Once a Thief (1996) (TV)

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

Glenn Davis
William Laurin

Release Date:

29 September 1996 (Canada)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Set in Hong Kong and Vancouver, the story follows Mac Ramsey and Li Ann Tsei, lovers and professional...

Plot Keywords:

Remake

Cast

Sandrine Holt	...	Li Ann Tsei
Ivan Sergei	...	Mac Ramsey
Nicholas Lea	...	Victor Mansfield
Robert Ito	...	The Godfather
Michael Wong	...	Michael Tang
Alan Scarfe	...	Robertson Graves
Jennifer Dale	...	The Director
Nathaniel DeVeaux	...	Dobrinsky
Greg Chan	...	Dance MC
Young Ryu	...	Li Ann's Dance Partner
Matthew Walker	...	Interpol Judge
Paul Wu	...	Judge's Aide
Phillip Tsui	...	Fong
Derek Lowe	...	Mill Security Guard
Mike Mitchell	...	Biker 1
Sonny Surowiec	...	Biker 2
Benjamin Ratner	...	Moran
Debbie Podowski	...	Nurse (as Deb Podowski)
Jan Bailey Mattia	...	Waitress
Jim Dunn	...	Michael's Gunsel 1
Randy Lee	...	Michael's Gunsel 2
Garvin Cross	...	Traffic Cop
Russell Jung	...	Cheng
Scott J. Ateah	...	Alley Thug (as Scott Ateah)
Mark Brandon	...	Carruthers (as Mark High)
Darryl Quon	...	Michael's Assistant
Eva Preger	...	Bike Courier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Angela Asher	...	Olivia Gearing
Tamara Levitt
Farzad Sadrian	...	Store owner
Angelica Lisk-Hann	...	Girl at Bar (uncredited)
Jennifer Vey	...	Goth Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
John Woo

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Glenn Davis
William Laurin

Produced by
Terence Chang	....	executive producer
Glenn Davis	....	executive producer
Christopher Godsick	....	co-executive producer
Wendy Grean	....	producer
William Laurin	....	executive producer
John Woo	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Amin Bhatia
Michele Worth

Cinematography by
Bill Wong

Film Editing by
Bert Kish
David Wu

Casting by
John Buchan

Production Design by
Douglas Higgins

Art Direction by
Simon McGuire
Rex Raglan

Set Decoration by
Peter Lando

Costume Design by
Donna Wong

Makeup Department
Sandra Moore	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
David Hood	....	production manager
Gregor Hutchison	....	post-production supervisor
Eric Norlen	....	executive in charge of production
David M. Robertson	....	production manager
Sharl Scharfer-Rollins	....	executive in charge of production: Canwest Global System
Daniel Szuster	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eric Bartonio	....	first assistant director
Pierre Henry	....	first assistant director: second unit
Peter D. Marshall	....	first assistant director
Michelle Morris	....	second assistant director: second unit
Betty Thomas Quee	....	second unit director (as Betty Thomas)

Art Department
James H. Chow	....	property master
Dave Conway	....	construction foreman
David Gruer	....	lead set dresser
Charles Leitrants	....	construction coordinator
Max Matsuoka	....	assistant property master
John G. Anderson	....	construction buyer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Eric Batut	....	sound mixer
Alek Bromke	....	adr assistant
Kevin Howard	....	sound effects designer (pilot)
Kevin Howard	....	supervising sound editor (pilot)
John Motyer	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Mike Vézina	....	special effects coordinator

Stunts
Charles Andre	....	stunts
James Bamford	....	stunt double: Victor
Patrick Cauderlier	....	stunt coordinator
Patrick Cauderlier	....	stunts
Tommy Chang	....	stunts
Lauro Chartrand	....	moran stunt double
Mike Ching	....	stunts
Dean Choe	....	stunts
Kristen Coke	....	li ann stunt double
Mike Crestejo	....	stunt double: Michael
Duane Dickinson	....	stunts
Jim Dunn	....	stunt double: Michael
Jason Glass	....	stunts
Dave Hospes	....	stunts
David Jacox	....	stunts
Olly Jasen	....	stunt double
Jamie Jones	....	stunt double: Victor
Mitchell A. Lee Yuen	....	stunts
Calvin Lee	....	stunts
Robertson Lee	....	stunts
Terrance Leigh	....	stunts
Danny Lima	....	stunt performer
Angelica Lisk-Hann	....	stunt actor (as Angelica Lisk)
Brad Loree	....	stunts
Tong Lung	....	stunts
Johnny Mah	....	stunts
Darren McGuire	....	stunt double
David McKeown	....	stunts
Duncan McLeod	....	stunt performer
Mike Mitchell	....	stunts
David Mylrea	....	stunts
Scott Nicholson	....	stunts
Philip Nishkihawa	....	stunts
Gerald Paetz	....	stunts
Fred Perron	....	mac stunt double
Paul Rapovski	....	fight coordinator
Herb Reischl Jr.	....	stunt performer
Ronald Robinson	....	stunts
Fiona Roeske	....	li ann stunt double
Darryl Scheelar	....	stunts
Darren E. Scott	....	stunts (as Darren Choo)
Songlith Singthong	....	stunts
Ula Skaarup	....	li ann stunt double
David Soo	....	stunts
Bill Stewart	....	stunt double: interpol judge
Dawn Stofer-Rupp	....	li ann stunt double
Betty Thomas Quee	....	stunt coordinator (as Betty Thomas)
Bryan Thomas	....	stunt actor

Camera and Electrical Department
Marco Ciccone	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Chris Cochrane	....	generator operator
Tom Fillingham	....	camera operator: "c" camera
Doug Lawrance	....	daily camera operator
Rob McEwan	....	still photographer
Cam North	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Trig Singer	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Michael Wrinch	....	camera operator: "b" camera

Casting Department
Candice Elzinga	....	casting associate: Vancouver
Julia Tait	....	casting associate

Editorial Department
Samantha Dubiel	....	post-production coordinator
Scott Summersgill	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Wes Boatman	....	composer: additional music
David Greene	....	music producer
Ron Proulx	....	music supervisor
Janet York	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Blue Angus	....	transportation coordinator
Gordon Glen	....	driver: starwagon
Paul Irvine	....	transportation co-captain

Other crew
Holly Atchison	....	script supervisor: second unit
Todd Baker	....	director of development: NDG Productions
Tony Chiu	....	assistant: Mr. Woo
Nancy Eagles	....	script supervisor
Danny Ho	....	computer playback operator
Olly Jasen	....	dialect coach: Russian
Rey Astronomo	....	computer/video playback operator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Alliance Communications Corporation
• CanWest Global Television Network
• NDG Productions
• WCG Entertainment Productions

Distributors

• AXN (2000) (Japan) (TV)
• Alliance Vivafilm
• Columbia TriStar Home Video
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Fox Network (1996) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1996) (Greece) (VHS)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2009) (Thailand) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS) (retail)
• Still Entertainment (1997) (Netherlands) (VHS) (rental)
• Top Tape (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• S.L. Feldman & Associates  music supervision

Also Known As:

"John Woo's Once a Thief" - USA (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:18 (video premiere) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Alliance Communications Corporation

Quotes:

Mac:Yeah, people call me Mac.
The Director:People will call you DEAD if you interrupt me again

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Once a Thief" (1996)

I really gave that 4/10?

To tell you the truth I don't know why I gave this movie 4/10 ... I really don't, I shouldn't have rated this so high ... but I think I gave this TV movie more credit than it deserved (imo), just because I didn't want to rate a John Woo movie too bad! And although sometimes this movie has some good scenes, it is always apparent that it's made to start a TV show/series ...

It's a shame, because this is a remake of a quite good (not excellent, but still good) HK action movie, that Woo made himself. You can check that out under "movie connections" on the (currently) left bar side of this site.

The actors are not up to much and it's only the few good action scenes and some pieces of the original story/movie that do convince ... Not recommendable!