Pegasus (film)

Pegasus/Return to Racetrack
Theatrical release poster
Traditional Chinese飛馳人生
Simplified Chinese飞驰人生
Literal meaninghigh-speed life
Hanyu PinyinFēichí rénshēng
Directed byHan Han
Written byHan Han
StarringShen Teng
Huang Jingyu
Distributed byChina Media Capital (China)
Cina Asia (UK)
Release dates
  • February 5, 2019 (2019-02-05) (China and UK)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin
Box office$255.8 million[1]

Pegasus (Chinese: 飞驰人生) is a 2019 Chinese comedy film directed and written by Han Han, starring Shen Teng and Huang Jingyu.[2] The film was released in China and other territories on February 5, 2019, marking Lunar New Year.[2]

A second film, Pegasus 2, was released in February 10, 2024.[3] A drama series adaptation started streaming on February 28, 2024.

Plot

[edit]

Zhang Chi (Shen Teng) has dreamed of becoming a rally driver since he was a child. In his racing career, he has won the Bayanbulak Rally 5 times which represents the highest level in the country. He was only 32 years old when he won the highest honour in Chinese racing and was in his prime. But the birth of his son Zhang Fei and his suspension for participating in illegal drag racing forced Zhang Chi to leave the circuit. But in his heart, he never gave up his racing dream and wanted to prove the glory he once had in front of his son. During the five-year suspension, he abides by the law, relies on fried rice, sets up a book stand to support his family, and never touches a car again. Now he just wants to get back to the circuit, nothing else. The race license will automatically take effect once the driver's license is obtained. Zhang Chi reunites with his old co-driver Sun Yuqiang (Yin Zheng), Since Zhang Chi was suspended, Sun Yuqiang also left the team and worked odd jobs for a living. With Zhang Chi's call, he resolutely quit his job and returns to racing for Zhang Chi.

Lin Zhendong (Huang Jingyu) is the most famous rally driver today. He received racing training in England at the age of thirteen and watched Zhang Chi race at eighteen. At 20, Lin Zhendong returned to China and wanted to compete with Zhang Chi on the track, but Zhang Chi was suspended for the incident. In the past five years, Lin Zhendong stood out and became the new king of Bayanbulak Circuit. Next year, he will leave the Chinese arena. So he wants to get the answer he has been waiting for five years at this year's Bayanbulak Rally and battle with Zhang Chi to see who is the real king of Bayanbulak. Zhang Chi wins the rally but after he crosses the finish line, his car malfunctions and he flies off a cliff. It is unknown whether he dies or not.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

This film is based on director Han Han's personal story and is based on the real story of Xu Lang (The enlightenment teacher of Han Han Racing).[4] The character of Lin Zhengdong is based on Han Han's friend Zhang Zhengdong[5] and the character of Sun Yuqiang is based on Han Han's true pilot call Sun Qiang. The word "dedication" (奉献) sees frequent use in Pegasus because Han Han wanted to use this film to tell the story of how he dedicated his life to racing.[citation needed]

"Everyone can dream, but there are only a handful of people chasing dreams. Even fewer people persist to the end. The happiest thing for a person is to dedicate his life to the things he loves."[4]

Music

[edit]

Soundtrack

[edit]

Marketing

[edit]

In early August 2018, Han Han made a public announcement of Pegasus (飞驰人生) on Weibo, the early promotion of the film involved him uploading behind the scenes footage of himself and some of the main cast.[2] The movie released a thirty-second teaser trailer on October 4, 2018.[6]

Reception

[edit]

Box office

[edit]

Within the first two days of its release Pegasus generated 500 million RMB in box office revenue, and in the following week its revenue reached over a billion RMB.[7]

Accolades

[edit]

Pegasus was nominated at the 2019 Golden Rooster Awards for Best Sound and Best Editor.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Fei Chi Ren Sheng (2019)". The Numbers. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "飞驰人生". Douban (in Chinese). Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  3. ^ "#飞驰人生2定档大年初一# 飞驰老友重聚,五年了,终于等到你!昔日巴音布鲁克之王沦为落魄驾校教练,铁三角带上新学员重组车队,笑战巴音布鲁克!". Weibo. 电影飞驰人生. Retrieved Jan 10, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "他花了5亿拍电影,只为纪念一个人". 豆瓣 (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  5. ^ "揭秘《飞驰人生》黄景瑜原型:父亲卖公司培养车王,投入数千万_张臻". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2022-03-06.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "韩寒《飞驰人生》首曝预告 沈腾赛车杠上飞机_华语_电影网_1905.com". www.1905.com. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  7. ^ 责, 编 (February 11, 2019). ""Pegasus" broke 1 billion". Sina Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-03-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ "飞驰人生 获奖情况". movie.douban.com. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
[edit]