Product Details

• Actors: Jet Li, Jacky Cheung, Chingmy Yau, Charlie Yeung, Kelvin Wong
• Directors: Jing Wong, Lun Ah
• Writers: Jing Wong, Domonic Muir
• Producers: Jing Wong, Catherine Kwan, Pei Hsiang Chuan, Siu-Kei Lee
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Cantonese, English, French, Spanish
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: June 19, 2001
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005BJX9
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,559 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Meltdown" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When a military officer (Jet Li of Romeo Is Bleeding and Fist of Legend) miscalculates and causes the explosive death of dozens of children on a school bus--something you'll never see in an American movie!--he leaves his position to become a bodyguard for an egomaniacal movie star named Frankie (Jacky Cheung from Bullet in the Head and A Chinese Ghost Story 2, doing a satirical parody of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee). The star claims to do all his own stunts, but in fact Li has become his stunt double. An investigative reporter (Chingmy Yau, Naked Killer) catches them switching places and decides to do an exposé. From this point on, Meltdown (also known as High Risk) turns into a Hong Kong version of Die Hard, with terrorists taking over a skyscraper in order to steal valuable jewels, as well as a couple of young lovers, a villainous kung fu master who wants to challenge Frankie, and a hip-hop soundtrack. Meltdown is a delirious romp, crammed with as much low comedy and high-powered action as three Hollywood flicks. Despite (or partly because of) some clumsy special effects, logical absurdities, and cheesy plot developments, the movie is hugely entertaining, and Jet Li is in fine charismatic form. However, be warned: though the movie's tone is light, there's some extremely graphic violence. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

A man working as a movie stuntman comes up against the same gang who killed his wife.
Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: R
Street Date: 03/05/02
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT, AMUSING, GOOD ACTION, April 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: High Risk [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Take a plot stolen from Die Hard and mix it together with poking fun at Jackie Chan and you've got High Risk, one of Wong Jing and Jet Li's best efforts. Jet Li plays the stuntman for Asia's leading action hero, who's famous for doing his own stunts (wink, wink). The parody of Jackie Chan is hilarious, depicting "Frankie" as a bumbling boob with an inflated movie star ego. The whole movie moves briskly and has enough decent action and oddball humor to keep one deeply entertained. I rank it up there as one of Jet li's best and as one of the funnier Hong Kong movies I've seen. Definitely worth owning if you're a Hong Kong fan.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rollicking send up of Jackie Chan and homage to Die Hard., February 13, 1999

By 

Philip V (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: High Risk (DVD)

I just finished watching this movie and I have to say it was money well spent.

The best description of High Risk would be a homage to Die Hard and a parody of Jackie Chan. Jet Li plays a former bomb squad commander who's last run in with the villain cost him his family. He has since has become the double and bodyguard of Frankie, a Kung Fu superstar. Frankie is a cowardly, boozing, womanizer who has forgotten how he achieved his stardom.

Various elements play like Die Hard scenes including the characters and dialog. Mixed in with this are other subplots and some original scenes (at least to me). I won't spoil them by elaborating. Suffice to say, High Risk is an excellent blend of comedy, action (both martial arts and gunplay) and suspense with some romance thrown in. This movie does not take itself too seriously. Sometimes it parodies the martial arts genre with its voices, dialog and facial expressions!

On the down side, the subtitles leave something to be desired, blending into the background and being poorly translated on occasion. The disc has no features, just different subtitles. The video quality is average, audio Dolby Digital 2.0/Pro-Logic.

Any fan of Jet Li, Hong Kong films or action in general will enjoy this a lot. There is little if any wire Fu.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Alright...I'm trapped in a building taken over by terrorists. Where have I heard that before?", February 4, 2007

By 

H. Bala "Me Too Can Read" (Just moved to posh Marina Del Rey, CA - where if you drop a quarter, why, you just keep on walking) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Meltdown (DVD)

How great of a film is DIE HARD? DIE HARD left such an indelible mark in cinema that movie producers all over the world have been rehashing its film premise ever since. MELTDOWN (aka SHU DAN LONG WEI, aka HIGH RISK), released in 1995, is only one film of many which blatantly [...] Bruce Willis's action opus. On its own merit, MELTDOWN isn't bad but isn't near the top of Jet Li's best flicks in terms of acting, storyline, or kung fu throwdowns. What it's got going for it is its infusion of mayhem and graphic violence, so if you're into that (and what dude isn't?), then it's good times for the viewer.

The far-fetched plot: A deadly early encounter with a terrorist mastermind simply known as the Doctor leaves military Lieutenant Kit Li (Jet Li) a widowed man feeling guilt and in search of revenge. Two years later, Li is now toiling away as a bodyguard to crass, world-renowned kung fu movie star Frankie Lone (Jackie Cheung), who much like Jackie Chan, insists on performing his own stunts. But, unbeknownst to the public, Li actually also serves as Frankie's stunt double on occasions when Frankie has had his drink on. Frankie used to be a heralded martial artist but has "forgotten" the wushu way and is now basically a craven womanizer.

When the posh Grandeur Hotel hosts an invaluable set of Russian jewels, it becomes the point of convergence for Kit, Frankie, and the Doctor and his gang of terrorists. Kit, at last, has a chance to atone for his blunder two years ago. Can he find a way to overcome the mastermind's cunning and ruthlessness? And can Frankie find his long-missing kung fu? Will the plucky girl reporter find love with Kit? Will the dubious film director be defenestrated? Can Jackie Chan forgive MELTDOWN for making a caricature of his persona?

I don't recall the ratio but it seems to me that Jet Li wields a gun here more than he resorts to chop socky. The action sequences are still dang tootin' nifty, but I guess the producers really were going for that DIE HARD sensibility, ergo more firearms. Jet Li remains a very likable persona and his performance is pretty good here as he plays up the stoic, heroic role. As for Jackie Cheung - you either like his performance or you want to slap him silly. I got very annoyed with his incessant mugging and I personally didn't think he was funny, but I know friends who did. His character was meant to be a spoof of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, but I didn't much care for it.

Too, the editing staff should've been canned for the inconsistencies left in. There's a scene in which Frankie uses a shoe as a decoy, but the very next moment reveals Frankie shod on both feet. How Kit and the cop got the car out of the elevator to pull out a surprise on the terrorists is a mystery to me. There are several "people" falling out of the skyscraper who are too obviously fake dummies. See what I mean?

Now, I saw MELTDOWN on dvd, dubbed in typically over-the-top English. I just wished I'd screened it in the original Chinese or Cantonese. As I've said elsewhere, more often than not, foreign movies lose something in translation. There's a chance Cheung wouldn't be as grating if he was presented in his native lingo. But, overall, despite its annoyances, MELTDOWN is worth watching for its crazy stunts and fierce violence. And for Jet Li, of course.