Da mao xian jia

When people are shooting or fighting, the film delivers what action fans hope for. Andy Lau's character has the classic backstory and acquired skills for the hero of dramatic revenge tales set in any era or country. But rarely does one see such repeated incompetence outside of a Clouseau-style comedy. Every step in his course of payback blows up or causes serious collateral damage. The ending provides closure, but not in a way that makes much sense. This one doesn't earn a place on the highlight reel of Lau's otherwise admirable track record of roles and productions.

You would expect the team up of master director Ringo Lam and actor Andy Lau would have had better results. Unfortunately The Adventurers is a somewhat lesser affair for both Director and Star.

The adventurers is a below par (for Ringo Lam) thriller, involving Lau's character Mandy (yes you did read that right)going undercover in America to infiltrate the gang of the man that killed his parents when he was a boy.

Competently made, but more could have been done with the plot and characters. It does involve some good action scenes, but Lam has done better and on a smaller budget. Lam said at the time that it was impossible to make a decent film with Andy Lau because half of the budget was spent on his fee alone. This doesn't make it a bad film.

Generally the performances are good especially Rosemund Kwan as the film's Femme Fatale. Worth a look, but for a better example of Lam check out his other classics The Victim, City on Fire or Full Contact.

The Adventurers was the late Ringo Lam's final Hong Kong movie before heading over to Hollywood for a brief stint. Starring the wonderful Andy Lau and lovely Rosamund Kwan, the film is an action packed revenge flick with Lau having witnessed his parents murder when he was a boy. Having been saved by his fathers best friend (the fantastic David Chaing), Andy goes on to be a trained pilot for the Thai Air Force, eventually planning a hit on the killer, Ray Lui (played by Paul Chun - not actually Ray Lui) during a hotel event in Thailand. Obviously, things don't go so smoothly and soon, Lau is on the defence, aided by Lui's mistress (Rosamund Kwan).

Andy Lau gives one of his finest performances as the vengeful orphan who will do nothing to kill his parents murderer, and leaves his usual cheesiness at the door to portray Yan wonderfully...

I like The Adventurers. While it hasn't been cited as Lam's finest work, it still has enough going on to keep things interesting and most definitely action-packed! Of course, no Ringo Lam movie would be complete without its violence, and The Adventurers is no exception as its story spans across three countries. From the murder of his parents (with Philip Ko as his dad), to the kidnap of Lui's daughter, things just get bigger and darker as the film rolls on!

Lui's daughter is played brilliantly by Wu Chien Lien, who started her film career with Andy Lau in the fantastic film, A Moment Of Romance. While much feistier in this compared to the latter, I really enjoyed her performance and often thought she reminded me of Anita Mui at times. As her and Lau's relationship grows, there are a few moments of humour although nothing silly that detracts from the seriousness of the film.

Lam's direction, with that of the beautiful cinematography, is just fantastic offering some stunning moments of action and drama with plenty of camera movement, dutch-angles and great lighting. While I can understand some critics finding its running time a little too long (with more going on in the first hour than most films offer), as well as a few other minor gripes, I found The Adventurers to be a fast paced, highly exciting action thriller and a hugely accomplished piece of film-making for Ringo. The film actually takes a breath on the one-hour-mark for about 30 minutes for some drama that thickens the plot, before going into its explosive and emotional finale!

Overall: Perhaps Ringo Lam's most underrated movie, The Adventurers is well worth the watch...

Ringo Lam's "The Adventurers" is a star vehicle for Andy Lau, who plays a Cambodian orphan out to get even with the renegade arms merchant who rubbed out his parents. There are lots of explosions, plenty of gunfights and fine production values. The screenplay that Ringo Lam directs is weak on character development, linear structure and conversation. The comic book reality of this movie would have been better if Andy Lau had more personality or screen presence. In his scenes with Rosamund Kwan, she lights up the screen while Andy Lau mostly scowls. There is plenty of action, staged in San Francisco, the Phillipines and maybe Thailand (the police officers in some scenes looked the same as those in "Full Contact," which Lam filmed in Bangkok). For fans of Andy Lau, a top Hong Kong film star and singer, this movie is right up their alley. Ringo Lam complained in an interview after the movie's release that Lau's price tag of over one million dollars (US, not HK dollars) ate up almost half the pictures budget and limited Lam's making this movie. The production values are fine, in spite of Andy Lau's star fee. I saw this movie on a Mei Ah VCD, and the movie is worth looking at as mindless entertainment.

The Adventurers (1995) was a big budgeted film (for Ringo Lam) that spans across three countries. The film begins in Thailand and goes to the United States and Hong Kong. It's also a tale of revenge, a deep rooted one that lasts well over two decades. A young child is the only survivor of a family massacre. His uncle (David Chiang) raises the boy until adulthood (Andy Lau). For many years he has been waiting for the right moment to avenge his family's honor. The kid flies to the United States where he finds his foe. He's strangely attracted to his wife (Rosamund Kwan) and uses her to get back at her sleazy husband. But fate plays a cruel trick upon him because he's also attracted to her daughter. Will she get into his way on his path of vengeance?

A nice high gloss action vehicle for Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau, he commanded a high price for his role (one and a half million U.S.D.). It's a hefty sum but it's worth it because he actually acts pretty well in this picture. Ringo Lam has worked miracles with a lot of difficult actors (Jean Claude Van Damme). Instead of mugging and goofing off in front of the camera, Andy shows emotions and depth into his role. The action is well choreographed and the cinematography is top notched.

Highly recommended.