Gong woo lung foo dau

Good production values, fair acting, good to brilliant action sequences, but what an accumulation of cliches, of caricature characters and foreseeable dialog.

The time between two action phases feels so long and empty that when the dramatic moment arrives, one is more or less disengaged from any possible outcome.

This title doesn't do justice to the genre heroic bloodshed! Yes, there is bloodshed en yes it is heroic,but for the most part it is a story about a relationship between two friends (Alan Tang and Chow Yan Fat) who happen to be gangsters. Let's face it,compared to John Woo titles: Better Tomorrow series, Hard Boiled, the Killer! This movie doesn't have a chance! There is not enough action to make this movie worthwhile. But the acting is outstanding by Chow Yan Fat and Alan Tang. Furthermore there is not much of intrigue or excitement,so why should i watch this movie! Still Alan Tang really has potential for greater action drama's than this one! Return Engagement is an example how this movie could be!

Oddly enough then I've never gotten around to seeing "Gong woo lung foo dau" (aka "Flaming Brothers") before now in 2019. Even more so odd because I am very interested in Hong Kong movies.

I was given the chance to sit down and watch "Flaming Brothers", so I did do that, of course. And I knew that Chow-Yun Fat was in the movie, so that was definitely a selling point. Not that I would need any convincing to sit down and watch this 1987 Hong Kong movie.

So how was it? Well, first of all I must say that this wasn't a defining movie in the Hong Kong cinema, nor was it a particular impressive notch on Chow-Yun Fat's acting career. This movie was bland and mediocre. Writers Jeffrey Lau and Kar-Wai Wong were trying to mix a full fledged drama with the over-the-top gun action that permeated the Hong Kong cinema in the late 1980s and early 1990s. So was that a good mix? No, not really.

The movie was too long, and it had surprisingly little to its storyline to warrant the things that director Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung set out to accomplish. I was left with a sensation of having somewhat wasted an hour and forty minutes on this movie. Sure, it was watchable, but it was also sort of disappointingly generic and mediocre.

While I have a big love for Hong Kong cinema, "Flaming Brothers" is hardly a movie that I will sit down and watch again. The mixture of drama, lovestory and hard-boiled action here just didn't make for a very potent concoction.

And the ending of the movie. Wow, seriously? That was just ludicrous. Definitely a massive anti-climatic way of ending the movie and providing a slap with a cold, dead fish to the audience that sat through the movie in the process.

My rating of "Flaming Brothers" lands on a very mediocre five out of ten stars. The movie is watchable and semi-enjoyable, but hardly an outstanding movie in any way.

Two street rats named Alan and Ah Tien (Alan Tang and Chow Yun-Fat respectively) grow up to become members of the Triads until Tien finds a girl he fell for during his childhood, and decides to settle down with her. But things aren't that simple, and the conflicting interests of a powerful gangster are about to bring them back together.

Flaming Brothers is... well, it's pretty bad. Enjoyable, and hilarious, but for all the wrong reasons. The stock sound effects for the action scenes are distracting, and the acting by most of the cast is more scattershot than a blast from a Mossberg in the hands of a child. Characters die hilariously--I'll never forget the guy who kept himself alive just long enough to shoot the fuel tank on a forklift before lying down and "dying" instantly. The film is filled with moments like this, and all the better for it. Otherwise, it would be a boring mess.

It's toned unevenly, as Ah Tien bonds with his love interest while his brother Alan tries to work an arms deal. One is silly romantic slapstick and the other is amateurishly made action drama. It just doesn't mesh well.

Despite its massive flaws, though, I enjoyed Flaming Brothers, only because it's so bad, it's good.

This film sandwiched between the better tomorrow series and the Killer. If you want to see a guy getting shot more times than Scarface, then this films for you. Watch'em slug it out, shoot it out while Yun-Fat owns a 7-