Hak hap (1996)

Director:

Daniel Lee

Writers:

Hark Tsui (screenplay) &
Koan Hui (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A survivor of a supersoldier project must fight his former comrades as a masked hero.

Plot Keywords:

Mask | Police | Superhero | Severed Leg | Lasersight

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Jet Li	...	Tsui Chik / Black Mask
Ching Wan Lau	...	Inspector 'Rock' Shek Wai-Ho (as Lau Ching Wan)
Karen Mok	...	Tracy Lee
Françoise Yip	...	Mei Lin (as Francoise C.J. Yip)
Kong Lung	...	Commander Hung (as Patrick Lung)
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	King Kau (as Anthony Wong)
Xin Xin Xiong	...	Jimmy Jimmy
Moses Chan	...	701 Squad Member (as Mouses Chan)
King-fai Chung	...	Police Commissioner (as Chung King Fai)
Ken Lok
Lawrence Ah Mon	...	Operating Room Doctor (as Lawrence Ahmon)
Mei-Yee Sze		(as Sze Mei Yee)
Roy Szeto
Suk-yee Chan		(as Chan Suk Yee)
Nunzio Caponio		(as Caponio Nunzio)

Also Known As:

Black Mask (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title)
Hei xia (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence including martial arts combat, some sexual content and language.

Runtime:

96 min | USA:102 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

English | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB (cut) | Hong Kong:III (original version) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-16 (heavily cut) (2000) | Philippines:PG-13 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Germany:18 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 (direct to video) | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R (certificate #36739) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Distant Horizons

Trivia:

The games Tracy plays on the Sega Saturn while locked inside Black Mask's apartment are "Virtua Fighter 2" and "X-men: Children of the Atom."

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Safety cable and harness visible during the fight scene on top of the industrial complex

Quotes:

Commander Hung: The Americans can't help but stick their noses in. Soon their world wide war against drugs will be completely compromised!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Live It Up

Jet Li rocks!!!

In Stand By Me, Vern and Teddy discuss who was tougher, Superman or Mighty Mouse. My friends and I often discuss who would win a fight too. Sometimes we get absurd and compare guys like MacGyver and The Terminator or Rambo and Matrix. But now it seems that we discuss guys like Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li. It is a pointless comparison seeing that Lee is dead, but it is a fun one. And if you go by what we have seen from Jet Li in Lethal 4 and Black Mask, you have to at least say that he would match up well against Chan. In this film he comes across as a martial arts God.

Black Mask is about a man that was created along with many other men, to be supreme fighting machines. Their only purpose is to win wars that other people lose. They are invincible in some ways. Now that is the premise for the film, but what that does is sets up all the amazingly choreographed fight scenes.

Jet Li is a marvel. He can do things with and to his body that no human being should be able to do. And that is what makes watching him so fun.

Besides the martial arts in the film, Black Mask is strong with humour and that is due to the chemistry that Jet has with his co-star, the police officer. They are great together. But to be honest. if anyone is reading this review, they want to know if the film is kick ass in the action department. And the answer to that is a resounding YES!!! Lots and lots of gory mindless action. You will love this film.