Treasure Hunt (1994)
"Hua qi Shao Lin" (original title)

A C.I.A. agent is assigned to go to Beijing to look for a hidden "treasure," which turns out to be a woman who has supernatural powers, and is the National Treasure of China.

Director:

Jeffrey Lau

Writer:

Jeffrey Lau

Stars:

Yun-Fat Chow, Chien-lien Wu, Chia Hui Liu

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Chang Ching (as Chow Yun Fat)
Chien-lien Wu	...	Mei
Chia Hui Liu	...	Abbot Hung Chi (as Gordon Liu)
Philip Kwok	...	Kung Ching, the Cab Driver
Han Chin	...	Tong Ling
Roy Chiao	...	Uncle Bill
Michael Wong	...	Michael
George Saunders	...	Johnson
Giorgio Pasotti	...	American Monk
Jun Kunimura	...	Yakuza Boss
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bo Ka
Chun-Hong Lam
Jeffrey Lau
Alex Sheafe	...	Mr. Ford
Yu Tsai	...	Grasshopper

Storyline

A C.I.A. agent is assigned to go to Beijing to look for a hidden "treasure," which turns out to be a woman who has supernatural powers, and is the National Treasure of China.

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Plot Keywords:

national treasure | cia agent | supernatural | snow | hand to hand combat | 

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Romance

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Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin English Japanese

Release Date:

29 January 1994 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

National Treasure

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eastern Renaissance Pictures, Golden Princess Film Production Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The book that Chang Ching (Chow Yun Fatt) gives to Mei (Chien-lien Wu) is "Shanghai Bund", a novel that based on the TV drama series that Chow Yun Fatt found fame in. Chow Yun Fatt played the character of Hui Man Keung which was mention by Mei in this movie.

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Connections

References E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

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Soundtracks

"Reflections of Passion"
by Yanni

User Reviews

a kung-fu chick flick?

This sure is a strange mix, though it works as a pleasant passtime.

Although it is not unusual for kung-fu movies to have a romance in the story line, this one does spend an unusual amount of time in romantic interludes where not a lot happens except flowers, stars, snow, and two hearts beating as one. The fights which do occur are brisk and well choreographed but not gory - even the gory, ruthless action is mostly bloodless. And the mandatory kung-fu philosophical dialogues are mixed up with some quite unexpected western arguments.

That this odd patchwork flows along successfully is something of an achievement for the director and actors. It will never be a great film, but if you just want to kick back and enjoy a short film with some nice scenery, good looking actors, and are not in the mood for something heavy, this might be it.

The actors have done better work elsewhere if you want more serious fare. See Chien-Lien Wu in Eat Drink Man Woman. See Yun-Fat Chow in Hard Boiled or A Better Tomorrow.

The DVD is clear and sound is unremarkable. The music is repetitive and simple, but only invades the romantic interludes. I chose the Mandarin sound track which sometimes was odd since parts of the dialog are supposed to be in English or Cantonese (which is what the actors were using) and the translation couldn't make up its mind which to use at times. The English subtitles were occasionally mistimed or ungrammatical but generally clear.