Romeo Must Die (2000)

An avenging cop seeks out his brother's killer and falls for the daughter of a businessman who is involved in a money-deal with his father.

Director:

Andrzej Bartkowiak

Writers:

Mitchell Kapner (story), Eric Bernt (screenplay)

Stars:

Jet Li, Aaliyah, Isaiah Washington

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jet Li	...	Han Sing
Aaliyah	...	Trish O'Day
Isaiah Washington	...	Mac
Russell Wong	...	Kai
Delroy Lindo	...	Isaak O'Day
D.B. Woodside	...	Colin (as DB Woodside)
Henry O	...	Ch'u Sing
Jon Kit Lee	...	Po Sing
Edoardo Ballerini	...	Vincent Roth
Anthony Anderson	...	Maurice
DMX	...	Silk
Matthew Harrison	...	Dave
Terry Chen	...	Kung
Derek Lowe	...	Chinese Messenger
Ronin Wong	...	New Prisoner

Storyline

In this modern day Romeo and Juliet, kung fu action star Jet Li plays Romeo to hip-hop singer, Aaliyah Haughton's Juliet. Li is an ex-cop investigating the murder of his brother, who had ties with the Chinese mafia in America. Aaliyah plays the daughter of the American mob boss. Neither side approves of their romance, so, obviously, kung fu action ensues, with a soundtrack by Aaliyah.

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Plot Keywords:

death | prison | hong kong | kung fu | waterfront | 

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Taglines:

The Word On The Street Is...[Romeo Must Die]

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, some language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English Chinese

Release Date:

22 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Romeo Must Die

Filming Locations:

Embarcadero Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$18,014,503 (USA) (24 March 2000)

Gross:

£1,379,488 (UK) (27 October 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The x-ray "bone-breaking" sequences in the film are similar to a famous scene in Sonny Chiba's The Street Fighter[Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken (1974)]. However, the ones in Romeo Must Die are far more advanced, presumably through the use of CGI.

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Goofs

Prison Guards are seen holding AK47 rifles, this is incorrect as all Hong Kong Law Enforcement Agencies use American or German made weapons.

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Quotes

Han Sing: I'll let fate decide what to do with you. If the police don't get you, the other Chinese families will. Do what you will father, but this time no one will go to prison for you.

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Crazy Credits

The credits during the opening of the movie are first given in Chinese characters and then are translated into English.

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Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Soundtracks

We At It Again
Written by Tim Mosley, Stephen Garrett, Melvin Barcliff and Garland Mosley
Produced by Tim Mosley (as Timbaland)
Performed by Timbaland & Magoo
Courtesy of Blackground Records

User Reviews

The most violent "interpretation" of Shakespeare I`ve ever seen

"Romeo Must Die" is definetely the most violent "interpretation" of Shakespeare I`ve ever seen. Okay, interpretation is not the right word to use, but that is nevertheless what this movie at some point wants to be. I really liked Jet Li in this movie, and I`ve liked him since I first saw him in "Lethal Weapon 4" a couple of years ago. Fighting and betrayal is what "Romeo Must Die" is all about, and the fighting is very entertaining, although sometimes a bit cheesy, because some of the "Matrix-scenes", which is out of place outside the world of science-fiction. Still, "Romeo Must Die" is an actionflick you wouldn`t want to miss. It manages to be interesting enough, but the fighting is what makes it really good. 8/10