Zhong Nan Hai bao biao (1994)

Directors:

Kazuya Konaka
Corey Yuen

Writers:

Gordon Chan (screenplay)
Kin Chung Chan (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 July 1994 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action

Plot:

A corrupt businessman commits a murder and the only witness is the girlfriend of another businessman with close connections to the Chinese government...

Plot Keywords:

Witness | Bodyguard | Hong Kong | Assassination | Police

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Jet Li	...	Allan Hui Ching-yeung / John Chang
Christy Chung	...	Michelle Yeung
Kent Cheng	...	Charlie Leung Kam-Po
Collin Chou	...	Wong (as Sing Ngai)
Wing-Chung Leung	...	Ken
Wai-Kwok Ng	...	James Shong Sai-cheung
William Chu	...	Billy Yeung
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John DeMita	...	(voice: English version)
Keith Ferguson	...	(voice: English version)
Joe Hanna	...	(voice: English version)
Tom Konkle	...	Various (voice: English version)
Michael Miller	...	Assassin in Opening Scene
Jennifer Paz	...	(voice: English version)
Arianna Ratner	...	(voice: English version)
Dean Scofield	...	(voice: English version)
Michael Sorich	...	(voice: English version)
Fred Tatasciore	...	(voice: English version)
Kam-Kong Wong	...	Chiu Kwok-Man
Corey Yuen	...	Cameo

Also Known As:

The Defender (UK) (video title) (USA) (DVD title)
Chung Nam Hoi bo biu (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
The Bodyguard from Beijing (Hong Kong: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence.

Runtime:

Norway:92 min

Country:

Hong Kong | Japan

Language:

Cantonese | Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:R (Ontario) | Germany:18 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Company:

Eastern Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: Just about everything during the end kitchen fight scene has a continuity error, examples, the sink switches many positions, the bodies around the sink appear and disappear, covering mouth with sleeve, then hand when camera angle switches, and also position of the two as they are fighting throughout the room.

Quotes:

Billy Yeung: [John didn't get anything for Michelle's birthday] You should have gotten her flowers, she loves flowers.
Allan Hui Ching-yeung: Yes. But what happens to a flower when you pick it? It loses it's life.
Billy Yeung: [a man comes in with a huge bouquet of flowers for Michelle from her boyfriend] Now all you have is a bunch of dead bodies.

An entertaining action film worth watching

*** stars out of ****

The Bodyguard from Beijing is an action thriller that mixes romance and humor. The plot is mainly a backdrop for some grand shootouts and martial arts sequences, but it does have some moments of characterization. The movie may not be as jaw dropping as some of Jackie Chan's films (or some of Li's other works) but it delivers the expected action and thrills. The film is basically about a bodyguard (Jet Li) who is hired to protect a beautiful woman (Christy Chung) after she witnessed a murder. Now, many people will stop at nothing to have her killed and Li has invoked the wrath of a dangerous ex-soldier whose brother Li killed.

I was surprised by the fact that there was more shootouts and gunplay than Li's usual kung fu, but the shootouts were quite thrilling and entertaining, particularly the mall sequence that almost gets a bit absurd in the amount of people carrying guns inside. For a while there (due to the amount of gunplay) I was expecting Chow-Yun Fat to just ram through a door and kill all the villains.

As for the acting, Jet Li is actually quite fun to watch in his transformation from a hardened bodyguard to a soft man falling in love. Christy Chung is decent though she's mostly relegated to the role of damsel in distress.

My main complaint about the movie was the how the gunshots looked in the film's final shootout. When the bullets hit the wall, they look more like cartoonish sparks than rough bullet impact. However, the great martial arts fight at the end more than made up for it. It's a great action sequence, as it involves Li and the dangerous ex-soldier kicking each other around while trying to get water from a faucet due to a gas leak.