Tin dei hung sam

Armageddon (dir. Gordon Chan) . In this picture director Gordon Chan drops his successful foray into the 'Cop and Martial Arts Genres', and tackles a theme steeped in woozy metaphysics and SciFi which was very popular in Hollywood in the late 90's. However, exceptionally cheesy CGI and a brain- dead story line make this a pretty weak effort, but it's not without a few pluses. Anthony Wong and Andy Lau are Asian Superstars, and they have the best roles in this film, and several of the actors that were in BEAST COPS show up in this film. Gordon Chan is trying to show Hollywood that diverse and varied films from Hong Kong can hold there own in the worldwide market place. Too bad that Armageddon was not more of a successful venture.

Although its pretty well shot and comes across with very high production values, Gordon Chan's X-files inspired, yet very confused late 90's film, is a slow-burning mess that seems to be lost in itself and lacks the excitement his previous hits, as well as many Hong Kong film starring Lau and Wong!

Basically the main story is of a conflicted and grieving scientist (Lau), who does battle with a cult aiming to destroy the earth... Sounds fun, but ultimately, the film is a mish-mash of sci-fi, mystery, romance, religion and some flat comedy moments.

While the main cast do a good job with what they have, but there is much better out there from all involved. Armageddon does aim to differ from its Hong Kong counterparts, and it most certainly succeeds, perhaps just a little too much for fans of the genre. The little action there is, is provided by Bruce Law but its nothing to get too excited about...

Overall: Watch if you're looking for something a little different, but I won't be giving it a second go!

The movie starts out pretty well. Has some engaging moments but then falls apart. At the end it just makes you think, what the heck was that. Goes on totally different logical direction in contrasts to how it builds up. It's like turning a suspensful mystery sci-fi movie into some sort of supernatural romantic nonsense in the end. Completely two different scripts.

Starting out like a Chinese take-off on the X Files, this film eventually degenerates into a bizarre eschatological parable lacking any clear moral. The ending is particularly over-inflated, anticlimactic and nonsensical. Anthony Wong's performance is the only redeeming quality of this failed effort, but it falls far short of his next performance for Gordon Chan in Beast Cops.

Starting off as promising as any other Gordon Chan film, this tale about Hong Kong special forces, the supernatural, Heaven & Hell, soon buckles underneath it's own weight & moves from interesting and promising to just plain silly and tedious, before sputtering to a lifeless and unfulfilled conclusion. Both Andy Lau and Anthony Wong are as good as always, but they really deserve a much better movie for both their considerable talents. This is not one of my favorite Chan films by a long shot to say the least. That's sad as he's usually a solidly good director.

My Grade: D+

DVD Extras: Commentary by Gordon Chan; A 22 minute Making of; Both Hong Kong & US Trailers, & Trailers for "King of Beggars", "Beast Cops", "Option Zero", "First Option", "2000 A.D.", "Running out of Time", "Body Weapon", "Dragon Inn", "Fist Power", & "the Duel"