billingsley, Kenneth Lloyd (July 22, 2007). "Hollywood's Missing Movies". Reason. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  66. ^ Evans, Alun (2000). Brassey's Guide to War Films. Potomac Books Inc. p. 103. ISBN 1-57488-263-5.
  67. ^ Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide. Warner Books. p. 344. ISBN 0-446-69334-0. OCLC 56033390.
  68. ^ . Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2013.

Works cited Edit

Further reading Edit

External links Edit

inchon, film, inchon, also, stylized, inchon, 1981, epic, film, about, battle, inchon, considered, turning, point, korean, directed, terence, young, financed, unification, movement, founder, myung, moon, film, stars, laurence, olivier, general, douglas, macart. Inchon also stylized as Inchon is a 1981 epic 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 alongside Jacqueline Bisset Ben Gazzara Toshiro Mifune and Richard Roundtree InchonTheatrical release posterDirected byTerence YoungScreenplay byLaird Koenig Robin MooreStory byRobin Moore Paul SavageProduced byMitsuharu IshiiStarringLaurence Olivier Jacqueline Bisset Ben Gazzara Toshiro Mifune Richard RoundtreeCinematographyBruce SurteesEdited byJohn W Holmes Dallas Sunday Puett Michael Sheridan Peter TaylorMusic byJerry GoldsmithProductioncompaniesMetro Goldwyn Mayer One Way Productions News World CommunicationsDistributed byMGM UA Entertainment Co Release datesMay 4 1981 1981 05 04 Washington D C September 17 1982 1982 09 17 North America Running time140 minutes Premiere cut 1 105 minutesCountriesSouth KoreaUnited StatesLanguagesEnglishKoreanBudget 46 millionBox office 5 2 million 2 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 a cast member 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 Never receiving 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 Canadian Press have classed Inchon among the worst films of all time Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3 1 Financing 3 2 Writing 3 3 Casting 3 4 Music 3 5 Filming 4 Release 4 1 Promotion 4 2 Distribution 4 3 Home media 5 Response 5 1 Box office 5 2 Critical reception 5 3 Later commentary 5 4 Accolades 6 See also 7 References 8 Works cited 9 Further reading 10 External linksPlot EditThe film depicts the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War which took place September 15 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 A subplot in the film involves an American couple who encounter difficulties in their relationship because of the ongoing war Inchon begins with North Korean soldiers moving past the 38th parallel north into South Korea in June 1950 People flee to the country s capital 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 her 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 that he is the only person who can rescue South Korea from the invasion by the North Koreans Hallsworth and his former lover succeed in turning on a lighthouse to signal 261 U S ships and the South Korean woman s father activates mines in the channel She 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 Cast EditLaurence Olivier as General Douglas MacArthur Jacqueline Bisset as Barbara Hallsworth Ben Gazzara as Major Frank Hallsworth Toshiro Mifune as Saito Richard Roundtree as Sergeant Augustus Henderson David Janssen as David Feld Namkoong Won as Park Karen Kahn as Lim Rex Reed as Longfellow Gabriele Ferzetti as Turkish Brigadier Sabine Sun as Marguerite Dorothy James as Jean MacArthurProduction EditFinancing Edit Sun Myung Moon formed One Way Productions in 1974 with Japanese newspaper publisher Mitsuharu Ishii as its head 3 Before deciding on making a war film Moon and Ishii considered making biopics of Jesus or Elvis Presley 4 5 In 1978 psychic Jeanne Dixon was consulted to communicate with the spirit of General MacArthur and Dixon said that MacArthur s spirit endorsed the production of the film 6 4 5 Dixon also helped choose Terence Young known for the James Bond films Dr No Thunderball and From Russia with Love to direct the film 4 5 Inchon was financed by Moon and Ishii 7 4 5 Moon was involved with the film s production from the very beginning 6 Ishii a member of the Unification movement in Japan and a friend of Moon served as the film s producer and Moon although credited as Special Advisor on Korean Matters contributed 30 million to One Way Productions 6 8 9 Moon initially did not want the public to know that he was behind the financing of the film and its production 4 however upon the film s U S release Moon was identified in newspaper ads as the film s special advisor 10 Ishii said he was instructed by God to make the film 8 Additional funding was provided by Robert Standard the associate producer and a member of the Unification Church of the United States 6 11 Ishii said he was a member of the Unification movement just like a Catholic is a member of the Catholic Church and I believe Rev Moon is very sincere about doing the Lord s work Ishii was president of the World Daily News which is published by Moon s media conglomerate News World Communications which also published other newspapers including The Washington Times in the United States Inchon was initially budgeted at 18 million 12 but cost 46 million to produce 2 13 14 Attempts to solicit funding from Japanese banks fell through and so the entire project was funded by Moon and the Unification Church 15 In his book Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America author and scholar of religion J Gordon Melton noted that Moon has attempted to project his ideas into all areas of American society and cited Inchon as an example 16 Moon later said in a talk to movement members Why did we put so much effort into the movie Inchon No matter what the result the motivation was for people to understand about MacArthur I wanted to show how MacArthur loved God and loved people MacArthur came to Japan after World War II and put the nation back together He really respected and loved the people He also loved God very much and fought with great strength against tyranny and communism That is what I want the people to understand 17 Writing Edit Ishii was inspired to write a film with an international cast after watching a South Korean dramatization of the war He wanted the film to be an entertaining action film but also said he was very interested in depicting MacArthur as a human being and I want the world to know how miserable the war was for the Korean people 6 Moore commented on the writing process The theme I had to deal with in Inchon was too big for a movie that was less than two hours When Toho was originally involved they wanted a love story between an American boy and a Korean girl My technique is to research and then fictionalize a technique I used successfully in French Connection But I had to fictionalize the real landing at Inchon making it seem that a lighthouse was a pivotal factor when in fact it wasn t I couldn t do that which is why other writers were brought in 18 Ishii instructed Moore to include an emphasis on General MacArthur s spiritualism and faith in divine guidance He told Moore to include three separate love stories in the film one between two Americans one between two Koreans and one between an American and a Korean Moore explained that the love stories were supposed to tell the story of the tragedy of Korea the tragedy of the Korean War Ishii stated to Moore that he did not wish for the movie to turn into an anti Communist tract Prior to the completion of the film s screenplay the film s producers encountered difficulties obtaining an affiliation with a movie studio Ishii said that North Korea placed pressure on Toho Studios through labor unions in Japan requesting that the studio pulled out of its affiliation with Inchon The labor unions criticized the film s production saying that it was influenced by Moon and his Unification movement in addition to the Korean CIA and was part of an effort to support the president of South Korea Because of this criticism Toho Studios canceled its participation in the Inchon project 6 Casting Edit Laurence Olivier was paid 1 million to play General Douglas MacArthur in the film 4 He was contracted for six weeks of filming and received a payment of 250 000 upon signing the contract and the remainder was given in four subsequent installments 15 His salary came out to 50 000 per day 18 In addition to this fee Olivier also received 2 500 per week for his expenses 15 Olivier was interviewed during the film s production and explained why he agreed to be part of its cast People ask me why I m playing in this picture The answer is simple Money dear boy I m like a vintage wine You have to drink me quickly before I turn sour I m almost used up now and I can feel the end coming That s why I m taking money now I ve got nothing to leave my family but the money I can make from films Nothing is beneath me if it pays well I ve earned the right to damn well grab whatever I can in the time I ve got left 7 Olivier researched the role by traveling to Norfolk Virginia to visit the MacArthur Museum and speaking with Alexander Haig who had served as aide de camp to MacArthur 15 Haig told Olivier that MacArthur s voice sounded like W C Fields and Olivier tried to imitate this 5 He enjoyed working with accents and obtained recordings of MacArthur s voice He was interested in various inconsistencies in these recordings and especially in the difference in vowel sounds made by MacArthur 7 During filming the makeup process for Olivier took two and a half hours but after it was complete he thought he neither looked like himself nor like General MacArthur 15 The 72 year old Olivier who had been in poor health for years suffered during filming in Seoul because of the summer heat Director Terence Young recalled that between takes Olivier lay on a cot virtually immobile with pain and exhaustion but that when needed he dropped fifty years and stepped forward without complaint 19 Richard Roundtree known for the title role in the film Shaft portrayed the character of Staff Sgt Henderson in the film 9 Janssen known for his role in television series The Fugitive accepted a part as a journalist to work with Laurence Olivier 20 Actress Karen Kahn portrayed the young Korean lover of Major Frank Hallsworth in the film In a subsequent interview with The Press Democrat Kahn said of the film It was supposed to be this Gone with the Wind And it was the worst movie It s in some of those worst films of all time books After that movie I quit I just couldn t take L A I was really thin skinned So I just got out 21 Young was paid 1 8 million Jacqueline Bisset was paid 1 65 million Ben Gazzara was paid 750 000 David Janssen was paid 300 000 Roundtree was paid 200 000 and Rex Reed was paid 6 000 per week Prior to Gazzara receiving the role for Frank Hallsworth it was offered to Nick Nolte for 1 5 million 12 Olivier and Young later sued One Way Productions for 1 million each citing overtime 22 Music Edit Jerry Goldsmith wrote the score for the film 23 The music was recorded at Rome s Forum Studio in July 1980 and was fraught with difficulties the studio was not large enough for his orchestra and room noise made by the players and their equipment affected the tracks 24 In spite of the problems Goldsmith was pleased with his score describing it as a chance to create interesting music out of a bad situation The original 1982 soundtrack LP comprised 38 minutes of music edited and assembled by Goldsmith and engineer Leonard Engel into an ideal listening experience rather than a chronological one The album was issued on Regency Records Intrada Records prepared a remixed edition of the complete score in 1988 In 2006 Intrada revisited the score and issued a two disc set with the original LP making its compact disc debut on disc 1 and the entire score presented in film order on disc 2 25 Disc 1 Original LP PresentationNo TitleLength1 Main Title 2 222 Resignation 2 103 The Bridge 3 304 The Church 3 575 The Mines 4 196 Task Force 3 067 Medley 2 138 Love Theme 3 009 The Tanks 3 4110 Lim s Death 3 1211 The Trucks 3 0012 Inchon Theme 3 21Total length 38 27 Disc 2 Complete Score RestorationNo TitleLength1 Prologue and Main Title 3 482 The Bridge 3 303 The 38th Parallel 1 174 Medley 2 135 Love Theme 3 006 The Aftermath 0 537 The Tanks 3 418 A Change of Course 1 139 The Church 2 2410 MacArthur s Arrival 0 5011 The Harbor 1 1512 The Trucks 3 0013 Corpses 1 1814 The Children 0 4815 The Apology 2 3816 The Lighthouse 2 2817 The Clock Watcher 0 3518 The Mines 5 3719 Resignation 2 1020 The Landing 1 1821 Lim s Death 2 0922 The Scroll 2 2123 Task Force 3 0624 Inchon Theme 3 21Total length 55 23 Filming Edit Shooting took place in Hollywood Rome Ireland Tokyo and Seoul The involvement of Moon was adamantly denied Moon recommended editing and reshooting changes to the film s script which caused the production to return to South Korea three times Rome twice and Los Angeles twice 6 7 1 The film included several technical errors Cut out cardboard pieces were used to depict military aircraft during battle scenes in the film and one film critic said viewers were almost able to identify the threads attached to the cardboard cut outs Footage of a digital watch was spliced into the film though this technology would not be invented for twenty five years after the film s time period 6 There were other problems Bisset developed laryngitis during the film s production 5 A set piece for the film included a re created version of a lighthouse at Incheon but this was obliterated by a typhoon 26 The death of David Janssen during production called for extensive reshoots 27 During the filming of the landing at Inchon a mistake was made in which the ships turned right rather than left This was due to an aide whose walkie talkie was broken not relaying the correct information due to fear of embarrassment The filming mistake cost around 500 000 1 million was spent to bring the crew back to film the three minute scene depicting MacArthur s victory parade Principal photography cost 26 million and reshoots in other countries cost 22 million Sidney Beckerman was paid 350 000 to consult Ishii during the editing process 28 The production hired Samuel Jaskilka a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General who took part in the Battle of Inchon as a company commander as technical advisor to the film 9 A portion of the movie was filmed aboard the USS Cleveland an Austin class amphibious transport dock during an amphibious operation off the coast of South Korea in 1978 29 The United States Department of Defense allowed 1 500 soldiers from the United States Army and United States Marine Corps to participate as extras in the film at a cost of 77 000 6 9 26 The Little Angels Children s Folk Ballet of Korea founded by Moon in 1962 was featured in the film along with many Unification movement members 6 After shooting had finished in South Korea Olivier returned to England He was needed in South Korea to shoot the final scene but as a concession to his poor health was allowed to film in Rome instead 7 The film s director Terence Young was not happy with the completed version of the film and said the producers have turned Inchon into a Korean propaganda movie 6 Ishii said No problem We have 20 nations who want this movie 9 Release EditThe world premiere was held in Washington D C on May 4 1981 via special screening at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 6 9 as a benefit for retired United States Navy personnel chaired by Senator Alfonse D Amato 30 This was the only time the film was screened in its full 140 minute version 7 Between 25 and 100 protesters came to demonstrate outside the Center 9 31 32 The gala was a benefit for retired Naval personal sponsored by D Amato but he declined to attend when it was announced that Moon would be in attendance 33 Twelve Congressmen signed on as honorary members of the benefit committee Although an additional forty eight Members of Congress accepted tickets to the premiere Lawrence H Suid wrote in Guts amp Glory that no more than fifteen or sixteen were willing to brave the pickets outside the Kennedy Center protesting the Unification Church and its involvement with the movie 6 On February 13 1982 President Ronald Reagan himself a former film actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild 34 screened the film in the White House 35 He noted in his diary Ran Inchon it is a brutal but gripping picture about the Korean War and for once we re the good guys and the Communists are the villains The producer was Japanese or Korean which probably explains the preceding sentence 36 Promotion Edit The Unification movement wanted to distribute on their own but Young told them this would result in a total disaster 15 The Church did however front the full 11 million promotion budget 37 The press releases made many mystical claims such as of a B 29 bomber pilot seeing the face of Jesus Christ during the war or of MacArthur s spirit causing his face to appear on a photograph of his office door 6 The press kit also claimed that MacArthur had endorsed the film from the spiritual world MacArthur having died in 1964 35 Distribution Edit Inchon screened at the 35th Cannes Film Festival in May 1982 but failed to interest any buyers despite a 250 000 publicity campaign 27 38 39 which included hiring the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan to arrange a large party and give out promotional Inchon jackets 38 In August 1982 Metro Goldwyn Mayer contracted distribution rights 30 One Way Productions came to an agreement with MGM that it would cover the costs associated with advertising and distributing if MGM agreed to distribute Inchon for a profit share of only 15 37 The normal profit fee for distributors was 30 37 One Way also convinced Moon to change his credit from spiritual advisor to special advisor 40 The film cut to 105 minutes was released in the United States on September 17 1982 8 but was swiftly pulled from theater exhibitions due to poor commercial performance It was never shown in the United Kingdom 41 15 Home media Edit After its release Inchon was never theatrically rereleased and never issued on videocassette or DVD 1 42 However it did air on U S cable television outlet Goodlife Television Network at the time owned by the Unification movement 43 Bootleg copies circulated from individuals that had copied Inchon from these television broadcasts 43 Response EditBox office Edit The film s total North American gross was 1 9 million 7 It eventually took in 5 2 million at the box office 2 Inchon lost over 44 million and was the year s largest cinematic financial failure 13 44 In 1989 a survey released by the entertainment research firm Baseline identified Inchon as the biggest box office fiasco of the 1980s 13 45 Inchon has been included on multiple lists of box office bombs 46 47 Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune placed Inchon as number six in a list of Hollywood s 10 worst mega flops 48 Wilmington noted that Inchon displaced the 1980 film Heaven s Gate as the bomb of the decade 48 The Washington Post described Inchon as one of the biggest commercial disasters in film history 49 In 1995 the San Francisco Chronicle reported that The Guinness Book of World Records called Inchon the biggest money loser in film history 46 Inchon was one of the 10 costliest movies adjusted for inflation at 173 million in 1997 dollars 50 In a 2006 list of The top 10 biggest box office failures Kat Giantis of MSN Movies placed Inchon as tied with Battlefield Earth a science fiction film based on a novel by L Ron Hubbard founder of Scientology the fact this film was based on a book written by the founder of the Scientology religion meant that it was heavily promoted by Scientologists for number seven 51 Critical reception Edit Most newspaper reviewers gave negative reviews among them were The Boston Globe 52 The Philadelphia Inquirer 37 The Miami Herald 8 and The Washington Post 53 In The New York Times critic Vincent Canby commented Inchon is a hysterical historical epic somewhat less offensive than The Green Berets and far funnier Inchon looks like the most expensive B movie ever made 1 A review in Variety commented Olivier is convincing in his role throughout most of the saga the only member of the cast to achieve that status The screenplay generally treats all others as one dimensional buffoons giving them lines that are unintentionally laughable One reason is that all plot digressions are simply window dressing to the film s focus on the brutally invading North Koreans and the big scale counterattack by the good guys No speaking roles are given to the Communists for example 54 Moon founded The Washington Times in Washington D C as a part of his international media conglomerate News World Communications in the same year Inchon was released 55 According to The Times rival The Washington Post a full length two and a half page version of a film review of Inchon written by critic Scott Sublett that was originally planned for the September 16 1982 issue of The Times was killed by the newspaper s publisher and editor James R Whelan 31 Whelan told Sublett that The Times had a conflict of interest with regard to reviewing Inchon and would not print his review 31 Instead The Times printed a one paragraph critical synopsis of the film also written by Sublett which said in full Puerile dialogue perfunctory acting and haphazard construction doom from the start this visually impressive would be epic about love and dead Reds in wartime Korea Olivier in a performance that is the nadir of his career joshes minces and rolls his eyes absurdly as Doug MacArthur The script by Robin Moore is pure twaddle a cross between South Pacific and The Green Berets 31 56 Moore is the author of the novel The Green Berets upon which the 1968 film was based 57 On September 21 The Washington Times printed The New York Times review of the film 58 Reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert selected the film as one of the worst of the year in a 1982 episode of their program Sneak Previews 59 Later commentary Edit Multiple commentators have described Inchon as the worst film ever made including The Washington Post 60 Newsweek 61 TV Guide 5 and the Canadian Press 62 Inchon was later profiled in multiple books on worst in film including The Hollywood Hall of Shame by Harry and Michael Medved 63 and The Worst Movies of All Time by Michael Sauter 64 In 2000 Kenneth Lloyd Billingsley writing in the libertarian magazine Reason said about a proposed film on Stalinism A film like this could easily have turned out as big a didactic dud as the Rev Sun Myung Moon s 1982 bomb Inchon with Laurence Olivier as Gen Douglas MacArthur 65 A 2009 review by Phil Hall for Film Threat was less negative and he disagreed with the characterization of the film as the worst ever made I was genuinely surprised this is hardly among the very worst films of all time That s not to say it is a good film It is a dull and forgettable movie and I would never recommend it However its reputation for being among the bottom of the cinematic barrel is wholly undeserved 43 A review in Brassey s Guide to War Films by Alun Evans was critical calling the film Arguably the worst war picture made in the last quarter of the 20th century 66 Robert Niemi commented in his book History in the Media Film and Television Plagued with a terrible script horrendous production problems and shoddy performances all around the resulting film Inchon was bad beyond belief 4 Niemi wrote that Olivier s performance was a low point in an otherwise distinguished film career 4 In his biography of the actor Olivier author Terry Coleman called the film probably the worst he ever made and one of the best paid 15 Author Lawrence H Suid wrote in Guts and Glory The Making of the American Military Image in Film that what combat the film portrayed lacked any believability or authenticity As a result the movie met with almost unanimous critical disdain 6 Accolades Edit Year Award Category Nominee Result1983 67 Golden Raspberry Award Razzie Award for Worst Picture Mitsuharu Ishii WonRazzie Award for Worst Director Terence Young WonRazzie Award for Worst Screenplay Robin Moore and Laird Koenig WonRazzie Award for Worst Actor Laurence Olivier WonRazzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor Ben Gazzara Nominated1983 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture Mitsuharu Ishii Won 68 See also Edit nbsp Film portalBox office bomb List of films considered the worst Unification Church and North KoreaReferences Edit a b c d Canby Vincent September 17 1982 Inchon at last The New York Times p C9 Retrieved October 21 2009 a b c Box Office Mojo staff 2009 Inchon 1982 Box Office Mojo www boxofficemojo com Retrieved October 30 2009 Medved amp Medved 1984 p 188 a b c d e f g h Niemi Robert 2006 History in the Media Film and Television ABC CLIO p 151 ISBN 978 1 57607 952 2 a b c d e f g TV Guide staff Inchon Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings TV Guide Retrieved April 20 2019 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Suid Lawrence H 2002 Guts amp Glory The Making of the American Military Image in Film University Press of Kentucky pp 395 401 720 ISBN 0 8131 9018 5 a b c d e f g Vermilye Jerry 1992 The Complete Films Of Laurence Olivier Citadel Press pp 214 216 ISBN 0 8065 1302 0 a b c d Kelleher Terry September 20 1982 Inchon reflects only the cult of bad moviemaking The Miami Herald p 5C a b c d e f g Allen Henry May 5 1981 Pickets amp Politics at the Second Battle of Inchon The Washington Post p B1 Advertisement for Inchon The New York Times September 17 1982 p C7 Vagg Stephen March 10 2020 Ten Billionaires Who Were Stung by Hollywood Filmink a b Medved amp Medved 1984 p 190 a b c Inchon Tops List of 80s Flops San Francisco Chronicle Associated Press November 29 1989 p E1 Rickey Carrie Knight Ridder Tribune News Service December 28 1989 44 1 million loss earns Inchon dubious honor Austin American Statesman p G3 a b c d e f g h Coleman Terry 2005 Olivier Macmillan p 423 ISBN 0 8050 8136 4 Melton J Gordon 1992 Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America Routledge p 298 ISBN 0 8153 1140 0 Ocean Church and America Sun Myung Moon 1982 a b McCabe Bruce September 17 1982 Movies Bruce McCabe Moon and Inchon Boston Globe Globe Newspaper Company Laurence Olivier A Biography Donald Spoto Cooper Square Press 2001 p 393 The David Jansen Archives Retrieved March 16 2010 Garcia Chris October 30 1994 Windsor mom gets break in Village The Press Democrat p Q5 Medved amp Medved 1984 p 198 Ryan Desmond September 19 1982 On movies For the moviemakers it was a billion dollar summer The Philadelphia Inquirer p I03 Joe Sikoryak pgs 3 4 liner notes Inchon Intrada Special Collection No 35 Douglass Fake ps 5 7 liner notes Inchon Intrada Special Collection No 35 a b Schlueter Roger May 22 2006 Answer Man Belleville News Democrat p 1C a b Ryan Desmond June 6 1982 On movies Bond is booming but Inchon may be a very costly bomb The Philadelphia Inquirer p L03 Medved amp Medved 1984 p 193 195 Kinney C H March 1 1979 OPNAV REPORT 5750 1 PDF USS Cleveland LPD 7 www history navy mil Retrieved October 30 2009 a b Pond Steve August 12 1982 Epic deals The Washington Post p E7 a b c d Romano Lois September 18 1982 Review is Killed The Washington Post p C1 Washington Star May 5 1981 Critics carry warning signs It s Moon Boston Globe Globe Newspaper Company Medved amp Medved 1984 p 195 196 Screen Actors Guild Presidents Ronald Reagan Screen Actors Guild Archived from the original on December 28 2007 Retrieved November 10 2008 a b Gorenfeld John 2008 Bad Moon Rising PoliPointPress p 128 ISBN 978 0 9794822 3 6 Reagan Ronald The Reagan Diaries 2009 HarperCollins ISBN 0 06 155833 8 ISBN 978 0 06 155833 7 a b c d Ryan Desmond September 20 1982 Review MacArthur as a soldier of Christ The Philadelphia Inquirer p D01 a b Goldfarb Michael May 23 1982 Notes From All Over The Washington Post p E3 United Press International May 18 1982 Disputed Korean Film Creating Stir at Cannes The New York Times Retrieved October 21 2009 Medved amp Medved 1984 p 196 King Susan August 20 2002 Film flops Even Hollywood greats trip up Murphy s Nash may earn him a spot in the hall of shame Milwaukee Journal Sentinel p 06 Weinberg Marc May 1982 Money for Nothing Orange Coast Magazine Emmis Communications p 104 ISSN 0279 0483 a b c Hall Phil February 20 2009 The Bootleg Files Inchon Film Threat Retrieved April 20 2019 Hadleigh Boze 2001 The Lavender Screen Citadel p 195 ISBN 0 8065 2199 6 Aucoin Don November 19 1989 Really gross earnings Boston Globe Globe Newspaper Company p 12 a b Guthmann Edward July 23 1995 Big Bucks Bombs That Hit Hollywood San Francisco Chronicle p 27 Retrieved October 31 2009 Tugend Tom December 7 1989 Biggest Bombs The Jerusalem Post p 06 a b Wilmington Michael April 14 1996 Films that went splat From Intolerance to Cutthroat Island 10 of Hollywood s messiest box office disasters Chicago Tribune p 5 The Washington Post staff September 9 1994 Terence Young dies Directed Bond movies The Washington Post p B6 Wilmington Michael December 14 1997 The costliest Chicago Tribune p 1 Giantis Kat 2006 Bombs Away The top 10 biggest box office failures MSN Movies movies msn com Archived from the original on December 3 2010 Retrieved October 31 2009 McCabe Bruce September 18 1982 Korean War as pop cartoon The Boston Globe Arnold Gary September 17 1982 Inchon An Epic Bungle The Washington Post p D1 Variety staff January 1 1981 Inchon Review Variety www variety com Retrieved October 31 2009 AROUND THE NATION Sun Myung Moon Paper Appears in Washington from The New York Times Did D C Times kill critical review of movie The Miami Herald Associated Press September 19 1982 p 19A Medved amp Medved 1984 p 189 D C Times fires back Milwaukee Journal September 21 1982 Sneak Previews Worst of 1982 Archived from the original on February 24 2015 Retrieved February 1 2015 Mayo Mike April 13 1997 Hollywood s untaped resources worthwhile movies don t always make it to video The Washington Post p G7 Boedeker Hal July 21 1989 The Magic of Olivier his film legacy sets standard for all actors The Miami Herald p 36G The worst of his choices was probably taking on the role of Gen Douglas MacArthur in 1982 s Inchon Newsweek called Inchon the worst movie ever made a turkey the size of Godzilla McKay John Canadian Press March 23 2004 Welch fleshes out worst in film The Record Kitchener Ontario Canada p E4 Medved amp Medved 1984 p 186 Sauter Michael 1999 The Worst Movies of All Time Or What Were They Thinking Citadel Press p 197 ISBN 0 8065 2078 7 Billingsley Kenneth Lloyd July 22 2007 Hollywood s Missing Movies Reason Retrieved April 20 2019 Evans Alun 2000 Brassey s Guide to War Films Potomac Books Inc p 103 ISBN 1 57488 263 5 Wilson John 2005 The Official Razzie Movie Guide Warner Books p 344 ISBN 0 446 69334 0 OCLC 56033390 1982 5th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards Stinkers Bad Movie Awards Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on January 3 2007 Retrieved March 30 2013 Works cited EditMedved Harry Medved Michael 1984 The Hollywood Hall of Shame The Most Expensive Flops in Movie History Angus amp Robertson ISBN 0207149291 Further reading EditGazzara Ben 2005 In the Moment My Life as an Actor Da Capo Press pp 192 207 ISBN 0 7867 1582 0 Sauter Michael 1999 The Worst Movies of All Time Or What Were They Thinking Citadel Press pp 197 198 ISBN 0 8065 2078 7 External links EditInchon at IMDb Inchon at AllMovie Inchon at Box Office Mojo Inchon at Rotten TomatoesAwardsPreceded byMommie Dearest Razzie Award for Worst Picture3rd Golden Raspberry Awards Succeeded byThe Lonely LadyPreceded byTarzan the Ape Man and Mommie Dearest Stinker Award for Worst Picture1982 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards Succeeded byKrull Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Inchon film amp oldid 1175135823, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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