Huo shao dao (1990)

Director:

Yen-ping Chu

Writers:

Lee Fu (writer)
Domonic Muir (dubbed version)

Release Date:

April 1992 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

When you're looking for the living dead you start your search in hell!

Plot:

A cop goes undercover to infiltrate a deadly prison where a team of mercernaries is being assembled.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Corruption | Warden | Chain Gang | Martial Arts

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Lung / Steve Tong
Andy Lau	...	Lau / Boss Lee
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	...	Fatty Liu Hsi Chia / John Liu
Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	Wei Wang / Andy Lau
Yu Wang	...	Kui / Lucas
Chun Hsiung Ko	...	Prison Chief / Prison Superintendent (as Chun-Hsiung Ko)
Chung Hua Tou	...	Chiu / Charlie
Barry Wong	...	Inspector Wong
Chuan Chen Yeh	...	Fong
Jack Kao	...	Ho

Also Known As:

Island of Fire (International: English title)
Jackie Chan Is the Prisoner (USA) (video title)
The Burning Island
The Prisoner (Europe: English title) (video title)
When Dragons Meet

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

Hong Kong:93 min | USA:96 min | Taiwan:125 min

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Cantonese | English | Tagalog | Filipino

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:15 (video premiere) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Blaine and Blake Ltd.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Bad Boys (1983)

One Of The Most Underrated Jackie Chan Films Ever!(not really a Chan film though)

Rated R for Violence and Language. Quebec Rating:13+ Canadian Home Video Rating:18A

I saw The Prisoner yesterday night on Showcase Action.I'm surprised at the low rating.It should be in the 6's or 7's.Now I am going to say this now.This is not a Jackie Chan film or a Martial Arts film.The VHS's and DVD's have Jackie Chan's face on the cover and the film is called Jackie Chan's The Prisoner.But Jackie Chan is definitely not the main star of the film.He is a supporting actor who does have some fairly memorable scenes.This was the third film Jackie Chan had to do for actor Jimmy Wang Yu.The first was The Killer Meteors in 1976,then Fantasy Mission Force in 1982 and this film.Out of those three Jackie Chan films I must say that this was the best.Also the film is not a martial arts film.It is a gritty and violent prison film with profanity and violence but it does have some small traces of humor in it.The US release has some obvious scenes cut out.The film has a fairly good storyline.The film is about a man who'se girlfriends father got killed by some thugs.To find out who he must go to prison and explore the prison underworld.He does so by beating up a pimp.While he is there he meets and makes friends and enemies with the prisoners.That is one of the stories of the film.There are three stories related to the film.The second story is about another prisoner(Sammo Hung) who tries to escape from prison to see his son at boarding school.The third story is about a pool hustler(Jackie Chan) who gets into a fight with some triads for not losing.His girlfriend then gets stabbed by one of them.She needs a liver-transplant in 24hrs.So Jackie Chan tries gambling but after th others want to win back their money he gets into a fight with them and he himself ends up in prison.The Prisoner is a very underrated and good prison film with a fairly good storyline.The ending sort of came out of nowhere but whatever.The prisoner is a very good gritty and violent prison film which Jackie Chan is not the star of and I recommend it!

Runtime:96min

10/10