Red Wolf (2-Disc Special Collector's Edition) [1995] [DVD]

Very enjoyable. It reminded me of an early John Woo film, very violent with slow-mo cuts. Shame it is dubbed, but nothing is perfect. If you like all action, little plot and with lots of gun play, then watch this.

Very Good

Great film really enjoyed it.

Good

When the Grim Reaper turns up at my door to claim my soul for the beyond I will ask him if I can have back the hour and a half I spent watching this. Looking at the list of people involved in this I had reasonably high expectations. These were dashed within minutes of the film starting.The acting is dire, the action set pieces are very formulaic and very lack lustre and it looks like a large portion of the cast would really rather be somewhere else. The performances of all the cast except for the main male and female villains was laughable. The hero was completely without any charisma and what was the point of the child - you knew what was going to happen to her almost before the film started.There were several scenes of flash backs and characters questioning themselves and their lives which really didn't fit in at all. They served to interrupt and annoy rather than to enlighten.The martial arts scenes looked tired and obviously staged. I know all of these things are staged and planned out beforehand but these looked it and looked as though they hadn't really been practiced.In short, I wouldn't bother with this one.

A cruise-liner security guard (Kenny Ho, who has starred with Jackie Chan in some of his earlier movies) who had his wife brutally murdered whilst in his previous occupation as a policeman, is forced to go into action once again as the aforementioned ship is taken over by a terrorist gang led by the first officer (played by Ngai Sing). It turns out that the only staff member he can trust is a golden-hearted-bit-ditzy pickpocket waitress (Christy Chung).If that all sounds very 'Die Hard' then you would be in for a shock at the hard-core action in this (it is a Hong Kong movie after all), and, being directed by the now-very-well-known Yuen Woo-Ping (action choreographer of 'The Matrix' and 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon') you expect some superb action sequences, which certainly do not disappoint, and Elaine Lui (who guest-starred in a couple of episodes of Sammo Hung's TV series 'Martial Law') gets to kick butt and play a baddie with some relish.It's a pity the movie is a little on the brief side, though, and that the adrenaline rush that Hong Kong fans yearn for is not quite there.Being one of Hong Kong Legends' Platinum Editions, there are hordes of extras including the usual interviews and documentaries (although I've not seen them at the time of writing, but there are a lot more of them), and the very welcome return of audio-commentary regular and Hong Kong Cinema expert Bey Logan, this time accompanied by Christy Chung. Of course there is also the option to watch the cartoon-show dub edit or the preferable Cantonese version with subtitles.

What do you get when you cross legendary action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping (here directing rather than choreographing) with the plot of Speed 2, a bland leading man, an immensely irritating leading lady, an obnoxious and untalented child actress and some tired and uninspired action scenes? Unfortunately, the answer is a complete waste of time. Probably a career low for all concerned, it's a real slog getting through to the end of this surprisingly cheap-looking and occasionally amateurish mess, all hope that it will get better being continually thwarted as it staggers from tired action scene to tired action scene. And how can you root for a hero who is so inept that, despite being head of security on a liner, fails to prevent the villains killing every single one of the passengers and crew except the aforementioned irritating females - probably the two people most audience members will want out of the picture and fast?Worse than Speed 2 - yes, you read that right: even worse than Speed 2. Not worth the time of day. The only redeeming feature is the second disc of excellent extras on Hong Kong Legends DVD, which are infinitely superior to the film they grace.