While I wouldn't quite call this film a full-on failure, it does not ultimately live up to the high expectations it creates in the opening. While extremely condensed down from the James Clavell novel covering the founding of Hong Kong as a British territory, this film is ultimately undone by meandering among too many different lurid relationships and not really delivering much action outside of a couple sword fights and an unrealistic man vs. Gang of assassins brawl on a Chinese junk.
Bryan Brown delivers another one of his characteristically fine performances complete with a nearly spot-on Scottish accent. Ditto for the actor who plays his son, who I was shocked to learn was played by an American. The big climax focuses largely on a massive typhoon surging in right at the worst time, which is well realized, but ultimately a major letdown in what characters wind up getting killed off-screen in a decidedly undramatic manner. It would have had a little more punch had the core romance of the movie been established earlier on. The movie also would have been much less confusing if two opposing characters weren't named "Gord" and "Gort".
There's also a couple goofs I had a tough time overlooking, like the wobbly composited ships on the shots of the harbor and the egregiously fake knife used in a key attack scene. All in all, it's decently directed, acted, and well-shot, but this late-stage attempt at an epic film falls just short of delivering the goods.
Bryan Brown delivers another one of his characteristically fine performances complete with a nearly spot-on Scottish accent. Ditto for the actor who plays his son, who I was shocked to learn was played by an American. The big climax focuses largely on a massive typhoon surging in right at the worst time, which is well realized, but ultimately a major letdown in what characters wind up getting killed off-screen in a decidedly undramatic manner. It would have had a little more punch had the core romance of the movie been established earlier on. The movie also would have been much less confusing if two opposing characters weren't named "Gord" and "Gort".
There's also a couple goofs I had a tough time overlooking, like the wobbly composited ships on the shots of the harbor and the egregiously fake knife used in a key attack scene. All in all, it's decently directed, acted, and well-shot, but this late-stage attempt at an epic film falls just short of delivering the goods.