Romeo Must Die (2000)

An avenging cop seeks out his brother's killer and falls for the daughter of a businessman who is involved in a money-deal with his father.

Director:

Andrzej Bartkowiak

Writers:

Mitchell Kapner (story), Eric Bernt (screenplay)

Stars:

Jet Li, Aaliyah, Isaiah Washington

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jet Li	...	Han Sing
Aaliyah	...	Trish O'Day
Isaiah Washington	...	Mac
Russell Wong	...	Kai
Delroy Lindo	...	Isaak O'Day
D.B. Woodside	...	Colin (as DB Woodside)
Henry O	...	Ch'u Sing
Jon Kit Lee	...	Po Sing
Edoardo Ballerini	...	Vincent Roth
Anthony Anderson	...	Maurice
DMX	...	Silk
Matthew Harrison	...	Dave
Terry Chen	...	Kung
Derek Lowe	...	Chinese Messenger
Ronin Wong	...	New Prisoner

Storyline

In this modern day Romeo and Juliet, kung fu action star Jet Li plays Romeo to hip-hop singer, Aaliyah Haughton's Juliet. Li is an ex-cop investigating the murder of his brother, who had ties with the Chinese mafia in America. Aaliyah plays the daughter of the American mob boss. Neither side approves of their romance, so, obviously, kung fu action ensues, with a soundtrack by Aaliyah.

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Plot Keywords:

death | prison | hong kong | kung fu | waterfront | 

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Taglines:

In the city ruled by criminals, two families have forgotten their fear. He will make them remember.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, some language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English Chinese

Release Date:

22 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Romeo Must Die

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,014,503, 26 March 2000

Gross USA:

$55,973,336

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$91,036,760

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie is an homage to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; but with a martial arts twist.

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Goofs

Po's Aston Martin is facing the driveway when Kai & Co arrive, but faces the wall when Po leaves.

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Quotes

Han Sing: For you, killing your son was like running a over a dog in the street. Just something in your way.

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Crazy Credits

The credits during the opening of the movie are first given in Chinese characters and then are translated into English.

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Alternate Versions

The UK version was cut by Warner Bros. to get a "15" rating. 30 seconds of violence were removed including blood spurts from gunshots, a throat punch, shots of a scorching bowl being pressed onto Jet Li's hands and Li's burned hands being scraped whilst Li is dragged around, heavy punches, a head-butt and a throat chop.

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Connections

Referenced in 15 Minutes (2001)

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Soundtracks

Keep Hope Alive
Written by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland
Performed by The Crystal Method
Courtesy of Outpost Recordings
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Aaliyah at her best

The good of this movie was when Aaliyah was on the scene. The rest was rather senseless violence about gangs trying to out do each other. Jet Li was okay, but I don't think he's a good actor although he 's a very prolific one starring in over 60 movies. Although this was her acting debut, I think Aaliyah brought the goods to the table. She was just great as Trish. The play between Trish and Han (Jet Li) as an accidental cab driver was priceless, and the way they contrasted each other on screen with younger Trish actually in somewhat of a protective role to Han really added interesting plot twist to the story. Executive producer Joel Silver had lots of original ideas about movie making, and this one I would say is one of them. I don't go too much for the violence, but the movie was entertaining and original.