The Killer (1989) [Film Review]

The Killer; or, Tomorrow Never Came

     In this world, not everybody is untrustworthy.
Just how awesome is John Woo? The director is obviously no stranger to this blog (see my other reviews here), but I can’ get over the fact that such a visionary gets a bad rap only because of his Hollywood follies. We have already discussed Woo’s magnum opus Bullet in the Head (1990), but this time allow me to take a look at the filmmaker’s another highly acclaimed picture, The Killer (1989).

Release Info

Directed by: John Woo Starring: Chow Yun-fat, Chu Kong, Danny Lee, Kenneth Tsang

Language: Cantonese Original Title: 喋血雙雄 Runtime: 110 min

Synopsis
Ah Jong (Chow Yun-fat) is an assassin for hire. His long-time friend, Fung (Chu Kong), frequently serves as the middleman when offers are being made. During one of the assignments, Jong accidentally damages the eyes of the singer, Jennie (Sally Yeh). Guilt-ridden Jong looks after Jennie and tries to gather money necessary for her surgery. After killing a high-profile mobster, Jong is betrayed by his employers who want him dead. To make matters worse, the police detective Li Ying (Danny Lee) is on his trail as well.

Battles Without Honour
The pre-production period of The Killer was quite an ordeal for John Woo. Allegedly, Tsui Hark was convinced that Woo ruined A Better Tomorrow II (1987) and tried to fire him from his production company, Film Workshop. Whenever Woo pitched a movie idea, it was immediately rejected.

It was not until Chow Yun-fat agreed to play the lead role that the project received financing and was given a green-light. Although Tsui Hark is listed as the producer of the film in the opening credits, his actual involvement remains unconfirmed (at that time, he was already gearing up to make A Better Tomorrow III with Chow).

To put it in layman’s terms, The Killer is the quintessential John Woo flick. Action, drama, and gun violence are cranked up to the max, but each cinematic aspect serves its purpose within the story (in contrast to films made by Woo’s copycats in America). The director stated that he was influenced by such movies as Narazumono (1964), Le Samourai (1967), Mean Streets (1973). His aim was to present an image of a romantic (anti-)hero who forges a friendship with an individual at the opposite side of the law, a police officer. 

Needless to say, The Killer functions perfectly as the ultimate bromance flick. Some critics claim that the story is borderline homoerotic, but I believe this claim is too much of an exaggeration. Woo masterfully pays homage to classic tales about chivalric men joining forces to vanquish evil and perform a good deed. All of his early “bullet ballet” movies are tragic visual poems, but The Killer is the most stylised one with its gripping cinematography, outstanding settings, and vibraphone-influenced music score.

With regard to performances, Chow Yun-fat, as always, knocks it out of the park as the charismatic protagonist. Danny Lee is just as awesome as the righteous detective who eventually helps Jong. Sally Yeh is great as the damsel in distress, but she does not have much screen time. In addition, the wonderful supporting roles of Chu Kong and Kenneth Tsang cannot be forgotten. Shing Fui-on provides a standard performance of a crazy triad boss.

Recommendations
If you want to check out John Woo at the peak of his auteur style, then I recommend The Killer. My all-time favourite Woo movie will always remain Bullet in the Head, but The Killer is close second. It’s a great, fast-paced tale with lots of tears and tons of explosions. It is a steadfast progenitor of such magnificent films as Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita (1990) and Leon: The Professional (1994). My old DVD disc from Criterion comes with a booklet essay, theatrical trailer, deleted scenes, and a commentary from John Woo and executive producer Terence Chang.Overall score: 8/10

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In the Line of Duty 4 (1989) [Film Review]

In the Life of Duty 4; or, Someone to Watch Over Me
     We can't be responsible for her emotional state. You know what, Yeung? You are too sentimental. Luk is lying there because of it. I'm beginning to doubt your ability.
After the release of In the Line of Duty 3, D&B Films Company pressed on with the action series about badass police officers by commissioning a fourth instalment with Cynthia Khan slated to return as fearless Inspector Yeung, and accompanied by young and cocky Donnie Yen. Directed by Yuen Woo-ping and produced by Stephen Shin, In the Line of Duty 4 is a classic entry in the series which provides death-defying stunts and exciting fist fights.

Release Info

Directed by: Yuen Woo-ping Starring: Cynthia Khan, Donnie Yen, Yuen Yat-chor, Michael Wong

Language: Cantonese Original Title: 皇家師姐IV直擊證人 Runtime: 94 min

Synopsis
Seattle, USA. Police officers are monitoring a Chinese drug smuggling operation. A local cop witnesses the trade in which a CIA agent takes part. He takes a photo of the agent and tries to escape, but he gets shot by the drug dealers. In his dying moment, he passes on the photo negatives to harbour worker, Luk (Yuen Yat-chor). Luk barely survives the confrontation with the dealers and, fearing for his life, he flees to Hong Kong. Considered to be a suspect who participates in the smuggling endeavour, Luk is now wanted by the police. Inspector Yeung (Cynthia Khan) and Captain Yan (Donnie Yen) are sent to Hong Kong in order to find Luk; however, they are repeatedly interrupted in their search by Captain Wong (Michael Wong).

Witness Protection
I remember seeing In the Line of Duty 4 a couple of years ago and, obviously, I found it to be extremely entertaining. My original copy must have been a rip from a laserdisc due to visible poor quality, but this week, I got my hands on the Blu-ray release and the modern remaster really gives this movie justice it deserves.

From beginning to the end, the movie is filled with bombastic action set pieces revolving around the graceful Cynthia Khan and the brass Donnie Yen. Be it a confrontation with a bloodthirsty biker, fight on top of a speeding ambulance, or sliding down the elevator shaft, all sequences crafted under the watchful eye of Yuen Woo-ping are breathtaking and definitely stand the test of time.

Some fans point out that this movie is more of a Donnie Yen vehicle, than a proper Cynthia Khan flick. Well, I tend to disagree. Both of them have many opportunities to shine in the film, and especially Cynthia seems to be at the top of her game. My favourite girl with a gun plus the leather jacket à la Indian Jones is a double win for me.

The only drawback of the movie is heavily underused Michael Wong. He appears to be a perfect fit for a suave villain, but he has very little stuff to do, apart from the final showdown with Cynthia. Interestingly, Michael also played a police officer in Royal Warriors (1986) (a.k.a. In the Line of Duty Part 1).

From the trivia, I could not help but spot an Easter Egg for Polish viewers. Namely, a Polish trawler called Antares GDY-341 “played” in the opening sequence as the drug boat. Unfortunately, the unit was decommissioned in 1991, so it can’t serve as a relic for movie fanatics like me.

 Recommendations
I highly recommend In the Line of Duty 4 for the fans of Hong Kong action flicks. Watch it for the awesome duo Cynthia Khan and Donnie Yen as well as well choreographed and well paced action that does not let go. In the Line of Duty 4 is a classic cops vs. bandits story.
Overall score: 8/10

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Gunhed (1989): A Deeply Flawed Masterpiece [Editorial]

     In the year 2005, on a tiny volcanic island, designated simply 8JO, located 1,000 miles from the Asian coast, the Cybotech Corporation built the world’s first fully self-contained industrial complex. Its purpose: to manufacture the most advanced robots ever known. At the heart of this complex, a computer… more advanced, more powerful than any other that came before, the Kyron 5.

Where do I start with this movie? It feels as if Gunhed is stalking me for a few good years now.  Every now and then, I stumble upon some piece of trivia connected with it. I gave it a try back in 2016 and reviewed it, but it just stuck my mind for good. Cue 2020, I decided to revisit Gunhed and gather everything I know about it into one coherent whole. So, let’s do a deep dive into the story behind a cyberpunk spectacle that no one really talks about today.

The story begins with our beloved King of the Monsters, Godzilla. Back in 1984, Toho Studios tried to resurrect the franchise after 10 years of hiatus. As a result, they produced a film called The Return of Godzilla (original title: Gojira 1984). The movie became a domestic success, with good reviews from the critics and decent box office results (though, the same cannot be said about the American cut of the film which was released a year later). Toho wanted to continue the rebooted series, but it was difficult for them to find any great ideas for the follow-up. In consequence, they decided to hold a script competition across Japan in order to harvest fresh ideas about a new Godzilla movie. (Note: similar contest was done prior to Terror of Mechagodzilla movie in 1975).

An early draft written by a Shinichiro Kobayashi was given the first place, and Toho greenlit the second Godzilla Heisei film: Godzilla vs. Biollante. Nevertheless, there was a second submission which gained the producers attention. A script prepared by an American citizen James Bannon focused on Godzilla facing off against a super computer which declared war on the King. Short synopsis from Toho Kingdom site reads as follows: “In the near future, Godzilla goes up against an incredibly advanced computer system, which deploys its own defenses to stop the creature. Godzilla now must confront enormous mechanized machines in order to reach the central computer” (source).

For some reason, Toho really liked the premise, so they decided to make a science fiction flick out of it, but it was not to feature Godzilla. They brought in a young director Masato Harada and, I suspect, the project meeting must have looked more or less like this.

Toho Studios: “Hey, so we want you to make a new Godzilla film in which he fights a computer, but the catch is that we don’t want any Godzilla. We only want to have a top-of-the-line super computer that wants to destroy mankind. Are you in?”
After a brief pause, Masato Harada responded , “I’m your huckleberry!”

Consequently, the director heavily reworked James Bannon’s script, turning it into a futuristic tale about robot wars. The title of the film Gunhed (an abbreviation of Gun UNit of Heavy Eliminate Device). With the whopping budget of 1,5 billion yen (actually, such big companies as Sunrise, Bandai, Kadokawa, and IMAGICA joined the production; the budget for Godzilla vs. Biollante was two times smaller), the filming began in 1989 and the film was released in Japan on July 22, the same year.

The story of the film goes like this: In the early 2000s, a highly advanced A. I. system was built on a remote Asian island 8JO. The super computer known as Kyron 5 was autonomously running the island for 20 years until it reached a conclusion that humanity is irrelevant, so it started a war. Humans send special Gunhed battalions in order to stop Kyron 5. The battalion was defeated, whereas the computer shut itself off…

13 years later, a group of scavengers arrives at the forgotten island, looking for old computer chips which became a valuable commodity in the 2030s. However, the facility has a set of automated defences which eliminate the scavengers one by one. A guy called Brooklyn (Masahiro Takashima) accidentally finds another survivor, a Texas Air Ranger Sgt. Nim (played by American actress Brenda Bakke). It turns out that a bio-droid went rogue and stole a vial with powerful energy material known as Texmexium. The protagonists, together with two surviving children of the original residents of 8JO, discover that Kyron 5 attempts to reactivate itself and use Texmexium for global domination. Determined to stop Kyron 5, Brooklyn rebuilds an old Gunhed unit (voice of Randy Reyes).

Indeed, the synopsis for this film is long and a bit confusing. From the very beginning of the film a lot of information is thrown at the viewers, so one has to really pay attention to what happens on the screen. However, incoherent dialogue, shoddy editing, and disjointed sequence of events really put you out of the viewing experience.

For instance, see the screenshot presented below. The characters are in one location and we get a transition to exactly the same location…

In addition, when there are action scenes, it is hard to make out the geography of the scene where the characters are positioned against each other.

As for the dialogue… let me just say that the dire George Lucas’ sand monologues are Oscar worthy when compared with the stuff that the protagonists of Gunhed say. Even though there are two separate language audio tracks for Gunhed, none of these are remotely good. In the English track, we have the same obnoxious over-the-top voice acting from early Godzilla releases. In the Japanese track, on the other hand, characters speak very silently and they frequently throw clichés about courage and getting a grip. Interestingly, the voices of Brenda Bakke and Randy Reyes are the only ones unaltered in both language versions.

Having said all this, what are the redeeming factors of Gunhed? Certainly, the movie has magnificent cyberpunk atmosphere which was made possible thanks to top notch miniature work, production design (helmed by Fumio Ogawa), amazing practical effects (directed by a Godzilla veteran, Koichi Kawakita), and unique music score (composed by Toshiyuki Honda and Takayuki Baba). The team behind Gunhed actually built a human sized mock up of the titular robot for the fight scenes.

Indeed, the production designer and special effects supervisor gave their very best in the process of making this movie. However, it seems that the director, Masao Harada, as well as the editor, Yoshitami Kuroiwa, totally gave up, having been overwhelmed by the magnitude of this cyberpunk project.

Instead of an epic Godzilla movie, what we have today is a mess of a movie. If you look close enough into the abyss of Gunhed, you will see the footmarks of Alien, Blade Runner, and The Terminator. Basically, the plotline of this movie is Ripley and Hicks from Aliens trying to stop Skynet from The Terminator. I think that the best way to describe this film is to call it a  compilation of live-action cutscenes from a cancelled PS1 game. They don’t work well together at all, but they please the eye.

Although, it’s been over 30 years since the release of this picture, Gunhed still enjoys a cult following in its homeland. We, Western disbelievers, have only DVD release to fall back on, whereas the Japanese enjoy the film in HD and also read a manga series. Interestingly, one of my favourite J-singers, Mariko Nagai, actually sang a theme song (Time ~ Song for Gunhed) for the movie, which is featured halfway through the end credits of the Japanese version. Thankfully, you can find full Music Video on YouTube.

All things considered, this was my retrospective look at the Gunhed movie. My mission is now completed and I hope that a giant robot will leave me alone now. Have you seen Gunhed? If so, please share your thoughts in the comments. As always, thank you for reading.

Sources: Toho Kingdom * Gunhed Manga * Brenda Bakke Interview * Making of Gunhed * Mariko Nagai's TIME for Gunhed * Music Score * My Review

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A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon (1989) [Film Review]

A Better Tomorrow III; or, We’ll Always Have Saigon

     When Mun came, he told me over and over that if you find someone whom you truly love, never give them up, even if it means death. He said that you'd never betray me. But now I know what kind of person you are. Even if you aren't my enemy, I never want to see you again as long as I live.

The time has finally come for the review of the explosive A Better Tomorrow trilogy’s final instalment. However, in case of the third movie, John Woo dropped his gun and backed down, and it was Tsui Hark who served as the directorial replacement. In view of such a creative change, is A Better Tomorrow III a worthy conclusion of the bloody tale about brotherhood and friendship in the times of hardship?

Release Info

Directed by: Tsui Hark Starring: Chow Yun-fat, Anita Mui, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Saburo Tokito

Language: Cantonese Original Title: 英雄本色3-夕陽之歌 Runtime: 119 min (BR cut)

 

Synopsis

Vietnam, 1974. Mark Lee (Chow Yun-fat), before he became the living legend, arrives in Saigon with the intention of bringing his cousin Cheung Chi-mun (Tony Leung Ka-fai) and his father (unforgettable Shih Kien) back to Hong Kong before the city will plunge into chaos. The cousins accidentally encounter and help a woman called Chow Ying-kit (Anita Mui) who deals with smuggling and gun trading. She takes Mark and Michael under her wing and eventually helps them escape from Saigon. Nevertheless, Mun falls for Kit, but she becomes infatuated with Mark who does not want to get involved. When she joins them in Hong Kong, the romantic drama ensues. However, Kit’s true lover and mentor, Tanaka (Saburo Tokito), returns and forcefully takes her back to Saigon. Mark returns to Vietnam in order to save the love of his life.

 

Song of the Setting Sun

Even though being a prequel to the original movie, A Better Tomorrow III turns out to be much better than the second part of the trilogy. Most importantly, the screenplay does not go bizarre, but tries to play things safe in the long run. There is the purpose (getting out of Vietnam), well fleshed-out characters, shootouts, and explosions. In fact, I dare to think that in many ways, Love & Death in Saigon could work as an independent movie.

 

However, if you expected Chow Yun-fat to carry the weight of this prequel on his firm shoulders, then you are gravely mistaken. There are two words which make this movie work: Anita Mui. Portraying a character quite different from her other famous roles (see Rouge (1988)), Anita proves in ABT III that she can play a tough and independent woman who can handle herself in every situation. The scene where she guns down hordes of charging Vietcong soldiers is an excellent example of her onscreen awesomeness.

 

While her character perpetuates the first and second acts of the picture, only the finale is handed over to Chow Yun-fat as he grabs the machine gun and goes on a killing spree. Even though it is Mark Lee’s origin story, the movie does not seem to focus on him as the central character. Obviously, all of the main events revolve around Mark: we get to see how he is given glasses and a coat, but he feels as if cast aside for the purpose of building up this whole world of rotten smugglers in the times of war. Nevertheless, I do not regard this as the film’s disadvantage, but if you expect a similar tone as in ABT I and II, you may feel a bit disappointed.

 

What the movie suffers from is the noticeable lack of Ti Lung, but Tony Leung Ka-fai serves as a decent replacement. Mark and Mun have a good chemistry together and it really seems that they got through more than one action in their lives. However, the most gripping subplot is the one about Mun’s father, which could serve as the basis for a whole separate movie. Namely, Mun’s father took in to his house Pat (Cheng Wai-lun), a Vietnamese kid who lost his parents. Although they can’t communicate in one language, Mun’s father treats Pat like a son and, when he is due to depart together with Mark and Mun, his farewell to Pat creates a strong emotional scene. As a result, we get a very impactful foster parent/foster child stuff that the previous A Better Tomorrows did not even touch upon.

 

Saburo Tokito (at the beginning of his career) also provides a worthy addition to the film as the main villain. However, his role of Tanaka is quite limited so he does not manage to achieve the bad-to-the-bone rank of Waise Lee from the first movie. However, it is cool that at least his character was given a back story (a Japanese pretending to be Chinese in order to survive WWII), which makes his confrontation with Mark in the finale much more interesting. In addition, I have to mention there exists a full, uncut, Taiwanese version of the film that runs 145 minutes long, but it is quite difficult to track down.

Recommendations

While it moves away from the style set by the antecedent movies, A Better Tomorrow III is bold due to its strong characters and exotic setting, which provides opportunities for a tragic love story, slow-motion showdowns, and exploding tanks. Yet, it does not quite fulfil the premise of telling us “how Mark became Mark” and does not even live up to the status of a bloody adventure epic like, for example, John Woo’s Bullet in the Head from 1990. In other words, A Better Tomorrow III is a good prequel and I will definitely revisit it more often than ABT II, but the real A Better Tomorrow can be only one.

Overall score: 7/10

Gunhed (1989) [Tokusatsu Review]

Gunhed; or, Post-apocalyptic Tech-Noir Made in Japan

This week’s review will be about a film that originated as a scrapped idea for the 17th part of the Godzilla franchise. Nevertheless, Toho decided to give this project a green light on condition that King of the Monsters be written out of the script. As a result, the text written by James Bannon (however wikipedia lists a certain Tatsuo Kobayashi as the co-writer) was heavily reworked by director Masato Harada and the end result is a mixture of some awesome cyberpunk and not-so-breathtaking storytelling.

Release Info

Directed by: Masato Harada Starring: Masahiro Takashima, Brenda Bakke, Yujin Harada, Kaori Mizushima
Language: Japanese Original Title: ガンヘッド Runtime: 100 min

Synopsis

In the year 2005, on a small, desolated island 8JO, the first self-sustainable industrial complex was built. It was managed by the most advanced and highly sophisticated computer called Kyron-5. However, after 20 years of efficient work, Kyron-5 reached a conclusion that humans are dispensable units in the new world of high-tech. Thus, the computer declared war on mankind. In response, a specialised battalion of military robots called Gunheds (Gun UNit of Heavy Eliminate Device) was sent to the island in order to destroy Kyron-5. The computer was disabled but all the robots perished in succeeding their goal.

Now, 13 years later, a group of daredevil scavengers in search for some old computer chimps (that are allegedly “more precious than gold”) lands on the forgotten island. In the ruins of an old facility, they discover a Bio-Droid that attempts to reboot Kyron-5. Surprised by the facility’s defences, treasure hunters are killed off one by one. The only people who survive are a tech savvy Brooklyn (Masahiro Takashima) and Texas Air Ranger Sgt. Nim (Brenda Bakke). After encountering two children who live on the island, they decide to rebuild one of the Gunheds and stop reloading of Kyron-5 before all hell breaks loose.

 

Completing the mission

Yeah, that’s quite a lengthy synopsis, but the film quite swiftly manages to introduce the viewers to this post-apocalyptic world with the usage of an off-camera narration (highly similar in tone to The Terminator (1984) opening) and the following title cards:

As interesting as it may sound, Gunhed unfortunately fails to deliver much of its promises. The opening shot of Mary Ann ship flying through the storm with an epic music score by Toshiyuki Honda and Takayuki Baba is literally awesome. In addition, members of the scavengers group seemed quite likeable and vivid characters that could carry on the picture, thus it’s a huge shame seeing them killed off after the first 15 minutes!

Afterwards, the film mercilessly slows down and it doesn’t get any better until Brooklyn launches Gunhed and they start making their way to Kyron-5’s core room. Throughout the movie’s middle section, we either see Brooklyn fixing the robot and dealing with one of the children, or Nim trying to make her way to Mary Ann ship with the other annoying kid. Instead of kick-ass cyberpunk characters, the film is driven by Masahiro Takashima (who later gives an incredibly bland performance in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2 (1993)) and Brenda Bakke (before appearing in Hot Shots 2 (1993) and having her Lana Turner moment in L.A. Confidential (1997)), who looks great as a commando soldier, but seems underused. On top of that, the movie is dubbed in English, which makes it even harder to watch.

Nevertheless, Gundhed’s main advantages are undoubtedly the visuals. The whole scenography and layout of the facility is simply spectacular, together with the design of Gunhed and Kyron-5’s core. Great special effects and miniature fights done by Koichi Kawakita and combined with great music score guarantee great entertainment, but only at the beginning and the end of the film.

 

Recommendations

If you like cyberpunk in general (and Godzilla as well), you can give it a go, but don’t expect anything exceptional. Gunhed can be watched for action, visuals, and music only. Other than that, it’s just... boring and not engaging in terms of a far-fetched plotline. Recommended for one view as a trivia for Tokusatsu fans.

Overall score: 5/10