Full Contact (1992)

Two disreputable friends get tied in with a group of criminals who turn out to be excessively violent and deceptive.

Director:

Ringo Lam

Writer:

Yin Nam

Stars:

Yun-Fat Chow, Simon Yam, Ann Bridgewater

Cast

Credited cast:
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Gou Fei (as Yun Fat Chow)
Simon Yam	...	Judge
Ann Bridgewater	...	Mona
Anthony Chau-Sang Wong	...	Sam Sei (as Anthony Wong)
Bonnie Fu	...	Lau Ngang
Kin-sang Lee	...	Chung (as Kin Sang Lee)
Frankie Chi-Leung Chan	...	Psycho (as Frankie Chin)
Yin Nam
Victor Hon	...	Kau (as Kwan Hon)
Hung Chun
Lai-Wah Wei
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chun Hung Cheung
Wing-Cheung Cheung
Foo-Keung Kong	...	(as Fu-Keung Kong)
Douglas Kung	...	(as Cheung-Tak Hung)

Storyline

In an effort to get his buddy out of a gambling debt, Jeff agrees to join forces with Judge in a weapons heist. The job goes bad and Judge betrays Jeff. Jeff plots the ultimate revenge on Judge and his followers and it is a question of whether he can follow through with his plan.

---

Plot Keywords:

gun fu | gun battle | double cross | actionsploitation | heist | 

---

Taglines:

If the true measure of a man is judged by his actions, then he is ready to be counted.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Hong Kong Thailand

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin English

Release Date:

23 July 1992 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Full Contact

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Princess Film Production Limited, Silver Medal Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first song in the trailer is Get the Funk Out by the US band Extreme.

---

Goofs

During the nightclub shootout, Jeff's gun changes between a 9mm Beretta to a Smith & Wesson .45ACP and back again between shots.

---

Quotes

Chung: [Jeff gets into a fight with Hoodlum, the Thailand crime boss and after escaping Hoodlum's thugs, the group tries to consider what their options are] We've had it! That bastard runs the whole damn city! There's no other choice, we've gotta kill him.
Jeff: And what good's that? Can't kill his whole gang.
Mona: [to Sam] Do you think you could offer him more interest on the $40,000?
Sam: That won't work. It's our lives he wants not money.
Chung: Are you crazy? Think he'd refuse money?
Jeff: Money? He's got loads. I made him lose...
[...]

---

Alternate Versions

The BBFC cut 34 seconds for its cinema and video release. Notable scenes include Gou Fei playing with his butterfly knife, Gou Fei cutting someone's wrist, Judge cutting Gou Fei's hand and Lau Ngang masturbating.

---

Connections

References Taxi Driver (1976)

---

Soundtracks

When I'm President
by Extreme

User Reviews

stylish, hampered by a bad script

Another entry into the "cheer for the most likeable bad guy" series of Hong Kong action flicks. "Full Contact" tells the oft-told tale of betrayal and revenge, served up as a potent cocktail of Western convention mixed with the trademarked Hong Kong style. When Jeff's (Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun Fat in true hard-case form) friend Sam (Anthony Wong) steps on the feet of a local loan shark, Jeff comes to his rescue, creating a powerful enemy in the vengeful gangster. Seeking to skip town and make good, the two hatch a plan to hijack an arms shipment with the help of Sam's flamboyant and malicious cousin Judge (a delightfully sleazy Simon Yam) and his gang of dysfunctional thugs. What Jeff doesn't know is that he's being double-crossed by the wild group of brutal killers, who plan to bury him as they make their getaway. Judge forces Sam to off his loyal friend Jeff, but Sam botches the job, leaving Jeff to return for bitter revenge after dealing with an emotionally painful betrayal and a physically challenging rehabilitation. Lam foregoes the melodrama of Hong Kong counterpart John Woo and goes straight for the jugular with unremittingly stark and graphic violence. At the same time, the characters retain a certain amount of sympathy. Frequently outrageous and over the top, "Full Contact" is nonetheless a well made film suffering from a fairly weak script. Though comparisons to Woo are inevitable, especially because of Chow Yun-Fat in the lead role, Lam is a different kind of director and, accordingly, "Full Contact" is a different sort of beast. Although it opens with a robbery that rapidly turns into a shoot-'em-up, there's none of the balletic, elegant violence that characterizes Woo and his imitators. When the camera lingers over the carnage, it's not a lovingly choreographed sweep. Unlike in Chow's films for Woo, for which he is best known in the West, there's little that's noble about Chow's character in this one. He's heroic only by comparison to the psychotic gangsters he takes down one by one. Fortunately, Chow is up to the challenge of portraying a character of questionable morals in an honorable light, and Anthony Wong and Ann Bridgewater, respectively playing his best friend and wife, are equally top-notch. Lam's direction is excellent as well. His fine control of the action and pacing keeps the film from peaking too soon, and even a bullet's-eye view during a climactic shoot-out in a nightclub works in the movie's favor. The level of violence makes most of what Hollywood produces tame by comparison.