Black Mask (1996)

A survivor of a supersoldier project must fight his former comrades as a masked hero.

Director:

Daniel Lee

Writers:

Hark Tsui (screenplay) (as Tsui Hark), Koan Hui (screenplay)

Stars:

Jet Li, Ching Wan Lau, Karen Mok

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jet Li	...	Tsui Chik / Black Mask
Ching Wan Lau	...	Inspector 'Rock' Shek Wai-Ho (as Lau Ching Wan)
Karen Mok	...	Tracy Lee
Françoise Yip	...	Yeuk Laan (as Françoise C.J. Yip)
Kong Lung	...	Commander Hung (as Patrick Lung)
Anthony Chau-Sang Wong	...	King Kau (as Anthony Wong)
Xin Xin Xiong	...	Jimmy Jimmy
Moses Chan	...	701 Squad Member (as Mouses Chan)
King-Fai Chung	...	Police Commissioner (as Chung King Fai)
Ken Lok
Lawrence Ah Mon	...	Operating Room Doctor (as Lawrence Ahmon)
Henry Fong	...	Ricky Tai
Mei-Yee Sze	...	Chief of Library (as Sze Mei Yee)
Roy Szeto	...	Szeto
Suk-Yee Chan	...	Librarian (as Chan Suk Yee)

Storyline

Micheal, a former test subject of a project to create supersoldiers, is forced to escape with his comrades after the project was cancelled. Months later, he is trying to have a quiet life as a librarian with a tough cop as his best friend. However, a string of vicious gangland murders begins that has all the markings of his former compatriots who seem to have turned to violent crime. Realizing that the police are helpless to fight these soldiers, Micheal decides to take them on himself. Donning a mask to protect his identity, Micheal must fight these powerful villians as the mysterious superhero known only as Black Mask.

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Plot Keywords:

first part | mask | hero | superhero | police officer | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including martial arts combat, some sexual content and language

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English

Release Date:

14 May 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Mask

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,449,692, 16 May 1999

Gross USA:

$12,504,289

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,504,289

Company Credits

Production Co:

Distant Horizon, Film Workshop, Win's Entertainment Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 89 min (USA)

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The games Tracy plays on the Sega Saturn while locked inside Black Mask's apartment are "Virtua Fighter 2" and "X-men: Children of the Atom."

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Goofs

In the beginning when Jet Li's character is talking to the lady and she says: Goodbye Michael, you can see his lips move immediately afterwards as if he said something but no sound is heard.

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Quotes

Commander Hung: [to Rock, who's got a bomb strapped to his chest] I'll say one thing, you've got guts. Which will shortly be apparent, when you explode.
Inspector 'Rock' Shek: Eat shit!

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Alternate Versions

Only complete version available at the moment is the Taiwanese release.

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Connections

References Gandhi (1982)

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Soundtracks

Black Mask DJ Attack
Produced, Mixed & Arranged by DJ Revolution
Contains Elements of "Black Mask (We're Taking It All)"; "Killing Spree"; "Wild West"; "Which Way Is Love"; "Fires in Hell"; "Live It Up"; "Original"; "Three Minutes to Detonate"

User Reviews

Great HK action film

I really enjoyed this movie and it was a little difficult do that when your brother is making stupid comments in it ever 30 seconds. But this movie I enjoyed, mostly because I'm used to the usual HK action films. Most of the films like this are don't watch it for the story line, watch it for the mindless action. And mindless action is right. You get to see Jet Li Jump, spin, kick, punch, shoot, make impossible jumps and dodge countless bullets. It's true that this movie was released to a broader audience after Li was in Lethal Weapon 4. That is one of the reasons the ratings on this movie dropped. Most people were probably expecting to see a movie that was as polished as a North American film. But you need to remember most HK film budgets aren't nearly as high as a North American film, and the style in a HK action film is usually very different usually requiring in wire work in a lot of them. If you want to see a good action film you should see this just try to ignore the dubbing.

My rating was an 8.