Viva_Chiba

I expected a real turd by reading other comments here and i decided to check the movie by myself and it wasn't as bad as expect, this is not really an "action" movie, it's a thriller with some brief action scenes (mostly fights and gunfights) thrown in, the plot was good enough to not bore and the film had some good twists.

Unfortunately, the editing for the action scenes is mediocre (a bit like the Bourne series), but at least, there is no shaky cam.

Everybody here seems to be disappointed by the fact that Vinnie Jones isn't the main character (despite being top billed in the cover, he has less than 15 minutes of screen time and he has no lines), but the other actors did a good job.

Now i'm looking forward to see other action movies from Kazakhstan, i'm pretty sure that they have a lot to offer.

2012 wasn't a good year for Direct to video (DTV) action movies, i mostly saw stuff that ranged from "lame" (Sacrifice, with Cuba Gooding Jr)to "okay" (Fire with Fire), none of the DTV action movies that i saw was memorable. I had very high expectations for UniSol: Day of Reckoning, considering the fact that it's predecessor (UniSol: Regeneration) was one of the best DTV movies of this millennium (and that movie had mixed reactions from the fans too). I had high expectations, because: the director behind UniSol: Regeneration (Peter Hyams) returns to his director duties and the promising Scott Adkins joined the cast, there was no way that this movie was going to suck.

Unfortunately, UniSol 4 was just another disappointing DTV action movie, but the disappointment was high, just like my expectations. The direction sucked ass, it felt like a (god, i really hate to use this word) pretentious "arty" film (why the hell action movies need to be "arty"? Uh?). Then, for an action movie that ALMOST reaches the 2-hour mark, it didn't had enough action to offer (and the movie becomes boring, very easily) and the action manages to become "very cool" only in the final reel.

I can't believe that the same director who made this crapfest did UniSol: Regeneration, i suspect that Peter Hyams wasn't involved in the movie, at all.

I give it 3 stars: the first star is for the final action scene, the second one is for Scott Adkins (who deserves to appear in better movies) and 3 for the violence (while not as gory as UniSol: Regeneration, it manages to be a bit more intense and graphic than the last 2 movies).

At the time of it's release, Hong Kong Godfather was heavily cut by the censors, but now, we can finally enjoy the movie as the director intended, in all it's bone breaking and blood splattering glory!

The plot is really nothing new or special (because we have seen similar plots in many gangster films, both in the East and West), but the real selling point of a Shaw Bros. movie are the fight scenes (at least for me) and the film is packed with super brutal, bloody gang fights. The director, Johnny Wang, is well known for putting hard-hitting violence in his films and Hong Kong Godfather is definitely no exception. The violence is very brutal, bloody and gory (as the runtime goes on, the movie always manages to get more violent and bloody), there are also a few bits that might offend the most sensitive viewers. The fights are well choreographed and filled with lots of cool stunts.

If you are looking for an entertaining triad flick (or a cool martial arts film with a good dose splatter), Hong Kong Godfather is highly recommended.