Product Details

• Actors: Yun-Fat Chow, Mark Wahlberg, Ric Young, Paul Ben-Victor, Jon Kit Lee
• Directors: James Foley
• Writers: Robert Pucci
• Producers: Bill Carraro, Brian Witten, Dan Halsted, Jay Stern, Jonathan Krauss
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: New Line Home Video
• VHS Release Date: February 1, 2000
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630547642X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,784 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nick Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) is not your average New York cop. Working in Chinatown has its multifarious cultural nuances and its fair share of ubiquitous enticement, both of which are reflected in detective Chen's weary face. He had to get into bed with the highest echleons of the Chinese Mafia as a way of augmenting his own career, while maintaining a semblance of control over the dime-a-dozen hoods who proliferate on this turf. To make matters worse, he now has to break in rookie detective Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg), who has asked to be assigned to the Chinatown division. Apparently Wallace is infatuated with all things Chinese, or is suffering from "Yellow Fever," as his fellow colleagues would have us believe. Chen, not one to suffer fools gladly, takes young Wallace under his protective wing, oft-warning the shady powers of the neighborhood not to sink Danny into their sordid pool of corruption. But before he knows it, both he and Wallace are caught in a deadly ring of double-crosses, shady-dealings, murders, and car chases. And all of this under the suspicious eye of Internal Affairs.

Part Serpico and part Hard Boiled, this film seems at first to be a major departure from director James Foley's previous work. However, Foley has frequently revealed a keen eye and understanding for emotionally complex relationships, especially between teacher and pupil (Glengarry Glen Ross) or father and son (At Close Range). This movie is no different. In fact, Foley's meticulous attention to the relationship between the wise, morally burdened Chen, and the naïve, innocent Wallace morphs this otherwise tedious plot into a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Hats off to Chow Yun-Fat and Mark Wahlberg, whose sympathetic chemistry creates an authentic and deeply personal connection, a factor that proves crucial to the film's poignant, disturbing finale. --Jeremy Storey

From The New Yorker

A serviceable action film, directed by James Foley, that gets its spark from the pairing of its sexy leading men-soft-spoken, baby-faced Mark Wahlberg and quiet, graceful Hong Kong hunk Chow Yun-Fat. They're mismatched Chinatown cops (there's a lot of that going around) trying to vanquish evil and corruption at every turn of the well-worn crime-thriller plot. Foley is no John Woo, but he gets some fine performances from his leads and supporting players (particularly Ric Young as a gang leader and Brian Cox as Wahlberg's father, a disgraced ex-cop). -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A uniquely Chinese-focused American movie., October 20, 1999

By 

Andrew C. (State College PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Corruptor (DVD)

This film seems to better represent the Chinese, Chow Yun Fat especially, in American film. Recent efforts by HK film stars have resulted in the terrible stereotyping that always takes place in Hollywood. Rushhour and Lethal Weapon 4 both made objects of their Chinese stars, Chan and Li, respectively. The Corruptor shows the respect neccesary of an actor like Chow Yun Fat, one of the finest and most prolific actors that has ever lived. It deals with the Chinese in a more mature way, almost as if previous knowledge is helpful in fully understanding the movie. The only problem with this movie is that Fat is better than it. No one can expect Foley to provide the action neccesary to impress an American audience that knows Fat, but in American action standards he does fine. The opening to the film is a very intense shoot-out in a Chinese lamp shop and later in the film a Chinese song is actually played as the prominent background music. The film's mood is dark and dramatic. A very well done film.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, April 13, 2004

By 

Nichomachus - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Corruptor (DVD)

I was really surprised by how good this movie is. I figured a straight-forward shoot-'em-up and some exotic intrigue was about all it would have going for it. The cover had the usual fatuous nonsense on it: "You can't play by the rules when there aren't any." Why is it 90% of video covers have a reformulation of the same stupid subtitle? Apparently there is some lucky guy out there is employed writing new, yet indistinguishable ways to either deny the existence of Rules/Boundaries/etc. or at least deny their applicability to some beautiful, well-armed people. Good for him.

Anyway, this movie definitely exceeded my expectations. Great direction, but most of all great performances from Chow-Yun Fat and Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg's relationship with his father was fairly cliched, yet it still came across as believable. The various moral predicaments of the two cops were just as interesting and well-done as the fight scenes. There is one major chase scene, which I found silly after a while, since it gave the impression that there were absolutely no other police cars within ten miles of some maniac with an Uzi blowing away civilians.

But that is a nothing criticism. Really, the only sore spot was the FBI goonish guy, who was both tiresome and one-dimensional in comparison with the other characters. But on the main, an excellent action-thriller. Chow-Yun Fat wasn't limited by John Woo's formula this time around, and his chops definitel show as a result.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Cop Flick, November 18, 2005

By 

David Baldwin (Philadelphia,PA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Corruptor (DVD)

"The Corruptor" is a tough complex crime thriller set among the vicious power grabs by competing tribes in New York's Chinatown. Out to bring them down is decorated detective Nick Chen(Chow Yun-Fat), head of the Chinatown Gang Unit, and the partner that was foisted on him, the apparently green officer Danny Wallace(Mark Wahlberg). Chen is an effective cop but some of his methods are a little unorthodox and occasionally skirt the law. This does not always go over well with the more idealistic Wallace. Yun-Fat is excellent as the tarnished hero and Wahlberg is solid in a role that is not as stereotypical as it first appears. Ric Young is effectively creepy and villainous as the duplicitous gang leader Henry Lee. The film has many plot strands to it and may appear at some junctures to be overplotted. Never fear because these elements come together in the end for a satisfying experience.