Inchon (1982): an expensive inspiration from God

A story says that one day, Sun Myung Moon (Unification Church) began crying and could not stop. To raise his spirits he took a trip to the movie theatre and the crying stopped. He saw this as a sign from God and resolved to make his own motion picture. Moon remembered the UN forces landing at Inchon, and how the mastermind behind the landings, General Douglas MacArthur must have been inspired by God, so he invested his personal fortune on a movie about it.

To shoot the movie they chose British director Terence Young, a veteran of three James Bond films and the lead role of General Douglas MacArthur was given to Laurence Olivier, who may have appeared a great choice, but his scenes of divine inspiration proved laughable. Olivier had read that MacArthur wore makeup, but Olivier exaggerated his own makeup and consequently looked like a man in drag.

Disasters that beset the production included:
A typhoon that swept away a recreation of Inchon lighthouse, requiring it to be rebuilt at huge cost.
The beach landings at Inchon had to be redone after an assistant director accidentally sent the ships in the wrong direction. Cost: $2 million.
The scene where General Douglas MacArthur greets the crowds in his limousine had to be shot three times. The first time, there were not enough people in the crowd. The second time, the shots did not match with the first version. Finally, the producers hired a studio in Dublin especially for the scene. Cost: $3 million.

A massive publicity campaign was launched but to no avail. Aside from the atrocious reviews, audiences were afraid that the film was being used part of a drive by the Unification Church to recruit new members. The New York Times said that Inchon "looks like the most expensive B-movie ever made." And it won the infamous Razzie Award as Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, Worst Actor and Worst Director. Inchon would end up costing $44 million and made less than $2 million at the box office.