:
Chow Yun-Fat,
Leslie Cheung,
Ti Lung,
more...
:
John Woo
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Anchor Bay
: Cult, Foreign, Hong Kong, Gangsters
: 94 min.
: English, Cantonese, Mandarin
: English
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John Woo established himself as one of Hong Kong's premiere action directors with this ultra-hip, ultra-violent action classic. The film centers around the complex relationship between two brothers: Sung Tse-kit (Leslie Cheung) is a recent graduate of the police academy while Tse-ho (Ti Lung) runs a massive counterfeiting ring along with his gangland associate, Mark Lee (Chow Yun-fat). Tension between the two brothers comes to a head when their father is murdered after a crime deal goes sour and Tse-ho lands in jail after being double-crossed. In perhaps the most influential scene in Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s, Mark avenges his friend by staging a dinner table assassination. As Mark tries to shoot his way out of the restaurant, pulling a series of hidden pistols from potted plants and alcoves, he gets horribly injured. With both founding members of the counterfeiting syndicate incapacitated, the operation falls into the hands of Shing (Waise Lee Chi-hung), Tse-ho's former underling who has little of his boss' élan or experience. When Tse-ho gets out of jail, he reunites with his now-crippled comrade, Mark, to take out Shing and to protect Tse-kit whose life is in danger for investigating their former subordinate. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
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| Violent, gory, but a wonderful film with a lot of heart
by Waiguoren99
April 1, 2003 - 11:51 PM PST
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8 out of 8 members found this review helpful
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| This re - working of the old martial arts "trying to get out of the Jianhu Underworld" story, which applied the themes, conventions, character types, and story structures of traditional kung-fu films to a film about the world of the triads and replaced the martial arts battles with gunplay, launched a whole new genre of films, the "gun-fu" movie. It is also the film that exploded John Woo into the top of Hong Kong filmmaking. His films are famous for three things, "poetry of bullets" (violent, gory, but beautifully choreographed gunfights), the importance of keeping ge (the classic virtues of honor, loyalty, and duty), and the importance of close friendship and bonding between men. This film is an excellent demonstration of these three elements. The acting is very fine, and if you can deal with the slow-motion, extremely graphic bullet wounds, etc., it is a wonderful film with a lot of heart. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.22)
267 Votes
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