Customer Reviews

Once a Thief

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

John Woo's Once A Thief was made as a Television movie but succedes as a feature film. With BRILLIANT performances from the main cast, Once A Thief is a treat for action fans and for John Woo fans alike. It has all you would expect from a Woo film and more. I would like to Mention the outstanding performance of Nicholas Lea as Victor Mansfield(He should win an emmy)and Micheal Wong as one of the Tang Family. Thier Performances as well as the action make John Woo's Once A Thief a must see for all the family.

I personally *loved* this movie. It combines thrilling adventure with romance and a ton of comedy. There's just something about two grown men swinging from a chandalear that makes me laugh. Ivan Sergei is hilarious, and as a Nick Lea fan I absolutely loved it! No wonder it was made into a tv series! The tape quality was lacking, but I was thoroughly satisfied.

They SO need to release the whole TV series on DVD. Hurry up John Woo some of us were disappointed that the series got cancelled!

Okay, so it's not the usual JW fare. On the other hand, it IS a fun, light action-comedy with aesthetic leads and some good lines. Heat and tension run throughout, as do enough stunts to keep me interested. I totally enjoyed it, and came back for more. It won't provide DVD-esque blood splattering over the screen, but then, if that's all you're after, why bother reading this far?

Once a thief are great entertainment the screen play and all the exagerations are so funny. If you love great action then it is a must own

I've watch original HongKong version, and I met this Canada version. oh, my god, it's so wonderful! Actually, this version has no connection with HongKong one. But who CARES? It's funny, weird, stunned, and amusing. Maybe some people think only fantastic "Broken Arrow", "Face/Off", "Mi-2".. and disappoint with Canada version "Once a Thief". Hey, Woo has also 'comic reliefs'. All characters are so fascinating, and makes me laugh. Vic is so adorable, Li Ann is attractive, Mac is cute, and the director over-whelms everybody - include me who watching. They make 'chemical reaction' ever I seen. Oh, don't forget - after you watch this movie, you should see TV series "once a thief". It presents you almost weird fun.

it's just... so canadian... brilliant, really... funny, full of action, suspense... it has it all.

The original "Once a Thief" was a movie starring Chow-Yun Fat back in 1991 directed by John Woo. It was a wonderful movie and at the time "Face Off" and John Woo's name started to become popular in the US (not just among HK movie buffs), the TV networks wanted a John Woo movie they can show on television.

Of course, NBC couldn't show the HK movies, so they redid the film with one notable HK actor, Michael Wong, Ivan Sergei known for his TV appearances, Sandrine Holt known for her UK films, Jennifer Dale who has done many movies but notably known for her voice on X-Men: The Animated Series and Nicholas Lea known for his work on X-Files.

Will, I'm sure anyone would jump in a chance to star in a John Woo movie but since this was made for television, you are not going to see the typical John Woo magic. No million bullet shots or blood.

The movie was definitely thinned out when it came to John Woo's violence. No particular attention to sounds such as the gun clicks but it did have a few usual slow motion scenes that he's known for.

Of course, I recommend the 1991 version but those of us who watched this on television were either hardcore John Woo fans, curious or first-time John Woo viewers or someone who had nothing to watch that night.

I purchased this DVD because it is lower priced than most DVD's and I'm a John Woo fan. Also, the movie has this "Director's Cut" logo on the top and it's rated R.  

OK...I may not remember the TV version but what was the director's cut...I don't know. Why this got "Rated R" on it, I don't know because there is hardly any blood. Oh, well...there is violence (ala people shooting at each other) but wasn't that on TV? Maybe that's what was cut from TV...I don't know.   The video is pan & scan and the sound is not 5.1 of course. As for the extra's, there are none. Movie factoids...change that to "factoid". Just one page mentioning the cast, directed by John Woo and that's it.  Pretty much what you should expect is the typical movie of the night on DVD but in this case, directed by John Woo.

You really have to be a John Woo fan to buy this DVD. Otherwise, this DVD is not recommended.

Still waiting for the tv series to come out on DVD. The pilot just wets the appetite for the rest.

Well, it's not one of the worst action flicks out there. But I was unfortunate to see it thinking it was the original movie I'd gotten my hands on... Bad idea. However, when the series later aired on TV, I started watching, and let me tell you; all that the pilot lacks, the episodes got. Wow! The sharp scripts, the sarcastic sense of humour, the almost absurd characters, the excellent actors (although it's hard to notice in the pilot for some reason), everything about it got me totally hooked. So, basically, my review's purpose is to complain about the fact that the one season the show aired isn't available on DVD. *g* Conclusion: actionscenes with HK written all over them, the inevitable wise-cracking hero played by Sergei who has the perfect smirk for his part, and the delightful cha-cha-sequence (are we sensing Bruce Lee homage here? ;P) all adds up to an entertaining evening... But the series and the (un-dubbed) Hong Kong movie are still much much better.