Le Messager de guerre

The one line summary really sums this film up. The story was bland, characters boring, and fights only decent, but Postman Strikes Back had THE coolest ninja I've ever seen. He didn't use ninja magic or fly, but he had the biggest arsenal of ninja tricks ever. You've gotta see it just for that. Who doesn't love ninjas?

No pun intended - before the Transporter we had others you had to deliver packages ... although in this case it is not people that are being transported. Well at least not in the boxes they have to carry, they would be far too small for that anyway.

Quite a good troop of people you get here. Although as I understand it, Chow Yun Fat was not the one we came to know and love in later years. No John Woo movies under his belt is what I mean. Apparently he was more of a romantic movie star back then. Funny I never saw him like that (no pun intended and King & I left aside of course).

The action is very well shot and the story is tight - well it is not much of a story, but more than enough to get you invested. It is about new technology being able to ... well get rid of a lot of people (again no pun intended). There still is time and the place to add a lot of action scenes. With a lot of violence and blood ... we wouldn't want it any other way ... right? Great soundtrack too btw ... felt like I had heard certain themes ... but it probably just means others have used stuff from this ...

In 'The Postman Fights Back', couriers who work under the stressful conditions in the war-torn Republic of China are hired by Hu(Eddy Ko) to deliver a set of mysterious cases. The couriers assume that the cases are simple birthday gifts until they're attacked by mysterious warriors who may be after their cargo. This film leads to an exhilarating and action-packed surprise ending. This is an early Ronny Yu film starring Fan Mei-sheng, Eddy Ko, Cherie Chung,a young and lanky Chow Yun-fat, and many others. Even Chow Yun-fat looks good the film's fight scenes as we watch his acting prowess as he fights. Not all of the action is martial arts, there's some guns which are fired as well as some monster fire ball explosions. There's also a fight scene on frozen lake which is well-crafted and exhilarating to watch. This wonderfully-crafted period-piece filmed in Korea is a classic which I feel should not be missed.

Kung fu wise, this movie doesn't offer a great deal. There is very little fighting in it, and the quality of it isn't great. Eddy Ko (the bad guy) is good (in terms of acting), and there are a couple of pretty girls, too, but ultimately the movie is quite dull. Chow Yun Fat has a couple of fight scenes, but his moves are unconvincing - one understands why he subsequently stuck mostly to gangster movies.

The main character, capable Ka-Yan Leung, hardly does any fighting, which is a great disappointment. The story has him as a traveling postman, who's delivering an important but fateful set of boxes to an evil lord. The result is tragic, and the "hero" doesn't do anything about it until he finally gets angry and takes out the bad guy. But the story is unsatisfying, doesn't have much entertainment value, and is generally rather dull.

5 out of 10.

Ronnie Yu's powerful and sometimes savage account of the struggle between heavy artillery and the plight of man is an engaging romp, the high production costs and smart direction taking it a notch above other standard kung fu fare. We are taken back to the early days of the Chinese Republic, and a popular folk tale is revived detailing the adventures of four heroic dead-end types, sent on a secret mission to reach the Lo Yang Pass in seven days carrying a special secret cargo. Our mismatched quartet become patriotic heroes however when the cargo is revealed to be heavy arms destined for the notorious warlord Yue Sai Hoi in his quest to defeat Dr Sun Yat Sen's Nationalist Guard, forcing the group to leap into action to save self and country. Action wise the movie has divided moments: from the graphic machine gun massacres and the silly supernatural Ninja bits, to some high class kung fu confrontations featuring the undoubtedly gifted talents of Kar Yan, this time not so much beard as stubble.