Product Details

• Actors: Cecilia Yip, Anthony Wong
• Directors: Kirk Wong
• Format: NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Tai Seng Entertainment
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 5553647339

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Director Kirk Wong set the style for the lean, edgy Hong Kong cop thriller. In this drama, special forces officer Danny Lee bends the law and suspends civil rights to track down ruthless criminal Anthony Wong (Hard Boiled), the leader of a notorious robbery ring, on the run with his loyal girlfriend Cecilia Yip. Lee, who performed similar duties in John Woo's The Killer, is driven and demanding as the passionate authority figure, a man whose selfless sense of duty teeters over into vigilantism, while Anthony Wong tones down his usual flamboyant style to play a charismatic, sensitive criminal who earns the director's sympathies. There's no John Woo bravura shootouts or stylistic frenzies in Kirk Wong's sober, sometimes too restrained approach, lacking the dramatic edge of Rock and Roll Cop and the punch of Supercop, two of his later productions. But the violence packs a wallop in its street-realist directness, and Wong knows how to stage a high-tension action set piece, as evidenced in the opening chase scene and the dynamic police-dragnet finale. What more attracts the director, however, is the inner workings of crime and punishment: the maze of the underworld hierarchy and the mechanics of crime, the contradictions that pull at the police and the bureaucratic tangle they navigate. Though there's none of the romantic gloss that Woo invests his cowboy criminals with, Kirk Wong loves to explore the dynamic that separates--and binds--cop and criminal. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not an easy film to like but..., December 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Organized Crime & Triad Bureau (DVD)

OCTB isn't an easy film to like. The "good" cop isn't so good. The "bad" guy isn't so bad. While many cop films have done this with varying levels of success, few have done it with the intensity that OCTB has. And few have done it with a believable and gentle romantic love story in the middle of all the violence. Also, few have had the benefit of great HK stars like Danny Lee, Anthony Wong and Cecilia Yip. Danny Lee's character is a man possessed with capturing the "bad" Anthony Wong. And in the beginning we are completely on his side. However, we find that there is a "gentler" side to Anthony Wong's bad guy. The lengths Lee and his team go to to get Wong and his gang is unsettling. The ending is great and makes you sympathise with Wong's character. This is good HK action, the pace is incredible, the shootouts great, even the music score is good. This isn't really generic HK action stuff. It isn't merely, bang bang, who cares about the plot? It isn't John Woo action either. OCTB's action is gritty, it is after all Kirk Wong, the guy who gave us Jackie Chan's unfunniest movie to date. That's why OCTB isn't usually considered a HK action classic. I liked it though, but I know people who didn't and I know there will be people who won't like it. But I say give OTCB a chance and you may like it as much as I did.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Standard HK cop fare, July 23, 1999

By 

Brendan Klein (philadelphia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Organized Crime & Triad Bureau (DVD)

This film is Part 2 in Kirk Wongs Police Trilogy (1-Police Story, 3-Rock N Roll Cop). For the most part this film was standard action fare, nothing spectacular, untill the end, which pulled out all the stops in a shootout across a crowded HK shopping district, a pulse pounding soundtrack makes this scene all the more exciting. Intriguing performances from Danny Lee, Cecelia Yip and Anthony Wong(unusually restrained). I'll buy this one just for the climax.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HONG KONG STRIKES BACK, July 25, 2002

By 

SHAITAN (sector 5 of the ANNUNAKIAN SETTLEMENTS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sword of Many Loves [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is probably one of the least known martial arts movies out there. This movie was created around the same time as THE BRIDE WITH WHITE, THE STORM RIDERS, etc..,. It is in most ways superior to them all. It has everything you could ever want in a film love, hate, little people, warlocks and witches, revenge, redemption, self sacrifice, need I say more! And it's funny too!
Treat yourself to this rare hong kong delight! Jackie who?