Inchon (film)

Inchon (also stylized as Inchon!) is a 1981 war film about the Battle of Inchon, considered to be the turning point of the Korean War. Directed by Terence Young and financed by Unification movement founder Sun Myung Moon, the film stars Laurence Olivier as General Douglas MacArthur, who planned the surprise amphibious landing at Incheon, South Korea, in 1950, with Jacqueline Bisset, Ben Gazzara, Toshiro Mifune and Richard Roundtree.

Inchon's plot includes both military action and human drama. The film concludes with the United Nations victory over North Korean forces in the Battle of Inchon, which is considered to have saved South Korea.

Costing $46 million, with filming taking place in South Korea, California, Italy, Ireland and Japan, the production encountered many problems, including a typhoon and the death of cast member David Janssen. Both the Unification movement and the United States military provided extras during the filming.

After premiering in May 1981, the film was not released theatrically in the United States and Canada until September 1982, and was quickly withdrawn due to its critical and box office failure. It never received a home video release, but has occasionally been broadcast on television. It incurred the greatest financial loss of any film released in 1982, earning less than $2 million against its lofty budget, resulting in a deficit of around $41 million. Reviews at the time were consistently negative, and later commentators, including Newsweek, TV Guide and The Canadian Press, have classed Inchon among the worst films of all time.