Goo wak chai: Yan joi gong woo

"Young and Dangerous" is a fairly straight forward Hong Kong triad action movie, and it was actually quite good, despite it being semi-old (from 1996).

The story is about the Hung Hing gang, who is part of the triad, but more so, it is the story of a couple of the gang members of that particular part of the triad. Chan Ho Nam (played by Ekin Cheng), 'Chicken' (played by Jordan Chan), Fao Pan (played by Jason Chu) and Yee (played by Michael Tse) who become the key members of the Hung Hing gang, and their struggle against one of the other triad bosses, Kwan (played by Francis Ng), attempts to overthrow and set up the gang. But it is also the story about brotherhood and loyalty.

Although predictable and without any real plot twists, then "Young and Dangerous" was actually good entertainment and the story held up its own. But most memorable was the performances by the cast hired for the various roles; most noticeable was Jordan Chan, Francis Ng and Ekin Cheng in my opinion (and in that given order).

If you are a fan of Hong Kong cinema and enjoy triad/gang member movies, then you definitely have to check out "Young and Dangerous". I bought parts 1, 2 and 3 together, and must say that I am looking forward to seeing the follow-ups.

"Young and Dangerous" is a worthy addition to the DVD collection of any fan of the Hong Kong cinema.

Young And Dangerous was a big boxoffice hit in Hong Kong and is the first movie in a series that this far contains six parts plus five spin off movies, not counting the many imitations and rip offs, so it could be worth checking out. If you like it there is the whole series to watch.

Y & D is an action movie (more than a gangster drama) about young triad gangsters and the importance of good friendship. It is purely entertainment, it is not an art film and has no important messages to the audience. The story is simple and we are not getting any deeper knowledge about the triads and how they function, even though the funeral and the punishment scene are interesting and well made. But simplicity does not have to be only bad, this is action and it is good that the story is not confusing. Also, the story contains the element of revenge and revenge tends to be involving.

The pacing is good and Y & D never gets boring, on the contrary, it gets more and more involving. Some scenes are unnecessary though, especially those with the priest and the female car thief that seems aimed to provide some not needed comic relief. But those scenes does not ruin the movie, it would just be better without them. Otherwise the tone is serious and Francis Ng, as the villain, gives a strong performance that actually lifts the film.

Y & D is superficial, but there is a lot of action, even though it is mostly the usual gang fighting. Y & D does not belong to the Heroic Bloodshed genre, there is not much gunplay and bloodsquibs. If it had been more brutal with more on screen violence it would have been a better movie. Even though it is a serious movie I would have preferred a grittier tone, but this is aimed for a younger audience. Some of the young rascals does not seem tough enough to be gangsters, but Cheng is OK as their groupleader (Ho Nam) and Chan is good as his right hand (Chicken). Simon Yam has only a small role as their highest boss. You will be entertained even if it is not the best you have seen. 7 / 10

When I first watched this movie...I thought it was a total piece of s**t. But my friends keep bugging me that it was a great film. So I watched it again and I got say I was impressed after the second time watching it. I won't really explain the plot too much but it's sort of like a Chinese version of "Menace to Society" with a touch of "Goodfellas". Strong performance by Jordan Chan and the plot is pretty good for a Hong Kong flick nowadays. There is some action with a "A Better Tomorrow" flower pot shootout spoof where Jordan Chan tries to be Chow Yun Fat. Well that's all i gotta say. Watch the film.......8/10

This Hong Kong crime drama is centred of Chan Ho Nam, 'Chicken' Chiu and their friends. They are young men growing up in a crime infested part of Hong Kong who get involved with the Triads, working for Uncle Bee. Their work is often violent and brings them into conflict with Kwan, the leader of another Triad group. After a job in Macau goes tragically wrong things get more dangerous. Kwan is on the rise and his actions will force Nam and Chicken to seek revenge.

I enjoyed this film; while there is some violence this is more a story about friendship and loyalty. The main characters are all pretty solid. Just about everybody is somehow involved in crime; Nam only met his girlfriend, Smartie, because she stole his car! The violence is less brutal than most Hong Kong crime dramas I've seen thanks to the way it is filmed; I assume this was meant as a nod to the stories comic book origins. The story does provide some surprises, which I won't spoil. There are some comic moments; notably how Smartie is punished for stealing Nan's car. The cast does a solid job bringing their characters' to life. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Hong Kong crime drama.

These comments are based on watching the film in Cantonese with English subtitles.

The "Young and Dangerous" movies are a series of films about the experiences of young triads in Hong Kong's criminal society. They are based on a Hongkongese comic book known as "Teddy Boy", a fact which would be unknown if not for the movie often cutting to hand-drawn images, revealing how closely the film resembles the comic book.

The film's structure seems to be fairly episodic; there's not much of an overarching narrative that I could detect, and thus the scenes only have power based on the performances. The stand-outs for me were Ekin Cheng as the protagonist and the stunningly beautiful Gigi Lai as his love interest.

Despite being a HK crime flick, "Young and Dangerous" isn't heroic bloodshed; there's very little gunplay and none of the violence is shot in balletic fashion.

Unfortunately, with little cohesion to each scene, "Young and Dangerous"'s power feels muted, especially in its climax; however it is entertaining for most of its run-time.