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Hong Kong film maker Herman Yau's TAXI HUNTER (1993) was made at the same year as his harrowing and disturbing THE UNTOLD STORY, both starring Anthony Wong. In TAXI HUNTER, Wong plays a good-natured insurance agent who has a young wife who is pregnant. One sad night she is rudely ill-treated by a taxi driver who causes her and her unborn baby's death. This makes Anthony start his own war against the city's "bad taxi drivers" as he starts to wipe them out. It turns out that the city has a horrible amount of evil and rudely dangerous and selfish cab drivers who don't care of anything else than themselves.

The film is like a Hong Kong variation of Hollywood's FALLING DOWN (1993), starring Michael Douglas and directed by Joel Schumacher. Wong becomes a criminal and still he is very sympathetic person and depicted as a good citizen and human being, and he even lets couple of drivers go alive because he thinks "they're good" and thus don't deserve to die. He is determined to kill all the bad drivers off and all he has as a motivation is just revenge and hate and he doesn't realize (until perhaps the end) that what he does, is very wrong and unlawful, too. The film can be seen as a warning example of what might happen, and this film was also based on real events in Hong Kong and their taxi drivers. The ending is distantly similar to THE UNTOLD STORY even though it is much "safer" and doesn't end unhappily. Still it shows harrowingly how community may turn into a beast and avenging brute as suddenly as the original criminal did, and if Yau had wanted to, he could have done this film as merciless and powerful as STORY. But this is much more optimistic and nicer film and that way it is meant to be, too.

The film is casted very well and it includes Yu Rong Guang (TERRA-COTTA WARRIOR), the sweet Perrie Lai Hoi San and the veteran Ng Man Tat. The film is co-written by director Yau and Tony Leung Hung-Wah who has directed and written films like A LAMB IN DESPAIR (1999) and FORBIDDEN ARSENAL (1991).

The film takes place mostly at night and the dark streets and roads are shot with skill and atmosphere and the soundtrack reminded me occasionally of Danny Lee's DR. LAMB and its music. And both films include plenty of taxis! There's also a fierce gun battle and car chase at the beginning but I think it's just there to secure the audience's attention because that scene doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the film. Also another dangerous looking car chase takes place later on in the film so Yau can also direct impressive action scenes if the film requires that.

The film came during the strongest Category III boom in Hong Kong but still TAXI HUNTER lacks all the exploitative elements and isn't even rated CAT III. It is easily among the most interesting and ambitious films of that time and once again proves the talent of director Yau. This is also Anthony Wong's favourite of all the films he's starred in. TAXI HUNTER gets at least and after first viewing 8/10 and is again another pretty unique and interesting film from the great Hong Kong.

After he loses his wife and unborn child in an accident caused by the selfish and thoughtless actions of a Hong Kong taxi driver, mild-mannered insurance salesman Kin (Anthony Chau-Sang Wong) wages a one-man war against the city's most corrupt and sleazy cab operators.

Directed by Herman Yau and starring Anthony Wong, Taxi Hunter wasn't what I was expecting: it's an exploitative vigilante thriller with plenty of violence, but it is nowhere near as mean-spirited or as graphic as the duo's more infamous Cat IIIs, The Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome. Those checking the film out hoping for extreme content will no doubt be disappointed somewhat by the lack of intense gore and nihilism.

The film kicks off with a scene that is more akin to a heroic bloodshed movie or a Jackie Chan action flick, as gung ho cop Yu Kai-Chung and his partner tackle a gang of armed criminals. There's a shoot out and a car chase, with some crazy vehicular stunt work and plenty of squibs.

Chung is best friends with Kin, and their relationship forms the crux of the movie, as the cop goes undercover to try and catch the taxi driver killer, unaware that it is his pal who has been committing the crimes.

Kin's vigilante activities are definitely the film's most satisfying moments, his victims being despicable lowlifes fully deserving of some payback, especially the driver who attempts to rape his pretty passenger. One cannot completely condone Kin's actions, but it's easy to sympathise with him just a bit when his targets are such scumbags.

The inevitable ending sees Chung discovering Kin's secret and trying to catch him before he can commit any more murders. The final action scene is a lot of fun, with a high-speed car chase thought the streets of HK.

The Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong, partly known for his Category III films, together with director Herman Yau, contributed three famous thrillers in the 1990s, in chronological order, Taxi Hunter, The Untold Story, and Ebola Syndrome. I would not list these three together, as Taxi Hunter is only Category II and the other two are Category III. Indeed, Taxi Hunter is way less brutal than the other two. I like this movie mostly for its social impact, revealing the chaos of Hong Kong taxi industry then. I would love to see if Herman Yau would direct longer movies outside commercial ones. I believe such movies would be interesting to watch.

Anthony Wong portrays a mild-mannered business man who's life is turned upside down when his pregnant wife is ran over by a greedy taxi driver. Wong goes mad with grief and begans a new calling in life, riding the world of bad cab drivers. Yu Rong Guang plays his cop friend that he's unknowingly tracking down

I don't love this film but I like it. I'm not really sure why but I know what I don't like about it, and many Hong Kong films, it is the comedy. There is something about this humour that I don't like and I think it rather silly and juvenile although of course there is something that is okay and I find myself smiling. The action in this is very good with the car chases especially at night and it seems that they are really in the action around them. I always like Anthony Wong and even when his action is really nasty although in this one there is much killing he is supposed to be a good guy and it is the taxi drivers who are the baddies. It is well done with his wife and the terrible action and there is some silly stuff after about half an hour we start to get into Wong and him getting more and more upset. And then we are off. I have to say that it is really strange that Falling Down (1993) should be about the same time and that is a much better film but I still like this one as well.