Customer Reviews

Tiger on Beat

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

 

 

Outside of Kowloon, Chow Yun Fat is seen as an action star, and who could be blamed for thinking so. Given the popularity of "The Killer" and the "Better Tomorrow" series, it seems that you couldn't watch Fat unless he was racking up a body count. So, you can imagine how much of a departure "Tiger On The Beat" may seem for him.

In all actuality, Chow is an actor with a broad range, with most of his recent Hong Kong films more drama-based than anything else. Still, he doesn't let you down with this one.

Paired with a straight-laced cop (Conan Lee) Chow is the Jim Belushi to Lee's Schwarznegger. Tracking a drug ring in Hong Kong, the action comes at the right moments and the comedy is enough to tide you over until the high-speed ending.

When compared to his more well known work, this doesn't rank as high a body count, but with the comedic edge, this is worth adding to any hard-boiled Woo fan's collection. Oh, and is there anything cooler then when CYF brings out the machette?

This movie is a cool buddy cop action comedy with the best (and only?) chainsaw fight ever! I got this movie just to see that fight, because up until I bought it, I had only heard about it. The story is ok and the dubbing isn't the worst, but the action is what I think typical chinese gunplay.......which is awesome! I could watch this movie over and over again. It just has a happier feel to it. The only time is seems to get gloomy is during action scenes which I don't think are at all a disappointment. This is one you shouldn't pass up if you like Chow Yun Fat, chines gunplay, or just plain old action movies with a chainsaw fight! I loved it!

Chow Yun Fat plays an experienced & some what arrogant cop to Conan Lee's rookie cop. The movie does have some Lethal Weapon themes, but I don't remember Danny Glover getting scared enough to wet his pants. If you are a Hong Kong cinema fan you won't be disappointed.

If Conan Lee looks familar to you Jet Li fans, its because he played Mr. Li's brother in LW 4.

Sure it's a bit like Lethal Weapon, but then again, every buddy-cop movie is compared to that one. The martial arts scenes are mainly handled by Conan Lee while Chow Yun Fat stays solid as a guy who can handle a gun fairly well and can hold his own in a fight even without the fancy moves. On top of that, the comedy is great. This movie has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, especially the last line in the movie.

But of course, the main reason to see this movie is the finale, where they pull out all the stops, thrown in the kitchen sink and the kitchen, drop the bombshell, blow the roof off... ahem, it's great. Pistols, magnums, and shotguns are used (Chow makes pretty good use with his weapon using a really neat trick that will makes you clap your hands in glee), Conan uses his martial arts which don't stand out as much as the likes of Jackie Chan, but are still solid. But the main thing that everyone remembers the movie for, the one thing that makes buying this movie a requirement for anyone who is a lover of actioners, is the chainsaw duel between Conan and the villain. Oh man, I was blown away when I first saw that sequence, and it never gets old. They use real chainsaws, the sparks really fly on impact, wood and vests and clothing really get cut up with each swipe, and they fight at such a hectic pace for fairly long takes it's amazing no one was killed making this sequence. It is a masterpiece of action filming, up there with the shootout scene in Heat, the fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan vs. Benny Urquidez, the finale in A Better Tomorrow 2, the car chase scene in Bulitt, etc. That sequence is worth viewing of this movie alone, and is enough of a reason to give the movie 5 stars. Chainsaw duel aside, the rest of the movie is a solid enjoyable popcorn flick that isn't meant to be taken too seriously. Just have fun with it.

Tiger on the Beat is a straight-up weird movie. It really has a cartoon feel to it with Chow Yun-Fat's clothes and especially the Mini Cooper he drives. The title song from the great James Wong is classic too. Conan Lee(Ninja In the Dragon's Den) becomes Chow's partner after a cartoony first meeting between the two which involves Chow peeing his pants. Jet Li's real life wife Nina Li plays drug smuggling Phillip Ko's sister and when Phillip Ko is killed she is in Chow's hands. This is the only part of the movie I really didn't like. After Chow beats out of her to get information on the drug smuggling, 2 scenes later she is making him dinner hoping that he becomes her lover. Now supposedly this was well received in Hong Kong because Nina was known as being stuck up but it certainly won't work for most normal people.

Now the movie doesn't have a ton of fights except a few here and there but the end is spectacular and there are some really good car stunts. Ti Lung also has a brief fight cameo which was AWESOME!!!!

The version I have from Zoke Movies has perfect picture quality and great subtitles. I don't know if it is a bootleg but it is the same as the Hong Kong Legends version with interviews with the producer(in English) and Gordon Liu(in Chinese with no subs)and commentary from Bey Logan.

Tiger on the Beat is a straight-up weird movie. It really has a cartoon feel to it with Chow Yun-Fat's clothes and especially the Mini Cooper he drives. The title song from the great James Wong is classic too. Conan Lee(Ninja In the Dragon's Den) becomes Chow's partner after a cartoony first meeting between the two which involves Chow peeing his pants. Jet Li's real life wife Nina Li plays drug smuggling Phillip Ko's sister and when Phillip Ko is killed she is in Chow's hands. This is the only part of the movie I really didn't like. After Chow beats the crap out of her to get information on the drug smuggling, 2 scenes later she is making him dinner hoping that he becomes her lover. Now supposedly this was well received in Hong Kong because Nina was known as being stuck up but it certainly won't work for most normal people.

Now the movie doesn't have a ton of fights except a few here and there but the end is spectacular and there are some really good car stunts. Ti Lung also has a brief fight cameo which was AWESOME!!!!

The version I have from Zoke Movies has perfect picture quality and great subtitles. I don't know if it is a bootleg but it is the same as the Hong Kong Legends version with interviews with the producer(in English) and Gordon Liu(in Chinese with no subs)and commentary from Bey Logan.