Customer Reviews

Hero Never Dies

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From great Director Johnny To, 'A Hero Never Dies' is quiet simply a heart pounding battle of guts; heroism; friendship; love; and revenge. This is simply one of the best films made ever in the history of Hong Kong Cinema and is rivaled only by 'The Killer';'The Longest Nite';'Hard Boiled';and 'Full Contact', it is one of the best films of it's genre and is widely considered a fantastic film for it's performances by Lau Ching Wan and Leon Lai, as well as the superior direction of Johnny To.

'A Hero Never Dies' is a must for people that enjoyed any of the mentioned films and, like the Longest Nite, it is definetly not for people with out a mind. The film is involveing, emotional, and creative.

Everybody is just sort of there. Lau Ching Wan's character I guess has the most explained abotu him btu I still didn't find him very interesting, I just felt sorry for him.

Now the way the movie starts off is freaking awesome. There are 2 guys named Jack and Martin who work for rival gangs. After they keep f***ing with eachother they finally decide to call a meeting. Then they play a little game of chicken. Don't expect anything really exciting just really cool. Same goes for the wine drinking(breaking) scene. There is some serious action going on at the end and at the midway point but certainly nothign groundbreaking. When I go into a Johhny To film I don't expect the greatest action, I expect the greatest movie.

Also Yen Shi-kwan(Once Upon a Time In China, the Master Strikes) stars in this and while I thought his character was OK, they REALLY should have had a fist fight with SOMEONE!!! Just my opinion.

A Hero Never Dies is a hardcore, gritty, and just plain ass-kicking film. I was already a big Lau Ching Wan fan but after seeing this, Leon Lai is no punk either. Martin (Lau) and Jack (Lai) are top-notch killers who admire each other but work for opposing triads. After a bloody shoot-out, Martin is crippled and Jack is wounded. Jack's boss even sends assasins after him in the hospital. His girlfriend (Yoyo Mung) saves his life but is horribly burned as a result. The triad leaders join forces and forget about our heroes. Martin's girlfriend (Fiona Leung) is murdered by his former boss and revenge is the only option. Jack decides to team up with Martin and a new war begins. This is another great product from director Johnnie To and the Milky Way Image team. If you liked The Longest Nite and Expect The Unexpected, this is right up your alley.

This is one of the best HK movies I've ever seen. There are some really neat scenes in this movie that will make you say "how did they do that?" specifically the scene where the 2 characters are in the bar trying to outdo each other with their own tricks. It is a revenge movie with a great storyline as well. I would consider this along with "Running Out of Time" as Johnny To's best. The Mission on the other hand, is just plain boring.

John Woo...John Shmoo. Any Hong Kong fan that hasn't seen this movie isn't a Hong Kong fan. This is a tale of true love, friendship and above all...broken honor. I've seen it 25 times already and I'm still not sick of it. If only I had a woman like the women these guys had. To make a long story short - get this movie. Everything about it rocks. It's better than anything John Woo has done (well...The Killer comes close). Lan Ching Wan is excellent. Leon Lai is, as always, himself. The soundtrack, which exploits different variations of Sukiyaki is beautiful. I'm surprized I'm only the 3rd reviewer for this film...and the only guy to give it 5 stars. Wake up and smell the pork buns fellas!!!

bad casting for the main character made this film a pain to watch. leon lai is one of the worst hongkong actors. these bad actors always got the same trademarks: expressionless face, rigid and stiff body movements, never laid down the phony facade of extreme coolness. there are quite a few very bad actors like him, such as kent cheng. how they became popular or famous was simply beyond my comprehension. you just can't be a good actor just by your handsome face. andy lau got medium height, hooked nose bridge, plain featured face, but at least he never stopped to improve himself to become a better actor. so far, every film played by leon lai, either a romance or a mob story, none of them really rang a bell. he's leon lai himself no matter what. this what i meant: bad casting killed everything. johnny to is a very talented real-deal director, but all of his movies were using the same specific group of actors playing all the roles so familiar and similar in every film. that's a bad news.

This movie is a stylized version of *A Better Tomorrow*.

Leon Lai and Lau ChingWan are the 2 ace hitman in the middle of the gangwar. Tho they work for different bosses, they develop a strange friendship. Sadly, they expect one to die by the other's hand. And the opportunity comes up, as they get a lil *competiion* at Malaysia. But their bosses join force, to leave them dead. It's only through each killer's sense of honor and perseverance that payback can be done.

Once again, Lau Ching Wan turns in a fine performance. Charismatic and layered performance. Leon Lai is pretty good as Jack.

This was the 10th Jonny To film I've seen and while I wouldn't argue that it's his best, it is definitely his most entertaining! There are three classic scenes in the first fifteen minutes and several throughout the film. If you're a fan of Jonny To--or Hong Kong cinema or well-crafted, slick, cool, emotionally charged actual flicks--then this film is a MUST!

johnny To used to be a master of melodrama, partly due to his training from the tv soap opera...but since this very film, he changed into a serious filmmaker with a thorough look at the person "hero", in terms of both human nature and the burden which were set on them by the world. I think To was greatly influnced by his writer-partner Wai Ka Fai on this issue. Looking foward to seeing his latest "Running Out of Time" and "Mission".

Leon Lai is Jack, a triad big brother. Lau Ching Wan is Martin, his opposite number in the opposing triad. Both are loyal to their bosses, who betray them. Both seek revenge, and die in the process. If you like HK cinema, this is pretty good, otherwise, be prepared to burst into tears. There are some good scenes; my favourite is when Jack challenges a fortune teller whom his boss believes in.