Jing cha

POLICE FORCE (1973) is a contemporary Hong Kong police drama produced by Shaw Bros. and co-directed by Chang Cheh, the studio's specialist in martial arts costume spectacles. It's a fairly straightforward and realistic venture, made long before the era of John Woo and Ringo Lam and the over-the-top action scenes that characterized their police thrillers (e.g. CITY ON FIRE, HARD-BOILED). It's all about the moral dilemma a policeman finds himself in when he has to weigh a desire for vengeance against his duty as upholder of the law. It stars Wang Chung, a frequent co-star of kung fu films, and is also notable for introducing future kung fu star Alexander Fu Sheng in a small, but important role.

When two criminals attack kung fu expert Liang Guan (Fu Sheng) and his girl, Shen Yan (Lily Li), in a robbery attempt, the encounter winds up with Liang Guan and one of the attackers dead and Liang Guan's killer (Wong Kwong Yue) fleeing the scene. The failure of the police to find the killer motivates Liang Guan's kung fu training partner, Huang Guodong (Wang Chung), to join the police force himself and work his way up to a high position so he can investigate the murder on his own. He's motivated by revenge, partly out of his own grief and partly that of Liang Guan's girl, who insists that she be there when Guodong finally arrests and kills the culprit. However, Guodong's growing sense of responsibility and pride in his office means that when the moment finally comes, the outcome will be quite different.

Wang Chung was always an exceptional performer in kung fu films, but only really got the chance to fully demonstrate his considerable acting skills and movie star appeal when he got lead roles in contemporary crime dramas such as this one and Chang Cheh's THE DELINQUENTS (1973, aka STREET GANGS OF HONG KONG). Fu Sheng makes quite an auspicious debut here, particularly in the kung fu bout seen at a tournament early in the film. Lily Li, later a kung fu diva in her own right (EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN, DAGGERS 8), has a strong dramatic role here as well. Another great surprise is frequent kung fu villain Wong Kwong Yue, who plays the lowlife killer sought by Guodong. He normally played the villain's henchman or one of the hero's sidekicks in kung fu films but rarely got to play a more multifaceted character like the thug here, who's caught between a cop who wants to kill him and a gang that finds him expendable after his police sketch shows up in the newspaper, forcing him to make a difficult choice.

There are several kung fu fights in the film, all choreographed by Tang Chia and Lau Kar Leung, but they're less performance-oriented than the fights they created for martial arts costume adventures like BLOOD BROTHERS (also 1973) and are designed more to reflect urban street-fighting methods. One good fight is staged on a housing project rooftop as Guodong confronts a street gang to try to keep them from escaping before backup arrives to arrest them. The one showy setpiece which veers away from realism, but adds some necessary excitement to the final stretch, is the big fight on the villain's yacht as it sails out of Hong Kong Harbor, as Guodong tries to singlehandedly apprehend the counterfeiting gang that Liang Guan's killer belonged to. Several regular kung fu performers are on hand, including frequent villain Fung Hak On, who plays Wang Chung's cleancut partner, and regular hero's sidekick Billy Tang, who plays another cop. Tino Wong pops up as one of the criminal gang, as does Lau Kar Wing.

This may not be one of the most thrilling cop films from that era (you'd need to see THE FRENCH CONNECTION, DIRTY HARRY or SERPICO for that), but it's certainly a compelling one and quite a change of pace for its kung fu cast and crew.

Liang Kuan [ Alexander Fu Sheng ] is killed during a robbery; his girlfriend Shen Yan [ Lily Li ] and best buddy Huang Gao-tung [ Wang Chung ] are seeking for revenge. 5 yrs later Huang is a promoted cop, he fought hundreds of criminals, but the very special guy isn't found yet. Till now....

Very solid, but too experienced [ or even - tempered ] 70ies action crime movie, a little frumpy , less violence for a Chang Cheh pic and less modern action scenes, more on pure martial arts. The most interesting and dramatic points in the script are hardly scratched; Huang is fallen in love with Shen Yan, but she's only for vengeance. You don't know, what happened the last 5 yrs to them and their friendship and what Huang is thinking. Instead the moral conflict between revenge and task of the police is shown, unusual for Chang Cheh, who's just out for revenge in his other movies.

Police Force was set as 1 of the first police crime movies in HK, and got full support of the police; the production really looks quite impressing because of that. Realism isn't the main thing, mostly in favor of the action: Huang alone rushes into danger to single-handedly tackle at least 20 thugs.and he isn't using his gun, so.... These sequences are well filmed, but nothing special, too static and slightly non-effective. And it's Karate, not Kung Fu.

Acting is quite good, especially by Wang Chung in a rare leading role; Fung Hak On is unfortunately underused. Fu Sheng has 1 of his first screen moments here, a short but important one.

Slightly above average, I expected a more gritty, more excessive movie.