Tongs - Battaglia a Chinatown

'Tongs' is essentially 'Scarface' in Chinatown. As such it is an intense story, filled with the violence and melodrama that make the gangster genre so compelling. Simon Yam is great as a migrant who comes to America and blasts his way to the higher rungs of the underworld ladder.

A diamond in the rough for gangster fans. As good or better than many of the similar Hong Kong crime tales, not counting John Woo or Tsui Hark's work.

Back in 1990, I had the great fortune to watch on the big screen, this cult mafioso classic, starring the very charismatic Simon Yam. In those days, I've read a bunch of books about the shady world of hoodlums where I was introduced to concepts such as "cutting keys" and "clipping". Tongs is another true to life criminal saga based on the exploits of immigrant Chinese youth street gangs.

The film perfectly captures the vibe and feel of iconic mobster films such as The Godfather, Blood In Blood Out and even Anak Ni Baby Ama (from the Philippines). This one is definitely recommended.

It stands on it's own as a Gang movie. One gang rules the turf. Another gang gets involved. They fight...and someone dies. I rented this movie with nothing better to do and found myself thinking about other Gang movies where people just shoot themselves.Maybe I'm wrong, but for it's time it might have been good. But today..it's gets boring quick. Rent it if you like Gang Volence. You won't be disapointed.

Tongs (1986) I saw this movie several years ago on videotape. It was a clipped dubbed copy of the movie. From what I saw it was a bad and incoherent mess. It was all over the place. The worst part was the dubbing. Any seriousness was gone because the voice actors were terrible. I might look upon this movie differently if I saw it in it's original format. But for now all I have to say is the english version blows big time.

Mildly recommended for a few cheap laughs.

D-

Simon Yam's still the man!