Heroic Cops
Richard Ng Tao: Chow Yun-Fat
Yung Ah Pang: Danny Lee Sau-Yin
Mak Kay: Ng Man Tat
IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0077772
other links:
Version reviewed: VHS
Ratings:
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;
VHS Audio: 6 of 10
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;
VHS Video: 4 of 10
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;
Subtitles: 6 of 10
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;
Story: 5 of 10
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;
Performances: 5 of 10
nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;
CYF: 3 of 10
Psycho killer, q'est que c'est?
While CYF has played many characters in his career who do particularly nasty
things, none of the actual characters have been really nasty - except Richard Ng Tao.
This is a guy who kills not only because he gets paid to do it, but
you get the feeling he really, really enjoys his work. In one scene about an
hour into the movie, CYF handcuffs the 'heroic cop' Ah Pang (played by Danny Lee) to a tree root, then
kicks, punches, stomps, hops up and down on and just generally abuses poor
Ah Pang, all the while grinning, fluttering his famous eyebrows
up and down and laughing like a maniac as he does so. Oh, and did I mention that
he urinates in his face afterward? Not your typical
CYF role. There's no crisis of conscience here.
The basic plot of Heroic Cops is pretty banal, but the devil-may-care
grin of Danny Lee and Chow Yun-Fat's absolutely bizarre performance (I didn't say good,
I said bizarre) make this a really entertaining movie. You get to see
a young and really skinny Danny Lee wearing a daishiki, a young and really
skinny Chow Yun-Fat wearing bell-bottoms and stacked heel loafers, a young and... er...
somewhat skinny Ng Man Tat with a big curly BeeGees shag sort of thing going on AND you get
to hear the Chinese version of Stayin' Alive! What more could you want?
Made in 1978, Heroic Cops just reeks with '70s style - digital watches, references
to computers, disco lights, ugly clothes. It's a lot of fun to see some of the
stable of future HK luminaries in their earlier days (Danny Lee, CYF, Paul Chun Pai,
Ng Man Tat and even Deannie Yip with curlers in her hair, if I'm not mistaken)
making what is essentially a sincere movie about the struggles of
the Royal Hong Kong Police Force against organized crime (not any particular
triad, just rich guys with lots of influence). There are some court scenes which
tend to be a little static, an obvious lack of budget does make for some small
distractions now and then (like the hand-lettered sign on a door which reads "Homicide
Department" in Magic Marker on typing paper), but there is plenty of action to counteract
the less exciting moments. Danny Lee is amusing and intense by turns, as is characteristic
of this fine and often overlooked actor. The scene in which he discovers his wife
cowering in a corner after a brutal rape and comforts her is touching, and his portrayal
of the grief of Ah Pang at the senseless death of his superior officer is honest and
emotional.
While the ending is a little downbeat (a suicide, a cop is disabled for life, and
CYF meets a particularly gruesome end at the wrong end of an axe), this is a film
worth watching if you want to see CYF beating the living crap out of people for the
heck of it, if you like Danny Lee's sly humor or if you just like Chinese cop
movies.
And there are some great shots of CYF bending over in really tight pants. That alone
was worth the price of the movie for me.
go to the image gallery for this film
nbsp;
go to film review index
nbsp;
return to top page
email the page maintainer