Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great HK action fick.... a must own for Donnie Yen fans!!, June 2, 2002
Like many have said before, you should definitely buy this movie. Its one of Donnie Yen's earlier movies (1989) so of course its not going to look as recent as any of his others ones that has come out, but that shouldn't deter you from watching this...I found that some of the best Donnie Yen movies were those made before Iron Monkey. "In the line of duty iv" is one of them.
The plot is not original-basically its the good guys vs the bad guys with one or two twists in the movie. Cynthia Khan and Donnie Yen both play cops who must seek out and protect a dock worker (the actor is Yuen Woo Ping's brother in real life)from the bad guys. But those like myself watch this for the action scenes and there is definitely alot, in fact there is one almost every 10-15 min. Many classify this as a girls with guns flick which is true since the real star is Cynthia Khan. She can fight very well and is in some pretty good action scenes. Donnie Yen gets a lot of screen time and his fights with movie foes Michael Woods and John Salvitti are the best. He pretty much steals the show but the character he plays can be a little annoying and impulsive in the beginning.
Yuen Woo Ping is both director and fight choreagrapher. That right there is a plus. Some say that this is the best in the "In the Line of Duty" series (pertaining to action) with no real relation to the others except for Cynthia Khan. Unlike Iron Monkey, there is no "wire-fu", the actors do their own stunts and martial arts without the use of wires so really you could actually see how capable and amazing these actors are with their abilities.
The dvd is actually pretty good when you consider the fact that the movie is over a decade old. Both the sound and picture are pretty clear. The dvd is subtitled not englished dubbed-that might be a good or bad thing considering the preference of the viewer.
Overall its a great movie and dvd to own and to add to any collection. Any fan of Hong Kong Action, Yuen Woo Ping, Donnie Yen and Cynthia Khan would really enjoy this.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Greatest fighting films!!!, April 6, 2002
Out of the 5 In The Line of Duty films, this one stands out by far the best. All you need to know is that Donnie Yen, one of my favorite fighters, is in this and he shows some of the best stuff I've ever seen. Story???...Donnie Yen and Cynthia Khan are on a team of first class police officers undercover on some drugdealer case. Their partner happened to take pictures of a drug deal with some major people, and he attempts to arrest them. He fails, tries to get away with the picture negatives, but gets shot, and an unfortunate dockworker is given the negatives to bring in to the police. Police officer dies and dockworker ends up losing negative. Now he's a suspect for the murder of the police officer and he's being chased by the dealers men for the negative. Donnie and Cynthia are to protect the suspect in this crazy cat and mouse chase, and the fact that there is a bad heel within the police force is no help either. The fighting is the brutal modern style that'll make you cringe. There are tons of great fights in this film, and very very little wirework thank goodness. This is Yuen Woo Ping choreography at its best. This is the first movie I've seen where there are so many great fighters on screen. There must've been 4-5 fighters in here that I really liked regardless of them being bad guys. Of course, Donnie Yen still steals the show with his awesome kicking and boxing abilities, but watching the fight scenes that were without him were awesome too. Cynthia Khan is a great fighter as well as the dockworker. There is yet another classic fight between Donnie Yen and Michael Woods that is breathtaking. This film is a total MUST-OWN. If you want great action every 5-10 minutes, this is a masterpiece for you. Don't get me wrong tho, there are some "sentimental" moments in this, and you'd start believin all these fighters really can act. In my opinion, this is Donnie Yen's second best film with Tiger Cage 2 being the first (a lot of the same actors are in this one too). As for the dvd, there are 2 versions out there. If you can play Region 2 PAL encoded dvds, then you must get the Hong Kong Legends version entitled simply In The Line of Duty. The remastered video and sound is unmatched, and completely uncut. There are some interesting extras as well like a Donnie Yen interview and biography. If you can't, then get the HK version that is sold everywhere online. Point is, you gotta have this if you're a martial arts or Donnie Yen fan. Other awesome Donnie Yen titles...Tiger Cage 2, Iron Monkey, Wing Chun (with Michelle Yeoh), and OUATIC 2 (with Jet Li)...Hope this was helpful, check my other HK reviews too!!!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic HK action, February 16, 2001
The basic premise is about a dockworker who is thought to have gained some secret microfilm from corrupt CIA agents. In a Hitchcockian twist, the dockworker is completely innocent, but no one, not the bad CIA or the Hong Kong Cops believe him. It is up to Donnie Yen and Cynthia to protect him as the renegade agents appear around every corner thanks to Donnie Yen's turncoat/backstabbing parter played by Michael Wong.The action (thanks to the great Yuen Woo Ping) is typical of the series, inventive and brutal, but what sets this one apart is the sheer number of action scenes. Here is a rough tally- in the first 15 mins there are three kung fu fights and a shoot-out, by the 30 min mark add four more kung fu fights and an interrogation room beating, in the next thirty mins (1 hr mark) add three more kung fu fights and include some torture, yet another interrogation room beating, and a car bomb, and finally, in the last thirty mins add four more fights, including the big finale, and another shoot-out. Cynthia's main moments are in a great fight on a moving ambulance in witch she is shoved though the window, her head dangling above the pavement, fighting on top of it, hanging off the front grill, and another fight with a fugly gwailo woman in a warehouse that involves some precarious scaffolding and elevator shaft fu. Donnie, however, has a the majority of the good fights, like a motorcycle chase and joust, as well as his fantastic final fight with a beefcake Ike Turner lookalike. If you are looking for action every three minutes, look no further. The DVD is fair by Hong Kong standards. The picture is a little worn and there is some lack of clarity and spotting in certain scenes, but not enough to heavily distract most people form this entertaining film. It has its fair share of subtitle mistakes ("Dare you bent me. You must call for death.") It includes star bios of Cynthia, Woo Ping, and Donnie, where we are informed that "It is believed that Donnie is now working with might and main to open up his future." It also has trailers for the film and In the line of Duty 3&5, and Yes, Madam!.
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