Phil's HK films top ten, in no particular order...
THE STORM RIDERS
A bold, epic, sfx-laden hero-fest that shows that the HK film industry does know
how to spend a budget when they get one. Gorgeous, pacy, a healthy dose of romance and
angst, and just plain neat. The moral of this film? Never touch an old guy when he's
meditating.
THE KILLER
Much shooting and hurting and bleeding. Much honour and loyalty and heroism.
Explosives, pathos, suits; this is the kind of film Hollywood should just let John Woo
make without interference from lobotomised focus groups, or studio executives.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA
Worth a look at the very least for the spectacular Lion Dance opening sequence. It's one
thing to watch a couple of guys wielding a Lion costume with style; it's another to watch
them do it on a slackwire.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA AND AMERICA
Wong Fei-Hong and his chums visit the rellos in the Old West (it was the New West
then, but ... you know what I'm saying, right?) More tendon-stretching, balletic martial
arts action, awkward heart-felt romance (Fei-Hong and Aunt Yee just never get a break, do
they?) and questionable acting from the Anglo members of the cast. For those reading the
punctuation-challenged subtitles, the best line in the freakish, parallel
universe version of the film is: "I've been to Missisippi Hell, I'd go there
again!" There's your money's worth right there...
IRON MONKEY
The prequel to the Wong Fei-Hong epic. Iron Monkey has so many charming elements:
gang war; loyalty; treachry; romance; action; the origin of Fei-Hong's life-long affair
with the umbrella; rain; disguises; stupendous, impossible, exciting fight scenes that
prove the laws of physics subtly change once you cross the border into the Middle Kingdom.
See it after you've seen at least one of the Once Upon a Time series; it works
better that way...
GOD OF GAMBLERS
GOD OF GAMBLERS RETURNS
Chow Yun Fat in one of his best roles. If you ever wanted an insight into the
obsession with gambling that seems to permeate Chinese culture, then these movies are a
great place to start. For a guy with so much luck, the God of Gamblers has a whole, whole
lotta bad breaks. So you get to roll in the gutters of despair, and live the exotic,
action-packed high-life, and back down again, and back up again, all in the
course of just one of these movies! Dice rolling and card playing taken to the
level of a martial art makes for compelling viewing. Watch 'em back to back for a truly
epic experience, but remember to keep those tissues handy - when it comes, the tragedy is
laid on in double helpings!
GOD OF COOKERY
Steven Chow's gaspingly funny parody of Chow Yun-Fat's laudable role in the God of
Gamblers films. He's right. The thing that really struck me about both this film, and
Forbidden City Cop, is the turn-on-a-dime shifting from the hilarious, to the
tragic, then back again. Gets you every time. I'd like to better Mark
Morrison's summary of this flick, but I can't. Go read it.
FORBIDDEN CITY COP
A funny, romantic, screwball comedy from Steven Chow, who manages to parody so many
espionage and historical HK action flicks in this story, that it's a challenge just
keeping up with it all. If for nothing else, watch it for the mouth-cannon (that's gotta
hurt!) and the lovely, lovely relationship between the title character and his
understanding wife (and she'd have to be pretty understanding). A laff riot from the
opening titles - except for the bits that make you cry. Don't you love the way HK film
makers thumb their nose at western genre boundaries? No wonder Hollywood execs bleed from
the place where there frontal lobes used to be whenever they try to classify movies like
this...
MR. VAMPIRE
Because hopping vampires and slapstick go together like cheez whiz and pork floss. The
adhesive paper mantra predates the Post-It Note (TM) by many centuries, and its a
damn-site more useful. See this movie if you think Vampires are stupid; see it if you
think they're full of necro-erotic goodness; see it if you don't care either way. In any
event, you'll be surprised.
11 Feb 2000 © Phil Anderson
PHIL ANDERSON claims to be a technical writer for the Melbourne-based
IT company Open Software Associates. No one but Amanda
could substantiate this, but she ain't talkin'. Phil does a little RPG scenario writing, a
little Web design, and spends less time absorbing the wonders of Hong Kong cinema than he
probably should. When he was way too young to appreciate it, he visited Hong Kong for
three hot and humid days. Decades on, he still has the chopsticks. The things that stay
with you...
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