Conclusion: The Top Hong Kong Movies Overall!
Although it was never my intent to produce an overall poll, as I was
coding up the 31 lists I became interested in the way certain films seemed to pop up time
and again. So here are the high-scoring films in the hearts and VCRs of Australian
viewers.
THE TOP DOZEN:
1st: THE KILLER (16 votes)
2nd: DRUNKEN MASTER II (13 votes, including one for DM 1)
Equal 3rd: BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR (11 votes, including one for BWWH 2)
Equal 3rd: ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series (11 votes - Preference for OUATIC
2)
5th: CHINESE GHOST STORY series (9 votes - Preference for CGS 2)
Equal 6th: BULLET IN THE HEAD (8 votes)
Equal 6th: FONG SAI YUK (8 votes)
Equal 6th: HARD BOILED (8 votes)
Equal 9th: COMRADES: ALMOST A LOVE STORY (7 votes)
Equal 10th: FIST OF LEGEND (6 votes)
Equal 10th: POLICE STORY series (6 votes - Preference for PS
3:SUPERCOP)
Equal 10th: RUNNING OUT OF TIME (6 votes)
THE RUNNERS-UP:
Just outside (5 votes apiece) were the Better Tomorrow series (General preference
for ABT 2), The Blade and The Storm Riders.
Hot on their heels (4 votes) were Chungking Express, Expect the Unexpected, Fallen
Angels and Forbidden City Cop.
NOTES ON THE POLL:
As many reviewers chose to nominate a series as one of their selections, it seemed
sensible to poll them together across the board. If everyone was restricted to single
choices, the series votes would have been split. Some ordered their lists from first to
last; some didn't; I ignored placement, counting a mention as a vote. I only took Joyleen's personal ten from her double-strength list. Bill was allowed like Spinal Tap to go to 11. Ralph's votes were not counted at all, for obvious reasons:
he's a dog.
WHY YOU SHOULD IGNORE THIS LIST:
It's bogus. It would only be accurate if all of the reviewers had been given the
same set of films to watch. It's simply not possible to get an equal result from the
wonderfully divergent lists that have been submitted. How can you balance Sarah's exclusive list of Sing Jai films versus James' love for Jackie and Jet? Or to compare Stephen's historical survey with Michael's love of freakin' classics? It also doesn't really
account for the profound personal affect that Burning Ambition (1 vote) had on Brent, or the reason that Dave
responds so much to The Final Option (1 vote). I could go on about other reasons
why it's statistically unsound, but you get the idea. The best way to appreciate
the info is to go back to the index and read through each
person's list.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH EVERY FILM ON
THIS LIST:
Despite my comments above, the list still represents a kind of consensus as to the
highlights of Hong Kong film, albeit with a heavy emphasis on action cinema. All are worth
viewing, and the fact that The Killer is named as one of the ten best HK films
ever made by over half the sample is remarkable.
THANKS:
To you, for taking an interest; to the film-makers, for giving us the raw material; to the
dozen warring critics in Hong Kong Babylon, the inspiration for the project; and
most of all to my fine Top Ten contributors, each of whom has sweat blood to produce a
searing list of personal HK highlights.
