Note: This article contains spoilers
"93 International Train Robbery: Operation Moscow" (hereinafter referred to as "Operation Moscow") is director Qiu Litao's fourth film this year after "Anti-Drug 3: At the End of the World", "Assassination Storm" and "Jedi's Pursuit". Qiu Litao's characteristic is that he shoots films very fast, and there is inevitably the problem of uneven quality. Considering that the average reputation of the previous three works is not very ideal (although it is not too disappointing), "Operation Moscow" is inevitably worrying. In addition, given that "Operation Moscow" is a work co-produced by Andy Lau, Andy Lau himself is also a special star, and the works of Qiu Litao and Andy Lau have a good reputation (such as "The Bomb Disposal Expert"), "Operation Moscow" is also very likely to be compared with Qiu Litao. A well-written and well-written work. Facts have proved that this is indeed the case.
"Operation Moscow" poster
"Operation Moscow" is adapted from a true crime case. In the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's political economy briefly fell into a state of disorder and there was an extreme shortage of materials. This has also spawned a group of "traffickers" in China who sell materials to Russia. Once things that are very cheap in China are sold in Russia, the price may increase several times.
The K3 international train, which runs from Beijing to Moscow and takes 6 days and 6 nights, is not only the road to wealth for "bad guys", but also a criminal paradise for robbers. From May 26 to 31, 1993, a major train robbery occurred on the K3 international train that shocked China and the world. Four criminal gangs took advantage of the lack of public security on the train and took turns to rob Chinese businessmen who went to Moscow to prospect for gold. Commit heinous crimes such as robbery, rape and murder. The Chinese police quickly formed a task force and went to Russia to conduct transnational anti-bandit operations.
Cui Zhenhai (played by Zhang Hanyu) who goes to Moscow to hunt down bandits
In the movie, the gangster group is headed by Miao Qingshan (played by Huang Xuan), and its members include Miao Qingshan's younger brother Miao Ziwen (played by Gu Jiacheng), Miao Ziwen's girlfriend Zhenzhen (played by Man Yongshan) and others; China sent to Russia to arrest the bandits The police team is led by Cui Zhenhai (played by Zhang Hanyu). In the process of the struggle between police and robbers, Russian "Chinese expert" Vasily (played by Andy Lau) has a mysterious identity and a hesitant stance. Is he black or white?
The ruthless bandit Miao Qingshan (played by Huang Xuan)
Under the shell of crime, "action" is the biggest selling point of "Operation Moscow". This is also Qiu Litao's usual practice in action movies - once he finds a story that matches the action scenes, Qiu Litao will take the "excessive, crazy" action scenes to the extreme. The action scenes of "Operation Moscow" occupy a very important space. There are at least four big action scenes before and after the movie.
As soon as the train came up, the beautiful woman was responsible for the robbery. Someone smashed the door with an ax, and then looted without fear. The division of labor was clear and done in one go. The space of the train is cramped, and the robber's ax flashes with cold light, making people tremble. The passengers are defenseless, frightened and helpless... The action scene of "Appetizers" has fully demonstrated the rampage and cruelty of the gangsters.
Gangsters boarded the train and robbed them
After arriving in Moscow, the motorcycle chase scene in the Moscow Basilica Cistern is a rare novel and enjoyable action scene. The movie reproduces a one-to-one replica of the sewers built in Moscow since the Tsarist period. It is an underground space that is both open and closed, with three turns and nine turns and extending in all directions, which gives the action design a relatively large room for development. The sound of motorcycle engines, water, and gunshots are intertwined. The sense of speed of motorcycles, the sense of speed of police and criminal pursuits, and the sense of speed of underground water opening and pouring resonate. Everything is happening underground, where obstacles are everywhere and life is everywhere. In space, the thrills are further concentrated.
Motorcycle chase in Moscow Basilica Cistern
Then comes the battle at the rocket base. The shootout between the three parties started, and the scene of a car intercepting a fighter jet was eye-opening. The movie directly blew up a 1:1 restored Cy-27 fighter jet. Qiu Litao especially loves explosion scenes in his action scenes, and he did not miss them in "Operation Moscow". There was a huge explosion in the rocket base battle. It's just that explosion scenes require higher special effects. The special effects of "Operation Moscow" cannot be called high-quality, and sometimes the more explosive they are, the more revealing they are.
Abandoned Rocket Base Battle
I thought the action scenes in the movie would end here, but there was also a blockbuster train robbery action scene on the train escorting the robbers back to the country. Since the train tracks in Russia and our country are different, a two-hour track change is required at the entry point of the train. At this rail-changing stall, in order to save Miao Qingshan, Miao Ziwen and other desperadoes first bombed the train and robbed it, then engaged in hand-to-hand combat and gun battles with the police, and finally ended up with hostage-taking with their lives hanging by a thread... Although both the first and last action scenes took place On a train, but with a different purpose and a completely different design.
bomb the train
In addition to these key action scenes, the car tracking and counter-tracking in Moscow, the car chase in the square and other action scenes also have excellent design and scheduling.
Car chase in the square
The action scenes in "Operation Moscow" are quite crazy and impressive. Li Zhongzhi, an Academy Award-winning action director who has worked many times with directors such as Johnnie To, Chen Musheng, Lam Lingtung, and Qiu Litao, added a lot of points to the film's action scenes.
But frankly speaking, compared with the wonderful action scenes, the film's literary drama is still relatively weak.
The positive role represented by Cui Zhenhai has limited space to play. Cui Zhenhai is very charming. On the one hand, it comes from Zhang Hanyu's own aura, and on the other hand, it comes from the positive image of our country's police in the main theme work. In order to protect the safety of people's lives and property, they bravely and fearlessly fought to the death with desperadoes. The movie gave Cui Zhenhai a character with a little mysophobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, which gave the character a more personalized "human touch" and played a role in solving the case. But this alone is not enough to flesh out the characters.
In fact, since our police had no law enforcement power in Russia and could not hold guns, and there was no extradition agreement between the two countries at that time, how could the Chinese police investigate criminals in a place they were unfamiliar with, especially in Moscow, which was in a state of disorder at the time? Traces, battles of wits and courage with criminals, and ensuring the safety of personnel are all areas where literary drama can be used - although the operation is also very difficult. The movie does not break through this difficulty. For example, the acquisition of key evidence mainly comes from the suspect's "internal strife" and the confession provided by the suspect.
Zhenzhen (played by Wen Yongshan) in Miao Qingshan's gang played a key role in solving the case
If Cui Zhenhai is absolutely "white", then Miao Qingshan is absolutely "black". He is a very pure and thoroughly evil person. After being reminded not to make too much noise at a concert, Miao Qingshan apologized like a dog, but after the concert, he immediately followed the person to his home. After the person opened the door, he grabbed his head and smashed it against the door frame... This Small details established Miao Qingshan's antisocial personality.
Some of the designs given to Miao Qingshan in the movie highlight the contrast between this evil man. For example, he is very talented in music and especially loves Shostakovich's symphonies; for example, he has a very high IQ and is under police control. Next, he fled from the concert hall grandly... The film invited Huang Xuan, who has a strong literary youth temperament and almost always plays good guys, to play Miao Qingshan, further amplifying this sense of contrast.
Miao Qingshan is "smart" and evades police pursuit
Vasily's human color is "grey", and he walks between good and evil, which gives the character a relatively large space for expression. Vasily's original name was Liu Yuhu. He was very smart and knowledgeable about technology, but he took a detour due to greed and made his first pot of gold through smuggling, and was imprisoned for this. Miao Qingshan was once a member of Vasily's gang and Vasily's apprentice. In order to be able to see his newborn daughter, Vasily surrendered to Miao Qingshan, and Miao Qingshan was imprisoned. From then on, he was very fond of Vasily, and made Vasily's wife and daughter his "hostages" in disguise. Know the whereabouts of my daughter. Today, Vasily is prosperous in Moscow, but his wife and daughter have always been his weakness. Miao Qingshan threatened Vasily with his daughter's safety and asked Vasily to have a big fight with him.
Miao Qingshan threatens Vasily (Andy Lau)
Vasily has a clear conscience and may want to be a good person, but his options are limited. With Miao Qingshan's threat on one side, Cui Zhenhai's offensive on people's hearts on the other, and the call of a plain life to "turn back and make ends meet", what choice will Vasily make?
Vasily walks the line between good and evil
As far as Vasily's character in the movie is concerned, any choice he can make is possible. As long as he can let him see his daughter, he can choose white or black. The movie still fails to give a conclusive reason-why Vasily, who was on the train at the last moment, did not hesitate to side with the police? Of course, Vasily’s ending is also really subtle. Vasily, who has always longed to see his daughter, "sees" her daughter as he wishes, but cannot "see" her.
The leading roles in the movie were well chosen and their adaptability was high, but they were indeed far from the classic characters. Because the film focuses on the main theme, even if the screenwriter works hard to dig into the criminal motives of Miao Qingshan and Vasily, he can only talk about it in a very safe area. For example, Miao Qingshan's father was a violinist. Miao Qingshan had a very happy childhood. However, after his father died of illness and his mother remarried an alcoholic, his life began to go wrong. Miao Qingshan's childhood experience was very unfortunate, and this "misfortune" was also very personal, and he did not dare to say anything wrong with the times. The same goes for Vasily. His mistake seems to be just a moment of personal greed.
But in fact, in the 1990s, our country was also in a period of social transformation. Some domestic conflicts were prominent, and many major sensational cases occurred in the country. The occurrence of major international cases may also be related to the domestic atmosphere at the time. The movie doesn't mention a word about this, but it does not shy away from exposing the chaos in Moscow after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In general, the drama of "Operation Moscow" only explains things as they happen, and there is almost no effective extended interpretation of the times (relying on the audience's over-interpretation does not count). But if the audience is an action movie lover, then "Operation Moscow" may bring an exciting and exciting movie-watching experience.
