aka The Prisoner
(1990)
Reviewed By-Paul Cooke Director : Chu Yin Ping
Scripted : Lee Fu & Yun Chiao Yeh Starring : Jackie Chan , Sammo Hung , Andy Lau , Tony Leung , Jimmy Wang Yu , Chun-Hsiung Ko & Chung Hua Tou
An Asian film fans dream ticket as Director Chu Yin Ping brings together many of the contemporary superstars who became box office giants in their own right , spanning many decades of Hong Kong cinema , for a one time serving of prison rice and a double helping of brutality. Tony Leung plays a police officer who’s girlfriend is the daughter of a commissioner instigating an investigation into corruption helmed by the warden at a state prison. Leung’s character , Andy goes undercover when the commissioner is murdered by an assassin who appears to have been declared dead some two years earlier !.Whilst Andy is processed through the state system for inflicting bodily harm on a gang of thugs , prisoner Sammo Hung , amusingly typecast with the moniker of Fatty , is captivating the guards with his culinary skills which allows an opportunist route of escape in order for him to see his son on his birthday. Enter Jackie Chan as a champion pool player complete with a Seventies pop styled Abba hair cut playing for Money , Money , Money as the playboy in a Rich Man’s World. Jackie’s role as Steve Tong is anachronistically characteristic down to the self mocking perception of having a taller girlfriend , to whom he amusingly asks to remove her high heels in public.
Tong’s world is thrown into turmoil when he refuses to throw a pool game and the mob put his girlfriend into hospital following a fracas , which briefly shows off Jackie’s fighting skills as a warm up for the main event to come. Without the money to pay for a life saving operation Steve Tong enters a big stake card game , only for tragedy to follow as the club manager is accidentally killed when he and his minions refuse to let Tong walk away with the winnings.
When Tong is thrown into the state penitentiary he is soon fighting for his life as the club owner , who is the big brother of the man killed and none other than Andy Lau , puts the inside word on him. What soon transpires is a rarely seen and uncharacteristic role play from Chan , as he strikes a persona against type portraying a serious demeanour that is as fiercely diverse a role you are ever likely to see from him. Watch wide eyed and with gapping jaw as Jackie Chan head butts , knife fights and takes bloody blow for blow from both inmates and guards alike as he literally sweats blood in this aggressive and antagonistic role.
With the inceptive mini scenarios playing out to set the plot for the main players interaction , it is at the mid film point with the introduction of none other than the legendary Jimmy Wang Yu , as the respected prison inmate and Mr. Big , that the knowledgeable audience and newcomer get the optimal rush and true value for money as the star package department truly is brimming over.
Adorned with upper body tattoos and a scar face , that even Al Pacino daren’t say hello to his little friend about , Jimmy Wang Yu sits up from his paltry bed in solitary confinement , cracks open an egg and applies the white to his hair as he then coolly slicks it back with a comb. The cell door opens , his time in the hole is served and a return to the fold is anticipated by his fellow prisoners. The present warden verbally tests the resolve of this stoic man known as Lucas , to be measurably outsmarted with the self-assured retort , ‘You’re the kind of guy who can fart that doesn’t have to shit to back it up’. With that the value of your entrance to the movie auditorium is instantly repaid two fold , as one of the true classic intros in Eastern film history fabulously unfolds. The legendary ‘One Armed Swordsman’ himself steals the show with his cameo , and the name Jimmy Wang Yu may also be seen in the credits as Producer of the movie.
With plot and players established the characters soon play off each other within the prison and Tony Leung’s allegiance to his police identity is overruled by his responsibilities as a human being , as he witnesses first hand the brutality and corruption that the guards abuse their position with all under the iron resolve of the despotic warden. A mutual respect bonds between Lucas and Andy which affords the undercover officer a protective leverage from those still seeking to do him harm. The armistice also reaches out to Tong until police bribery enables Boss Lee , as portrayed by Andy Lau , to gain entrance to the prison following an assault on a gullible and covetous officer. The resulting clash between Lee and Tong is a frenetically violent excursion into the realms of a pre ‘Fight Club’ setting that in turn sets two customarily recognised good guys against one another , in a truly brutal one on one knife fight that with incisive manifestation displays several bloody incisions in uncompromising detail.
All the while the likeable personage of Sammo Hung’s Fatty is carrying out his ‘Cool Hand Luke’ escapist routine at every opportunity with growing ingenuity until it itself embroils itself in deception with reverberating consequences that shape the motives of the surviving elite members of the cast in the explosive ‘Wild Geese’ thematic final reel. With the warden throwing stars Leung , Lau , Hung and Chan together in a completely left of field finale their characters bond in a stirring action highlight that exposes everything around them , but not without fatal casualties. The emotive end play is of the get up out of your chair to cheer the good guys variety that is rewarding in its final judgment.
The overall production value of the finished product is creditable right down to the use of suitably applied dubbed voices for this release , and even the English name translation for Tony Leung's character as Andy Lau may be forgiven , albeit that fans of star Andy Lau may become bemusingly confused. The attributes of loyalty , honour and friendship were not just generated for cinematic financial reward as apparently those same fine qualities brought together all involved as a fund raising venture. The actors and film makers rates were base and profits were passed on which makes the pleasure in seeing ‘Island On Fire’ all the more rewarding an experience as its non compromising premise of corruption is stood up to both on and off screen , and proves the power of human nature to be at its very best when pooled together in adversity.
Released to DVD here as ‘The Prisoner’ this movie should at the very least be emancipated from your local film hiring library , if not added to your collection just for the sheer quality of big name stars not likely to be brought together again this side of a Golden Harvest.
Release : Columbia Tristar Home Video Coding : NTSC Region One Sound : Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 / Dolby Surround 2.0 Extras : English Dubbed / Letterbox 1:85:1 Ratio / Audio Commentary Track With Martial Arts Expert Phillip Rhee / Talent Files / Theatrical Trailer / Optional English Or Spanish Subtitles / French Dubbed Track
Film: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS Picture: 4.0 BITCH SLAPS Sound: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS Extras: 2.5 BITCH SLAPS Overall: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS
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