Young and Dangerous (Jeune et dangereux)

This Hong Kong crime drama is centred of Chan Ho Nam, 'Chicken' Chiu and their friends. They are young men growing up in a crime infested part of Hong Kong who get involved with the Triads, working for Uncle Bee. Their work is often violent and brings them into conflict with Kwan, the leader of another Triad group. After a job in Macau goes tragically wrong things get more dangerous. Kwan is on the rise and his actions will force Nam and Chicken to seek revenge.

I enjoyed this film; while there is some violence this is more a story about friendship and loyalty. The main characters are all pretty solid. Just about everybody is somehow involved in crime; Nam only met his girlfriend, Smartie, because she stole his car! The violence is less brutal than most Hong Kong crime dramas I've seen thanks to the way it is filmed; I assume this was meant as a nod to the stories comic book origins. The story does provide some surprises, which I won't spoil. There are some comic moments; notably how Smartie is punished for stealing Nan's car. The cast does a solid job bringing their characters' to life. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Hong Kong crime drama.

These comments are based on watching the film in Cantonese with English subtitles.

Young And Dangerous was a big boxoffice hit in Hong Kong and is the first movie in a series that this far contains six parts plus five spin off movies, not counting the many imitations and rip offs, so it could be worth checking out. If you like it there is the whole series to watch.

Y & D is an action movie (more than a gangster drama) about young triad gangsters and the importance of good friendship. It is purely entertainment, it is not an art film and has no important messages to the audience. The story is simple and we are not getting any deeper knowledge about the triads and how they function, even though the funeral and the punishment scene are interesting and well made. But simplicity does not have to be only bad, this is action and it is good that the story is not confusing. Also, the story contains the element of revenge and revenge tends to be involving.

The pacing is good and Y & D never gets boring, on the contrary, it gets more and more involving. Some scenes are unnecessary though, especially those with the priest and the female car thief that seems aimed to provide some not needed comic relief. But those scenes does not ruin the movie, it would just be better without them. Otherwise the tone is serious and Francis Ng, as the villain, gives a strong performance that actually lifts the film.

Y & D is superficial, but there is a lot of action, even though it is mostly the usual gang fighting. Y & D does not belong to the Heroic Bloodshed genre, there is not much gunplay and bloodsquibs. If it had been more brutal with more on screen violence it would have been a better movie. Even though it is a serious movie I would have preferred a grittier tone, but this is aimed for a younger audience. Some of the young rascals does not seem tough enough to be gangsters, but Cheng is OK as their groupleader (Ho Nam) and Chan is good as his right hand (Chicken). Simon Yam has only a small role as their highest boss. You will be entertained even if it is not the best you have seen. 7 / 10

When I first watched this movie...I thought it was a total piece of s**t. But my friends keep bugging me that it was a great film. So I watched it again and I got say I was impressed after the second time watching it. I won't really explain the plot too much but it's sort of like a Chinese version of "Menace to Society" with a touch of "Goodfellas". Strong performance by Jordan Chan and the plot is pretty good for a Hong Kong flick nowadays. There is some action with a "A Better Tomorrow" flower pot shootout spoof where Jordan Chan tries to be Chow Yun Fat. Well that's all i gotta say. Watch the film.......8/10

"Young And Dangerous" is one of those films that is known about by anyone even vaguely familiar with Hong Kong movies, and for one reason. It's excellent.

The characters, the actors (Francis Ng is an excellent villain), the story, even the musical score all combine to make this one unforgettable film. Themes like loyalty, trust, and friendship in general figure heavily into the plot - which really makes for a strong narrative.

As in most movies concerning the Triads, there is a lot of violence. The thing is, in "Y&D" it isn't extremely glorified, nor is it downplayed. It's just there - for you to judge on your own. Surprisingly, the violence in this film actually serves to move along the story, not just for a "wow" factor like in many other HK features.

At any rate, if you're new to HK movies, or are just looking for a good gangster action/drama, then by ALL means rent (or buy) a copy of "Young And Dangerous." You'll thank me later.

The "Young and Dangerous" movies are a series of films about the experiences of young triads in Hong Kong's criminal society. They are based on a Hongkongese comic book known as "Teddy Boy", a fact which would be unknown if not for the movie often cutting to hand-drawn images, revealing how closely the film resembles the comic book.

The film's structure seems to be fairly episodic; there's not much of an overarching narrative that I could detect, and thus the scenes only have power based on the performances. The stand-outs for me were Ekin Cheng as the protagonist and the stunningly beautiful Gigi Lai as his love interest.

Despite being a HK crime flick, "Young and Dangerous" isn't heroic bloodshed; there's very little gunplay and none of the violence is shot in balletic fashion.

Unfortunately, with little cohesion to each scene, "Young and Dangerous"'s power feels muted, especially in its climax; however it is entertaining for most of its run-time.