Ultra Force IV

You generally can't go wrong with action movies from Hong Kong, and it's also hard to go wrong with Yuen Woo-Ping. I feel as though I should eventually watch everything he ever directed or did the action choreography for, since the way he does that stuff is always so good. Words kind of fail to express what makes his take on action so good. All I know is that it's really good, and that's all that matters.

With Tiger Cage, it's him doing the kind of movie John Woo is best known for directing. Woo-Ping usually makes action movies with more hand-to-hand combat, but he can do shoot-em-ups, too. Similarly, Woo is best known for the heroic bloodshed films of his, but he also proved himself to be great at more traditional martial arts stuff with the eternally underrated Last Hurrah for Chivalry. John Woo is more well-known than Woo-Ping, and his highs are higher, but I think he's missed a little more often than Woo-Ping seems to have.

Also, to go back to Tiger Cage... well, what can be said? The non-action stuff is serviceable, and that's all it really needs to be. It's about a bunch of young cops taking on criminals and corruption, and it's all very heightened, bombastic, and bloody. The term "heroic bloodshed" is also interesting. These characters are physically impressive, but they do bleed, and sometimes die, more than American heroes from Action movies in that part of the world.

Anyway, Tiger Cage starts at a ridiculously impressive pace that it can't entirely maintain throughout, but the action was just about always very good, and I didn't mind the non-action parts all too much either. It made for a satisfying watch, and if you like Hong Kong action/crime films from around this era, it shouldn't be overlooked.

Also no pun intended - also no Tiger come to think of it. This is the first movie in the Tiger Cage trilogy (which is the international title of course). Not even sure how "related" the movies are ... well actually they are not ... unless you count the title as a connection. But let's get back to the beginning! And a movie that has quite a few fine actors in it.

The movie starts off with an action scene, that could easily have been the climax/highlight of the movie. But it only is here to set the tone and "introduce" us to the characters. We will find out way more about them ... how they relate to each other, but also their morality.

Don't get it twisted though: this does not get too deep into the psyche. If someone is "evil" it is not that we will know their reasoning ... not for all of them that is. We get some explanation and there are some things that try to explain the logic of the character ... but that is not the main selling point here ... that is the action part(s) of it! If you dig that, you will have a grand ol time with this ... and the movie would deserve it too.

TIGER CAGE is an ensemble Hong Kong cop film with much in common with the same era's IN THE LINE OF DUTY flicks. This one features Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Jacky Cheung, Carol Cheng and others as a team of crack detectives who take down a drug syndicate at the film's outset. The only problem is that some of the bad guys survive, swearing revenge on the cops who destroyed their operation.

What follows is a roller-coaster ride of a film filled with breakneck action and all of the wonderful martial arts choreography that you'd hope from the genre. This one's directed by Yuen Woo-ping and boy, does he know how to direct a proper thriller: there are barely any slow spots, just tons of action and action that drives the plot forward at that. It's one of the most purely entertaining Hong Kong thrillers that I've seen.

Cast-wise, I have to say that most of the leading members give more than impressive performances, not least an incredibly youthful Donnie Yen in what I think might have been only his second leading part. Simon Yam seems experienced and reliable even at this early stage of his career. Jacky Cheung acquits himself well in a role that Jackie himself could have played, and it's always a pleasure to see American bodybuilder Michael Woods on top form as a hulking henchman. TIGER CAGE is a film filled with twists, betrayals, stunts and incredible one-on-one fights, and Hong Kong film fans will be in movie heaven.

I happened to stumble upon the 1988 movie "Tiger Cage" (aka "Dak ging to lung") from director Woo-Ping Yuen in 2020. Needless to say that with my fascination of the Hong Kong cinema, of course I sat down to watch this movie.

Not only is it a Hong Kong movie, but it also has a pretty interesting cast ensemble, which includes the likes of Simon Yam, Donnie Yen and Jacky Cheung. So the movie does have a pretty good foundation of having strong performances and being interesting to watch.

Turned out that "Tiger Cage" was actually a rather enjoyable crime/action movie. Sure, it was generic, especially for the movies of the genre in late 1980s from Hong Kong cinema. But it proved to be an entertaining movie nonetheless. The storyline was well enough composed by writers Wing-Fai Wong and Kwong Kim Yip, although it was rather straight forward and somewhat generic actually.

There is a good mixture of drama and action in the storyline to actually keep the movie going at a good pace. And while there are no surprises along the way as the movie plays out, it doesn't make it a boring movie given the pacing and the storyline.

My rating of "Tiger Cage" is a six out of ten stars. If you enjoy the 'older' Hong Kong cinema, then "Tiger Cage" is definitely well worth watching.

In the 70's Hong Kong gave birth to the period (classic) kung fu film. The 90's saw the rise of the `flying' kung fu film. And, the 80's saw the surge of cops and crooks films with titles like Long Arm of the Law, the In the Line of Duty series, and Tiger Cage.

Jacky Cheung plays the title role of a cop out to bust some dope dealers, and eventually the very interior of his corrupt department. Carol Do Do Cheng, Donnie Yen, and Simon Yam also star as fellow cops- Carols husband, a fellow cop, being killed by the dope gang, Donnie as a young rookie who finds out his mentor is dirty, and Simon as the two faced, nothing but evil, corrupt supervisor. Its a dark, double crossing tale offset by moments of kung fu and comedy amongst the standard police drama plotline. From the opening shootout that begins the film, you know that you are in for some rough and tumble action, as hundreds of bullets are shot, bodies fall and are hit by cars, the fighting is gritty, and so on. Donnie gets one fight scene (really the only martial arts sequence) with two drug dealing gwailos. Simon Yam is just plain bad with a capitol B. Jacky over-grimaces his way though the drama, and poor Carol gets the stuffing beat out of her a couple of times. The story is well paced, by the great Yuen Woo Ping, and is a competent addition to the Hong Kong cop film library.

There are more than the usual subtitle language errors like- "My gun has no eyes.", "I want you to be limply in jail all your life.", "I am ready for discinplinary and investify.", "They're now fugitive with arms."