Category Archives: Hong Kong Film Corner

Brad reviews WE’RE GOING TO EAT YOU (1980), directed by Tsui Hark! 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

WE’RE GOING TO EAT YOU (1980) is the story of Agent 999 (Norman Chu), an agent of the Central Surveillance Agency, who comes to a remote island to catch the notorious criminal, Rolex (Melvin Wong). Once he gets there, he discovers that the island is overrun by crazed cannibals and is ruled over with an iron fist by a power mad Chief (Eddy Ko). Chief hoards the human meat of unsuspecting travelers who happen upon the island for himself and his soldiers, leaving the villagers to starve. As Agent 999 continues his investigation and tries to avoid becoming lunch, he finds out that the repentant criminal Rolex has become the Chief’s aid in order to expose the evils of the island to the authorities on the mainland without having to go back to jail himself. When Rolex’s plans don’t work out, Agent 999 must then team up with a goofy thief (Hon Kwok-Choi) to fight off the cannibals, save his newfound love (Michelle Kim), and get the hell off of the island in one piece!

The second film to be directed by Hong Kong icon Tsui Hark, WE’RE GOING TO EAT YOU is a wild hybrid film that leans heavily into horror, comedy and martial arts. It’s an odd mix that contains jarring shifts in tone, a staple of Hong Kong Cinema of the 80’s. One minute we’re watching men have their arms cut off and their guts ripped out, only to immediately shift to slapstick rape humor, before shifting to badass martial arts / roller skating kung fu action choreographed by a young Corey Yuen. Completely unpolished in terms of production values, it’s acquired somewhat of a cult classic status due to its raw energy, gory subject matter, directorial pedigree, and anti-communist political themes. I thought Norman Chu was good as Agent 999, even if his charismatic agent isn’t always as observant as we’d hope he’d be. Eddy Ko, who is in one of my favorite Hong Kong films, THE MISSION (1999), can be both menacing and goofy as the Chief who will pretty much do anything to preserve his power and supply of meat. The island village puts off its own scary vibes with its creepy slaughterhouse and masked cannibals, always at the ready to hack off a body part. It adds up to a rather unique viewing experience. 

While WE’RE GOING TO EAT YOU is certainly not for everyone due to its subject matter, those who appreciate the frenetic action of Hong Kong cinema will enjoy this film. It will also fit the bill for those who like kung fu action mashups served with sides of gory gore and silly giggles. Just don’t expect it to have the polished look of Hark’s later films such as PEKING OPERA BLUES (1986) and ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (1991). 

Brad reviews THE SEVENTH CURSE (1986) – starring Chow Yun-Fat, Maggie Cheung and Chin Siu-Ho!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Early in THE SEVENTH CURSE, Dr. Yuan (Chin Siu-Ho) tells a story to his mentor and friend Wisely (Chow Yun-Fat). It seems he had visited Thailand exactly one year earlier, and while walking along a lake, a beautiful woman in a see-through blouse emerged from the water. The two visit for a moment before she ran into the jungle in fear. Later that evening, Yuan heard the sounds of native drums which seem to signal human sacrifices are taking place by the local “Worm Tribe.” Investigating the situation, he saw that same beautiful woman as she was about to be sacrificed to the “Old Ancestor” by the tribe’s sorcerer (Elvis Tsui). He rescued the lady, but he was also damned with a blood curse that will periodically burst through his legs. Luckily, the grateful beauty was able to slice a tumor out of her ample bosom that provided an antidote for one year. Well, the time is up and the bursts are back. Wisely, who puffs on his pipe and seems to be an expert on everything, advises Yuan to head back to Thailand and find a permanent cure before the final burst kills him. With help at various times from the badass Black Dragon (Dick Wei), the beautiful tribe woman we now know as Betsy (Tsui Sau-Lai), the annoying reporter Rainbow (Maggie Cheung), and Wisely, Yuan must find the cure before the final burst comes straight from the heart. It won’t be easy as they will have to defeat the evil sorcerer of the Worm Tribe, a demon baby animated by the blood of ground up children, and “Old Ancestor” himself, a powerful skeleton with glowing eyes who likes to suck out spinal cords before transforming into something really ugly.

Back in 1986, Chow Yun-Fat essentially filmed an extended cameo for this crazy film that could have only been made in Hong Kong. 1986 was also the same year that Chow Yun-Fat became a megastar all across Asia based on his success in John Woo’s A BETTER TOMORROW. Of course, the film was sold on his name, but he’s not in it very much, even if he does show up at the end with a bazooka. With that said, for those in the right frame of mind THE SEVENTH CURSE is an entertaining film, and I like Chin Siu-Ho in the lead role as Dr. Yuan. Part Indiana Jones style adventure and part jungle-terror, this film goes completely over the top with its gratuitous nudity and gore. “Restraint” for this movie means not showing children actually getting ground up so their blood can revitalize a demon baby, although we do see them being placed in the grinder and the blood coming out and being collected in bowls. The same restraint isn’t shown for the men who are torn apart by booby traps and Old Ancestor, impaled by spikes, rip their own faces off and have their spinal cords sucked out. For those of “WTF am I watching” cinema, this should be a fun viewing. The special effects aren’t particularly realistic looking which makes it easier for me to watch. 

Overall, THE SEVENTH CURSE is definitely not a film for everyone. The budget is low, the acting isn’t great, it’s gory as hell, and Chow Yun-Fat may have ten minutes of screen time at most. But if my description of the gore doesn’t scare you away and you enjoy crazy cinema, this is probably a movie for you.

Happy Birthday, Donnie Yen!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Today is Hong Kong film star Donnie Yen’s 63rd birthday. The first time I remember seeing him on screen was in Yuen Woo-Ping’s 1993 film IRON MONKEY. He kicked butt then and he’s still kicking it to this day!

Celebrate with me by watching this clip from the martial arts classic!




Brad reviews SHAOLIN SOCCER (2001), starring Stephen Chow!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

My favorite living actor is the Hong Kong legend Chow Yun-Fat. His heroic bloodshed gangster films with John Woo turned me into a Hong Kong superfan. I’m also a big fan of Jackie Chan. His kung fu action-comedies eventually led to him being one of the biggest movie stars in the world. But did you know that when they were at the peaks of their careers in Hong Kong in the early 90’s, neither was the biggest star in their homeland? Nope! The true box office champion in Hong Kong was the comedian Stephen Chow. From 1990-1995, Stephen Chow led the box office every year except 1994, when Chow Yun-Fat barely edged him out. In the 2000’s, Stephen didn’t make a lot of movies, but when he did, they were record breaking box office smashes. The first of those was SHAOLIN SOCCER.

The film has a pretty simple concept… a former soccer great, known as Golden Leg Fung (Ng Man-Tat), has been down on his luck for 20 years after his leg was broken in a soccer match. Drunk and at his lowest, he runs into the Mighty Steel Leg Sing (Stephen Chow), a poor Shaolin disciple who spends his time trying to figure out a way to make the teachings of Shaolin popular again. When Fung sees the power with which Sing can kick a soccer ball, he comes up with the idea of recruiting and coaching a soccer team of Shaolin kung fu masters. He wants to challenge Team Evil, the reigning Chinese soccer champions, and their arrogant Coach Hung (Patrick Tse), the man responsible for his crippled leg. Can they win the Chinese Cup, restore the legend of Golden Leg Fung, and bring Shaolin Kung Fu into the modern world? 

No matter what you think of my summary above, I can assure you that it doesn’t even come close to doing the film justice. What may sound like just a kung fu comedy is actually a kung fu comedy, a sports movie, and an effects driven, fantastical live-action cartoon all rolled up into one. As funny as I thought he was in the James Bond parody FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE (1995), writer-director Stephen Chow proves himself to be a comedic genius with SHAOLIN SOCCER. Apparently the citizens of Hong Kong agreed as the film broke all of their previous box office records when it was released in the summer of 2001. Chow would break his own records a few years later when he wrote, directed and starred in the international hit KUNG FU HUSTLE (2004).

As the film kicks into gear, we’re treated to a succession of “Magnificent Seven” like scenes where Fung and Sing try to build their soccer team from Sing’s former Shaolin “brothers.” These aren’t obvious badasses like Charles Bronson and James Coburn, though. These guys may be Shaolin masters, but in the world they live in now, they’re a bunch of beaten down losers. They all initially turn the guys down due to their complete lack of confidence in themselves, but something has undeniably stirred in them again. With Fung and Sing sitting alone and thinking all hope is lost, Chow brilliantly parodies John Woo, and the brothers join them in stylish, wind blown slow-mo!

Once the Shaolin masters get together on the team, director Stephen Chow cranks up the CGI and special effects to 10 to illustrate their true powers. This is all done for entertainment purposes, so don’t expect anything that resembles real soccer. Their first practice begins with Mighty Steel Leg Sing kicking a ball straight up in the air, so the team just has to hang out and take naps while they wait for the ball to finally come back down. As the guys discover their true CGI-enhanced Shaolin soccer superpowers, they seem unbeatable… that is, until they run back into the superdrug-enhanced Team Evil and their unethical coach Hung. Part of the fun of these types of movies is in seeing how they deal with adversity and overcome the bigger, badder team. I want to shout out Patrick Tse, who played Coach Hung. He’s deliriously over-the-top here, and we definitely want to see him get his comeuppance. One of the reasons I decided to rewatch SHAOLIN SOCCER is to celebrate Tse, who passed away on July 16th, 2026, at the age of 89, after a 7-decade film career in Hong Kong. Rest in peace, sir. 

I think that the best thing I can say for this film is that underneath the entertaining craziness of the comedy and special effects is a sweet underdog story of unappreciated greatness being unleashed. The various characters may seem like jokes in their day to day lives, but they’re not, and it’s a joy to behold as the world sees how special they really are. This theme runs through several of Stephen Chow’s films. In his best movies, he doesn’t just prove that he’s a brilliant comedian, but he also shows us that he’s got a good heart. 

Brad revisits the Hong Kong tearjerker ALL ABOUT AH LONG (1989), starring Chow Yun-Fat!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I have about a 30-minute commute to my office every day, so I love to listen to podcasts about my favorite actors and movies. About a year or so ago, I discovered the “Podcast on Fire,” which mostly focuses on Hong Kong movies, but will veer into other Asian related cinema as well. Kenny B and his various co-hosts may do a series on a prominent Hong Kong director one week and a sleazy category III soft porno the next, so the wide variety is especially enjoyable, and I’ve learned so much by going through their back catalog of episodes. I recently came across their series dedicated to popular Hong Kong melodramas. The first episode in the series included a lengthy discussion of ALL ABOUT AH LONG, an award-winning tearjerker starring Chow Yun-Fat. I haven’t watched it in over 20 years, so it was time for a revisit.

Ah Long (Chow Yun-Fat) is a former motorcycle racer who lives in Hong Kong and works as a truck driver while raising his son Porky on his own. The two seem to have a great relationship, even if their situation can only be described as modest at best. Things get interesting when Ah Long’s former girlfriend Por Por (Sylvia Chang), who also happens to be Porky’s mother, enters their life after being away in America for 10 years. In a cruel twist that was brought on because her family did not want her to be with Ah Long, she had been led to believe that Porky had died and her escape to America was her way of dealing with that pain. Now wealthy and successful, she discovers that Porky is indeed alive, and Ah Long has been raising their son alone all these years. Naturally, she wants to be involved in her son’s life. As a matter of fact, she wants to give Porky a life that his father never could.

My favorite living actor, Chow Yun-Fat, gives one of the best performances of his career in this film. It’s especially impressive because it asks him to behave almost completely the opposite of the cool heroes that made him famous around the globe in his Hong Kong action hits like THE KILLER and HARD BOILED. His Ah Long can be funny and charismatic, but he can also be immature and downright mean. There are times he’s so sweet and likable, and then there are times, especially seen in flashback, where he’s not likable at all. Chow doesn’t try to smooth away the rough edges of the character, either. Ah Long is flawed, but he’s also a great dad, and his chemistry with his son Porky (Huang Kun-Hsuan) feels very natural. I also like Chow’s chemistry with Sylvia Chang as Por Por. Even though she wants to take Porky back to America with her, she’s never portrayed as this evil villain, and she and Chow actually end up working together to do what’s best for their son. Chow would win his 3rd Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor for his performance here.

The film is very melodramatic, but director Johnnie To goes out of his way to ground the film in some level of reality. Long before To was transforming the Hong Kong film industry in the late ‘90’s through his Milky Way Images production company, he was a working director just making successful movies. With this film’s cramped apartments, simple meals, awkward dinner conversations, and past romantic regrets, the movie gives all of us something we can latch ahold of. When tragedy enters near the end, it’s especially affecting since we’ve grown to understand and care about the characters. If ALL ABOUT AH LONG doesn’t make you reach for the tissues, you’ve got a heart of stone, my friend!

In my opinion, ALL ABOUT AH LONG is also the kind of movie that determines if you’re a Chow Yun-Fat fan or just a John Woo action movie fan. Chow is about as far away from the charismatic hero of A BETTER TOMORROW as he can possibly get. This is Chow at his most human and relatable, and I’ll admit I loved every moment of his performance. I watched it again on the DVD that I purchased about 25 years ago, and there’s just nobody any better out there.

Brad revisits A BETTER TOMORROW II (1987), starring Chow Yun-Fat & directed by John Woo!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

John Woo’s A BETTER TOMORROW was such a gigantic hit in Hong Kong cinemas when it came out in 1986 that you had to know that a sequel would soon follow. A BETTER TOMORROW II would open a year later, bringing back all the stars from the original. This film would go even bigger with both the action and the melodrama, with varying levels of success, but we’ll get to that in a little bit.

The plot seems familiar at first, as ex-gangster Ho (Ti Lung) is let out of prison to work with the police to dig up dirt on his old friend Lung (Dean Shek), a former criminal who’s trying to run a legitimate business down at the shipyard. The main reason he agrees to help though, is because his younger brother / undercover cop Kit (Leslie Cheung) is working on the case and Ho wants to protect him. After a series of double-crosses and betrayals, it seems that we’re in for the same type of story that we got in the first film. Key differences emerge when Lung is framed for murder and escapes to New York City. There we meet Ken Gor (Chow Yun-Fat), the conveniently discovered twin brother of tragic hero Mark Gor. Ken tries to help Lung, who has fallen into a state of catatonic shock upon learning that his daughter has been killed. When death squads come after him in New York, Ken shows his badass cred and saves his ass. Lung eventually snaps out of it and the two head back to Hong Kong together. There they team up with Ho and Kit to exact bloody vengeance on all who have gotten in the way of their efforts at personal reform!        

The first thing I’ll say about A BETTER TOMORROW II is that the film has some incredible action sequences, some of the best you’ll ever see, and some of Woo’s best work. The finale where the trio of Ken, Ho and Lung storm the bad guy’s mansion is a masterpiece of extended and creative bloody violence. I 100% recommend the film for the action.

The second thing I’ll say about A BETTER TOMORROW II is that it has some of the most over the top melodrama that you’ll ever see. My comment is mainly aimed at the section of the film where Ken tries to get Lung to snap out of his shock. I really don’t enjoy these scenes, with my least favorite being the scene where Chow Yun-Fat tries to force a completely zoned out Dean Shek to eat. There is a lot of good-looking food wasted in that scene, and I cringe every time I watch it!   

I’ve read that the film was a troubled production, and that John Woo and producer Tsui Hark had very different ideas on the type of movie that each wanted to make. Both tried to produce different edits of the film, and with too many cooks in the kitchen, we ended up with this glorious Frankenstein. When the dust settled, John Woo mostly disowned the film except for that majestic, crimson-stained finale. Tsui Hark would take over the series and turn out A BETTER TOMORROW III a couple of years later, while Woo would move on to THE KILLER.  

There are interesting ideas here, and the film almost wants to turn into a comic book. For example, the scene that first introduces us to Ken Gor, Mark’s twin brother, features an old man who’s devoted his life to drawing storyboard illustrations of the adventures of Mark, Ho and Kit. He even has Mark’s trademark sunglasses and blood-stained, bullet-riddled coat, which you know Ken will put on at some point. This seems appropriate to many of the shenanigans that go on, but then the film will switch its focus to extended scenes of a depressed Kit or a drooling Lung, and it seems like we’re in a different movie. There are parts of this film that I love and there are parts that I just want to be over.

At the end of the day, if you’ve come to A BETTER TOMORROW II for the promise of John Woo’s awesome action, you will get your fill. You’ll get to see Chow Yun-Fat at his charismatic best, wearing his long coat and sunglasses, and wielding twin barettas as he takes out hordes of henchmen. You’ll get to see Ti Lung swinging a sword that might bring back images of his Shaw Brothers heydays! Just be prepared to watch Dean Shek spill milk, eat through an orange (peel and all), and gnaw on a piece of frozen meat along the way.       

A BETTER TOMORROW II is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi, and Plex.

Brad reviews COLD WAR II (2016), with Chow Yun-Fat, Aaron Kwok & Tony Leung Ka-fai!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

As soon as I finished watching COLD WAR (2012), I went to the fridge, grabbed myself a refreshing beverage and immediately started up COLD WAR II (2016). The original film ends on a cliffhanger, so I was excited to see what happens next!

COLD WAR II opens right after the events of the first film, resolves its pressing cliffhanger in the first 20 minutes, and then doubles down on the intrigue and political power plays that defined the original. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, so as not to take away some of the fun surprises. I will say that most sequels go bigger by doubling body counts or explosions, but in this film the conspiracies just get a lot deeper, and the political manipulations start reaching for much broader power. I still found the situations to be interesting thanks to the intense atmosphere of the film and the strong performances of the cast.   

In the roles of Sean Lau and M.B. Lee, Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai continue to excel, but circumstances quickly erode some of the goodwill that was created between their characters at the end of the first film. This temporarily creates the risk that this follow-up could end up feeling like a retread of their heated rivalry in part 1. Higher, even more personal stakes helped alleviate some of that concern.

The best thing that happens for COLD WAR II is the addition of Chow Yun-fat to the cast in the important supporting role of Oswald Kan. Kan is a former judge and brilliant legal mind who leads a special committee investigating the fallout from the events of the first film. The middle section of the film features a series of scenes with Chow in intense confrontations with both Tony Leung and Aaron Kwok. It’s especially fun seeing Chow mix it up with Tony as their careers go way back to working with each other in classics like PRISON ON FIRE (1987) and A BETTER TOMORROW III (1989). These scenes freshen up the material, but they also connect us emotionally to Hong Kong cinema of the golden years through one of its biggest, most honorable stars. Chow gives the film a moral center as Oswald Kan seems free from the ethical compromises that our other main characters are having to make. It’s an impressive and charismatic turn from Hong Kong’s all-time greatest leading man.

Just as in the first film, there aren’t a lot of action scenes, but the ones we have are bigger and even more impressive. There’s an action sequence in a tunnel about an hour into the film that blew me away with its execution and intensity. Its resolution also surprised me, which is not always easy to do. Still, this incredible scene serves the plot well, providing clear and obvious motivation for the actions of each of the main characters throughout the remainder of the film.

COLD WAR II follows the motto of most sequels to box office smashes… “Go big or go home!” While the plot becomes even more complicated this time around, the continued excellence in the performances, especially with the addition of Chow Yun-Fat, helps to provide the solid emotional payoffs needed to keep the series moving forward. With the excellent action set pieces also adding to the fun, the filmmakers have managed to create a sequel that I rate just as high as the original. Now, bring on COLD WAR 1994!

COLD WAR II is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex, and the Roku Channel!

Brad reviews COLD WAR (2012), starring Aaron Kwok & Tony Leung Ka-fai!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

As I continue revisiting various movies that feature Chow Yun-Fat during his birthday month of May, I decided I would revisit his work in the COLD WAR franchise, specifically COLD WAR II from 2016. The problem is that I hadn’t watched COLD WAR (2012) since it was released on Blu ray well over a decade ago, so I couldn’t remember much about it. And when you consider that another sequel, COLD WAR 1994 (2026), was released to boffo box office in China just last week, now seemed like a perfect time for another viewing of the original.

Set in Hong Kong, Asia’s “safest big city,” COLD WAR begins with the disappearance of a police emergency response van, as well as all five officers on board. We soon meet deputy commissioners Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok) and M.B. Lee (Tony Leung Ka-fai) who have vastly different ideas of how the situation should be handled. Lau wants to take a calm, measured, and analytical approach that prioritizes public safety, while Lee wants to take a bulldozer to the city and stop at nothing to find the officers and punish those responsible. Admittedly, Lee’s motivation is clouded by the fact that his only son Joe (Eddie Peng) is one of the missing officers. This setup kicks off a battle between dedicated cops, ambitious politicians, and motivated terrorists in a world where saying the wrong thing could cost you your career. Depending on which side you’re on, it could even cost you your life.

Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai are excellent as the rival deputy commissioners trying to manage the crisis while also outmaneuvering each other. Kwok plays the colder and more procedural Sean Lau, who sparingly shows the cracks in his armor. It’s a nicely controlled performance by Kwok, making the scenes where we see his humanity that much stronger. Leung’s M.B. Lee is more old-school, driven by instincts and results. His intense performance provides life to the film, and he was rewarded for his work with that year’s Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor.

The primary intrigue of the film is provided by the tense meetings and phone calls between these men and their teams, as well as the political fallout of those standoffs. It’s strange for a Hong Kong crime film, but the actual retrieval of the missing cops comes across as secondary, and it still works. First time directors Sunny Luk and Longman Leung really like their dialogue scenes and trust the audience enough to let these moments carry the suspense for large chunks of time. Imagine that happening in a Hollywood action film?!!

Even with all the dialogue and posturing, the action scenes in COLD WAR are exciting when they do come. There’s a freeway shootout where we get to see that agent Lau has some incredible shooting and survival skills to go along with stoic demeanor. The final action sequences hit hard, featuring a step up in the graphic violence in comparison to what we’d seen up to that point in the film. The players and the stakes had been firmly established, so when violence does erupt, I was invested in its outcome, whether it be good or bad.

COLD WAR gets an easy recommendation from me. I thought it was well acted and well directed, with enough meaningful action to remind me why I like Hong Kong movies in the first place. It was also fun to see so many familiar faces in important roles, including cameos from the likes of Andy Lau and Michael Wong. A word of warning though, you will need to pay attention to the film if you want to enjoy it. So much of the fun comes from the tension created by the situations and the dialogue, so this is not a viewing experience designed to co-exist with a lot of other distractions.

Brad reviews CITY ON FIRE (1987), starring Chow Yun-Fat, and directed by Ringo Lam!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Ringo Lam’s CITY ON FIRE is one of the first movies starring Chow Yun-Fat that I really wanted to see after I had made my way through the John Woo films. Chow worked with Ringo on a total of 5 films from 1987 – 1992, and they’re a gold mine. I have previously reviewed PRISON ON FIRE and FULL CONTACT, so I decided now was a good time to take a fresh look at this one.  

Opening with an awesomely 80’s, neon-drenched saxophone solo from Teddy Robin Kwan, CITY ON FIRE tells the story of undercover cop Ko Chow (Chow Yun-Fat). He’s practically forced by his handler on the force, Inspector Lau (Sun Yueh), to infiltrate a violent gang of jewel thieves. The problem is that he has a history of getting in way too deep, so deep that he forgets where the job ends and his real life begins. It happens again when he’s able to get close to the leader of the thieves, Fu, played by his KILLER co-star, Danny Lee. When the gang hits a jewelry store with Chow in tow, and with the cops on their trail, everything goes to hell. Some store employees are killed, some gang members are taken out, and Chow even takes one in the gut. As the survivors meet back up at the warehouse, it becomes clear that there’s a mole in their midst, even though not everyone wants to admit it.

Does that premise sound familiar to you? If you’re a big fan of Quentin Tarantino and RESERVOIR DOGS, you can’t help but recognize how strongly his film was influenced by CITY ON FIRE. The influence is clear, especially in the broad strokes of the plotline and at the famous finale, but these are two very different crime films in execution, and they’re both excellent in their own ways.

In the late 80’s, some of the best action and crime films in the world were being made in Hong Kong. So many of the films had a reckless energy, which seems to be especially evident in director Lam’s works. In contrast to John Woo’s stylish action scenes, Lam’s scenes aren’t polished. They’re more grounded, they’re chaotic, and they’re not “cool” at all. For example, the film opens with an undercover named Chan Kam-Wah (Elvis Tsui) being called out and murdered in the middle of a busy market. Stabbed multiple times with a big butcher knife while desperately fighting for his life, the scene plays out in a realistic, clumsy, and very bloody way. In other words, it’s painful to watch without a slow-mo tracking shot in sight. We know immediately that no one is safe, and there’s a palpable tension as the undercover cop / criminal drama plays out that really works for the film.

Chow Yun-fat is fantastic, with his performance winning him his 2nd consecutive Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. He’s not the impossibly cool heroic bloodshed hero of the prior year’s A BETTER TOMORROW. Rather, while he’s charming in certain early scenes with his girlfriend Hung (Carrie Ng), when he starts his new assignment, you can see that he’s completely exhausted with his life as an undercover cop, a life that seems to have broken him emotionally. You can almost feel an impending doom with his character that lingers over the film, turning it into something different than your average cops and robbers story. In the other major lead of the film, Danny Lee is so good as the leader of the gang of jewel thieves, Fu. He’s very professional, and once he’s accepted Chow into their ranks, he’s very friendly and personable to him. In these moments, you can see how the two men could bond. But Fu’s also shown that he will kill anyone who gets in his way, so you know it’s inevitable that the two will collide head-on at the end. When it comes, it hits hard.

I highly recommend CITY ON FIRE to any person who enjoys gritty crime films. The action is brutal, the lead performances are excellent, and the drama of the story will leave you emotionally drained as the end credits roll. I can see why it would have had a major impact on a lover of Hong Kong cinema like a young Tarantino!

CITY ON FIRE is currently streaming on Prime Video, PlutoTV, Tubi, and Plex.

Brad reviews PROJECT GUTENBERG (2018), starring Chow Yun-Fat & Aaron Kwok!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

There was a time when Chow Yun-Fat was one of the hardest working actors in show business. He had 11 different films come out in 1987 alone, and his dedication to making movies would eventually lead him to superstardom all around the world by the turn of the century. Alas, even the greats must eventually slow down and by the end of the 2010’s, it felt like he had practically retired. He only starred in one film between 2017 and 2019. That film was 2018’s PROJECT GUTENBERG, and to say I was looking forward to the film would be quite the understatement. The filmmakers knew how to draw me in as the trailer recreated Chow’s famous scene from A BETTER TOMORROW where he lights his cigarette with a counterfeit $100 bill. The movie promised to play up his most iconic on-screen images, and I was down for it!

PROJECT GUTENBERG introduces us to an artist named Lee Man (Aaron Kwok), who’s been arrested in Thailand and taken to Hong Kong. The local police interrogate him for information about a ruthless counterfeiter known as “Painter.” Reluctant to talk at first due to fear, Lee is convinced that he must provide some information, or he could spend the rest of his life in jail. He eventually begins to tell the story of his time with the elusive criminal mastermind, played by Chow Yun-fat, through a series of flashbacks. Director Felix Chong (writer of the INFERNAL AFFAIRS and OVERHEARD trilogies) has crafted a story that seems like the confession of small fish being used to bait a big fish, before eventually turning into something much more sinister and fascinating. I won’t say anything else about the plot as there’s much fun to be had in watching it unravel!

I’m going to state right up front that Chow Yun-Fat is in prime form. Some actors age with grace, and then there’s the 63-year-old Chow of this film, who’s managed to age with almost a mythic gravitas. This film masterfully highlights his incredible charisma, recreates iconic images of his past gunplay, and then turns it all on its head by making Painter into one of the most evil bastards he’s ever played on screen! It’s an incredible use of his legendary career to provide levels of depth that no words on paper ever could.

Even with the iconic images of Chow Yun-Fat, PROJECT GUTENBERG would not work nearly as well if it wasn’t also a captivating crime thriller. Its counterfeit money operations, double-crosses, gun battles and international intrigue pulled me in, and I found myself on the edge of my seat at times as the story unfolded. The last 30 minutes of the film made me question everything I’d seen up to that point, but in a way that did not take away one moment of my enjoyment. It’s not a completely unique ending, as film lovers will certainly notice, but it works.  

Aaron Kwok’s character of Lee Man is weak in comparison to Painter, but the actor navigates the tightrope of showing just enough emotional desperation that we understand why he’s doing what he does. When the plot starts taking some crazy twists and turns, I was still right there with him. I’ve always liked Aaron Kwok, and even with his bad haircut in the film, I still thought he did a fine job. I also want to shoutout actress Zhang Jingchu (RUSH HOUR 3, OVERHEARD), who plays the woman that Lee Man loves. Her character drives a lot of Lee’s actions in the film, and I found her very beautiful and compelling. Last, but not least, Liu Kai Chi (KILL ZONE, CALL OF HEROES) gets one of the best supporting roles in the film as a vital member of the counterfeiting team who befriends Lee before making an unforgivable mistake.    

PROJECT GUTENBERG was a critical and box office smash when it was released in China in the fall of 2018. It won Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing at the 2019 Hong Kong Film Awards. On a budget of around $40 million dollars, it would bring in over $150 million in China alone, on its way to around $200 million worldwide. It’s a slick crime thriller that serves as a reminder that in the right role, Chow Yun-fat is still one of the great movie stars on the planet. This film understands that, bet the house, and won big.

PROJECT GUTENBERG is currently streaming on the free “Fawesome” streaming service.