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CompleteMartialArts.com - City War

City War
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $19.99
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
Starring: Yun-Fat Chow, Lung Ti, Niu Tien, Norman Chu, Mary Hon
Directed By: Chung Sun
Average Customer Rating: Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5Average rating of 4.0/5

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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9786305371533
Format: AC-3
ISBN: 6305371539
Label: Tai Seng
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Publisher: Tai Seng
Region Code: 0
Release Date: 1999-04-27
Running Time: 96
Studio: Tai Seng
Theatrical Release Date: 1989

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Editorial Reviews:

Top cops team up in a deadly battle with a drug-dealing maniac out on a rampage.


Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Mildly Diverting Hong Kong Cop Flick
Comment: This film has a decent enough premise of a hot-headed Hong Kong cop (Ti Lung) being persued by the drug lord he sent up for 10 years. Added into the mix is the cop's mediator buddy (Chow Yun-Fat) whose trying to broker a peace between the two while simultaneously romancing the drug lord's girlfriend. What this film lacks is a certain pizazz. There's a certain workmanlike quality to the direction of the film, competent but nothing special. The action scenes even have a humdrum quality to them. You find yourself imagining what if John Woo had directed this film. Or would he have passed on the material? Nevertheless, the two leads give excellent performances which elevate the film from the merely mundane.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: It's All About Chow Yun Fat and Ti Lung
Comment: With any other actors this would have been your typical 'Dirty Harry - Death Wish' Hong Kong Cinema. But Chow Yun Fat and Ti Lung make the story come alive. As sort of a role reversal Chow Yun Fat's character (Dick) is not the hotshot play by his own rules uncontrollable cop. The beauty in watching Chow Yun Fat is that he can play a part where he is almost a kiss-a** as easily as he can play Clint Eastwood in Hard Boiled.

The plot is pretty standard fare - a drug lord (Ted) that Dick's close friend (Ken) put away 10 years ago is released and he has Ken's partner killed and is bent on revenge against Ken. It's not much of a stretch to figure out how it plays out since Ken is the hot headed cop and Dick falls for Ted's girlfriend. The outfits she wears are a crack up and I found it hilarious listening to the Hong Kong version of You Can Take Your Hat Off. A little rip off from 9 1/2 weeks.

Anyway Ti Lung plays Ken so tightly wound but keeps it from going over the top. I was amazed at how well Chow Yun Fat plays the 'company man' cop. I found the role reversal of the characters to be one of the highlights of the movie. The violence is constrained - UNTIL the hit on Ken's family, then all hell broke loose. I did not catch the dummy child falling (Ken's son) but when his wife gets shot up - well her dying WAS over the top.

The finale was not for the squeemish, but unlike a lot of other Hong Kong movie's the amount of bad guys needed to be killed was reasonble (like maybe just 15). The ending is great with a unique and classic justice being served. I did expect to hear "Knocking on Heavan's Door" to be playing in the background, as the pair (Chow and Ti) looked exactly like Mel and Danny in the end of Lethal Weapon 2. Wouldn't be the first time Hollywood ripped off a scene from a Chow Yun Fat movie.

In sum a great performance by Chow Yun Fat and TI Lung. Rent it or buy it you won't be disappointed.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: mid-eighties cheese action film
Comment: This film is so eighties! but i love it anyway, the same way i like Predator, Lethal Weapon and The Running Man. The eighties were all about cheesy action. But this film has something all the others don't....Chow Yun Fat!

Yun-Fat plays Dick Lee, a hk police negotiator. Always under his control Is Ti Lung, as a veteran hot-head cop with a personal grudge against the criminals he cathes. All hell breaks loose when a criminal (named Ted -HA!) Ti Lung put away gets out of prison, and slaughters Lungs family. Thrown into the mix, Yun Fat is romancing Ted's disenchanted girlfriend.

What i like about this film is it would have been instantly forgettable if is wasn't for the two leads, they both ooze charisma. Yun-Fat's character is obviously modeled after Don Johnson on Miami vice (white suits, pink and blue lighting of Miami nightclubs). Ted's girlfriend wears hideous white sunglasses and a matching polka dot dress looking like an extra in a Wham video.

The film is also pretty gritty and violent, the Ted character is very believable, especially when he is trying to romance his g/f as he burns himself with a cigarette. The slaughter of Lungs family at machinegun point is extremely brutal, and shown in loving detail. But as one assasin takes a header off of a roof with Lungs child in hand, i couldn't help but laugh. The dummy child is horrible!

The finale to this film pulls out all the stops, extremely violent, includes Ti Lung being hit with a fireaxe and Chow yun Fat eating more bullets than he did in a better tomorrow. Beware of the end titles, a paragraph comes up at the end giving some sort of epilogue to the film, however it is not subtitled. If anyone has any info on this, please mail me. All in all- good heroic bloodshed fare.


Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Entertaining
Comment: This is a film in which the roles of the famous duo - Chow and Ti Lung from "A Better Tomorrow" - seem to be reversed. This time, Chow portrays a cop with the mature and sound mind, while Ti Lung seems to be the one who makes the trouble. Ti Lung's temperamental nature leads him into trouble with the enemy who ends up killing his family. It is up to the duo to avenge for the family, and blood-bath follows. The plot is mediocre and I thought killing the entire family seemed too cruel. Chow is still great in here, but it is too bad the story and the director did not fully exploit his great acting potential. Furthermore, I think the audience would rather see Chow as the temperamental cop and Ti Lung as the calm one. But it is still a good movie to see for die hard Chow fans.


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