Long man sha shou tze yo ren (1990)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Phillip Ko

Writers:

Ryoichi Ikegami (comic)
Kazuo Koike (comic)

Genre:

Action

Plot Keywords:

Based On Comic

Cast

Marcus Fox	...	Yakuza fighter
Kenichi Ishida
Phillip Ko	...	Chan Ben
Cheung Lak
Siu-Ming Lau	...	Uncle Pa
Carman Lee	...	Carmen
Yasuyoshi Shikamura
Joey Wang	...	Emu
Simon Yam	...	Yo

Also Known As:

Crying Freeman: Killer's Romance
Killer's Romance (Hong Kong: English title)
Long man sa sau ji yau yan (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Hong Kong | UK

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:18

Company:

Regent Film Limited

Movie Connections:

Version of Kuraingu furîman (1988)

Quintessential Hong Kong film

Check this out if you love HK gangster flicks. This one has it all: evil Japanese, swordfighting, acrobatic gunplay, love, honor, betrayal, kneecap shooting, and ancestor disrespecting, all topped off with a bittersweet finale! Basically plays like a low-rent version of "The Killer". The action is slow to build, coming mainly in the film's second half, but once it starts, it doesn't let up. Somewhat imitative of John Woo's stylings during the gunfights, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Certainly not in the same class as Woo, Lam, or Hark's best work, but a lot more satisfying and exciting than "The Replacement Killers". The DVD from Tai Seng is cheap, but it's also dubbed, fullscreen, and a poor transfer to boot. Still, I consider it 6 bucks well spent on a film I'll definitely watch again.