User reviews

On a routine flight from the city of Chongqing to Lhasa carrying 119 passengers and 9 crew, the plane is flying above the Tibetan plateau, avoiding the edge of a heavy storm, when a crack appears right in front of the co-pilot. The cockpit window breaks completely, depressurizing the cockpit, pulling the co-pilot halfway out, while the captain, played in the movie by Hanyu Zhang, tries to keep him at least half in the plane with his right hand, while trying to control the plane with his left. The entire cabin depressurizes and the plane falls out of communication with flight control. The oxygen masks drop from the bulkhead, the passengers start screaming and demand to see the captain, while the six flight attendants and erstwhile relaxing second officer trying to calm them. With no communications, plane out of control, and a major storm raging, will any of them get to the ground alive?

Andy Lau's movie recreation of real-life events is very well made, filled with startling and terrifying details. Like other movies showing people being heroic -- particularly 2016's SULLY -- it tells the events on board the plane in a plain, unadorned, "just the facts, ma'am" manner that makes the eventual impact even greater in the long run.

Lau's foreshadowing of events is a bit heavy-handed --the attendants practice their "We are trained in emergency procedure" speech and one complains that she never gets to use it; and I thought the rejoicing at the end went on a bit too long, but that last is a matter of taste. It's a well made and exciting film and what more can anyone ask?

I do like Asian cinema, and when I was given the chance to sit down and watch "Zhong Guo Ji Zhang" (aka "The Captain"), of course I jumped at the chance. Now, I hadn't even heard about this 2019 movie from director Andrew Lau and writer Yonggan Yu prior to stumbling upon it by sheer luck.

And now having seen it, I must say that "The Captain" is definitely one of the better airplane disaster movies that I have seen. Why is that? Well, sure the whole thing about things going awry in midflight is nothing new, but this movie brought on a very personal feel to it as you get attached to the crew and passengers aboard the plane, and the storyline does a good part of making it feel like you are right there amidst the chaos aboard the plane.

The movie has good CGI effects, which really helped add to the overall enjoyment of the movie. And this movie definitely puts China on the movie map of airborne disaster movies.

"The Captain" also had a very good assembly of casted performers. I do enjoy watching unfamiliar faces on the screen, and "The Captain" was mostly all new faces for me. I must admit that people were definitely doing very good jobs with their given roles, and all seemed to be living into their characters quite well.

There is a good amount of thrills, suspense and action in a good combination to be had in this movie.

I was more than adequately entertained with this movie, and I can warmly recommend that you take the time to sit down and watch it, should you have the chance, and should you like airplane disaster movies.

My rating of "The Captain" is a seven star rating.

High expectation but disappointed. Why didn't they follow the emergency landing protocol and evacuate passengers from all emergency exits? I know because the director wants to show how happy everyone is. Who cares about evacuation anyway.

The rhythm at the beginning was good. The whole audience exclaimed at the moment when the windshield broke. However, the treatment at the back was very monotonous and unprofessional. With all the actors and scenes added, the full score was 10 points to 7 points

The break of the windshield was breathtaking. The captain and the crew responded professionally, but the work on the ground was a little sloppy.There are some unnecessary plots in the middle

This is more like a publicity ad video of Chinese airlines than a movie,

Trust veteran Hong Kong director Andrew Lau to turn what has been termed a 'miracle emergency landing' in real life into a nail-biting disaster movie that pays tribute to its ordinary heroes - especially as the title mentions, the pilot who steeled his nerves and trusted his instincts to save the lives of 119 passengers and eight other crew members. That individual is Captain Liu Chuanjian, a former Air Force pilot turned Sichuan Airlines staff, whose flight from Chongqing to Lhasa on the morning on 14 May 2008 was met with a shattered windscreen about 150km from Chengdu and had to pilot the plane through the mountainous Tibetan region to reach the nearest airport.

As played by Zhang Hanyu, the onscreen Liu is a stoic, almost stern, no-nonsense figure who demands the highest standards from his fellow crew, in particular his young co-pilot Liang Peng (Oho Ou). Although Liu gives the movie its title, apart from the scenes bookending the film showing him leaving and returning to his wife and young daughter, the film is only about him insofar as it relates to the events of Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 (3U8633) that fateful day, so don't expect this to be a character study like Clint Eastwood's 'Sully'; indeed, what it does want us to learn about Liu, and what it portrays magnificently, is his composure, adroitness and perseverance under tremendous conditions, given the sudden loss of pressure and temperature in the cockpit upon the loss of the plane's windshield.

Together with his writer Yu Yonggan (who also wrote this summer's 'The Bravest'), Lau zooms in on three key periods during the harrowing journey: when the windshield first blew out and the plane dropped 8000ft from its cruising altitude; when Liu had to fly through a thunderstorm over the Tibetan mountains in order to get to Chengdu's Shuangliu Airport; and when Liu had to land the overweight plane on the runway as well as bring it to a halt without either thrust reversers working. Even though you're fully aware that the crew will pull through, each of these periods is an edge-of-your-seat sequence in itself, with Lau skilfully toggling between the cockpit and the cabin to illustrate the reactions of the pilots versus the passengers and stewardesses.

Whereas Liu anchors the cockpit, it is inflight service manager Bi Nan (Quan Yuan) who takes the lead in the cabin - not only is she an exemplar in guiding her younger colleagues to serve with commitment and professionalism, such as in dealing with self-entitled business-class passengers, she is Liu's complement in managing the anxiety among the passengers so as to avoid pandemonium from breaking out in the cabin (therefore allowing Liu to focus on bringing the plane under control). Like Liu, the film mostly shows her in relation to the crisis, so even though there is some hint that she is going through a rough patch in her marriage, we are never really told what exactly it is, and therefore fully grasp how her perspective on that changes after the incident.

Interestingly, while convention would have dictated that the film pick a couple of passengers to show how the brush with death changes their attitude towards life and/or their loved ones, Lau decides to make his movie an engaging procedural about airport and airline operations, as well as air traffic management. With some deft editing by Azrael Chung, Lau assembles a couple of intriguing montages that show how the crew of 3U8633 get ready for takeoff, how control is handed over from the airport control tower to the air traffic control centre at various altitudes, the interfacing between civilian and military in air traffic management (ATM), and the coordination among various parts of airport operations in preparation for the flight's emergency landing. The involvement of the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) ensures the authenticity of these scenes, with the CAAC head honcho Feng Zhenglin credited as chief consultant no less, but it is to Lau's credit that the nuts and bolts of airport and ATM operations in response to the disaster is as fascinating to watch as what went on inside the plane itself.

That said, even as there is less emphasis than expected on the passengers, Lau doesn't lose the poignancy within these harrowing moments. From a husband confessing to his wife that he is going to be a chef at a work site than at a high-class hotel in Lhasa, to the wife of the plane's third pilot waiting feverishly on the ground, and to Liu's own wife trying hard not to lose her cool in front of their young daughter, Lau captures the gamut of emotions from those in the air to those on the ground as the events unfold, and wisely chooses not to dwell on them excessively in order to avoid turning his movie into melodrama.

Whether as a proactive or necessary addition to appease the infamous Chinese censors, 'The Captain' ends on a slightly awkward note as Liu and the rest of the crew of 3U8633 sing a patriotic song celebrating the motherland. That aside, this portrait of the heroic actions of one ordinary person, as well as the professionalism of those involved in one way or another, is gripping, rousing and even informative, showing a director at the very top of his game. We dare say it is one of our favourite Mainland Chinese films this year, and we dare guarantee you'll be similarly enraptured by this effortless crowdpleaser. As paradoxical as it sounds, this is one flight you won't want to miss.

Based on real incidence, this film is amongst the best of all movies which have flight 🛫 scenes.

Chiense actresses are so cute, clouds and storm lightning are amazing real (thanks to Special Effects), overall watchable movie with family or friends.

This movie is unlike typical Bollywood movie where anything can happen anytime. Though Chinese movie, it was dubbed in Hindi for Hindi watchers.

I'm a 28 year old Australian male. I cried with these people and got scared with these people. When the plane landed I felt safe again. What a movie!!! These guys are very precise in what they do and it gives me a new respect for pilots and airports.

Watch this movie, it should be alot higher than 6 out of 10.

It's standard disaster fare, with a happy ending. Its main virtues are sharp editing and cinematography and excellent integration of CGI - although it often goes overboard with action movie tropes, like flying through vivid lightning and extreme maneuvering. The movie would have been right at home in 1950s America - with say Van Heflin and Ida Lupino as the veteran captain and chief attendant, shepherding their young and brash charges through the crisis while maintaining a stoic calm in the face of catastrophe. We might have seen Robert Wagner and Suzanne Pleshette as their younger counterparts.

And that brings us to the main interest of the film. Although China seems to be right on top of things technologically and thoroughly up to date, the society is projected through a lens of complete homogeneity - even that famous air disaster film cliche, the spoiled, entitled ass who makes life miserable for the crew, quickly comes to his senses and falls in line. There can be no doubt that this film is at least in part propaganda, perhaps unintentionally, perhaps with more intent. There seems to be little room in the PRC for, say, independent thought among women, or heaven forbid, political protest from Tibetans, who are all portrayed as willing accomplices to their subjugation to China. There are no realistic characters here - all are cliches, many taken from American cinema.

And yet - this incident really happened - some more depth in exploring the lives of the real people involved would have turned a good film into a great one. There is a little too much troweled on emotion and heroism and stoicism for the modern Western taste - we had our servings of this in past decades.

Still in all, I was for the most part much impressed by the deft handling of the action sequences - once in a while they went on a little too long, stretching the clock it seemed to fit a fixed budget of runtime. 20 minutes might easily have been left on the editing room floor (or I should say, the computer recycle bin). There is no real acting, just a lot of posturing, but it is effective in a B movie way. The overall emotional tone might be compared to a good Japanese crisis film, say, one of the better Godzilla films. I did have a nagging feeling of being manipulated. It made me curious about how Chinese audiences reacted.

One negative - the music is just awful. Michael Bay awful.

Well worth seeing!

It's a disaster to make a good story film to become like this. The characterization is a mess, Conversation is stiff and bad.

When I am writing this review it only has 6.2 star rating.

I think this movie atleast deserve a 7 star rating out of 10.

Pros : A good watch .

Cons :

Suddenly wanna watch some airplane movie and thus chose to watch this movie. Always think that Chinese movie must be very bad but it's better than expected, maybe it's due to the director Andrew Lau? The plot is simple as it's about the adventure of a flight but in a bad weather, and the windows were broken! The cabin was in chaos and one of the pilots even stuck (it's strange he did not die at all!) the bravery of the pilot and the stewardess saved the whole plane. It's amazed as it was based on a true story! The actors and actresses acted good jobs to persuade me they are working a good job! Good!

There is a scene where pilot peeps his head outside the aircraft flying at a very high altitude.What kind of bogus is that?

Wow! what a movie, hats off to flight crews and passengers survived this flight. next time flight delayed, have a bit more sympathy as airport towers maybe managing flights traffic in time like this.

Cliche storyline and boring OST lead to a waste of material. Would be better making a document of the incident.

Trust me , you will regret in seeing this movie , bad acting , bad editing and ridiculous soap opera with the crew involving in the plot

The whole staff didn't know what they should do, just a waste of the nice story. Many scenes just didn't add up at all. Don't waste time watching this, I would rather read the expired news again then watching this.

Quite disappointed by the storyline, captain not professional enough

If you can bear over with a typical trivial pre flight story, and yields of chinese heroism in the end, then this is a brain blower of in air accident suspence. the 45 minutes of battling the flight to the ground, were so stunning that my shoulders are still up under my ears and my legs sears of cramps, breaking the pedal along with the crew.

if you like air disaster movies, this is a must see thinks the grumpy old man. its grizzly and harrowing, recommended