Other Titles • Xia dao Gao Fei (1993) • Chivalrous Thief Gao Fei
Synopses for Xia dao Gao Fei (1993)
1.
A rather mean-spirited vehicle for the normally empathetic Chow Yun-fat, with a brass-knuckle plot that recalls the Crook's Revenge story line of Payback and its source movie, Point Blank. Chow is Joe (just plain Joe), a tattooed, crew-cut professional thief who chews Clint Eastwood's old stogies, packs a sawed-off shotgun, and roars around on a chopped Harley. Betrayed and left for dead by turncoat pal Anthony Wong (the head gunrunner in John Woo's Hard Boiled), he returns several months later, in a really bad mood, to retrieve his share of the swag. The rabbit-punch aesthetic of director Ringo Lam is certainly compelling, and there are genuine innovations in the depiction of violence--like a shooting filmed from the bullet's point of view. The Asian-American actress Ann Bridgewater swivels her way through a couple of hot dance numbers as Joe's stripper girlfriend. --David Chute
2.
With FULL CONTACT director Ringo Lam established his reputation, along with John Woo (A BETTER TOMORROW) and Wong Kar-Wai (CHUNGKING EXPRESS), as one of the premier directors of the Hong Kong subgenre known as heroic bloodshed. In these films, which are an outgrowth of Kung Fu films, the hero has both deadly fighting skills and a small army of heavily armed cohorts and adversaries. After a few reels of bullets and bloodshed, the hero, usually a man of honor--although he can be seeking revenge, as in FULL CONTACT--has a climactic one-on-one battle with the head of the evil gang he’s fighting against. Set in Bangkok, this film stars Chow Yun-Fat as Jeff, a bouncer at a nightclub who rescues his friend Sam (Anthony Wong) from a beating by a gang led by Judge (Simon Yam), a particularly stylish and viscous gangster. To pay back the money Sam owes, they agree to go in on a robbery with a couple of his gang members, a super-sexually charged vixen, ironically named Virgin (Bonnie Fu), and her musclebound boyfriend, Deano (Frankie Chin). After Jeff is betrayed during the robbery and left for dead, he manages to escape to a Buddhist monastery, where he recovers until he’s ready to return to settle the score with Judge. Both Chow Yun-Fat and Simon Yam give terrific performances in this action drama that is perhaps most famous for the bullet-cam shot of a shoot-out from the bullet's point of view.
3.
Jeff who has amazing skill with his gun, works as a bouncer in a Bangkok nightclub. His buddy, Sam, owns the loan shark a large sum of money and his life is being threatened. Jeff has no choice but to rescue Sam by force. He is persuaded to team up with a gang to rob a truckload of smuggled ammunition. The head of the gang is Judge, who is intellegent but deadly merciless. His side-kicks, Dino and Virgin are equally ruthless. Jeff does not like it, but he cannot back away…
4.
When Chow Yun-Fat triesto get his friend out of a gambling debt, he joins forces in a weapons heist. The job goes bad and he's betrayed by the leader, so he plots the ultimate revenge. But, can he follow through with his plan?
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