SHOCK WAVE -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 12/21/17

 

Bomb squad and hostage crisis stories are always inherently tense to some degree, but SHOCK WAVE, aka "Chai dan zhuan jia" (Cinedigm, 2017), takes things to a whole new level.  It's one of those "through the wringer" experiences that just leaves you...well, wrung out.

Chinese action superstar Andy Lau (THE WARLORDS, BATTLE OF THE WARRIORS) plays veteran bomb defuser extraordinaire J.S. Cheung, whose nerves of steel don't keep him from having a warm heart, as his girlfriend Carmen Li (Jia Song, RED CLIFF) will attest.

They have a nice meet-cute under odd circumstances that lead to a deep relationship which might or might not lead to marriage.  What we're already certain of, if movies like this have taught us anything, is that if there's a big bomb crisis later on in the movie then eventually the girlfriend will get mixed up in it.

Naturally, there's a big bomb crisis later on in the movie, thanks to Cheung's mortal enemy and top bad-guy bomb expert Peng Hong (Wu Jiang), whose brother was sent to prison by Cheung during an undercover assignment. 

Nursing a big, festering grudge against Cheung, Peng Hong plans a massive attack in which Hong Kong's Cross-Harbor Tunnel is taken over and its thousands of hostages threatened with explosive doom unless the imprisoned brother is set free.

What sets SHOCK WAVE apart from most of the other hostage-crisis films is its scale--it looks as though the filmmakers have full use of an actual tunnel filled with automobiles, and the mayhem that occurs inside it will involve all manner of full-scale gun battles, car crashes, and explosions. 

This isn't just some direct-to-video yarn here, but epic, heart-pounding action that exploits every facet of bomb-defusing, hostage negotiating, and all-around shoot-em-up chaos while also exploring all the emotional human elements.  Hostages get killed as do brave cops, and Cheung's character must suffer every tragic loss while feeling partly responsible for it. 

The film begins with a sustained action sequence involving a bank robbery that ends badly.  That leads us into the drawn-out suspense of the tunnel situation which will take up the rest of the film. 

Things slow down in the second half to concentrate on the human side of Cheung's ordeal (including the "girlfriend" part that we knew was coming) as well as exploring other peripheral aspects of the situation, but this just gears us up for one of the most calamitous finales imaginable for a film like this.  I'm talking "intense" in the full sense of the word.

Andy Lau is great as the heroic, likable cop, while Wu Jiang makes an ideal non-cliche' bad guy who loves putting Cheung and the city of Hong Kong through hell.  The rest of the cast are fine as well.
 
Director Herman Yau (THE WOMAN KNIGHT OF MIRROR LAKE, THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN) is in top form throughout, staging it all with brisk bravado and clearly aiming to knock our socks off.  My only complaint is the obvious use of CGI for many of the explosions, which had me yearning for the good old days when they just blew everything up for real. 

Still, SHOCK WAVE is mind-boggling in its mix of human drama with the most nail-biting suspense and explosive, car-crashing, bullet-spraying carnage one could ask for in an action flick.  And after all that, it ends on a note of genuine emotional resonance.  Well done.


SHOCK WAVE DVD BASICS              
Street Date:         January 2, 2018
Language:           Cantonese, Mandarin                      
Runtime:             119 minutes             
Rating:                Not Rated
Subtitles:            English
(Also available in Blu-Ray+DVD)

EXTRAS:
Making-of featurette
Trailer

SHOCK WAVE -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE WARLORDS -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/30/10

 

Drama, intrigue, and bone-crushing battle action combine in THE WARLORDS (2007), a fact-based war epic which takes place in late 1800's China during a terrible civil war.

Pang (Jet Li), a commander in the Ching army, is the sole survivor of a battle against Taiping rebels.  He finds himself allied with a ragtag band of thieves led by Er-Hu (Andy Lau) and Wu-Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro, RED CLIFF), whose village is constantly being raided by the vile General Ho of the Ching forces.  Pang suggests that Er-Hu and his men join the military in order to feed their people and reduce their vulnerability.  Becoming blood brothers, Pang, Er-Hu, and Wu-Yang lead their army in a series of conquests which bring them to the attention of the Imperial Council, a group of deceitful, self-serving old men who profit from the war and don't want it to end.

The blood brothers eventually find their bond severely tested as Er-Hu is shocked by Pang's growing ruthlessness and ambition.  Complicating matters is the fact that Er-Hu's wife Lian (Jinglei Xu) has fallen in love with Pang, which Wu-Yang believes is adversely affecting Pang's decisions as the split between him and Er-Hu widens.  With the Imperial Council wielding their influence behind the scenes, each man chooses a course of action that could lead them to disaster.

THE WARLORDS is beautifully directed and photographed, particularly during the dramatic scenes which take up most of the film's latter half.  But in the earlier battle sequences the emphasis isn't on pictorial splendor or style as much as a gritty, rough-hewn realism.  Beginning with the attack on a Taiping supply convoy by Er-Hu's band of thieves and continuing with their conquest of Shu City--with the group now an army battalion under Pang's command--the film bristles with massive scenes of bloody violence.

There's no dazzling martial arts or fancy swordplay (director Peter Chan consciously avoided the fantasy-tinged "wuxia" style of the Chang Cheh films or even some of the later Chinese historical epics).  This is grueling, blood and thunder, hack and slash battle consisting of crowds of men trying to butcher each other.  The Shu City battle is the action highlight of the film, especially when Jet Li's ferocious General Pang thrusts himself into the thick of things.  A couple of the CGI moments are a little off--when Pang slashes the legs off half a dozen opponents with one swipe, it doesn't look very convincing--but when he hoists up a lit cannon and uses it to blow the hell out of all the enemy's other cannons, it's pretty thrilling.

The rest of the movie concentrates on political intrigue as Pang's rise to power is fueled by conflicting motives and he finds himself at odds with Er-Hu, who only wants justice for the poor and a simple life with Lian.  Wu-Yang is caught in the middle and is forced to take drastic action to preserve their bond, but the Imperial Council pulls all their strings to the very end.

If you're looking for wall-to-wall battle action you'll be disappointed--still, the drama and ultimate tragedy of this story are compelling.  There is, finally, a genuine martial arts battle near the end which is integral to the plot and, again, is depicted very realistically.  All of this is aided considerably by the fine performances of the four leads, with the world-weary, battle-scarred Jet Li proving himself quite capable as a dramatic actor.

The DVD from Magnolia's Magnet label is in 2.35:1 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 English and Mandarin soundtracks.  Subtitles are in English and Spanish.  Extras include the documentary "117 Days: A Production Journal" and deleted scenes.

Depicting a harsh and fascinating era in Chinese history, THE WARLORDS succeeds both as a thrilling war movie and an emotional story of political intrigue and personal tragedy.  It doesn't aspire to the conspicuous visual poetry of a film like RED CLIFF, but instead displays its own straightforward, hard-edged style that's just as effective.

THE WARLORDS -- DVD Review by Porfle

BATTLE OF THE WARRIORS -- DVD review by porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/9/09

 

Director Jacob Cheung stages a sweeping epic of ancient warfare and political intrigue with BATTLE OF THE WARRIORS, aka A Battle of Wits (2006). Despite the somewhat cheesy-sounding new title, this is amazing, superbly-mounted filmmaking on a grand scale, yet the human drama is strong enough not to be overshadowed by the visual opulence.

In the Warring States Era of China circa 370 B.C., the walled city of Liang comes under siege by the vastly superior forces of the conquering Zhao army. In desperation, Liang turns to the Mozi, legendary peacekeeping warriors who are experts at defense, for help. They send one man, Ge Li (Andy Lau).

Ge Li's brilliant tactics allow Liang to defeat the Zhao and drive them into retreat, but Ge Li's growing popularity with the people prompts the despicable king (Zhiwen Wang) to order his execution under false charges. Ge Li escapes with some of his followers, then returns when Liang falls to a surprise second invasion from the Zhao.

Renowned Hong Kong actor Andy Lau, who recently did a fine job as an aging drug kingpin in PROTEGE, makes Ge Li into a heroic and admirable character whose goal is to bring peace to the warring factions. Thus his betrayal by the duplicitous, egotistical king and the subsequent atrocities committed against those loyal to Ge Li are the stuff of classic tragedy.

This is compounded by a doomed love affair between him and a female cavalry officer named Yi Yue (Fan Bingbing), who bitterly rebukes the king and is also sentenced to death. Others who rebel against Ge Li's treatment and suffer the consequences are master archer General Niu Zi Zhang (Siu Ho Chin) and Prince Liang Shi himself (Korean pop star Siu Ho Chin).

As an action film, BATTLE OF THE WARRIORS becomes somewhat anticlimactic about halfway through, right after the battle sequence between the Zhao and the hopelessly outnumbered Liang. As a tragic romance, character study, and political thriller, it remains compelling to the end. Ge Li's relationship with Zhao commander Xiang Yan-zhong (Sung-kee Ahn) is especially interesting--they're rational men who can see warfare for the game that it is, which allows Ge Li to suggest a dispassionate resolution for the commander to consider. Such reason, however, is beyond the king, who continues to use violence and terror to preserve his power.

For me, though, the best part is the siege that takes place during the first half of the film. Part RETURN OF THE KING, part THE ALAMO, with a SEVEN SAMURAI vibe running through it as well, it's a stunning battle sequence using a full-scale set of the walled city and thousands of extras and horses--the kind of exhilarating, old-fashioned epic filmmaking that you just don't see enough of anymore. The Zhao attack is fierce, and Ge Li's amazingly clever strategies for driving them back and finally defeating them are thrilling. (The only drawback, naturally, is some hinky CGI that pops up here and there.) A couple of subsequent battle scenes in the latter half of the film--including the rather fanciful sight of enemy warriors floating over the city's walls in little hot air balloons--are there mainly to serve the story and don't generate nearly as much excitement.

Director Cheung keeps the camera moving with a succession of impressive shots, and the cinematography by Yoshitaka Sakamoto is fine. Opulent set design and authentic costumes add to the visual splendor. The musical score by Kenji Kawai is powerful and evocative.

Dragon Dynasty presents the film on a single disc in 2.35:1 widescreen with Mandarin Dolby 5.1 and English Dolby 5.1 sound. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish. Bonus features consist of a lengthy featurette, "The Making of Battle of the Warriors", and an informative commentary track by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan.

With Andy Lau's fine lead performance, technical excellence in all areas, and a story that combines rich human drama with some of the most awe-inspiring battle scenes of recent years, BATTLE OF THE WARRIORS is an intense and memorable film.

BATTLE OF THE WARRIORS -- DVD review by porfle

"SHOCK WAVE" With Andy Lau -- China’s #1 Box Office Hit on Blu-ray & Digital Jan 2

HONG KONG SUPERSTAR ANDY LAU HEADLINES
PULSE-POUNDING THRILLER

"SHOCK WAVE"

China’s #1 Box Office Hit Explodes onto Blu-ray™ & Digital January 2

“Takes no prisoners when it comes to delivering high-octane action” -- The Star

(Los Angeles, CA) – Blockbuster star Andy Lau (The Great Wall, House of Flying Daggers), one of Hong Kong’s most commercially successful actors ever, headlines the edge-of-seat thriller SHOCK WAVE, arriving on Blu-ray™ & Digital January 2 from Cinedigm (NASDAQ: CIDM) and Crimson Forest Films.

Written and directed by Herman Yau (IP Man: The Legend Is Born), with both Yau and Lau as producers, the spellbinding action film captured the #1 box office spot in China and Hong Kong when it hit theaters earlier this year. With a $23 million budget, SHOCK WAVE has become Hong Kong’s second-highest grossing domestic film of 2017 and was celebrated as “disarmingly entertaining” by The Hollywood Reporter.

Set on the busy streets of Hong Kong, Lau stars as Cheung Choi-san, a bomb disposal expert working to protect his city from attack. When a terrorist who specializes in explosives, Hung Kai-pang (Jiang Wu, A Touch of Sin), takes hold of the busy Cross-Harbor Tunnel, he threatens to kill hostages if his demands are not met.

The third collaboration between Yah and Lau, SHOCK WAVE holds an 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes and is praised for its high-octane drama that put Lau in a 70-pound bomb disposal suit during filming. The Blu-ray™ + DVD Combo includes an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, including an interview with Lau.

WATCH THE OFFICIAL TRAILER:

SHOCK WAVE BLU-RAY™ + DVD BASICS                
Price:                  $22.97

Street Date:         January 2, 2018
Language:           Cantonese, Mandarin                      
Runtime:             119 minutes             
Rating:                Not Rated
Subtitles:            English

SHOCK WAVE DVD BASICS                   
Price:                  $16.97

Street Date:         January 2, 2018
Language:           Cantonese, Mandarin                      
Runtime:             119 minutes             
Rating:                Not Rated
Subtitles:            English

"SHOCK WAVE" With Andy Lau -- China’s #1 Box Office Hit on Blu-ray & Digital Jan 2

Andy Lau Fights Security to Protect A Fan!

Lest people say its not a big deal, that stage is a decent height and he easily could have messed his leg up. Andy Lau is a pretty good human being and that was a cool thing he did for a fan. He's also a great actor too :). He handled the situation in a very respectful way afterwards (saying the fan was wrong, but not being mean, and not ragging on security, and still at the same time ensuring fans don't follow the attempt).



http://asianfanatics.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=493215

The incident happened at Andy Lau's Mainland China concert tour, its last stop at Chengdu.
Since the start of the concert the fans were already very enthusiastic, until the encore segment where it's was going to be the last song and dance, everybody stood up and rushed towards the stage.

One particular male fan got through and managed to get onto the front of the stage to shake hand and give flowers to Andy
When the security and ploice noticed that somebody managed to get onto the stage and grab hold onto Andy, they immediately went to get him. Clip from Youtube shows security not only tried to drag him away, they punched him and kicked him.

Andy, seeing this from the stage, asked them not to take force against the fan. On the Youtube, you can hear that Andy stopped singing and says "Stop!" When he saw that they did not respond, he jumped off the stage to protect that fan. It resulted a chaos as some of the crew member, security guards and Andy's personal security guards got into a fight. In result, Andy could not carry on singing as he personally had to bring that fan to the back to prevent the security guards from getting to him.

The video has been circulated and has tons of hits. It is believed that Andy is the only singer in the world that care-less of his safety to jump off the stage to rescue the fan.
After returning to the stage, the audience continued their screaming as they looked Andy as a hero, they kept screaming "Wah Zai I Love You", upon seeing Andy jumping off from such a high stage and safely returning to the stage, furthermore could continue to sing and dance, it shows that he didn't injured himself.

Later, Andy said on stage: "I know these securities and policemen are here for the good of all of you, I apologize to let you all worry, I'm okay! I'm very good! There is rules for concert, no matter how enthusiastic the fans are, I hope that you remember the importance of safety, there's no need to rushed forward and do anything against the rules, if all of you love me and support me,I knew all of that, if you want to get close to me, it is not difficult, join Andy World Club,we can always meet in my fan club gathering! Please don't use any un-safe methods to make me worry and also put the securities and policemen in a difficult position."

After the concert ended, Andy initially thought he could celebrate the success of his last stop, however such matter spolit his feelings. He said: "When I see the fan being pushed and hit by the policemen, I was shell shocked, I immediately asked them to stop but nobody listen to me, thus I jumped off the stage.

The fan was wrong as he should not break through the line and come onto the stage, but he did this to show he supported me. I was worried what the securities would do to punish him, so I jumped off the stage and told them to let this matter go, just forgive him once."
Andy said that he knew that many fans will be worried upon seeing him jumped off the stage, it also scared several crew members, thinking back it's quite risky on his part, luckily he's not injured.

He quipped: "When the concert just started, I just promise the fans that I'll take good care of myself as I would not do any dangerous stunts, unexpectedly until the encore I performed a dangerous stunt, it must have scared the 60,000 audience, I apologize for that!"

Andy Lau Fights Security to Protect A Fan!