Big Bullet (1996)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

THE BIG BULLET is old school HK action -- right down to limbs getting blown off and a subplot featuring the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China. The hero is (surprise, surprise) an angry cop who gets busted to a unit used as a dumping ground after socking his boss when a hostage rescue goes bad. There he teams up with a bunch of stock characters (the old guy, the nerdy gun-nut, the computer- hacking chick and the stickler- for-rules whose brother is a Triad) in order to take down a bunch of armed robbers - who you can tell are total villains because they wear sunglasses indoors and one of them has an enormous mullet - who want to rob Interpol. It's all dumb fun with lots of HK style, from the cringeworthy dialogue and awful white (non) actors to the HEAT-influenced gunfights and dynamic camera-work, that clocks in at a pacey 90 minutes.

Big Bullet is one of the best action movies to come out of Hong Kong in the mid 90's. Lau Ching Wan is a super tough and dedicated policeman who gets transfered from Serious Crimes to EU(Emergency Unit) after giving a senior officer a serious smackdown after a hostage rescue went awry. Lau Ching Wan, a very good actor carries this film very well. Also, he has the right physical stature and rugged toughness that makes him more believable than most actors that play cops in movies. Great support is also to be had with Jordon Chan(also a very talented actor). He plays a super serious, disciplined cop who often is at odds with Lau Ching Wan. They are after a vicious gang of thieves led by Yu Rong Gong(Iron Monkey) and Anthony Wong(Hard Boiled) who are very effective and menacing without saying much. The tone of the film changes throughout the film from very serious to very silly. While the humor might seem out of place for a film of this type, it is actually the norm for a Hong Kong film. The action scenes are abundant with lots of great shootouts and explosions which sometimes bring to mind Michael Mann's Heat. Overall the drama, action and comedy coalesce well and director Benny Chan made one great action film.

I'm slowly ploughing through as many Hong Kong action films as I can get my hands on and came across this gem - mainly due to Ching Wan Lau who is one of my favourite actors.Its a great action film although not as OTT as the title might suggest. It moves along at a great pace and is truly enjoyable.The biggest surprise of this film was the soundtrack. It would appear that Rob Dougan - the guy who did the 'Clubbed To Death' song which was popular in 'The Matrix' has lifted the soundtrack from Big Bullet and compiled it into one of the tracks on his 'Furious Angels' album; the tune in question is called 'Im not driving anymore' and is also the opening tune for the TV series 'Law and Order' AND the opening track on the 'Matrix Reloaded' DVD menu teaser! That really surprised me, due to the sheer conincidence!

One of the two Best Films of the year. A well filmed, well written, well put together film with an outstanding cast. Lau Ching Wan and his friends (Dayo Wong Chi Wa, Anthony Wong Chau Sun, Francis Ng Chun Yu, Jordan Chan Siu Chun, Cheung Man Tat) had great chemistry before the film and their friendship shows in their performances. Theresa Lee plays her comedic role well (Though much like a female version of Michael Wong, her gag seems to be the foreign born Chinese surrounded by native HKers.), and I found myself cheering for innovative explosive scenes, something I haven't done since 1. the fan boys took over alt.asian-movies and 2. John woo's Hardboiled. Sure the ending was expected, but I feel better cheering for cops than a bunch of young gang members. Highly enjoyable.