The Corruptor (1999)

With the aid from a New York City policeman, a top immigrant cop tries to stop drug-trafficking and corruption by immigrant Chinese Triads, but things get complicated when the Triads try to bribe the policeman.

Director:

James Foley

Writer:

Robert Pucci

Stars:

Yun-Fat Chow, Mark Wahlberg, Ric Young

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Nick Chen (as Chow Yun-Fat)
Mark Wahlberg	...	Danny Wallace
Ric Young	...	Henry Lee
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Schabacker
Jon Kit Lee	...	Jack
Andrew Pang	...	Willy Ung
Elizabeth Lindsey	...	Louise Deng
Brian Cox	...	Sean Wallace
Byron Mann	...	Bobby Vu
Kim Chan	...	Benny Wong
Bill MacDonald	...	Vince Kirkpatrick
Susie Trinh	...	Amy San
Ho Chow	...	Black Eyes
Olivia Yap	...	Tai
Lynda Chiu	...	Kim

Storyline

Nick Chen is one of New York City's most martial police officers and the first Chinese-born immigrant on the force. Chen's job is to keep the peace in Chinatown from a turf war that has broken out between the Triads and the ruthless, and dangerous Fukienese Dragons. Chen teams up with Danny Wallace, who is terribly unaware of this situation. When the Tongs boldly attempt to bribe Wallace, Chen is forced to keep his faithfulness.

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Plot Keywords:

buddy cop | police detective | tough cop | two man army | police corruption | 

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Taglines:

If you have a secret, he knows it. If you have a weakness, he exploits it. If you have anything good in you, he destroys it...

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language and sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the lamp store shootout and the massage parlor raid, there are close-ups of Chen shooting a criminal in the head at point blank range with a small revolver. These were directly inspired by Eddie Adams' famous Vietnam War photo of South Vietnamese general Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing handcuffed Viet Cong member Nguyen Van Lem on February 1, 1968.

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Goofs

Before shooting out the tires on the red vehicle, the 2 officers unload dozens of pistol and shotgun rounds towards the approaching vehicle. NYPD does not authorize firing at a moving vehicle when the vehicle alone is being used as a weapon. Also, with pursuing Patrol Cars behind the red vehicle, they were essentially firing at other officers.

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Quotes

Nick Chen: Beef intestine noodles, want some?
Danny Wallace: Uh, no.
Nick Chen: You wanna be a Chinese, you gotta eat the nasty stuff.

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Alternate Versions

German VHS release was cut by ca. 6 minutes to secure a "Not under 16" rating.

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Connections

Featured in Shooting the Police: Cops on Film (2006)

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Soundtracks

I Want You
Written by Stephan Jenkins
Performed by Third Eye Blind
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Chow Yun Fat is back in form

Fans of Chow Yun Fat can finally exhale; he has made a decent Hollywood movie at last.

I went to see "The Corruptor" this past Saturday in HK. While it's not an especially good film, it's a solid piece of entertainment. Most importantly, it allows Chow Yun Fat to be Chow Yun Fat. Whereas he was stiff and tentative in "The Replacement Killers", in "The Corruptor" Chow burns up the screen. From the very first few seconds of his appearance in the movie you can see that "The Coolest Actor in the World" is back in form.

In fact, it's the acting that saves the movie. The story is a tired one, but Mark Wahlberg and especially Chow are charismatic and make their characters sympathetic. Chow also develops an onscreen chemistry w/ Wahlberg that was completely absent in his partnership w/ Mira Sorvino.

Because of it's uninspiring storyline, however, "The Corruptor" will probably still not make Chow a household name in America. But it will win him lots of new fans. Let's hope this upward trend in Chow's career continues w/ "Anna and the King".

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

12 March 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Corruptor

Filming Locations:

Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,765,300, 14 March 1999

Gross USA:

$15,164,492

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$24,493,601

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Illusion Entertainment Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1