''Air Strike'' () also known as ''The Bombing'' or ''Unbreakable Spirit'' is a Chinese

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by Xiao Feng about the Japanese bombings of Chongqing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...

joined as

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

. The film stars Liu Ye,

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

, Song Seung-heon and William Chan, with special appearances by Nicholas Tse, Tenma Shibuya,

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...

Fan Bingbing Fan Bingbing (, born 16 September 1981) is a Chinese actress. From 2013 to 2017, she was included as the highest-paid celebrity in the ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list after ranking in the top 10 every year since 2006. She appeared on ''Time ...

and many others.

Premise

With the beginning of

at the

Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan The also ...

and

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

in 1937, the story develops around the

Chinese Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

's great resistance against the Japanese invasion and occupation of China; the overwhelming might of the Imperial Japanese war machine taking down Shanghai and the capital of

, followed by heavy resistance and eventual fall of the interim wartime capital of Wuhan in 1938, and climaxing into the bloody six years-long all-airwar Battle of Chongqing, the wartime capital of China for the remainder of World War II, with the remnants of the Chinese Air Force, the refugees, and the people of Chongqing exemplifying the undying resilience against years of barbaric air strikes by the Imperial Japanese air power.

Cast

Main cast

* Liu Ye as Xue Gang Tou *

as Col. Jack Johnson * Song Seung-heon as An Ming Xun / An Ming He * William Chan as Cheng Ting * Fan Wei as Uncle Cui *

Wu Gang Wu Gang (), formerly romanized as Wu Kang and also known as Wu Zhi in some sources,Eberhard, Wolfram. ''Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought''pp. 76 ff Routledge & Kegan Paul (London), 2013. Accessed 12 Novem ...

as Zhao Chun *

Ma Su Ma Su (190–228), courtesy name Youchang, was a military general and strategist of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period of China. Ma Su had conspicuous talent in military theories and was admired by the Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang. ...

as Ding Lian * Che Yongli as Yaogu *

Feng Yuanzheng Feng Yuanzheng (; born November 16, 1962 in Beijing) is a Chinese actor. Selected filmography *1995: ''Postman'' *1998: '' Records of Kangxi's Travel Incognito'' *2003: ''Purple Butterfly'' *2004: ''A World Without Thieves'' *2004: ''Shanghai ...

as Xue Man Guan *

Janine Chang Janine Chang Chun-ning (; born September 4, 1982) is a Taiwanese actress and film producer. Chang attended National Taipei University and obtained a bachelor's degree in law. In June 2010, Chang graduated from the Institute of Industrial Econom ...

as Qian Xue * Geng Le as Jin Xiang

Special appearances

* Tenma Shibuya as Sato * Zhang Fan as Cui Liu * Nicholas Tse as Lei Tao *

as Ye Pei Xuan * Anthony Rogers as Ye Pei Xuan's boyfriend * Chen Daoming as Chief of City Defense *

as Air Defense Commander *

as Steve * Ray Lui as Air Force Colonel * Lei Jia as Wan Jia *

Hu Bing Hu Bing (born February 14, 1971) is a Chinese actor, model, singer, designer and producer. He started as a fashion model in 1990 and been a top male model in China for over 20 years. He won the "Top Chinese Male Model" title in 1991 and was the ...

as Hospital Dean * Huang Haibing as Adjutant to Jack *

Rumer Willis Rumer Glenn Willis (born August 16, 1988) is an American actress. She is the eldest daughter of actor Bruce Willis and actress Demi Moore. She has appeared in films ''Hostage'' (2005), '' The House Bunny'' (2008), '' Sorority Row'' (2009) and ''O ...

as Julia * Liu Xiaoqing as Madam Zhang *

Eva Huang Huang Shengyi (, born February 11, 1983), also known as Eva Huang, is a Chinese actress and singer. Early life and education Huang was born and raised in Shanghai. Her father was educated in the United States and lived there in the early 1990s, wh ...

as Du Mei *

Kenny Bee Chung Chun-to (born 23 February 1953), also known by his stage name Kenny Bee, is a Hong Kong singer, musician and actor. He is best known as the singer of the group the Wynners, and as a solo artist who has been active in the Hong Kong ente ...

as Governmental Officer *

Jiro Wang Jiro Wang (; born 24 August 1981) is a Taiwanese singer and actor, who started his career as a model. Wang is a member of Taiwanese Mandopop vocal quartet boy band Fahrenheit. Life Jiro Wang was born August 24, 1981, in Taiwan. He graduated ...

as Young Officer * Cao Kefang as Patriot * Niki Chow as Junior Patriot

Production

served as the art director of the $65 million budgeted film.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

on the film began in May 2015 in Shanghai, China. Filming was completed in November 2015.

Release

The film was filmed as a memorial for the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in WWII. Originally scheduled to be released on 17 August 2018, it was later rescheduled to be released on 26 October 2018 in order to have a same-day global release. In October 2018, it was announced that screening plans of the film had been cancelled in China. Earlier, it was leaked by TV anchor

Cui Yongyuan Cui Yongyuan (; born February 20, 1963) is a Chinese television personality, producer, and social media commentator. He is known for leaking information regarding the Chinese film industry's yin-yang contracts leading to Fan Bingbing's removal fr ...

that

, one of the film's guest actors, was involved in a tax evasion scandal when starring in this film. However the home video release in the United States went on as scheduled. The all-English dubbed version has been released to US streaming services and on Blu-ray.

References

External links

* * * Official trailer: {{youTube, xc57rIc0BrI, AIR STRIKE - Lionsgate Unlocked 2018 films 2018 independent films 2010s Mandarin-language films Chinese 3D films Chinese epic films Chinese war drama films World War II aviation films World War II films based on actual events Films shot in Shanghai Films set in Chongqing Films set in 1943 2018 3D films 2010s war films 2018 action drama films China Film Group Corporation films Lionsgate films Second Sino-Japanese War films 2010s English-language films 2018 multilingual films Chinese multilingual films