A distinctive and distinguished cast (Ray Lui, Charles Heung, Kenneth Tsang, Lau Siu-Ming, Lau Kong, Amy Yip, Kent Cheng etc) make opening reel cameos in order to setup the story of a baby found in the gangster-infested Temple Street. That baby is looked after by lowly Tong (Ng Man-Tat), his wife Phoenix (Deannie Yip) and grows up to be local big brother Twelve (Andy Lau). Looking after his neighbourhood and enjoying street life in quite the lighthearted manner, when conflict occurs with Lap Ling (Chin Ho) who wants dominance, our casual cast of characters are forced into more dark violence than ever. Also, Twelve falls in love with Christian devotee Teresa (Joey Wong)...

Aside from some well shot sequences (including a long one take scene when Lau and company walk the street, greeting the locals etc) and a good workout for the stuntmen employed on the production, Jeffrey Chiang's ordinary genre-entry scores precious few points. Designed according to most rules in a genre running on autopilot by 1992, when the romance angle between Lau and Joey Wong becomes the focus (cue Andy Lau's obligatory song for the movie), there's an embarrassing echo of Lau's classic starring vehicle A Moment Of Romance but without the heart, emotions and dedication. Chin Ho as the manically laughing villain provides a cartoon-side to the film that is occasionally fun and one of the women beside him turns out to be a cold killer in disguise. Necessary standout elements we could've used more of. Jeffrey Chiang would go on direct more competent fare such as Dream Killer.

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Despite a screenplay by Abe Kwong (Visible Secret II) and Lawrence Lau (Spacked Out), it's not an production aiming for substance and not even Lau assisting director Wellson Chin means extraordinary things ending up on screen. Bringing in the usual Hong Kong cinema decisions structurally by giving us what we expect (I.e. the special effect driven adventure) and then for the middle section testing the patience of its audience through local comedy isn't my preferred choice.

Sheila Chan, being Chin's Sandra Ng for this movie, has initial fun, completely outrageous character traits to work with as we see her gambling and abusing kindergarten children who happens to aggravates her. Meeting the Mainland country bumpkin played by Conan Lee is the setup for the middle section sit com with the titular character (Jeng Paak-Lam) caught in between. The black humour takes on satisfying proportions (especially a recurring gag involving a loose window frame) but the majority of the bickering is grating. You do wish director Chin would've stuck with making the movie the opening reel promises as it then it would've been unspectacular but generally hokey, diverting fun for the short running time. These rare diverting sections involves the on- and off presence of Cynthia Rothrock, an at times nicely choreographed playground fight that sees Conan doing his best stunt and also when Chin allows the script to let Conan display fighting skills, some is forgiven. Ultimately Prince Of The Sun is a minor to poor showcase for most involved though. Also starring Lam Ching Ying, Jeff Falcon and Lau Shun.

Ann Hui's direct follow up to The Romance Of Book & Sword, the adaptation of famed Wuxia novel author Louis Cha's first novel The Book & The Sword, probably would survive without the first movie as a backbone but more rewards come as elements are expanded upon that were only given a small spotlight the first time around. While Hui explored families bound by blood but not thoroughly loyalties in regards to Chen Jalo and Emperor Qiao Long's relationship, she gives us a first half here that merely seems interested in the visual splendor and the battle at hand.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing as Hui continues to bring a muted, natural handling to her direction while still utilizing the vast Chinese landscapes to great effect. Martial arts is also kept to a minimum and the army battles are suitably non-stylized. There's no shame going in this direction but you do wonder what happened to the small aspects within the large scale happenings that made The Romance Of Book & Sword so compelling.

Hui does a quick 180 by the time you start cd 2 of your vcd as both an outspoken and unspoken romantic triangle is allowed to dominate as well as the low-key skills of director Hui. Elements aren't fresh as such but nonetheless affecting. Never one to forget what the main story is, the films in the end become compelling glimpses into Louis Cha's work in condensed form. It's a rare thing to allow the actual trademark of an acclaimed director to matter in an obviously epic story but that freedom is why Hui definitely comes out on top.

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Although suspicions do arise that Princess Madam might be a composite of two movies, Godfrey Ho constructs it so that it doesn't appear as evident compared to the hatchet jobs he and IFD made money of (and there's no ninjas either, just recognizable gwailos). In this flick, Ho showcases a basic competence as he echoes Moon Lee's success with Angel while pairing her up with another toughie, Sharon Yeung (Angel Terminators). Aside from spicing it up with some minor smut, mostly Ho showcases what Lee can perform dependently, giving us a fair amount of bone crunching fights and stunts. Featuring what might be perceived as a thematic strand of both spouse revenge, vigilante acts and the creation of new relationships, in fact it's merely basic storytelling combined with the tangent of Liu Kai-Chi going amusingly over the top as the man longing for Sharon's character. But an ejection of his act happens and a quite extreme melodramatic element enter as Yeung's character gets into conflict of what to favour: a criminal father or the law? While basic competence still comes from director Ho, there's really the odd moment or two of affecting acting by Yeung that then carries over in a pretty solid two gun-toting, dressed in white finale. Yueh Hua acts up a storm as the cartoon villain of the piece and Nishiwaki Michiko also appear.

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Eddie Fong and Clara Law logged their last Hong Kong cinema contribution with The Private Eye Blues, this time with Eddie directing (and Law acting as visual consultant) this marvelously entertaining comedy/drama. Jacky Cheung stars as a derailed private detective, having lost his wife (Kathy Chow) and kid and now given the task of finding a Mainland girl (Mavis Fan). She turns out to be more trouble and more hot property than he could've ever imagined...

Surely one of the, if not THE wildest ride of 1994, Eddie Fong injects all moods conceivable yet manages to succeed with every attempt. Shot by Jingle Ma the art way, with dutch angles, blue and green filters, Fong immerses us immediately despite the storyline being that age old of the downtrodden detective. His wit is super sharp and the visual style works splendidly with the low-key humour and off-beat narrative. Events may seem random and surreal but it nonetheless registers very favorably. Even when dabbling with human drama, Fong shows skill in making his audience affected despite the insanity on display. On board with Eddie Fong's script is Jacky Cheung who doesn't miss a beat, almost always carrying a beer bottle and being generally abused before having to pick himself up again. His chemistry with newcomer Mavis Fan is excellent and supporting acts from Chin Ho adds on to the fine package The Private Eye Blues is.

The martial arts action by Lau Kar Wing (who also appears) and Wong Pau Gei doesn't set the screen on fire but director Choi Yeung Ming possesses some unusually strong storytelling abilities and a genuine cinematic sense. The featuring of Chinese folk hero Fong Sai Yuk (Meng Fei - Five Shaolin Masters) will no doubt make viewers comfortable with characteristics early as we're given the trademark ignorant and rash behaviour to the young hero. Unlike the Jet Li and the Hsiao Hao interpretations, things leans more towards subdued here and the revenge drama at times comes with fine dramatic instincts for the genre. Some mundane events go on forever though, showing a definite inexperience in director Choi but the fact that the actual drama outdoes to the action is an unusual final verdict on an independent martial arts effort. Also with Maggie Lee, Yusuaki Kurata and Wong Ching. Fung Hark On, Yam Sai Koon and Yuen Cheung Yan can also be spotted.

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Re-titled in the US to Supercop 2, it's not entirely inappropriate as Project S features another adventure with Michelle Yeoh's Mainland police woman Yang Chien Hua. Her colleague and boyfriend Chang Fung (Yu Rong-Guang) decides to leave for Hong Kong to pursuit riches but it's done in the form of robbery and killing. Yang is called in to Hong Kong to assist on the robbery case Inspector Lee Ming (Emil Chow) and Lung (Fan Siu-Wong) are on and naturally comes into contact with Chang Fung...

With its main core being the relationship between Michelle Yeoh's and Yu Rong-Guang's characters, Stanley Tong rather poorly conveys their connection and Chang Fung's quick transition into crime. The usual Mainland vs. Hong Kong ways of policing, prejudice against Yeoh's female cop, some comedic shenanigans as Emil Chow trying to romance Yeoh follows before Project S turns into the action entertainment it should be. It survives silliness and lapse in logic. Tong begins crafting an efficient and fast moving plot, with the main excitement coming in the bank vault finale. It's hard to rise Tong's action up to a high standard as the movie isn't very stunt- or fight heavy but what's here is solid and exciting, with Yeoh's bout with one of the big Westerners being the prime recommendation. Shot in synch sound and also with Athena Chu, Bill Tung, Dick Wei, Bowie Lam and Yukari Oshima. Jackie Chan (playing his Police Story character Chan Ka Kui again) and Eric Tsang (both in drag) appear in a very silly 3 minute scene that may contain action but could've easily been cut out of the film.

Produced at Union Films (that earlier in the 60s gave us King Hu's seminal Dragon Inn), Ding Sin-Saai (The Ghost Hill) takes a break from his overall action oriented rep to take a stab at the period drama. Featuring a minimal amount of action and instead a thematic focus, he sets his plot in motion when the extended house of Master Hsueh gets scattered as he is presumably killed by bandits. Kept alive if ransom money is provided, that money is grabbed by the greedy bunch of servants and wives. One of tem, Chun-Ngo ends up with the young son of Hsueh's, Eago, and has to start from scratch along with a male servant. First goal, get the naughty and distressed kid into school and along the way make any sacrifice needed, like an actual mother would...

A beautiful and deeply detailed frame doesn't detract from the needed intimacy of the themes on display here. Some messages may be a bit on the nose (even when portrayed in a comedic way, it doesn't quite gel) but Ding Sin-Saai has his noble intentions translating despite. Point of all this being that a tragedy that leads to a split of a large "family" will reveal true family values and the revelation of who ultimately is going to take on responsibility rather than sitting comfortably back. Telling performances and a director contributing genuine, dramatic class to Taiwan cinema at the time makes Prosperous Of Family a warm recommendation overall.

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Tsang (Eddy Ko) struggles to make money for his family, that includes a son with Cerebral Pares and since he can't take it when the wife has to go into prostitution, he goes into business with Mainland thieves. Fan (Yukari Oshima) is a social worker that gets caught in the crossfire as the thieves start to argue amongst themselves and cop Lee (Ben Lam) engages in the case that has personal meaning to him...

Low budget but above average (especially compared to the dreck Yukari Oshima has appeared in) that benefits from a gritty look and one mood-storytelling. Nothing extraordinary pops out from the screen as in actuality the action seems hastily staged and edited without much flow. But scenes of Yukari getting peed on, a terrific finale involving hostages covered in petrol that will be set on fire when shot on, screwdrivers, saws and gore heightens Lee Chiu's at times while also providing sharp direction in terms of tension. Also with Chan Ging (Long Arm Of The Law), Joh Chung and Stanley Fung.

Now this is one for the record books of silver screen turkeys but I rather think it will be kept out since it never have or should make an effect on the general audience. I'm not part of that latter crowd however so naturally Pursuit must be...*insert pun*

From acclaimed director Wong Tin-Lam, now a regular supporting player in the Johnnie To's camp, his last film clearly is evidence of someone doing something they once were good at, now having fallen far, far from grace. His thriller comedy here about a feisty and thoroughly annoying damsel in distress (Dik Boh-Laai) being witness to a murder by a psycho hitman (Chow Yun-Fat) looks to have been largely shot at one hotel (and a few years earlier than 1980), using room and various locales around to create your good ol' epic! Ignorance is bliss and this mess scripted by his equally messy son Wong Jing revels in its personal hard on for stupidity. Yes, Wong Jing sees fit to include people tripping over banana peels, males thinking largely with their libidos, groovy cops seemingly ready to P-A-R-T-Y rather than staying ahead in the investigation (one of them being unconvincingly dressed and played by George Lam), flashing, S&M etc etc. The assault unfortunately does suffer from the Wong Jing syndrome where it's sometimes impossible not to laugh but have no fear, Pursuit represents the lowest of the low, failing in a way not even my feeble words can describe and those Chow Yun-Fat fans wanting to see every piece of footage with the man, you can. You'll however be just as frustrated as every viewer has been every since Pursuit was released.

Taylor Wong (Buddha's Palm, Sentenced To Hang) directs this Long Arm Of The Law-esque tale that also blends in a whodunit-murder mystery with giallo-like stylistic excursions, all concocted at the by then tired Shaw Brothers studio. Pursuit Of A Killer doesn't waste time though as it steamrolls through the escape of a band of brothers (and sisters) from the Mainland to Hong Kong into their criminal career leading to prison sentences and finally, the systematic murdering of one by one of the brothers once they're out of jail. Lo Meng plays one that the police releases early to lure out the killer and by ending up on the government payroll, he utilizes the system by eating free and having sex for free. But while Taylor never really convinces us he's the right director for this gritty, gory and sleazy story, the script calls for passages that describes Lo Meng's character as heartless and it works for a while as valid subtext. Then again the grittiness and violence are created within surroundings that doesn't scream "we're still trying" but instead Pursuit Of A Killer has an aura that feels too manufactured. There would soon be no more manufacturing at a constant basis at the legendary studio. Jason Pai, Sun Chien and Chan Shen also appear.

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