10 months after the murder of Chen Wing Yan (Leung) the investigation is closed with the conclusion that Ming (Lau) successfully took out the Triad's mole. Relegated to a benign office job and his marriage over a new star enters the IA team in the form of the up-and-coming Superintendent Yeung whose meteoric rise mirrors that of Ming. Suspecting that Yeung is a mole like he was Ming begins to investigate the new hot-shot... Involving a complex flashback narrative binding the new
Explosive prequel to last year's Hong Kong hit about an undercover cop and triad mole in the police force.
Intense war action meets blistering kung fu as Donnie Yen showcases his jaw-dropping martial arts skills in this exhilarating action epic. From the trenches of war to the perilous Shanghai streets, experience one incredible set piece after another.
Infernal Affairs (2002): A mole in the police force. An undercover cop inside the criminal organisation. The objective is the same: each must discover the other before their own position is exposed. Who will succeed and who will pay the ultimate price for their failure? A gripping police Hong Kong police thriller starring Andy Lau and Tony Leung the super-stylish Infernal Affairs was the biggest grossing Hong Kong film of 2002 and has even seen the Hollywood re
During the war Chen Zhen was a hero. In the tempestuous years that followed he became a legend. The exciting story of Chen Zhen is given a modern refresh as Donnie Yen takes up the heroic mantle made famous by international superstars Bruce Lee (Fist Of Fury 1972) and Jet Li (Fist Of Legend 1994). The Shanghai of the 1920s is an exciting but ruthless place to be as the Japanese enforce their expansionist ideals on the beleaguered country by any means necessary while the rest of the superpowers watch on. One man decides to make a stand against injustice by becoming a masked avenger and using all of his exceptional martial arts skills to dismantle the evil that is besetting his beloved country.
The Stormriders transplants Macbeth into a medieval China in director Andy Lau's reinvention of classical tragedy as CGI-laden blockbuster. Officially the source material is a best-selling Manga, and the flying heroes with magical powers and the wild camera angles do indeed have a real graphic-novel flair. As the warlord Sonny Chiba is a commanding presence, while Ekin Cheng as Wind and Aaron Kwok as Cloud are perfect contrasting comic-book warriors. Kristy Yeung is a suitably lovely heroine, while Shi Qi provides irritating comic relief. There is style to burn, with beautiful imagery bearing the influence of Ridley Scott and, in the "blur-motion" duel in a bamboo forest, Wong Kar-Wai; indeed, Lau has served as Kar-Wai's cinematographer. Spectacular yet laden with symbolism The Stormriders is a film to bridge the appeal of Ashes of Time (1994) and The Bride with White Hair (1993) with the Superman (1978) and Mummy (1999) movies. The fights and a romantic flying sequence pay homage to the former, the computer effects update the groundbreaking Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain (1983) with the technology of the latter. Sometimes overly ambitious or just plain bizarre The Stormriders is an emotionally charged darkly romantic adventure which outclasses any comic-book adaptation Hollywood has made in years.On the DVD: The first disc presents the 127-minute director's cut in its original 2.35:1 ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. While the sound is clean, dynamic and makes great use of all the channels the picture is presented non-anamorphically, so that while well-focused, with strong colours and little sign of artefacting, it is not as solid or detailed as it could be. The main special features are two documentaries, a general "making-of" running 22 minutes, and a 20-minute "featurette" on the special effects. Both are promotional pieces made at the time of the film's release. The second disc features the US trailer and an object lesson in how to ruin a film, i.e. the "international" version ofThe Stormriders. Cut by 38 minutes, horribly panned and scanned and dubbed, this is a travesty that destroys all the beauty and atmosphere and renders the story incomprehensible. Why anyone would watch it when they have the complete film on the first disc is a mystery. The sound is again Dolby Digital 5.1 and the 4:3 image is fair. --Gary S Dalkin
A suave and seductive serial rapist (Mark Cheng) is on the prowl terrorising an apartment block. Fearing her life to be in danger Chu (Jacqueline Ng) enlists the help of her old friend Yau (Chingamy Yau) as an avenging angel who will seduce the rapist and wreak revenge on behalf of the victims of his terrible crimes. Soon the two are embroiled in an erotic and deadly game of cat and mouse...
Ming (Andy Lau) and Tan (Tony Leung) lead parallel lives: Ming is a Triad mole in the police department; Yan is a police stooge in mob boss Sam′s (Eric Tsang) Triad Gang. Both men have a desire to put their false lives behind them and to take their rightful place in a society that eludes them One night during a police raid to bring down Sam's Empire the two men′s paths finally cross. Both the police and the mob soon realise that there is a mole amongst them and a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues. In this race again time nobody is safe and the lives of everyone involved becomes threatened. In the meantime Superintendant Wong (Anthony Wong) does his best to keep Yan′s secret safe but how long can the men′s hidden lives remain undiscovered
Sonny & Steven are two Chinese-American immigrants surviving in the impoverished despair of 1980s New York in the only way they know how as members of the notoriously violent street gang The Green Dragons. They quickly rise through the ranks tightening the gang’s grip on Chinatown and the surrounding neighbourhoods attracting the unwanted attention of rival gangs and Detective Bloom (Ray Liotta) of the NYPD all of whom are determined to shut them down by any means necessary. Tensions soon reach breaking point and bullets begin to fly in what would lead to one of the most violent street clashes that New York has ever seen.
The adventures of Nova a young fighter who is guardian of his family legacy an all-powerful martial arts style known only as 'The Avenging Fist'. When 'Combat 21' the leader of an underground movement known as 'The Red Dragons' discovers the existence of the style he will stop at nothing to learn its secrets and combine its strength with the all-conquering 'Power Glove' a technological fighting tool designed to unlock the unknown power of the human mind and body. When th
Returning in the second kinetic outing in the series Chan Ho Nam has become a branch leader within the Hung Hing Society celebrating by launching his first club with childhood sweetheart Smartie into the ambivalent festives of a flourishing triad society Taiwanese figure-head Liu King arrives to form an uneasy alliance with the Hung Hing Society. And in tow comes with him his Japanese mistress Ting Siu Yiu with whom ""Chicken"" has become entangled with whilst on the run in Taiw
An example of Hong Kong action cinema at its most mainstream, A Man Called Hero owes perhaps more to the films of Steven Segal than it does those of John Woo. The tale of a mythical hero who borders on the status of superhero, the film is stripped of any potential credibility by some of the most appalling dubbing ever seen at the cinema. While the original Chinese cast may inject the movie with passion, their American voice-over replacements obviously never made it past the sincere section of acting class. Each line is delivered with such false earnestness that the film sounds like a cross between Days of Our Lives and an episode of Pokémon. No cinematic cliché is left untouched, suggesting that this is not just a case of something lost in the translation but just a bad film... in anybody's language. The world-wide success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has proved that there is a huge market for original Eastern cinema, even more reason to avoid the pointless rehashing of the worst of Hollywood that A Man Called Hero undoubtedly is. --Phil Udell
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