Operation Mekong

Operation Mekong

Poster
Chinese 湄公河行動
Directed by Dante Lam
Starring Zhang Hanyu
Eddie Peng
Production
company
Release dates
  • September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30)
Country China
Language Mandarin
Box office $173 million[2]

Operation Mekong (Chinese: 湄公河行動) is a 2016 Chinese-Hong Kong crime action film directed by Dante Lam and starring Zhang Hanyu and Eddie Peng. The film is based on the Mekong River massacre. It was released in China on September 30, 2016. It is one of the highest grossing films in China, ranked 17 as of 29/11/2016. List of highest-grossing films in China [1][3][4]

Plot

Inspired by the true story known as the Mekong Massacre--two Chinese commercial vessels are ambushed while traveling down the Mekong River in the waters of the Golden Triangle, one of the largest drug-manufacturing regions in the world. 13 sailors are executed at gunpoint, and 900,000 methamphetamine pills are recovered at the scene. Upon discovery, the Chinese government immediately sends a band of elite narcotics officers led by Captain Gao Gang (Zhang Hanyu) to the Golden Triangle to uncover the truth behind the murders. Tea field owner and Golden Triangle-based intelligence officer Fang Xinwu (Eddie Peng) joins the investigation. After it is discovered that the drugs seized on the Chinese ships had been planted by the henchman of a notorious drug cartel leader named Naw Kham, the governments of Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and China launch a joint task force to apprehend the criminal. The road to justice is, however, paved with dangerous and deadly obstacles...[5]

Cast

Basic Information

Production

Production began in September 2015. Shooting locations include China (Beijing and Yunnan), Malaysia and Thailand.[1]

Release

Operation Mekong opened on 30 September 2016. It concerns an incident that occurred in Chiang Saen District of Chiang Rai Province on 5 October 2011 when 13 Chinese crew members from two cargo ships were murdered by a Myanmar drug-trafficking ring.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, responding to news of the film's imminent release, said that the film would be banned in Thailand if it was found to "damage" the country. "I have ordered authorities to check the content of Operation Mekong. If it is damaging, it will be banned," Gen Prayut said.[6] Some believe that the reason for his government's nervousness is that Thai troops, the "elite" anti-drug Pa Muang Task Force, were known to have been at the scene of the massacre.[7] Nine soldiers were arrested, but "...have since disappeared from the justice system."[7] Naw Kham, a Golden Triangle drug kingpin, and his gang were found guilty of attacking the two Chinese cargo ships in collusion with Thai soldiers. He was executed in March 2013 in China along with three accomplices, including a Thai national.[6]

Reception

The film has grossed CN¥1.17 billion at the Chinese box office.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Staff Reporter (September 16, 2015). "Dante Lam begins Mekong shoot". Film Business Asia. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=operationmekong.htm
  3. 1 2 "湄公河行動（2016）". cbooo.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  4. ↑ "湄公河行動 (2016)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). douban.com. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  5. ↑ Operation Mekong at Rotten Tomatoes
  6. 1 2 Jitcharoenkul, Prangthong (2016-09-28). "PM mulls 'Operation Mekong' ban". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Whitewash at Chiang Saen". Bangkok Post. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.