Disaster films are a specific classification of cinematic genre that takes on the mission of transmitting the culture and spirit of the nation.
2012 is a masterpiece of American disaster films, and after its release in North America in 2009, it created a box office success of $65 million in a three-day weekend and reached $790 million worldwide; while the domestic film Chinese Captain is also a masterpiece of Chinese disaster films, and after its release on China’s National Day in 2019, its box office reached $3 billion.
The audiovisual language of the Chinese Captain movie is well done, portraying clips of passengers boarding the plane to place their luggage, in order to amplify this realism and put the audience in the situation; the calmer it was before, the greater the psychological impact on the audience as the risk approaches. About half an hour into the film, the windshield of the plane’s cockpit breaks and the plane releases pressure, leaving the entire upper body of the co-pilot outside the fuselage. The pressure release also causes the crew to be slow to react and even unconscious, even the captain is briefly in a trance. As the plane continues to plunge into huge bumps, passengers are thrown into a state of panic as the cabin is depressurized and the air inside the cabin becomes so thin that passengers must remain on oxygen to breathe smoothly.
The Chinese Captain brilliantly recreates the crisis scenes, and the viewer is captivated by the film’s plot.
In the movie “2012”, the Mayan fable is used as a clue to show the human race’s doomsday and great catastrophe, which is the embodiment of the worry about the future, the film is visually stunning and psychologically shocking enough to make us unforgettable, pushing the disaster film to another peak. The film focuses on almost all the elements of a sub-disaster film, including super earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, the descent and rise of the land, the inversion of the earth’s magnetic field, the destruction of cities, and the helpless and desperate crowd. In addition to this sensory stimulation and shock, it can trigger the audience to think deeply.
In the movie “2012”, the President tells his daughter.
“The only thing I have to do now is to tell the American people the truth, so at least they can say goodbye to their families when they know …… When the end comes, we should have the opportunity to say goodbye to our loved ones and friends, mothers can soothe their children, fathers can pray for their daughters’ forgiveness… …”
Such a few simple words, but make people cry, such “love”, in the “Chinese Captain” is also reflected. Yuan Quan, as the crew chief, tells the passengers in a critical situation, “Please believe our captain, we will go back together, we are also sons, daughters, fathers and mothers. We are professionally trained. Have the confidence, the ability, to keep you safe.”
Behind the different disasters, there is also a remarkable similarity in the embodiment of love in disaster films, which defies nationalities and cultures and spans time.