Chapter 976: Shocked by This Movie!
“That can’t be. Could the entire movie be this precise?”
“How much would the props and special effects cost?”
Lu Xiaoping was very confused because the details of Mission and Choice had far exceeded his expectations!
Lu Xiaoping might have heard some rumors that Tengda had invested a huge sum of money into the new movie but he had only listened casually and did not take it seriously.
That was because bragging was the norm in the industry.
It was just like how in ancient times, a strength of 100,000 could be boasted to be about 500,000. In any case, they could bluff as many people as possible.
Buying IPs and hiring big-name actors for a movie would cost a huge sum of money. Then, they would add publicity and marketing budgets. They might say that they had invested a few hundred million yuan, but in reality, they did not have much money to spend on movie production.
Lu Xiaoping had originally thought that ‘Mission and Choice’ was just a domestically-produced sci-fi movie. The ceiling of domestically-produced sci-fi movies had always been there. It was not that high at all.
However, Lu Xiaoping was very confused now.
Was this really a domestic movie?
This detail was no different from those Hollywood blockbusters that had spent huge sums of money!
Could it be that Mission and Choice had really saved the IP money and the remuneration of the big-name actors, saved the publicity budget, and invested all the money into the production of the movie?
Lu Xiaoping only had one thought thinking of this possibility: crazy!
This was not just a risk, but a suicide!
It would be no different from courting death if it was another production team doing this. Of course, the production team would not do this because the sponsors would definitely not agree.
However, Tengda was different.
Obviously, Fei Huang Works.p.a.ce was not committing suicide. They dared to do so because they had strong confidence in the movie ‘Mission and Choice’. It could still beat all games in the same period and break out of the siege because they believed that even without regular publicity!
Lu Xiaoping realized that there was a huge problem with his judgment!
Previously, he had thought that ‘Mission and Choice’ was because he was not confident and wanted to avoid the prime time slot. However, he realized now that it was impossible.
The quality of this film would probably be a killing machine in the Golden Week. How could it be afraid of the Greyhound?
Things were not looking good…
Lu Xiaoping continued watching with great trepidation.
…
The plot that followed could be said to be full of twists and turns, climaxes one after another. There was time for toilet breaks the entire time. It was filled with all sorts of twists and turns. It was too much for the eyes to take in.
The entire movie’s story revolved around Qin Yi’s character. The audience’s emotions were also affected by Qin Yi’s character.
It might be a one-man show but Lu Zhiyao completely supported the role through his acting skills and completed the task of stirring up the audience’s emotions.
The entire story could be roughly divided into the following stages:
In the first stage, Qin Yi became the commander. He understood the scene of the defeat of the humans and Zergs through the simulated battle. He understood the need for communication between the commander and Ansible. He accepted the position of commander and trained seriously.
In the second stage, Qin Yi began to undergo simulation training after completely familiarizing himself with the operation of the control panel. Everything was going smoothly at first, but after adding the “realistic elements”, the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse. The human army was defeated. In order to increase the chances of winning, Qin Yi slowly began to get used to accepting the data and suggestions of AEEIS and gradually became an emotionless command machine.
In the third stage, Qin Yi saw the scene of his original AS-371-45 team carrying out the mission and finally made the same decision as the previous commander. Qin Yi finally understood the actions of the previous commander in the midst of conflict and struggle. He made many painful choices for victory.
In the fourth stage, everyone thought that Qin Yi was ready but what they got in return was a cruel slap in the face in reality. In the deduction of the final battle, even if they completely followed AEEIS’s suggestion, humans would still be defeated.
Qin Yi almost fell into a state of collapse. He no longer believed that humans could win this war. No matter the system lied through it’s command, they could not win the war.
In the fifth stage, Qin Yi realized that it was wrong to use cold data to measure everyone’s value. The original commanding method had indeed increased the efficiency of the battle to a certain extent but it was absolutely impossible to use the Zergs’ tactics to fight the Zergs and turn all the soldiers into cold machines. Thus, Qin Yi chose to tell the truth to all the soldiers. He used a speech in a desperate situation to rekindle everyone’s beliefs, and the war turned around once again.
In the sixth stage, the high-intensity thinking overwhelmed Qin Yi’s body. He felt the consciousness of the Zergs in his coma. The Zerg Queen showed him the truth of the past. It turned out that the war between humans and Zergs was started by humans. The Zerg Queen’s behavior in the Zergs’ nest was an attempt to communicate with Qin Yi. However, she only succeeded now.
On the surface, Qin Yi acted as if he wanted to make peace, but in reality, he lied to the Zerg Queen, carried out the decapitation operation and directly established victory.
In the seventh stage, Qin Yi, who thought that the war had ended and wanted to retreat, was betrayed. The command s.h.i.+p he rode charged into the swarm of insects to commit suicide. He did not expect that after the secondary queens were all beheaded, he, who had the consciousness of the nest, became the new brain of the swarm of insects.
At the end of the movie, there were actually two areas of suspense.
The first suspense was whether the Executive Committee or AEEIS decided to betray Qin Yi?
AEEIS’s words to Qin Yi pushed all the blame to the Supreme Executive Committee, creating a feeling of “when all hares are killed, the hounds will be stewed and eaten”. However, in the conference image of the Supreme Executive Committee, AEEIS said that Qin Yi took the initiative to seek death, and the committee members were very regretful.
Obviously, there were two possibilities: One was that AEEIS had deceived both Qin Yi and the Supreme Executive Committee, and had effortlessly killed a human military genius, clearing the obstacles for him to take over the entire human army in the future. The other was that a portion of the Supreme Executive Committee had instructed AEEIS and acted hypocritically.
These two possibilities were hinting at two different sequels in the future: ‘Machinery Crisis’ or ‘Civil War’.
The second suspense was that Qin Yi, who was in the body of the Leviathan Beast, had inherited the consciousness of the Zergs. His body had also been transformed by the Zergs into a special life form. He was a soldier and naturally loyal to humans, but he had suffered the most shameful betrayal.
Would Qin Yi choose to lead the Zergs for revenge? Or would he take another path? Could he still be called a human? How would he know about himself?
It was obvious that he would only be able to find out the contents later.
…
The grand scene of the interstellar war was too much for the audience to take in. Some people were so immersed in such shock that they even forgot to exclaim.
From the defeat of the Zergs at the beginning, to the small-scale realistic training, to the large-scale battle in the vast starry sky and the surface of the planet…
All the war scenes in the movie were gradual and escalating. The audience followed Captain Qin Yi from weak to strong. They witnessed the grand war between humans and Zergs in the universe step by step.
What shocked Lu Xiaoping was that even though the special effects of this movie were very cool, it obviously did not only have special effects.
The movie had also done very well in terms of narrating the story and moving the audience’s emotions!
On the whole, the war scene of the movie was constantly upgrading, but the emotional tone at each stage was constantly fluctuating like a wavy line. There were high and low points, showing a state of spiraling up in the fluctuation. It was completely unpredictable.
Other movies often show this content through conflicts between characters. For example, when in a difficult situation, a member with different personalities in the team would propose different solutions. Intense debate would make the audience in front of the screen frustrated. In the end, when everyone’s opinions were unified and they overcame difficulties, the audience would feel that their emotions were released.
This was a common trick used in many artistic works. It might be old-fas.h.i.+oned, but it was useful and there was no risk.
However, he managed to hold on to the emotional tone of the movie alone through his own performance and the cold artificial intelligence electronic voice AEEIS in Mission and Choice!
This feeling made Lu Xiaoping think of a one-man movie two years ago. It was about the protagonist being buried alive in a coffin in the desert. The protagonist was constantly exploring and using various props around him to survive. In the end, when he thought that dawn had arrived, he only felt despair.
In that movie, the entire process was a one-man show by the protagonist. However, it brought continuous suspense to the audience. The unique perspective, superb shots, and twists and turns of the plot allowed the movie to successfully obtain a box office miracle that year. It earned twenty million US dollars at the cost of three million US dollars. It was a huge success.
On a certain level, Mission and Choice had the same effect as this movie.
The protagonists of both movies were trapped in a small s.p.a.ce. They struggled hard, faced with an unknown fate. Even though they failed time and time again, they were still determined to fight.
They had all withstood the test of acting skills in the one-man show. They had single-handedly supported the entire movie’s emotions and even allowed the audience to perfectly immerse themselves in the movie.
The difficulty of such a performance was very high. It was like a huge gamble. All the chips were placed in the same game. Once they succeeded, they would make a lot of money. However, once they failed, they would lose everything.
The difference between the two was that their emotions were different.
The protagonist who was buried alive was in a coffin. It was extremely narrow. The despair he endured came from the dual destruction of his mind and body. The audience was like the protagonist. Their perspective was severely limited. They were in a cramped, depressed, and despairing state the entire time.
On the other hand, Qin Yi might be in the s.p.a.ce capsule but he could see the real situation around him through the holographic wall. His vision was not restricted at all. The despair he had endured was more of a mental torture, the pain of bearing the fate of mankind alone.
Both of these performances were a serious test of acting skills, but it seemed to be more difficult in the near distance.
That was because most of the despair that Qin Yi endured came from his spirit. The entire setting and environment could not play much of a role in his emotions. At this time, if he wanted to stir the players’ emotions, he had to place all his hopes on the performance that was close to the road.
The good thing was that he had completed his task very well. He had given his best acting skills ever since he debuted.
It even made Lu Xiaoping feel that he was not looking at a dead end, but another person, or… Captain Qin Yi himself!
Ever since he finished filming Tomorrow is Beautiful, his acting skills had improved by leaps and bounds.
Previously, many people had criticized Lu Zhiyao as’ toxicity in the box office ‘and’ excessive acting ‘. However, Lu Zhiyao’s acting skills seemed to be improving from Tomorrow is Beautiful to Mission and Choice. They went from being outgoing to being reserved. Those exaggerated expressions were all gone. What replaced them was a more exquisite psychological and meticulously designed micro-expressions. He seemed to have completely integrated into the role!
In the last scene of the movie, Qin Yi woke up in the incubation pool of the Leviathan Beasts. His eyes suddenly opened, and the camera zoomed in.
There seemed to be too many complicated emotions in his eyes.
In fact, it was also a close-up at the beginning of the movie. However, Qin Yi had woken up from the hibernation cabin at that time and he had woken up in the incubation pool in the Leviathan Beasts at the end.
The two eyes seemed to have something in common. However, the background, the protagonist’s appearance, the subtle expressions, and especially the eyes were worlds apart.
The hibernation cabin and incubation pool were like a uterus. This scene obviously symbolized Qin Yi obtaining a new life.
However, Qin Yi played the role of the human commander and the Heart of the Zergs in this new life.
The expression at the end of the video lasted for a few seconds before it cut to the next scene just like the beginning of the movie.
His thoughts spread rapidly in s.p.a.ce. All the larvae in the incubation pool surrounded him and became an extension of his consciousness.
Then, the camera zoomed up to the starry sky outside the Leviathan Beast. The wandering terrifying Zerg suddenly opened its eyes and sped up towards the endless starry sky!
A large number of Zergs followed behind the Leviathan Beast like a comet with a long tail, disappearing into the depths of the screen.
The movie ended at this point, and the list of cast members appeared on the big screen.
The ending song sounded. It was an impa.s.sioned war song. It described the scene of a soldier about to go to war.
This song should have been very inspiring, but the scene accompanying it was the scene of the human soldiers cleaning up the mess, the Leviathan Beast carrying Qin Yi and finally disappearing into s.p.a.ce. This song was filled with an inexplicable sense of sorrow.
Bam! The lights in the theater came on.
It was only then that many of the audience snapped out of their daze. They could not stop praising ‘Holy sh*t’ and ‘awesome’!
“F*ck, that’s awesome!”
“I really didn’t expect this ending!”
“I haven’t had enough yet. The tickets were really worth it!”
When Tomorrow is Beautiful’s premiere ended, most viewers felt that it was amazing.
That was because Tomorrow is Beautiful’s performance on many key issues was rather obscure. As a storyline film, there were not many memorable scenes. After watching it, one would feel a little suffocated. One had to watch the reviews while savoring it in order to understand the deeper meaning.
However, Mission and Choice was a totally popcorn-worthy film. The entire process was filled with scenes of various s.p.a.ce wars. Emotions were rolling up and down like roller coasters. There were low points and high peaks. The emotional experience was extremely exciting.
Thus, most viewers could only describe their feelings with one word after watching Mission and Choice: ‘awesome’!
The impact from the sensory impact was more direct and intense. Especially the last scene with Qin Yi’s eyes and the ending song, it allowed the audience’s emotions to be released at the end. It was satisfying to the peak but at the same time, it left a lasting aftertaste.
The audience stood up and could not wait to share their feelings with their companions.
“That’s awesome! The special effects of domestic sci-fi movies can actually be done to such an extent? It’s really comparable to a Hollywood blockbuster! I was dazzled the entire time. There was no scene at all!”
“Indeed, Tengda’s films are awesome! They will never disappoint!”
“It’s not too much to invest a few hundred million yuan into this film, right? It’s a pity that there’s not enough publicity and the screening schedule is not high.”
“It doesn’t matter. Would a film of this quality not be popular?”
“In the end, Qin Yi’s handling was really too good. I thought it was a cliché plot of different species shaking hands and building a beautiful universe together. I’m comfortable!”
“Your acting is not bad. I feel like Boss Pei has a manual to use. It was a toxicity in the box office previously. Now, your acting skills have improved visibly. It really feels like you’re a movie king!”
The audience was full of praise. Obviously, the actual effect of this movie far exceeded their expectations!
Even though the audience came to watch the movie for various reasons, most of them did not have unrealistic expectations.
Everyone knew very well what the state of domestically-produced sci-fi movies were in. If the producers of Mission and Choice were not Tengda but some other company, even if they were some very rich big company, the audience would not come to watch midnight shows as lab rats.
That was because no other company could obtain as much trust as Tengda.
What’s more, there wasn’t much publicity for the movie to begin with. Most viewers thought that it might be a “small but beautiful” movie. In other words, it would have many merits but also obvious shortcomings.
However, they realized that it was not the case at all after watching the movie. This movie had far exceeded everyone’s expectations in every aspect!
This mentality had indirectly raised the audience’s evaluation of Mission and Choice.
This was just like going to a restaurant for a meal. If it was a restaurant with high praises on the internet, customers might feel that it was not only famous but also hard to forget. However, if it was a nameless restaurant in an alley, customers would definitely be very surprised and unforgettable even if they tasted similar!
Lu Xiaoping and the person-in-charge of the announcement of the Greyhound did not stand up immediately with the other audience. Instead, they fell into silence.
They had not spoken a word since the movie started.
The person-in-charge was shocked by the movie. He was originally sleepy but now he was very excited. The last scene lingered in his mind, and the image could not be dispersed.
“Mission and Choice” might be a compet.i.tion, the better it performed, the worse the situation for Greyhound would be. However, the person-in-charge was not in the mood to consider this for the time being because he was completely conquered by this movie. He could only admire it from the bottom of his heart!
After a long time, the person-in-charge said, “There shouldn’t be any more Easter eggs… right?”
Lu Xiaoping nodded silently. “Yes… maybe.”
The person-in-charge said, “Then, Boss Lu, let’s go?”
Lu Xiaoping: “Let’s go…”
He was in low spirits.
They had come to watch the midnight premiere today with the mentality of watching a joke. They had not expected themselves to become a joke.
There were still many audience members who had not left the venue. They were obviously waiting for the Easter egg.
However, Lu Xiaoping judged that there should be no more Easter eggs. On one hand, it was because the lights in the cinema had already been switched on. On the other hand, it was because the entire story had been told very clearly. There was no need for Easter eggs to continue preheating the next part of the story.
Strictly speaking, the entire story should end when Qin Yi was betrayed and sent to the Zergs by AEEIS.
The Supreme Executive Committee of the United Fleet had a meeting and Qin Yi had woken up in the body of the Leviathan Beasts. These two plots were more suitable to appear as Easter eggs.
However, these two plots were too important. What’s more, they were very long. If they were to make Easter eggs, it would feel like they were being cut apart. Thus, after much consideration, Zhu Xiaoce decided to put these two plots at the end of the movie. It would be very effective to match the ending song.
Lu Xiaoping also made the judgment based on this reason. There should not be any Easter eggs in the movie.
However, some images appeared beside the rolling name list just as the two of them were about to leave.
There were no Easter eggs in the end, but there were other things.
These were some NG scenes that were shot when the road was very close!
He faced the green screen and repeated his lines over and over again. He would perform in different ways. Sometimes, he would stop in the middle of the act if he was not satisfied. He would repeat it continuously.
He had to act out the same emotion at least five or six times on the road. After careful consideration, he would choose the one that he was most satisfied with.
There was also a close shot with the AEEIS Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine.
In the view of the audience, many performances that were very Lu Zhiyao were actually very good. However, he was still not satisfied with the end of the road. He continued to act it over and over again. Every plot had to be perfect.
These scenes were not bad, they paled in comparison to the actual scenes.
The audience who stayed behind were basically die-hard fans.The lights in the cinema were already switched on but they still insisted on watching the end with the thought that there might be Easter eggs.
Unexpectedly, they really got a pleasant surprise!
“Holy sh*t, how many times did he have to shoot the same scene?”
“Lu Zhiyao’s so ruthless. I feel like he’s a little obsessed. He said the same lines in several different ways. The effect is better each time. On the other hand, he’s definitely much better than those fresh meats who don’t even memorize their lines and only know how to mouth their lines!”
“Strictly speaking, even though he was very close to being a professional, he did not have much acting skills in the beginning. He was not much better than the fresh meat celebrities, However, he was different from the fresh meat celebrities. He was not satisfied with the praises of his fans. Instead, he kept strictly insisting on himself and honing his acting skills. That was why he could bring us such exciting performances like Tomorrow is Beautiful and Mission and Choice!”
“Indeed, the improvement in acting skills is visible to the naked eye. The movie tickets were so worth it. It was a killing!”
“Many people in Tomorrow is Beautiful said that they were very close to Tengda’s script and that their acting skills were led by Zhang Zuting. Now, this saying should collapse on its own, right?”
“Indeed, a single person holding up a movie worth hundreds of millions of yuan. There’s no need to discuss the positioning because he’s the only actor!”
“We should be able to get rid of the t.i.tle of ‘toxicity in the box office’ now, right? If two movies performed so well in a row, he would most likely become a true Best Actor in the future!”
The audience was filled with emotions. Even those who had no feelings for Lu Zhiyao were sincerely happy for his improvement.
There have been more and more popular movies in recent years. All sorts of fresh meat celebrities had contributed their acting skills to various so-called ‘big productions’ movies. Many viewers could not stand it anymore.
On the other hand, he was on a completely different path from those popular fresh meat celebrities. He could obviously rely on his looks, but he had to rely on his talent. He had put in unimaginable effort for this. How could he not like him?
Finally, the final credits of the movie and the NG scenes of Lu Zhiyao were all played.
The few remaining audience members finally left in satisfaction. Their hands were not idle either as they quickly posted a message on their WeChat Moments.
Lu Xiaoping and the person-in-charge of the Greyhound walked out in a daze, as if they had lost their souls.
On one hand, he was shocked by the contents of the movie. On the other hand, he was extremely worried about the current situation of Vinci Media and Mission and Choice after watching Mission and Choice.
He was too hot-headed at that time and provoked a terrible opponent!
There was a price to pay for scamming such a movie.
Lu Xiaoping’s plan had been built on the foundation that Mission and Choice were not of good quality. That was why he had come to scam and increase the popularity of Greyhound.
However, if the two movies were compared, and Greyhound was rubbed against the ground, all the popularity that it had gained previously would be backfired!
If Greyhound won, it would be domineering and confident. However, if it lost, it would be sour and a clown.
This feeling was like a boxer entering the ring. He had originally thought that the other party was a weakling and had said all sorts of harsh words before the compet.i.tion. He had already bragged about his awesomeness. However, he did not expect to see the other party’s arm thicker than his thigh when he took off his jacket and went on stage.
How was he to fight then!
The two of them remained silent. They knew very well that the current situation was bad enough, but in fact, this was just the beginning!