Meltdown - La catastrofe

After failing to save his wife from the Doctor, Kit Li is working as a bodyguard and secret stunt double for the cowardly martial arts film star Frankie Lane. Frankie attends an exhibition of the crown jewels of Russia at a Hong Kong hotel, and when the Doctor's gang take over the building in attempt to steal them, Kit is the only thing standing in their way.

The film is a parody of some of Hollywood's most influential action films, such as "Die Hard" and "Speed". It also gained controversy for spoofing Jackie Chan, who was, in turn, offended by the satire. From what I can tell, he was offended specifically because he had a falling out with the director. I don't see anything that is offensive here... sure, it might vaguely imply that Chan is a fake, but only vaguely -- satire is what happens when you reach the success of Chan.

Overall, this is a strong action film with a fun plot. Purists can watch it with subtitles, but those who prefer dubbing will especially enjoy the sweet voice of Daran Norris as the Doctor.

The tagline used over here: "They took his wife, now he takes revenge" is pretty corny, and doesn't really appeal to anyone. It sounds like just about any ordinary action movie out there. But it isn't. This movie is truly superb! The acting, the directing, the action, the plot all mix together into something you just got to love.

Kit Li, a former commando soldier, who accidently killed his wife and a bunch of school children after cutting the wrong wire on a bomb, now works as a stand in for a shameless Kung-Fu superstar named Frankie Lone. The public believes Frankie Lone does all his own stunt work, when infact Kit Li does it for him, and Frankie Lone has become a real coward, who forgets from where he got his fame... That is, by using Kung-Fu.

One night Frankie Lone and Kit Li goes to look at some russian jewels, displayed in a skyscrapper. Unfortunetly terrorists take over the building, and takes everyone in it as hostage. Frankie Lone and Kit Li, however, escape the clutches of the terrorists and dwell around in the building, Kit Li taking out every terrorist he finds and Frankie Lone, running from every bug he finds. Its very funny at times, really.

In the end they manage to take out the terrorists, of course, and Frankie Lone remembers who he really is and Kit Li gets a new girlfriend. Cute. Well, its a good ending to a good movie. Wait, make that a great movie. If you ever lay eyes on this movie in the store, buy it! its definetly worth it.

To sum it all up: Funny, action-packed, good directing and writing and just loveable in general. Go get it! I give it a 9!

Violence runs rampant throughout `Meltdown'. If you're not a fan of gore there's a good chance you won't like this movie. Bouncing Betty mines, time bombs, impaling, electrocution, dismemberment by helicopter blades, graphic gunshot wounds and death are among the dark and gruesome violence that balance out the comedic spoof this film is.

`Meltdown' itself is a spoof on both Die Hard 1 and 2 (Ironically it came out the same year as Die Hard 3). Terrorists dressed exactly like those in Die hard 2, right down to the urban fatigues (and trademark sunglasses for the evil military leader) Take over a high rise building, the plot of the original Die Hard. The geeky black computer hacker is replaced in this film by an equally geeky Indian computer hacker. Fans of the Die Hard trilogy will certainly enjoy the parallels `Meltdown' makes to the `Die Hard' trilogy.

`Meltdown' goes beyond a simple movie spoof. The semi-protagonist of the film `Freddie' is a composite spoof of Chinese martial arts movie legends Bruce Li and Jackie Chan. Freddie takes Chan's zaniness and silliness to extreme farcical levels, while wearing the yellow jumpsuit and uttering the kung fu sounds that Bruce Lee will always be remembered for.

The Kung Fu in this movie is average at best. It's not one of Jet Li's best performances, but then again it isn't bad. What the movie lacks in kung fu, it makes up for with the aforementioned gratuitous violence. The parody is what makes this film worthwhile. 6/9 stars.

Some people might think that this is a Jet Li film. Well, it is not. Jet Li IS there, and he kills a bunch of bad guys and causes trouble for the bad guy (The Doctor). But he is not the head character. He is in the movie from time to time, but not enough to be called a main character.

It starts out with Kit Li (Jet Li) as a army officer. His wife and some school children are trapped in a bus and Jet Li needs to disarm the bomb beneath the bus. He cuts the wrong wire and the bus goes boom.

We fast forward 2 years and now Kit Li acts as bodyguard for the Kung-Fu superstar Frankie Lone. Frankie Lone is known for making all of his own stunts (when infact, Kit Li, or some stunt double, is the one who makes the stunts).

One day Frankie Lone goes to see some Tzar jewels from Russia, displayed in a skyscraper. And then Terrorists run in, kill everyone on floor one and go up to the Tzar jewels and takes everyone hostage... But not Kit Li or Frankie Lone. While Frankie Lone runs around the building, avoiding terrorists all the time (he is to cowardly to fight them), Kit Li rushes the building with a cop and an uzi, and mows down enough terrorists to fill a football field with (well, almost. Its entertaining anyway).

Excellent writing and goofy acting and directing (intentionally) makes up for a superb action movie. I have seen people here complain about the Kung-Fu just being average in this movie, but I disagree. Its very good indeed. Might not be Jet Li's best, but at least it doesn't use CGI like so many movies today. its fast and entertaining. The final fight scene between Frankie Lone and that long haired terrorist dude is really awesome (and funny).

I give this movie a 9 out of 10 stars. Rent it, or even better, buy it!

Two HK directors teamed up to make this mockery on Jackie Chan, who was portrayed as a hypocritical coward and a selfish superstar named Frankie Lone in the movie. Note Frankie Lone in his trademark yellow jumpsuit. That was a parody to Jackie Chan's poster for his early film, "Heart of Dragon" (1985). "High Risk" (aka "Melt Down") might seem trashy to film buffs but it's one of a kind. Like what Mank did to William Randolph Hearst in his script for "Citizen Kane," everyone could tell who Frankie Lone stood for back then. It's unclear if the two directors were retaliated, but Jackie Chan did make his double speak out for him in public. It's certainly an entertaining film packed with actions and HK superstars like Jacky Cheung and Jet Li.