HIJACK 1971 (하이재킹) (2024)

Genre: Thriller/Action
Director: Kim Sung-han
Cast: Ha Jung-woo, Yeo Jin-goo, Sung Dong-il, Chae Soo-bin, Moon You-kang
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Disturbing Scenes & Violence)
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 22 August 2024

Synopsis: Winter of 1971, Sokcho Airport. Pilots Tae-in (HA Jung-woo) and Gyu-sik (SUNG Dong-il) are set to fly to Gimpo. Under the guidance of flight attendant Ok-soon (CHAE Soo-bin), passengers are busy boarding. However, shortly after takeoff, a homemade bomb explodes, turning the cabin into chaos. "From now on, this plane is going to North Korea." Yong-dae (YEO Jin-goo), who intends to hijack the entire plane, takes control of the cockpit and threatens the pilots to change course. Due to the explosion, Gyu-sik loses sight in one eye, and in the chaotic cabin, Tae-in faces a life-or-death situation. They begin a desperate struggle to safely land the aircraft... The airplane hijacking incident over South Korea. Everyone on this flight is putting their lives on the line!

Movie Review:

No thanks to real life airplane disasters, especially with some taking place near our shores, this South Korean thriller can be too harrowing to watch for some audiences. The best stories are those based on real events, and what gives this movie an edge is how it dramatises the tension between North Korea and South Korea. While it isn’t the first movie (and you can bet it won’t be the last) to bring the conflict to the big screen, this production helmed by Kim Sung-han will keep you at the edge of your seat.

The movie prepares you at the beginning by telling viewers that it is based on a hijack attempt of a Korean Air F27 airliner in 1971, and some parts of the story are dramatised for cinematic experience. It then takes you back two years before the incident happened, where Tae-in (Ha Jung-woo) works in the air force. During a mission, he chose to disable a defecting aircraft and was subsequently asked to leave the force.

What’s interesting is that the story takes place during a time in history where passengers on South Korean airplanes are ill fated if they are hijacked to fly towards North Korea. The airplanes may be taken down by the South Korean air force if detected, which means the passengers will perish. If they make it to North Korea, their lives will change. Even if they are brought back to South Korea, they may be treated as communists or spies. There seems to be no good outcome either way.

Back to the movie’s plot. Our protagonist Tae-in becomes a commercial pilot and finds himself in a situation where his airplane is hijacked by Yong-dae, a young man (Yeo Jin-goo) who is forcing the plane to fly towards North Korea. When explosions go off, the security personnel is tied up, and a passenger is made to hold on to a hand grenade, you know the stakes are high.

The taut thriller has a runtime of 100 minutes, and most of the chaos happens in the cabin. You will be holding your breath as Yong-dae becomes increasingly agitated and aggressive, meaning that no one is safe on flight, not even the poor elderly woman who can't speak and looks too frail to survive such an ordeal. The movie does a great job of firing up your emotions, as the different characters in the passenger seats get their share of screen time. There is the mother who is trying to calm her son down while he holds on to the hand grenade, the businessman who is on board with his assistant, the newly wed couple, the valiant gentleman who may be a tad too rash for wanting to pin the hijacker down, and also the flight attendant (Chae Soo-bin) who moves up and down the cabin trying to maintain order.

But the characters who really get your attention are Tae-in and Yong-dae. Ha, who is known for his role as the grim reaper in the Along with the Gods movies, does a fine job portraying a hero who is put in a challenging situation where his passengers’ lives are at risk. We aren’t sure whether there is a human being as big hearted as Tae-in, but seeing him doing all he can on the big screen does give us hope in humanity.

Then there is Yong-dae, maniacally played by Yeo. Ditching his boy next door persona, the actor is believable as a lunatic who will set the plane ablaze if anything triggers him. Just as you feel that there’s no redeeming factor about this antagonist, the plot explains what drove him to hijack the plane. The flashback sequences are heartbreaking, and they further add to our intrigue for the political relationship between the two Koreas.  

Movie Rating:

(Based on the hijack attempt of a Korean Air F27 airliner in 1971, this nail-biting thriller that will leave you at the edge of your seat also sheds light on the tension between the two Koreas)

Review by John Li