A 1996 triad/crime film from Hong Kong
Review/Synopsis
Shun is a inept triad member who can't help getting into trouble
with rival gangs, even going to the movies is a trial and
he ends up having to be rescued by the estranged son of his gang's boss
Hung Fei.
Tung, Shun's sister puts up with his gang activities as she knows he is
too timid to get into real trouble, but once she hears about Hung Fei she
starts to get interested as she is a reporter for a popular magazine.
They both go to an illegal street race to try and track down Hung Fei and
Tung ends up going along for the ride with a sabotage attempt en route
by baseball bat wielding bikers. During the race Hung Fei tells Tung to
scream as she will hurt herself holding it in and they just managed to
win due to some short cuts on the way back.
At the retirement celebration for the gang's boss a rival gang stirs up
trouble and so does Hung Fei, but what really stirs things up is the
'gift' the boss gets from the rival gang which causes him to have a stroke.
The rest of the gang goes into hiding while the rival gang tries to take
over their territory. Shun is given the job of guarding the boss at the
hospital, but they have to make a quick exit when the gang turns up looking
for them (not before Shun acquires a rather painful injury from a boiling kettle.)
Towards the end of the movie the violence escalates with several characters being
killed, maimed or forced to act like dogs. Probably the best one of these
scenes is the one where what looks like a couple of hundred people face off
against each other on the street.
This film is one of the better reworkings of the triad genre made popular
by the 'Young and Dangerous' series (it even acknowledges this by having
the characters fighting over tickets to see the film.) The early parts
of the movie have some funny moments, but it soon changes to a more dramatic
mood as you would expect from this genre. People who don't like the way
Triad society is romanticised would be well advised to avoid this movie
as there are some questionable decisions made by the main characters.
As a special bonus I received for viewing this film at a 'Classic Cinema'
screening I won the lucky door prize, which is the poster for this film.
I must say it is an excellent poster partly due to the fact of its size
(690mm * 1940mm ), which is as big as two normal movie posters lengthwise.
What I also like about it is that it has all the main characters featured
on it (15 in all) as well as 1/4 views of the two main characters at each end
with them holding newspaper wrapped machetes. Nice use of colour too.
Movie Rating : 7/10
Poster Rating : 10/10