Hong Kong movies that you shouldn't miss (1990s)
You may not know all these movies, but they are some of the classics from Hong Kong. Take a look!
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- DirectorJohn WooStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiJacky CheungWaise LeeWhen three close friends escape from Hong Kong to war-time Saigon to start a criminal's life, they all go through a harrowing experience which totally shatters their lives and their friendship forever.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeslie CheungMaggie CheungAndy LauA man tries to find out who his real mother is after the woman who raised him tells him the truth.
- DirectorAnn HuiStarsMaggie CheungSiu-Kwong ChungTan Lang Jachi TianAfter the Sino-Japanese War, Kwei Dz, one of the family members of Japanese soldiers accepted a Chinese officer's proposal and remained in China. Later they had a daughter named Ann. The officer went to Hong Kong to work, leaving Kwei Dz and Ann in Macao. Kwei Dz, unable to communicate with her in-laws, much less accept their ways, became remorseful. Yet the worst problem she had was that Ann did not accept her as a mother. After Ann got a Master Degree in UK she went back to Hong Kong. Kwei Dz had been feeling very homesick for her mother country and decided to take Ann and return to Japan. In Japan, Ann began to understand her mother's pain because she did not understand Japan or the Japanese. Later a telegram from Canton arrived saying that Ann's grandfather had had a stroke. Upon seeing her to grandfather, Ann realized that, in spite of his now frail body, a body once tortured by Red Guards, he was so hopeful for China's future. Ann saw that China was now trying to find its own way in the midst of its self-inflicted turmoil.
- DirectorStanley KwanStarsMaggie CheungHan ChinTony Ka Fai LeungBiopic of 1930s Chinese actress Lingyu Ruan.
- DirectorSiu-Tung ChingKing HuRaymond LeeStarsSamuel HuiCecilia YipJacky CheungA kung-fu manual known as the sacred scroll is stolen from the Emperor's library. An army detachment is sent to recover it. Meanwhile, a young swordsman and his fellow disciple are accidentally drawn into the chaos.
- DirectorHark TsuiStarsJet LiRosamund KwanBiao YuenLegendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung fights against foreign forces' plundering of China. When Aunt Yee arrives back from America, Wong Fei-Hung assumes the role of her protector.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsLeslie CheungChow Yun-FatCherie ChungA romantic and action packed story of three best friends, a group of high end art thieves, who come into trouble when a love-triangle forms between them.
- DirectorHo YimHark TsuiStarsTony Ka Fai LeungJohn ShamLin YangHong Kong ad man Ching (John Shum) is recruited by an old friend to boost the rating of a tv game show in Taiwan. After discovering a child with psychic abilities, he sets up a televised chess tournament between the boy and a power hungry champion. However, as the competition heats up, many ethical and moral issues begin to surface within this market and media driven environment. At the same time, Ching reminisces about his faithful encounter with a tragic chess master (Tony Leung Ka Fai) during the turbulent days of the Cultural Revolution in 1960s China.
- DirectorDavid LaiJeffrey LauCorey YuenStarsAndy LauAnita MuiAaron KwokA graying black-clad swordsman slays palace guards, as he flies through the air to an uncertain purpose. Centuries (or is it days?) later, gun-toting, Armani-clad super policemen -- Hong Kong's Saviours -- are devastated by a cloaked assassin. Kinetic medieval fantasy; overstructured, outgunned urban nightmare. And that's only the first ten minutes! A highly entertaining, eye-popping genre bender in every way.
- DirectorMan Kit PoonStarsRay LuiKent ChengCecilia YipThe story of Ho, a Chinese peasant/slave worker who escapes to Hong Kong and becomes one of the most feared crime bosses in Hong Kong.
- DirectorRaymond LeeSiu-Tung ChingHark TsuiStarsTony Ka Fai LeungBrigitte LinMaggie CheungDuring the Ming Dynasty, Tsao Siu-yan, a power-crazed eunuch who rules his desert region of China as if he were the Emperor, ruthlessly thwarts plots against him and sets a trap for one of this enemies at the Dragon Gate Inn.
- DirectorRingo LamStarsChow Yun-FatSimon YamAnn BridgewaterTwo disreputable friends get tied in with a group of criminals who turn out to be excessively violent and deceptive.
- DirectorJohnnie ToStarsStephen ChowAnita MuiMan-Tat NgA shyster with an equally eccentric kung-fu ace of a wife manage to bring justice to the court.
- DirectorChi Leung 'Jacob' CheungStarsRoy ChiaoKai-Chi LiuTeddy Robin KwanThe story about a young, unemployed man, who after being kicked out is desperate enough to live anywhere. He is directed to Fatso, who owns the caged establishment, and is given a living space.
- DirectorHark TsuiStarsJet LiRosamund KwanSiu Chung MokArriving by train in Guangzhou, 1895, the trio fight off White Lotus followers, who want to kill all foreigners and the cute, European dressed 13th Aunt. It's not kung fu master Dr. Wong's (Jet Li) last fight.
- DirectorBlackie Shou-Liang KoStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiJacky CheungEric TsangTwo losers who'll do anything to try and be successful in the Triad world, but all they've accomplished is having a bad luck reputation.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsBrigitte LinMaggie CheungLeslie CheungA broken-hearted hit man moves to the desert where he finds skilled swordsmen to carry out his contract killings.
- DirectorStephen ChowLik-Chi LeeStarsStephen ChowAnita YuenKar-Ying LawA Chinese spy who's been out of service for ten years whilst making a living as a butcher is sent to Hong Kong to locate a stolen Tyrannosaurus rex skull.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsBrigitte LinTakeshi KaneshiroTony Leung Chiu-waiTwo melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal waitress at a late-night restaurant he frequents.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeon LaiMichelle ReisTakeshi KaneshiroThis Hong Kong-set crime drama follows the lives of a hitman, hoping to get out of the business, and his elusive female partner.
- DirectorJeffrey LauStarsStephen ChowKaren MokYat-Fei WongA cast of new faces and old favorites to take on ghostbusting in a film full of both laughs and thrills.
- DirectorHark TsuiStarsWenzhuo ZhaoXin Xin XiongSonny SuA swordsmith trains his friend's orphaned son. The boy seeks revenge for his father's murder but loses an arm rescuing the swordsmith's daughter. A hermit girl nurses him, and he learns swordsmanship with his father's broken sword.
- DirectorHerman YauStarsAnthony Chau-Sang WongYeung-Ming WanFui-On ShingA Chinese restaurant worker wanted for murder in Hong Kong contracts Ebola in South Africa, becomes immune to it, and unknowingly spreads the virus there, then comes back to Hong Kong and continues to infect people with it.
- DirectorRingo LamStarsChing Wan LauFrancis NgAmanda LeePolice Inspector Pao is trying to catch Mak Kwan, a gang member who is first arrested, but then escapes from the prison. By chance, Pao realizes that the target of Kwan's gang is the H. K. Jockey Club.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsLeslie CheungTony Leung Chiu-waiChang ChenA couple take a trip to Argentina but both men find their lives drifting apart in opposite directions.
- DirectorMichael MakStarsAndy LauTony Ka Fai LeungPaulyn SunIsland of Greed is a 1997 Hong Kong action crime thriller film directed by Michael Mak and starring Andy Lau and Tony Leung Ka-fai. The film is set and filmed in Taiwan and deals with corruption in the Government of the Republic of China.
- DirectorJohnnie ToStarsChing Wan LauAlex FongCarman LeeFollowing the lives of firefighters as they deal with joys and hardships, both on the job and with their own personal lives.
- DirectorFruit ChanStarsSam LeeNeiky Hui-Chi YimWenders LiAutumn Moon (Sam Lee), a low-rent triad living in Hong Kong, struggles to find meaning in his hopelessly violent existence.
- DirectorMabel CheungStarsMaggie CheungMichelle YeohVivian WuThe Soong family was a political dynasty in China that reached the highest levels of power. This film follows the lives of the three Soong daughters, who were educated in America and returned to China. Ai-ling (the oldest) married a wealthy and powerful businessman. Ching-ling married Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary founder of modern China. Mei-ling (the youngest) married Chiang Kai-shek, China's leader during World War II. The sisters captured the world's fascination for their brilliant marriages and their strong influence on their nation.
- DirectorKa-Fai WaiStarsChing Wan LauCarman LeeFrancis NgWhen Ah-Gou, a smalltime Hong Kong street rascal, visits a fortune teller and hears that soon he will face a life-changing choice, he surely can't imagine that his life reached a middle point without return. Will he go to Mainland China with his fellow gangsters to close a deal on a couple of stolen cars? Or will he instead chose to accompany his friend on a trip to kill a mafioso in Taiwan? We are presented with the outcomes of both choices, but is any of the choices really a good one won't be easy to tell... This underground action comedy not only draws inspirations from Krzysztof Kieslowski and Quentin Tarantino, but can also be seen as a highly evaluated political commentary on Hongkong's transition to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Avant-garde cinematography, trippy electronic music and a variety of characteristic figures makes it a fun and memorable experience.
- DirectorTat-Chi YauJohnnie ToStarsChing Wan LauTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie SiuA corrupt cop named Sam handles negotiations between two Triad leaders who plan to join forces. However, he meets a suspicious bald man named Tony, who keeps following him around and disrupting his personal business.
- DirectorWilson YipStarsFrancis NgLouis KooLan LawPolicemen Brian and Mike use an elderly woman's apartment for surveillance, hoping to catch a fugitive gangster. They develop a warm relationship with their hostess. Meanwhile, each man develops a romantic relationship.