Flaming Brothers

Oddly enough then I've never gotten around to seeing "Gong woo lung foo dau" (aka "Flaming Brothers") before now in 2019. Even more so odd because I am very interested in Hong Kong movies.

I was given the chance to sit down and watch "Flaming Brothers", so I did do that, of course. And I knew that Chow-Yun Fat was in the movie, so that was definitely a selling point. Not that I would need any convincing to sit down and watch this 1987 Hong Kong movie.

So how was it? Well, first of all I must say that this wasn't a defining movie in the Hong Kong cinema, nor was it a particular impressive notch on Chow-Yun Fat's acting career. This movie was bland and mediocre. Writers Jeffrey Lau and Kar-Wai Wong were trying to mix a full fledged drama with the over-the-top gun action that permeated the Hong Kong cinema in the late 1980s and early 1990s. So was that a good mix? No, not really.

The movie was too long, and it had surprisingly little to its storyline to warrant the things that director Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung set out to accomplish. I was left with a sensation of having somewhat wasted an hour and forty minutes on this movie. Sure, it was watchable, but it was also sort of disappointingly generic and mediocre.

While I have a big love for Hong Kong cinema, "Flaming Brothers" is hardly a movie that I will sit down and watch again. The mixture of drama, lovestory and hard-boiled action here just didn't make for a very potent concoction.

And the ending of the movie. Wow, seriously? That was just ludicrous. Definitely a massive anti-climatic way of ending the movie and providing a slap with a cold, dead fish to the audience that sat through the movie in the process.

My rating of "Flaming Brothers" lands on a very mediocre five out of ten stars. The movie is watchable and semi-enjoyable, but hardly an outstanding movie in any way.

This film sandwiched between the better tomorrow series and the Killer. If you want to see a guy getting shot more times than Scarface, then this films for you. Watch'em slug it out, shoot it out while Yun-Fat owns a 7-

The Flaming Brothers is an entertaining and better than average entry in. the flooded Hong Kong market of post A Better Tommorow gangster films. While the film has its flaws, it still is a good watch and is better than a lot of them. The Flaming Brothers has similar themes that are prevalent in the genre revenge, love, brotherhood and are done much better by John Woo. The Flaming Brothers may not have been directed by John Woo, but it does have Chow Yun Fat, who is sworn brothers with Alan Tam. In this film, The Flaming Brothers is an apt title as it is implied throughout the film the two brothers take the brotherhood thing to another level in an implied homoerotic relationship. The film is over the top as a whole and the love story with their women, the brotherhood and the action are split up in a way that they are almost 3 different films thrown together. The action/violence is very extreme with an amount of bullets and blood 10 times what John Woo would use. The way Woo would do it, it was graceful, here it is presented in a gristly, extremely brutal fashion. The Flaming Brothers checks a lot of boxes with standards/cliches in the heroic bloodshed genre with lots of melodrama, crazy action, good/bad gangsters and tradgedy. However, it is it's excesses that set it apart and in case I failed to mention Chow Yun Fat is in this.

This title doesn't do justice to the genre heroic bloodshed! Yes, there is bloodshed en yes it is heroic,but for the most part it is a story about a relationship between two friends (Alan Tang and Chow Yan Fat) who happen to be gangsters. Let's face it,compared to John Woo titles: Better Tomorrow series, Hard Boiled, the Killer! This movie doesn't have a chance! There is not enough action to make this movie worthwhile. But the acting is outstanding by Chow Yan Fat and Alan Tang. Furthermore there is not much of intrigue or excitement,so why should i watch this movie! Still Alan Tang really has potential for greater action drama's than this one! Return Engagement is an example how this movie could be!

Before watching this movie I didn't have high expectations about it but when I finally saw it I was truly satisfied with it. Its the story of 2 ''brothers'' who are living a criminal life until one of them (Chow Yun fat) meets the woman of his dream and wants to stop being illegal and have a normal life. The main character is Alan's one and Chow yun fat comes close second. The actors are good, the story is alright but some of the gunfights deserve a look.I counted 4 good gunfights in the movie, the last one is especially good ;it's very intense and gritty. Overall definitely worth a look especially for the last gunfight!......................................................7,9/10