IMDb RATING
5.3/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
Two best friends rise through the ranks of New York's Chinese underworld in the 1980s.Two best friends rise through the ranks of New York's Chinese underworld in the 1980s.Two best friends rise through the ranks of New York's Chinese underworld in the 1980s.
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- Stars
Jin Au-Yeung
- Detective Tang
- (as Jin Auyeung)
- Directors
- Writers
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This is based on true events that happened in America. You may look at it, as either glorifying violence to a degree or making immigrants look bad, but that would be beside the point. I don't believe this to be a propaganda either way. I do believe that the story is interesting and while it probably is heighten for movie purposes it deserved to be told in a way like this.
Acting is OK, the setting is decent and the action scenes deliver mostly (though they are not too heightened/fancy). There still is blood, not many women involved (other than to look pretty) and everything else you'd expect (for better or worse) from a B-movie, even without it being based on true life.
Acting is OK, the setting is decent and the action scenes deliver mostly (though they are not too heightened/fancy). There still is blood, not many women involved (other than to look pretty) and everything else you'd expect (for better or worse) from a B-movie, even without it being based on true life.
A collaboration between Wai-Keung Lau (Infernal Affairs trilogy) and Martin Scorsese (The Departed) about Chinese gangs in New York at the end of the 1980s. One would expect fireworks, right? Not so much. This movie is entertaining but misses a bigger impact. It's not surprising the film didn't get a wider release in the US... The rather conventional story is embellished with different kind of colorful gangs from the (Asian) underworld, some pretty gruesome torture scenes and an attempt to make a huge plot twist at the end, but finally fails due to ordinariness. It needed more "cool" and a more interesting angle storywise. Fans of Asian-centered mob movies should give it a try though.
The plot is good and the direction is also alright. But the weakest link of the movie are the actors of the main characters.
Justin is just too skinny and little to make a credible gangster. If he threatened me I think I woukd laugh. In reality is just difficult to picture it.
The film could be more darker, with more character development. For example, Steven is the crazy one, but sometimes he just doesn't seem that crazy, just plain retarded.
Sonny and Steven could have talked more to give the viewer the sense of bonding, instead the movie is just plain simple. The movie evolves way too fast and the all triad gets arrested too soon. It made them (gangsters) look careless.
It kind reminds you the senseless gang banger movies of Hong Kong
Justin is just too skinny and little to make a credible gangster. If he threatened me I think I woukd laugh. In reality is just difficult to picture it.
The film could be more darker, with more character development. For example, Steven is the crazy one, but sometimes he just doesn't seem that crazy, just plain retarded.
Sonny and Steven could have talked more to give the viewer the sense of bonding, instead the movie is just plain simple. The movie evolves way too fast and the all triad gets arrested too soon. It made them (gangsters) look careless.
It kind reminds you the senseless gang banger movies of Hong Kong
The movie is based on true events, so the filmmakers had to walk on the thin line between integrity and artistic freedom, which may have effected the story being told, and made everything overall weak.
Andrew Lau, known best for Infernal Affairs, the movie that inspired Martian Scorsese's the Departed, with the help of Andrew Loo, takes his from of crime drama off the streets of Hong Kong, and place it on the streets of Queens, New York, which I thought was perfect.
It's starts out about a boy who gets caught up in the crime underworld in the 1980s and leads to unwinding The FBI's theory that the large amount of Immigration in the city is bringing crime into it.
The movie was just a jumble of events slab together by a story that did not feel really drawn out. I loved the fact that the movie is filled with Asian Actors not doing the stereotypical action Kung Fu genre but wish they had more to work with.
I went into it expecting to see a a great Asian Cinema Crime Drama set in New York which sounds amazing, and even though I liked the movie it was not anywhere as good what I would expect a collaboration between Scorsese and Lau.
Andrew Lau, known best for Infernal Affairs, the movie that inspired Martian Scorsese's the Departed, with the help of Andrew Loo, takes his from of crime drama off the streets of Hong Kong, and place it on the streets of Queens, New York, which I thought was perfect.
It's starts out about a boy who gets caught up in the crime underworld in the 1980s and leads to unwinding The FBI's theory that the large amount of Immigration in the city is bringing crime into it.
The movie was just a jumble of events slab together by a story that did not feel really drawn out. I loved the fact that the movie is filled with Asian Actors not doing the stereotypical action Kung Fu genre but wish they had more to work with.
I went into it expecting to see a a great Asian Cinema Crime Drama set in New York which sounds amazing, and even though I liked the movie it was not anywhere as good what I would expect a collaboration between Scorsese and Lau.
Traveling across an ocean or desert and into a new country, one becomes subject to different rules, and vulnerable to thugs who know the system better. Those unable or unwilling to control their own destinies in this new climate, invite others to do it for them. "Captain leads, sailor sails," is the saying, and some unsavory, yet deceptively wholesome looking, captains appear at the helm. The American dream depends more on one's luck, resources and strength of character, than on equal opportunity, liberty or other tenuous threads. Based on actual events from the 1980s, the film follows the lives of Chinese immigrants to New York City who are pressured into gangs, menial labor and violence. The main characters are two boys who become part of the notorious Green Dragon gang. Despite shaky acting and disjointed transitions, it is an intriguing and insightful glimpse into the underworld of U.S. immigration. Many scenes are predictable, yet there were some twists and turns, especially at the end, that I did not see coming. Seen at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.
Did you know
- TriviaThe first film Wai Keung Lau and Martin Scorsese officially work on together (after Wai Keung Lau's Infernal Affairs (2002) inspired Martin Scorsese's Les Infiltrés (2006)).
- GoofsIn the beginning of the movie its supposed to be 1983, however they show a big pile of modern US currency spilling on table with the current large President's head on the bills.
- ConnectionsFeatures Xue xi Tang Ren Jie (1982)
- SoundtracksGreen Dragon
Written by Devon Diep, Angelo "DOC" Velazquez & Terri Patterson
Performed by Devon Diep
Courtesy of Cutting Edge Music (Holdings) Limited
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Revenge of the Green Dragons
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $107,412
- Runtime
- 1h 34m(94 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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