Héroïne connection

China White (1989) was Ronny Yu's first international film. This U.K,/Holland/Hong Kong production was shot in English and was slightly edited for the western audience. The American Wong brothers (Michael and Russell) were supposed to star in the film together but due to prior commitments was unavailable so another western actor Steven Leigh took his spot. Several Hong Kong stars such as Tommy Wong (playing a mute) and the always creepy William Ho appear as well as the director in an interesting cameo spot.

The Chow brothers are in Holland to run the family business. They want to the family business to go legit but the other Asian gangs don't want to and see there move as a face saving move to please the "foreigners" and want to keep on making money the old fashion way. Others want to take their business to even a new low by smuggling drugs and what not. After the Chow elder is gunned down in cold blood, the brothers make their move against any family who's not with them. Can the Chow family keep the families from killing one another or while the streets of Holland flow with the blood of the innocence and gangsters?

A highly underrated movie. I was surprised by how good it was. I haven't seen the Hong Kong version. That would be a huge treat for me. It's longer and has a lot more stars of the Hong Kong Cinema involved with the production. Too bad this film isn't available on D.V.D. The video print i saw was washed out and the sound reproduction wasn't that great.

Highly recommended for action fans.

factoid: This film takes place before the decriminalization of drugs

in Holland.

After a long time I have finally been able to get a copy of this and watch it again. Now I do know that there are several versions out there so there is no sure way to tell if the version I saw now is the same as it was the first time I saw it. The action is still top notch. Only those sequences aren't as long as one would expect from a movie in the genre. I have seen a lot of so called heroic bloodshed titles that tried to copy the master John Woo and never came close to it. "China White" is much better than most but also fails to come close of what John Woo has defined. There is one very big plus and that is the setting.Which is China town in Amsterdam. You get the impression it is a large district. But having lived in Amsterdam myself I know it is only a small area part of the red light district which happen to have a lot of Chinese stores and restaurants. But because of the way they shot the movie it actually looks like a big and important territory where people know not to mess with the triads. Besides the action "China White" is a somewhat compelling gangster drama with some decent acting. But could have used more intrigue if the focus was on the story. Russel Wong and Billy Drago do what they can with the material they are given. After careful consideration and comparing it to other titles in the genre this movie still is strong enough.Certainly worth watching.

The movie has decent action, and a good villain played by the reliable Billy Drago.

The one thing which stands out about the film though is the presence of statuesque Kickboxing champion, Saskia Van Rijswijk, as Billy Drago's henchwoman. In an almost wordless role, the beautiful Saskia makes a stunning impression. Sadly, her screen time is very limited, and the rest of the film is merely average.

Worth watching for Van Rijswijk, but very little else.

General Sing tires of the violent skirmishes that sees his men torn apart in Khmer Rouge/Vietnam. Bobby and Danny Chow tire of the violent skirmishes of ethnic crime enterprises in Holland that sees his men starving. If Sing can supply the opium for the streets, Bobby can supply the medical drugs for the jungle. But Love goes undercover and shakes it all up. Definitely an 80's movie as far as acting goes, the drama and action of the era. Its appeal comes from the recurring cycle that every generation seems more sensitive to the last generation, so we look back with fondness at the gritty portrayal of life, not so much in a glorifying nature, but in a noir and pulp feel. It's not a great movie, but it's nostalgic to a degree.

China White is an entertaining action movie. In contrast to other movies, which are similar ( and these are a lot ) it is relatively well played and has a quickly developing storyline. Certainly it contains many extremely bloody shoot-outs and some strong language. Actionfans will love the slow-motion death-scenes, especially during the last 30 minutes. One of my favorite movies. Check it out !