Overall I would have to say that this film is good, although it could have been excellent. Great fight scenes, wonderful camera work, a reasonable plot and decent performances all round. However, there are a few unfortunate failings which I feel could have been avoided with little trouble.
My major complaint with the version I own on DVD is the dubbing. While I make a point of always watching foreign films with subtitles it is impossible to avoid the voiceovers on the one because all of the Russian-speaking characters have been dubbed into English with varying degrees of success. Obviously this is a criticism of my version, not the film itself, but unless I learn to speak Cantonese I will not be able to enjoy the original version. Another problem is with the action scenes: while they are spectacular to say the least (as a martial artist myself I particularly enjoyed them) I cannot help thinking that they could have been a little more realistic. In the final showdown Chiu Man Chuk and Andrew Lin practically fly around the screen. This would not be so bad, but everything they touch shatters to pieces, be they tables or stone busts. As for the gunplay, a veritable army of terrorists with automatic weapons are almost completely unable to hit four soldiers standing still on an exposed bridge with no cover. My final complaint is the music in the romance scenes, which makes them seem a little slushy. Oh, and one misplaced blind guitar player in a subway showdown.
Obviously, I have been highlighting the bad points, rather than good - but this is simply because I want to illustrate that aside from these quibbles there is nothing wrong with this picture, which is why it is one of my favourite Chinese action movies.
My major complaint with the version I own on DVD is the dubbing. While I make a point of always watching foreign films with subtitles it is impossible to avoid the voiceovers on the one because all of the Russian-speaking characters have been dubbed into English with varying degrees of success. Obviously this is a criticism of my version, not the film itself, but unless I learn to speak Cantonese I will not be able to enjoy the original version. Another problem is with the action scenes: while they are spectacular to say the least (as a martial artist myself I particularly enjoyed them) I cannot help thinking that they could have been a little more realistic. In the final showdown Chiu Man Chuk and Andrew Lin practically fly around the screen. This would not be so bad, but everything they touch shatters to pieces, be they tables or stone busts. As for the gunplay, a veritable army of terrorists with automatic weapons are almost completely unable to hit four soldiers standing still on an exposed bridge with no cover. My final complaint is the music in the romance scenes, which makes them seem a little slushy. Oh, and one misplaced blind guitar player in a subway showdown.
Obviously, I have been highlighting the bad points, rather than good - but this is simply because I want to illustrate that aside from these quibbles there is nothing wrong with this picture, which is why it is one of my favourite Chinese action movies.