Flash Point (2007)
"Dou fo sin" (original title)

A hot-headed inspector takes on a small but powerful Vietnamese-Chinese gang, after a series of crimes and murder attempts committed and putting an undercover cop and his girlfriend in great danger.

Director:

Wilson Yip

Writers:

Kam-Yuen Szeto, Lik-Kei Tang

Stars:

Donnie Yen, Louis Koo, Collin Chou

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Donnie Yen	...	Inspector Jun Ma
Louis Koo	...	Wilson
Collin Chou	...	Tony
Ray Lui	...	Archer Sin (as Lui Leung Wai)
Bingbing Fan	...	Julie (as Fan Bing Bing)
Yu Xing	...	Tiger (as Xing Yu)
Kent Cheng	...	Inspector Wong
Ping Ha	...	Tony's mother (as Ha Ping)
Ben Lam	...	Sam
Austin Wai	...	Four Eyes
Wai Ai	...	Hero (as Ai Wai)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Zen Berimbau	...	Boxing trainer
Drafus Chow	...	Boxer
Damian Green	...	Boxer
Tony Ho	...	Cannon

Storyline

Ma Jun, a cop known for dispensing justice during arrests, teams with Hua Sheng, who's undercover, to try to bring down three merciless Vietnamese brothers running a smuggling ring in the months before the mainland's takeover of Hong Kong. The eldest, Xian Wei Cha (called Zah), is arrested in an operation that exposes Sheng and almost gets him killed. His girlfriend, Qiu Di, who's been unaware of Sheng's profession, wants to see him quit. Jun pursues the gang tirelessly, sometimes ignoring police protocols. Zah's trial approaches, witnesses are in danger, and a showdown is inevitable.

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Plot Keywords:

showdown | hong kong | arrest | murder | self justice | 

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Taglines:

They made it personal... He'll make them pay.

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Genres:

Action

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence and brutal martial arts action

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Cantonese English Vietnamese

Release Date:

26 July 2007 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

City Without Mercy

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,271 (USA) (14 March 2008)

Gross:

$3,271 (USA) (14 March 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandarin Films Distribution Co., Chang Ying Group, Beijing Poly-bona Film Publishing Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Due to the intensity and complexity of the sequence, both Donnie Yen and Collin Chou agreed that their fight sequence at the end of the film was the hardest shoot they had ever done in their respective careers

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Goofs

Even though the movie takes place around 1997 there is a BMW X3 a visible and the X3 wasn't available before around 2004.

User Reviews

Modern kung fu done right

If you're like me, after watching roughly 3 billion similarly themed period piece kung fu and wuxia movies, you're relieved when a contemporary kung fu flick comes along. This seems to be Donnie Yen's bread and butter. Sure, he was excellent in Hero opposite Jet Li and even Circus Kids was entertaining, but his performances in those films just don't match up to SPL or this film, Flash Point. He seems made for modern kung fu.

I'll leave plot explanation to others as it's a pretty standard cop-on-the-edge film that seems to have been done to death by Hong Kong over the past 15 years or so. What sets this apart is Yen's phenomenal and somewhat unique brand of kung fu and, for the first time (to my knowledge) his surprisingly good jiu jitsu. The flashy kicks and punches are standard Yen affair, but it's a bit of a shock to watch him pull off a slick arm bar, arm triangle, or leg triangle.

Yen's performance is only strengthened by a very talented supporting cast. There's no push-over fights here...it's like everyone is really fighting for their lives. That alone should be enough to get you past a fairly overdone plot (it's not bad, but if you've seen it once you've seen it 1,000 times). It's definitely worth the 85 minutes of your time if you're even remotely a fan of the genre.