Who's Who
Information
Entertainment
Publications
Directory
UFC


HomeLinksAdd LinksUpdatesMultimediaForumsSite Map

 

CompleteMartialArts.com - Flash Point


List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $17.99
Your Save: $ 6.96 ( 28% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Genius Products (TVN)
Starring: Kent Cheng, Xu Qing, Lui Leung Wai, Donnie Yen, Louis Koo
Directed By: Wilson Yip
Average Customer Rating: Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5

Buy it now at Amazon.com!

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
EAN: 0796019811507
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: Genius Products (TVN)
Manufacturer: Genius Products (TVN)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Genius Products (TVN)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-04-22
Running Time: 88
Studio: Genius Products (TVN)
Theatrical Release Date: 2007

Related Items

Editorial Reviews:

The creators of Kill Zone take action to the next level with a breakthrough combination of hard-hitting mixed martial arts battles and nail-biting tension. Kung fu legend Donnie Yen (Hero Seven Swords) returns as the police force's most dangerous detective building a case against a vicious trio of drug smuggling brothers. When evidence is destroyed and witnesses are murdered he takes the fight directly to his enemies - no holds barred. Climaxing with a spectacular 16-minute bone-crunching showdown this Hong Kong smash hit is "an entertaining action blowout" (Ross Chen LoveHKFilm).System Requirements:Running Time: 87 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/MARTIAL ARTS Rating: R UPC: 796019811507 Manufacturer No: 81150


Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: better than (gulp) SPL?
Comment: i thought it was.

Flash Point addresses the mistake made in SPL (overly melodramatic in several scenes, usually the ones wherein Simon Yam is forced to mask his acting skills by standing with a tense upper body. C'mon, Simon Yam is a better actor than this! They should have gave him something better to work with) and instead presents a well-rounded script with better editing.

the fight scenes were good beyond belief, and many reviewers already have that well-covered.

if you don't think Simon Yam has range, watch him in 2001's Full Time Killer, then compare that to 2006's Exiled.



Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Keee Yah!!
Comment: I loved it, lots of action decent story and oh yeah lots of action..did I say that already?? Oh well!. I also recommend Full Circle its also loaded with action and pretty good story!

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: [4.5] A must own for martial arts fans
Comment: My expectations were quite high for this one, as I had heard from several people that it is definetly a great martial arts action film. I also see a lot of comparisons to the previously released "SPL aka Kill Zone" and rightfully so, since Flashpoint has both the same director (Wilson Yip) and the same action star (Donnie Yen). Though I find Flashpoint not quite up to par overall with SPL, that's still saying quite a bit, since SPL seems to be the film to beat these days. But what Flashpoint may lack in overall tone, it more than makes up for with breathtakingly superb fight action, Donnie Yen style.

Now when I say Donnie Yen style, it's cool and it's MMA (mixed martial arts). Well, at least he's always trying to act cool (as many reviewers will point out about Yen) and I guess it works, but its never necessary. Yen is so skillfull with his choreogrpahy and skill that that's plenty cool enough for me. Flashpoint is praised for its incredible fight action, but it will have to wait about an hour into the film for it to begin, When it does, it is intense and never lets up. The final 30 minutes of the film is the huge climax. Tensions and emoitons are at the highest (I want to say almost comparable to SPL at this point, and ironically the stories are somewhat similar as far as Yen's character is concerned). The tension can be felt in the fights, as the past hour of the film all comes together in what is to be a spectacular finish. There is a decent shootout that occurs throughout fields of grass before we see the big one on one between Donnie Yen and our main villain - Collin Chou (Matrix Sequals, Forbidden Kingdom). The fight lasts 8 minutes and is almost unlike anything I have seen. Even Yen and Chou stated that this fight was the most difficult and accomplished of their careers thus far. It is fast, furious, and complete with a few slow motion kicks and punches that all felt perfectly placed - you can almost feel the raw power behind a Donnie Yen knockout.

As good as the climax of Flashpoint may be, its the first hour that keeps it from being a perfect film. Though the story is interesting and worth watching to feel the true impact of the exciting conclusion, its still a slow ride that has almost no action to keep things moving. The characters, plot, script etc also don't have quite the effect of that in SPL, and the villain Collin Chou was basically an average villain without any unique qualities (until the last 30 minutes of the film!)

Despite the slow hour of the film, I can't stress enough how much it is still worth it when that last 30 minutes comes around. I'm not sure we'll see a fight quite like that again anytime soon. It is definelty worth buying this dvd and you will want to watch it several times as I already have. 4.5 Overall for exceptional martial arts action.

Acting - 3.5
Action - 5
Characters - 3.5
Dubbing - 3.5
Story - 3.5
Overall: 4.5


Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: One Of Donnie Yen Best Movie
Comment: Short and Simple. If you love cop drama, and mma it's a great new movie for any martial arts fan.Amazing fighting scence. It's like watching a real life street fighting.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Possibly DD's best release so far. Great special features, and no old lady interrupting the final fight. I'll explain...
Comment: First of all, this release from Dragon Dynasty is perfect. I will go over the special features at the end of the review, but I wanted to first mention that the final fight is uninterrupted. In the mainland Chinese version, there was a part where Collin Chou's mother comes in and tells him and Donnie to stop fighting. It totally ruined the flow of the fight. So I am very happy to see that Dragon Dynasty got the right version.

Now to the movie review. If you liked the action at all in SPL (Killzone in US), then you are in for a real treat. The final fight in Flash Point is easily one of the best fight scenes ever filmed. Probably top 10. It is much better than Donnie Yen vs. Sammo Hung. At one point I thought I was watching a UFC match, except they aren't fighting in a cage and there are no rules. Donnie Yen is on his back kicking upwards and trying to block Collin Chou's punches, and he manages to grab hold of Chou's shirt and gets his legs around his neck. Almost choked out, Chou decides to bring Yen up and then slam him onto the ground. He slams Yen a few times, and it just keeps going back and forth like this nonstop. And the fight goes on for about 8 minutes! Fast and furious doesn't even begin to describe it. I have never seen anything like it before.

Donnie Yen was in an experimental stage during the late 90's and had some good and bad movies. Ballistic Kiss was horrible, but Legend of the Wolf was a wonderful piece of art. In SPL, Donnie mixed in some grappling and a few other techniques, but the final fight felt too choreographed and dancelike. Flashpoint focuses more on realism, but it is still very much focused on style. Donnie and his crew have perfected their style and are in my mind the top action crew in Hong Kong after making this.

The movie itself is nothing too special. It's your average cop drama and criminals are killing witnesses so they won't be charged with the crimes they committed. The relationship between Donnie Yen and his partner Louis Koo is very well done. Collin Chou gives a magnificent performance as the villain and newcomer Xing Yu is even better. Ray Lui rounds out the trio of villains and does a great job. These guys are truly scary.

4.5/5




Now to the special features. I will first go over the 2 Dragon Dynasty exclusives, and then the other special features.


- feature commentary from Donnie Yen and Bey Logan. How awesome is that? Do I really need to say anymore?

- 32 minute interview with Donnie Yen. That's right, 32 minutes. Great interview. He goes over so much about the movie it's incredible.

- Collateral Damage: The Making of Flash Point- a look behind the scenes and interviews with the actors and director Wilson Yip. 18 minutes, and very informative.

- Flash Point Explored- this is basically the same thing as the making of but longer and more indepth. 28 minutes.

There's a lot of other small features like the actors at a premiere, deleted scenes, training... but nothing great.




Buy it now at Amazon.com!

Books
Videos
DVD
Movies
Posters
Advertise


Top 50 Martial Arts Topsites List

Copyright � 1999-2008 CompleteMartialArts.com. All rights reserved.
powered by My Amazon Store Manager v 2.0, © Stringer Software Solutions