On Oct 5, 2011, two Chinese cargo ships were attacked along the Mekong River, resulting in 13 Chinese sailors being slaughtered before their corpses were discarded by a Myanmar drug-trafficking lord.

2011年10月5日，两艘中国货船在湄公河上遇袭，13名中国船员被残忍杀害，尸体被缅甸大毒枭抛入河中。

This exceedingly inhumane incident shocked the whole nation, and indeed the whole world. Through the countless reports that followed, we were all well-informed of what happened next – the warlord was captured and extradited to China in 2012. He admitted his responsibility for the crime to Chinese authorities and was then condemned to death.

这一惨无人道的凶案震惊了中国乃至全世界。一系列的报道聚焦跟进着案情的进展——2012年，该毒枭最终落网，并被引渡至中国。他向中国有关部门承认了当时所犯下的罪行，随后被判处死刑。

Operation Mekong (《湄公河行动》), a film based on the murderous massacre which was released on Sept 30, topped the box office during the National Day holiday – beating star-studded romance film I Belonged to You (《从你的全世界路过》) and fantasy L.O.R.D.–Legend of Ravaging Dynasties (《爵迹》). You may wonder how a film telling a tale of something most of China is all too familiar with won filmgoers’ hearts (and their ticket money).

9月30日上映的电影《湄公河行动》便是根据上述惨案改编而成。在十一黄金周期间，《湄公河行动》击败了众星云集的爱情电影《从你的全世界路过》和奇幻大片《爵迹》，成为国庆档电影票房的最大赢家。你或许不禁想问，这部电影所讲述的事件大部分国人都再熟悉不过了，那么，它究竟是如何抓住观众的心（并让他们甘愿自掏腰包）呢？

With a theme that could easily have been developed into an informational yet tedious documentary about the perils of drugs, Hong Kong director Dante Lam (林超贤) made this film an exhilarating action thriller filled with violent fights and massive explosions. In a behind-the-scenes video, Lam says that as audiences are already well aware of the story’s beginning and end, his film focuses on depicting the behind-the-scenes operation of bringing the criminals involved to justice.

这样的故事很容易就会被拍成冗长的教育性纪录片，以体现毒品的危害。但香港导演林超贤却将它变成了热血沸腾的动作大片，片中满是激烈的打戏和大量的爆炸场面。在一则幕后视频中，林超贤表示，因为观众们都十分熟悉整个事件起因和结局，所以，电影更多的是描绘将涉案罪犯绳之以法的幕后故事。

But this is just a walk in the park for Lam – many of his signature works are crime and gangster flicks, including the critically acclaimed duo The Beast Stalker (《证人》，2008) and The Stool Pigeon (《线人》，2009).

但对于林超贤来说，这不过是信手拈来——他的代表作多为警匪片，如备受赞誉的《证人》（2008）和《线人》（2009）等。

Every second of the knuckle-biting operation led by narcotics officer Gao Gang (Zhang Hanyu) and undercover agent Fang Xinwu (Eddie Peng, 彭于晏) is tense and thrilling enough to keep the audiences on the edge of their seats. Throw in some crazy car chases, exploding buildings and intense, bullet-ridden gun battles, and you have an incredible action thriller on your hands.

在片中，缉毒警官高刚（张涵予饰）和卧底情报员方新武（彭于晏饰）执行了一系列环环相扣的行动。行动的每分每秒都扣人心弦，险象环生，令观众们绷紧神经往下看。疯狂的飞车场面、连环爆炸的建筑物、子弹横飞的枪战……这些都是你眼前动作大片中的精彩一幕。

“Though more sensationalistic than serious, this film has a scale and an energy that rivals any Hollywood blockbuster,” a Los Angles Times review wrote.

“尽管这部影片更多地追求轰动效果而非严肃氛围，但它依然形成了一种规模优势和能量，可以与任何好莱坞大片分庭抗礼，”一则《洛杉矶时报》的影评写道。

Military films often aim to educate and one purpose of Operation Mekong is to get “more media attention and screen productions to show the public the dangers of drugs”, Zhao Zhongchen, a police officer who had taken part in the investigation of the case, said at a promotional event for the film in June.

军事题材的电影多数含有教育意义，而《湄公河行动》这部影片的目标之一便是“获得更多媒体和影视制作方的关注，向公众展现毒品的危害，”曾参与湄公河大案调查的赵中辰（音译）警官在六月的一场电影宣传会中表示。

And if this was its intention, Operation Mekong has exceeded this mission by visually bringing to our attention the shockingly brutal and violent underbelly of a world that most never see.

如果这就是电影《湄公河行动》的目标，那么，这部影片已经超额完成了任务，并向我们展现了一个大部分人都从未见过的、野蛮而又凶残的黑帮世界。

It’s easy for mainstream films about military action and drug wars to end up as a solemn and depressing 90 minutes for the viewer, however this movie shows that the genre can also be entertaining when it wants to be.

90分钟的军事行动和缉毒战的主旋律电影很容易就会令人感到严肃而沉闷，然而，这部电影却向我们证明了，这样的主旋律电影也可以如此引人入胜。