ass_spelunker

Check this out if you love HK gangster flicks. This one has it all: evil Japanese, swordfighting, acrobatic gunplay, love, honor, betrayal, kneecap shooting, and ancestor disrespecting, all topped off with a bittersweet finale! Basically plays like a low-rent version of "The Killer". The action is slow to build, coming mainly in the film's second half, but once it starts, it doesn't let up. Somewhat imitative of John Woo's stylings during the gunfights, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Certainly not in the same class as Woo, Lam, or Hark's best work, but a lot more satisfying and exciting than "The Replacement Killers". The DVD from Tai Seng is cheap, but it's also dubbed, fullscreen, and a poor transfer to boot. Still, I consider it 6 bucks well spent on a film I'll definitely watch again.

I really enjoyed this movie. It should be noted that I have a high tolerance for low-budget fare. I got this as part of a 2-disc set, which I bought primarily to get a hold of Wolstencroft's first feature, "Bloodlust". I finally watched this, and was pleasantly surprised. This is the tale of Daniel, a killer-for-profit(be it assassinations or murder and the subsequent sale of cadavers). Between bouts of drugs, partner-swapping, S&M and crime, Daniel ruminates on the nature of fascism. I don't want to give away too much, but suffice to say that this movie doesn't take the tried and true(not to mention cliché) Hollywood approach of force feeding its audience an affable, cuddly lead character. Daniel's opinions may shock and offend you. The movie's morality is ambiguous and its philosophy unique. If you need a likable, handsome Tom Cruise type "Hit Man" in order to digest a movie, don't watch this. If you are not afraid to have your own notions of film and character challenged, this movie should be an unexpected treat. The film's budget and non-professional cast are evident. However, if this movie had been produced at greater cost, and with a well-known actor or two, it would most likely have been successful AND controversial.

If you aren't a fan of Cantonese gunplay/gangster movies, you won't like this as much as I did. If you are, however, and you haven't seen "The Big Heat", prepare to thoroughly enjoy yourself. Having been a fan of HK flicks for years, I've reached the stage where I feel like I've seen it all. I've even taken to renting videotapes at 4 bucks a pop, 2 tapes per film, at my local Chinese-language movie store(I live in Phoenix, AZ, so if you're anywhere remotely metropolitan, you probably have one in your town as well). Now, I scour the aisles, hoping to see something even remotely on par with the works of Woo, Lam, and Hark. Most times, I come up disappointed, sitting hopefully through a sluggish, poorly plotted film with one or two halfway decent action sequences. So I was pleasantly surprised by this one. An early entry into the HK cop action genre, this little number was directed by Johnny To and Andrew Kam, both of whom were reportedly fired by producer Tsui Hark, who helmed some of it himself. The story has been described by others here already, so I'll just mention that this thing kicks ass! It moves along at a fair clip, never gets dull, and the fight scenes, while more akin to Ringo Lam's close-quarters real-time shootouts than John Woo's orgiastic slo-mo duels, are consistently inventive and exciting. A couple of motifs here ended up in later films, like "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled". And, I swear, the "shoot the hostage" bit from "Speed" was lifted directly from this film. If you've watched all of the better-known HK movies(and some of the lesser-known ones), and are jonesing for a fix of Asian action, check this one out. And, yes, it really is gruesomely violent for a HK film.