Singapore’s most successful movie franchise is back! Ah Boys to Men 4 is a 2017 Singaporean comedy film directed by Jack Neo, and the fourth installment in the Ah Boys to Men film series. After completion of their full-time national service stints, Lobang, Aloysius, Sergeant Ong, and Ken Chow were all busy with their respective careers as civilians. When they are called back for in-camp training in an Singapore Armed Forces Armour unit, the boys must juggle between work and their duties as operationally-ready national servicemen. Hilarious situations happen when they are back training together and their military roles reversed. New enemy threats arise as their brotherhood is put to the test.
National Service in Singapore, (commonly known as NS), is a statutory requirement for all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents to undergo a period of compulsory service in the uniformed services. Depending on physical and medical fitness, they serve a two-year period as National Servicemen Full-time (NSFs), either in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Police Force (SPF), or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
When an NSF completes his full-time service, he is considered to be “operationally ready”, and is thereafter known as an Operationally-Ready National Serviceman (NSman). In common parlance, the term “Reservist” is used, a vestige of the older nomenclature preceding the current terminology. NSmen are the equivalent of other countries’ reservists. NSmen make up >80% of Singapore’s military defence. They form the backbone of the SAF as NSmen represent the collective will of the nation to stand up for itself and to ensure the security of the nation. The majority of NSFs serve in the SAF, as part of the Army. The reasons for this include the relative manpower needs of the Army compared to the Navy and Air Force, the SPF, and SCDF. Moreover, as compared to the Army, the Air Force (RSAF) and Navy (RSN) are smaller armed services composed primarily of regular servicemen.
Filming started on June 2017, and ended on September. Much of it took place at Sungei Gedong Camp and Dover Road, the latter in which the HDB blocks were empty due to redevelopment. One certain scene, which depicted a search-and-destroy mission against an unnamed invader, involved tons of rubber, mostly made of prop foam, and cost $270,000 to shoot. Leopard 2SG and Bionix II armoured fighting vehicles operated by Singapore Armed Forces members were used for the filming.The film focuses on the main characters who have to juggle between their work and their reservist duties. Ah Boys to Men 4 was released in cinemas on 9 November 2017.
