Hak kuen (2006)

Director:

Dennis Law

Writer:

Dennis Law (written by)

Release Date:

5 October 2006 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Only one can be champion.

Plot:

A young man learns the fighting techniques of Sanda from a coach. The two become best friends as the young man prepares to enter an underground tournament, competing against some of the top fighters of the world. |

Cast

Jacky Wu	...	Kong Ko (as Wu Jing)
Ronald Cheng	...	Captain
Miki Yeung	...	Siu Tin
Theresa Fu	...	Chui Chi
Siu-Fai Cheung	...	Ma Ho-Keung (as Cheung Siu Fai)
Ken Lo	...	Chan Sun (as Kenneth Low)
Andy On	...	Silver Dragon
Timmy Hung	...	Portland Street Fighter
Suet Lam	...	Soo (as Lam Suet)
Yu Xing	...	King (as Xing Yu)
Yu Gu	...	Fai (as Kris Gu)
Tats Lau	...	Beggar (as Lau Yee Tat)
Sze-Ming Lu	...	Wai (as Johnny Lu)
Marco Lok	...	Ricky
Shiu Hung Hui	...	Worker Ming (as Hui Siu Hung)

Also Known As:

Fatal Contact (International: English title)
Underground Fist (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

Germany:110 min (European Film Market)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:16 | South Korea:15

Company:

China Star Entertainment

Trivia:

Jacky Wu trained in Sanda for the film in Beijing and was nearly knocked out by one of the Sanda team members.

Movie Connections:

References King Kong (1933)

Soundtrack:

THEME SONG

Great psychology, Barry Windham, great psychology.

Hmm, the synopsis listed on this page made me wonder if I'd seen a different film.

Jacky Wu plays a kung fu champion whose skills are apparently performance only (i.e. all technical with zero combat experience), yet when he feels pressured by the girl wooing him to provide, he goes against his moral code of using his skills for violence to compete in an illegal street fight. Naturally, one easy win tempts another fight, for more money, and so, things quickly descend...

On the surface this is an above-average film (thanks to Jacky Wu's typically excellent fight scenes), but by the time the final credits roll, the subtleties of the way the characters acted and said certain things becomes clear and it's this aspect which lifts the script from something very enjoyable to something brilliant. Others may (quite foolishly) refer to all this as superfluous, or insult the writer for adding unnecessary dramatic elements, but for me, this screenplay involved more psychology than 90% of drama... and they're as boring as hell too!

In terms of action or great fight sequences this may not be Jacky Wu's best film, however, in terms of depth and entertainment, it rates up there with the best flicks released in the same year, all genres, all nations. My only problem was that a K1 fighter would very doubtfully engage in such a showy form and would be hardly likely to use kung fu techniques at all (karate, kickboxing or muay Thai would have been expected).

A good film well worth watching with a lot more to it than I've bothered to brush upon here. I'm personally now looking out for more Ronald Cheng (Captain) flicks as his acting and martial arts skills were impressive.