After being at the wrong place at the wrong time, an ex-cop and a female divorce lawyer become fugitives, and have to team up with a gangster to clear their names from being involved in a mo... Read allAfter being at the wrong place at the wrong time, an ex-cop and a female divorce lawyer become fugitives, and have to team up with a gangster to clear their names from being involved in a money laundering scheme led by a vicious lawyer.After being at the wrong place at the wrong time, an ex-cop and a female divorce lawyer become fugitives, and have to team up with a gangster to clear their names from being involved in a money laundering scheme led by a vicious lawyer.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Waise Chow
- (as Robin Chou)
- Petty Lee
- (as Carol 'Do Do' Cheng)
- Inspector Yeung
- (as Cmythia Kham)
- Uncle Chiu
- (as Law Lit)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
The film features an intensely likable Donnie Yen and an at-her-most-gorgeous Rosamund Kwan as a mismatched couple (a cop and a lawyer, respectively) who run foul of some sinister money launderers who use murder to keep their business private. The end up on the run being pursued by gangsters. Of course, what this inevitably leads to is an incredible amount of expertly-choreographed action and fight sequences. There are the requisite car chases and shoot-outs here, but the majority of the action is hand-to-hand combat, and boy is it blistering.
Yen is on top form as a physical fight and his bouts with various opponents are fast and furious. The plot is occasionally slightly muddled (and the dodgy subtitles on the Hong Kong blu-ray I watched hardly helped) but it doesn't matter as this is visual, visceral entertainment throughout. Michael Woods makes his third (and best) appearance in a Chinese film, the creepy John Salvitti is back from IN THE LINE OF DUTY 4, and Robin Shou makes a decent antagonist. Watch out for a surprisingly fine David Wu in support and a cameo from veteran star Lo Lieh as a gangster.
Not everything is PC and I reckon the way certain things are handled will not be looked lightly upon ... or rather received through the lens of time. Sensibilities and all - some things were meant to be light jokes but the implications are way deeper than that. And yes you could hang the movie up on that - hopefully you are able to look past that. Not easy to do for some I know ... just try to enjoy the action and the comedy if you can.... otherwise you won't have a good time.
But I figured since the movie was a crime action and had Donnie Yen, Rosamund Kwan and Robin Shou on the cast list, then I would be in for something watchable and enjoyable. So I sat down to watch "Sai Hak Chin", and I must say that director Woo-Ping Yuen did manage to put the script and storyline onto the screen in an enjoyable and entertaining manner.
The storyline in Woo-Ping Yuen's movie was pretty straight forward, if not actually somewhat generic for an early 1990s crime action movie. But hey, the formula worked then and still works today, and that makes "Sai Hak Chin" an enjoyable and watchable movie. There is a good combination of the genres, that being crime, drama and martial arts.
The cast ensemble in "Sai Hak Chin" was also good, and needless to say that it was definitely pure joy to watch the young Donnie Yen, Rosamund Kwan and Robin Shou in the movie.
There is a good amount of martial arts and action throughout the course of "Sai Hak Chin", which should provide more than sufficient to keep most viewers happy.
My rating of "Sai Hak Chin" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.
Did you know
- TriviaDonnie Yen and ex US Navy Seal Michael Woods have fought each other five times on film in total. The first time was in Tiger Cage (1988), In the Line of Duty 4 (1988), Tiger Cage 2 (1990), Crystal Hunt (1991) and Cheetah on Fire (1992). They remain great friend to this day.
- GoofsDuring the close-up shots of the sword fight, reflected in the performers' blades.
- Quotes
[Mandy is forced to torture him]
Dragon Yau: It's so nice! It's so nice! It's so nice!
- Alternate versionsSome versions of the movie feature a different ending sequence. One version has the main bad guy being killed from a heavy blow to the head while another features the main bad guy being arrested.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Cinema of Vengeance (1994)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Tiger Cage II
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 1h 35m(95 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1