God Of Gamblers (1989)

Chow Yun-Fat plays Ko Chun, an extremely talented and well known gambler. On the eve of a big confrontation with a famous Singaporean gambler, Ko walks into a trap set by Knife, an avid but a so-so gambler meant for an Indian servant. Struck on the head, Ko suffers from amnesia and regresses to a child-like state. Knife, not knowing who Ko is, takes him in and gives him a name, Chocolate, since Ko now has an over-obsessive love for chocolate. When Knife sees Ko’s talent with cards he begins to exploit his abilities. Will Ko be able to reclaim his memories before his enemies find out where he is and try and kill him.

One of Chow Yun-Fat’s best loved roles as a professional gambler who loses his memory after an accident. A nice combination of comedy and great action sequences make this a brilliant HK flick. A must see for Chow Yun-Fat and Andy Lau fans.

Sadako’s Rating: 4 out of 5

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Hard Boiled (1992)

Chow Yun-Fat is Inspector Tequila, whose partner is killed in a tea house gunfight with a small army of gangsters led by Johnny Wong. One of the mob’s high-ranking assassins is the undercover cop Alan, who must team up with Tequila for their common pursuit of taking down Wong’s crime syndicate. The film leads up to a climax in a hospital, where the two must rescue innocent civilians and newborn babies from the maternity ward while fighting off dozens of mob hitmen.

Before he came to Hollywood, director John Woo was famed for his stylish violent action movies in Hong Kong. This movie is one of the best he directed there and the last he did before heading overseas. Team him up with Chow Yun Fat and you were guaranteed to have a hit movie on your hands. Full of intense action and gunfight sequences, it probably is the best action movie ever. Chow Yun Fat oozes coolness as the tough cop trying to destroy the Triad member that killed his partner. Who cares if it seems far fetched at times with Chow Yun Fat seemingly never having to reload his gun as it has unlimited bullets! The set pieces are breathtaking to watch especially the chase through the hospital with a baby in his arms. I cannot recommend this highly enough for action junkies. It’s a bona-fide classic.

Sadako’s Rating: 5 out of 5

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A Better Tomorrow II (1988)

The sequel sees Tse-Ho working together with brother Tse-Kit to help the police break a counterfeit syndicate. They discover Lung is in danger of being killed by his employee, Ko, who is masterminding the counterfeit operations. They send Lung to a former assassin-turned-restaurant-owner Ken (Chow Yun-Fat) in New York. Everything boils to a fiery climax when Ken brings Lung home to face off with Ko with the help of Ho and Kit.

Even better than the original with Chow Yun Fat back not as Mark (as he was dead at the end of the first movie) but as his twin brother Ken. It’s a superb heroic bloodshed movie with an absolutely massive body count and the bullets are flying left, right and centre. A definite action classic and one of John Woo’s best movies. The final shootout at Ko’s mansion is IMHO one of the most exciting gun battles I’ve ever seen on celluloid. Action fans do not miss out on this brilliant movie.

Sadako’s Rating: 5 out of 5

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Tiger On The Beat (1988)

The comedy action film revolves around veteran Hong Kong CID inspector Francis played by Chow Yun Fat who is grudgingly teamed up with new hotshot Michael in order to root out a violent gang of cocaine smugglers.

Brilliant HK action comedy with Chow Yun Fat at his comedic best! This is a comedy first and action crime drama second. Fast paced with exciting set pieces. Plenty of firefights and martial arts. There’s a superb climatic fight at the villain’s den which includes duelling chainsaws. Thoroughly enjoyable. They don’t make em like they used to anymore.

Sadako’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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