Reviews & Ratings for
From Beijing with Love More at IMDbPro »Gwok chaan Ling Ling Chat (original title)

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16 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Hong Kong action at it's silliest, 3 June 2000
Author: grross from Rosewood, Australia

If you have ever watched a James Bond film and aren't all that particular about having a believable plot then you will more than likely find this to be a screamingly funny film. It sends up the genre and makes no apologies,from the over the top villain, to a 'Q' clone who borders on the insane,to a Femme Fatale of questionable allegiance this film has it all. A definite must see for anyone who likes a good laugh.

11 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
yay! another Stephen Chow movie!, 17 October 2002
Author: secrective from detroit

Standard comedy about a wannabe spy who gets double crossed by his boss, except hes got a chopper (butcher knife) and knows how to use it!

The plot is pretty thin, but this is still a funny movie, as are most of Chow's movies. Be sure to add this to any Stephen Chow marathons you might be hosting, otherwise, you can miss this one for another of his better films.

7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Timeless comedy made in 1994, 11 September 2005

Author: Maomao from Singapore

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I have watched this movie on cable television re-runs several times and is always amused by the comedy. I have a high humour threshold and have to admit that 'From Bejing With Love' meets my expectations.

The living room scene where Siu Kam (played by Anita Yuen) tries to shoot Ling Ling Chai (played by Stephen Chow) is extremely funny. She was greeted by a reverse shot by the gun. Ling Ling Chai heard the gunshot and turns around to explain to her that the gun shoots the opposite direction. While Ling Ling Chai is testing the gun's silencer, Siu Kam points the gun towards herself and shoots Ling Ling Chai again. To our surprise, she gets shot again. Ling Ling Chai explains that the gun's bullet alternates every shot. Looking defeated and injured, Siu Kam runs comically into the toilet with both her arms badly wounded.

Another scene worth mentioning is when Ling Ling Chai enters the bathroom while Siu Kam is wrapped in a towel. Ling Ling Chai with a smoking pipe and two iron balls resting on his palm, looks cool. (In the early days of Chinese gangsterism, a stereotyped powerful boss usually rotates two iron balls on a palm.) The angry Siu Kam tells him to close the bathroom door. Ling Ling Chai closes the door but he is still inside the bathroom. Siu Kam shouts him to get out and close the door.

Towards the end of the movie, Ling Ling Chai was in a party function and tries to take a glass of wine from the waiter's platter. However someone took it before he has the chance. Then Ling Ling Chai and the waiter looks at the platter, waiting for a miracle to happen. This is actually a parody of the famous Guinness beer commercial endorsed by George Lam.

Made in 1994, this movie is still a classic. With several notable comical 'nonsense' scenes and the funny scene of 'extinguish cigarette butt on a hand' that was repeated in Shaolin Soccer (2001).

Mao points: 9/10

9 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
Almost a perfect parody..., 29 December 2001

Author: CronoClone (newlogic@earthlink.net) from New York

In the grand tradition of Get Smart, we have here a wonderfully wacky send-up of 007 action films. For the first roughly 2/3 of the movie, I was literally rolling out of my seat laughing with this film's ontarget, brilliant skewerings of spy film cliches. As much as I hate to say it, though, at the 2/3 point the film begins to lose its focus. It starts to concentrate too heavily on creating the Bond mood, and consequently ends up being far too serious. Up until that point, though, it was really something special. The only other qualm I have is that it is far, far too violent. You have fingers getting sliced off, a man getting glass shoved into his face, necks being slashed, etc. Heck, just as the movie is building its comedic potential, a minor character gets brutally stabbed in the head. Had this been done in an over-the-top manner, it could have been very funny, like the Black Knight scene in Holy Grail. But they instead opted for a hyper-realistic look, that, when introduced into a heavily comedic environment, presents an uncomfortable clash of styles and makes the often startling violence uniquely disturbing and grotesque. Still, if you can overlook its flaws, this is definitely a movie worth seeing.

4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Very funny...until, 17 September 2007

Author: moviemaniac2002 from United States

Caught this on DVD the other day...and I was laughing and smiling until the shopping mall sequence...where it abruptly shifted gears and positively reveled in cruelty and heartbreak...and then went back to being a goofy(but still blood-soaked) spoof. Well , I guess that 's part of the craziness of Hong Kong cinema that we all love....and I'm still smiling about the hilarious weapons and gadgets...the "solar flashlight" is priceless. Well worth seeing. Bond fans will love the riotous imitation of Maurice Binder's main title visuals...opening action sequence is as good as anything you'd see in a Bond film and Anita Yuen makes an adorable foil/adversary/partner for Chow. (But as I said, it is pure Stephen Chow nutball fun...like the guys who made "Shaun Of The Dead" and "Hot Fuzz", Chow takes no prisoners when he's out to bend a genre inside out and backwards.)

Very good Spoof movie, 25 May 2011

Author: princebansal1982 from India

Beijing with Love is very good spoof of Bond movies with references to other movies like Star Wars and Terminator thrown in.

As the movie started I though I was going to be disappointed as the action scenes were cheesy. But the movie hugely improves when Stephen Chow appears on the screen. He single-handedly carries the whole movie on his shoulders.

From Beijing with Love is not as good as Chow's other movies like Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. But it is still very entertaining and definitely much better than all the lame spoofs coming out of Hollywood now days featuring Carmen Electra.

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
It's a terrific movie, 5 August 2009

Author: brasco-5 from China

I think Stephen Chow is the most genius director and actor in Hong KONG,China. The way he demonstrate something is first class in Hong Kong. After seen all 9 comments i want to say something about the "gore" and something else that make some people feel uncmofortable.Actually this film has criticism to Hongkong films through the contrast of two kinds of performance,make-up,consum and other things. You can find the different way to perform violence.The shot of the robbery in the mall has nearly no blood but only with the way criminals eat,silence and few words the horror can be felt.And the next scene is the usually way diretors used in Hongkong,two people was stabbed with knives in their body and one people was sliced off his fingers.But this scene cant be compared to the previous one with respect to convulse in the audience. There is another example.The bullet removal scene nearly don't have any detail about the wound.They haven't shot the wound since they begin to work but the pain can be still strongly felt. That is what i talk about, Stephen Chow want to say performance is the best way to impress audience.The excessive detailed scene without decent performance backfired. Watch carefully,the difference of two rhythms of conversation, ways they make up, switches of scenes can be found in the movie.

3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
A nice spoof on James Bond Stephen Chow style, 18 July 2007

Author: chrichtonsworld from Netherlands

As many of Stephen Chow movies this movie is some sort of parody! This time James Bond has to answer! The way Stephen Chow makes fun of the perfect Bond is something you have to see for your selves! In stead of being a skilled shooter Stephen Chow is skilled in using a butcher knife! He has all sort of gadgets which aren't very useful! As a spoof it isn't entirely perfect! Most of the jokes were lost to me since you have to know Chinese to understand! The subtitles that came with the movie weren't good translations! The comedy in this movie isn't as visual as most of Stephen Chow's work but it is still funnier than other movies like this! There are some brilliant scenes that are typical of Stephen Chow's talent (as a comedian! This movie is nice enough but not quite up to the level of Chows's usual work! (I give this 6,5 out of 10)

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Don't bother, 12 September 2012

Author: countvasquez from Germany

I am amazed about the fairly high ratings this rather boring picture got. As far as James Bond spoofs go this one is forgettable. It suffers partly from being a JB parody - JB is in itself a parody - and more from an uneven script which can't decide if the main hero is a kind of Uber James Bond (with knives) OR kind of stumbling wannabee (Get Smart, Austin Powers).

The suits remember more (bad taste) gangsters of the 70s than Secret Agent "dressed to kill"-code.

For better spoofs from Hong Kong try "Magnificent Warriors" (Indy Jones "coveress").

Rating 3.5/10

3 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
James Bond meets Austin Powers, 1 January 2001

Author: Buddhi Fonseka from Australia

When I first saw this film I didn't know what to make of it - is it a Chinese James Bond or is it a Chinese Austin Powers. Well its neither and both at the same time if you get the drift.

Nevertheless it is totally insanely funny with its very silly plot and characters that had no credibility and I really enjoyed watching it. Fairly violent - but what else would you expect from a Hong Kong action film.

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