Clash

Romance, action, mystery, suspense, humor; and all the persistence the Vietnamese are known for. Not bad at all. Seen on Tubi, the free streaming site.

Bay Rong or Clash is more than just a fast paced action movie with solid fighting scenes, rough shooting sequences and a few car and motorcycle chases even though these elements are very present in this worthwhile flick.

The movie also has a story line that seems to be quite thin at first sight but it gets more and more developed as time goes by. One even gets a few twists towards the end that keep the pace of the movie high until the end. With a little bit more than ninety minutes, the movie hits a nearly perfect running time for a flick like this.

The good effects caused by the well elaborated story is also due to some major character development. While some characters seem superficial at first sight, they get more and more important as the story goes on. Especially the main characters played by a charismatic and cool Johnny Tri Nguyen and a tough and powerful woman with a breakable side portrayed by the amazing Thanh Van Ngo really impress and are well chosen for their roles. They also develop a convincing partnership and later on love story that develops logically and without too many stereotypes throughout the movie. Only the villains are less convincing as their side of the story is not very well explained and the movie wastes some potential on here as the main villain is intriguingly portrayed.

The movie is overall very well done and should please to fans of action movies of all kinds and maniacs of Asian cinema in general, too. On the other side, the movie somewhat lacks of impressive moments. There are some well done emotionally charged parts, the action choreography is professional enough to convince and the story also has its highlights but nothing truly stands out or will make you keep this movie in mind for a long time. It's a flick that I would definitely watch again with my friends as it's profound enough to grip your interest but also entertaining enough to be watched during a party without paying that much attention. That's why this movie is just situated between a seven and an eight point rating for me but as it lacks a little bit of identity, I ultimately chose the lower rating.

I picked out CLASH from the shelves on the strength of it being a Vietnamese martial arts thriller – and knowing the calibre of recent Thai fare in the same genre, I was hoping it would be up to the challenge. Sadly, it turns out to be a bit of a lacklustre effort, one that's hampered by a low budget and a lack of creativity and freedom in delivering the action.

As soon as the central team are holed up in a dilapidated, run-down old country house as their base of operations, I knew this would be a shot-on-the-cheap kind of movie. And so it turns out to be. Strangely, the plot seems to be virtually copied from the Frankenheimer movie RONIN, right down to the hotel stakeout, the double cross, and the reveal of one character's background at the end. Needless to say, it doesn't hold a candle to that movie.

Instead, this is the kind of predictable and slightly cheesy fare that appears to have been done on the cheap. The script is poor and the performances are nothing to write home about, which leaves us with the martial arts to contend with. I can report that the fights are pretty well staged, if not reaching the same level of greatness that we saw in ONG BAK, for example. Johnny Nguyen is a great fighter, but the camera doesn't love him like it loves him in WARRIOR KING and it's all just a little bit by rote. The same goes for Ngo Thanh Van – she's arresting, but only on a B-movie level.

The result is a film that's average at best, and which feels a little bit stale and past it's sell by date. Nevertheless, I plan to check out a few more Vietnamese movies to see what they're capable of delivering.

I suppose one of the best ways to plunge into the cinema of another country, is for action junkies like myself to see what they have to offer for the genre. I haven't seen a Vietnamese film before Clash, so it's anyone's guess how it would have turned out, though there were plenty of positive reviews for other Vietnamese action flicks such as The Rebel, which also starred leading man Johnny Nguyen, a veteran in his part of the world, who also served as the writer of this film. It shouldn't be that bad, right?

For the most parts, the film was mighty entertaining, telling the story of a female mercenary code named Phoenix (the stunningly beautiful Thanh Van Ngo) who had assembled a rag-tag group of peers to go on missions, one of whom happens to be Johnny Nguyen's Quan with whom she shares a relationship with. Her objective through these dangerous missions is to ultimately save her daughter from the clutches of her evil employer. So much for mother's love, since Phoenix was a one time prostitute who got taken off the streets to do her employer's dirty work, complete with a quick montage of her training.

That's as far as the story goes, with enough twists and turns and double crossings to keep the audience engaged in pretty much a flimsy plot, designed only to keep our characters floating from fight sequence to fight sequence, which is truly the draw of the film, influenced in many ways by Hollywood and Hong Kong action cinema from yesterdays. I have to admit even if there were shades of other films in this, at least this effort had made it through to production with an international crew assisting to spruce up production values, where in Singapore we're still lacking in playing catch up.

Killer moves got designed for Phoenix such as her thigh wraparound the enemy's neck or upper body before giving it a final fatal twist, but to get there, the fight choreography for most of the characters can get a little bit dull and repetitive. Everything will start off with the firing of auto or semi automatic weapons, and when the finite rounds get expended, everyone will turn into Jackie Chan - come to think of it most of Jackie's earlier action films were similarly designed - and relies on the punches and kicks to dispatch opponents. And it does get repetitive as mentioned with the usual punch-punch-kick combo moves that one's enemies could predict with every extended fight.

But thanks to some of the Mixed Martial Arts sequence, Clash at least attempted some variation, and without the use of wires and CG, the fights all look authentic and as our anti- heroes pit their skills against others they get into a battle with. However the finale was a bit of a cop out, which I suspect could have been influenced by test audiences to give it a more positive spin perhaps, since a plot element of a chunky inventory appears magically when in the first place it called for a more tragic and emotional convergence which had to give way.

Still, Clash offers quite a lot especially for action junkies wishing to keep tabs on what's on offer in our neighbour's cinema, and from what I have seen here with its charismatic leads who are not only good lookers but are able to handle their battles with aplomb, we may be in for more treats if more films improve upon what's available now, and could become major contenders for action films that can draw a worldwide audience.

I was line producer this film. Today I find it in here. It is pity I can not find my name in "Cast and Crew" How can we miss the important position in here. I was worked so so hard for this film. From pre to shoot, I think we should respect all of positions,

Sorry find this issue too late in here.

Through the shooting time, I was hard to find the good location and manage crew. You know, it was afflicted to shoot the action film in Vietnam in 13 years ago.

Shortly, if it was miss from IMDb in the typing "Cast and Crew" part. Please look the poster again to fill in this part "Cast and Crew". My name is Nguyen Thi Minh Son or shortly in MINH-SON NGUYEN. Necessarily, this is the legitimate interests of film maker.

Thank you!

Son.