Tiger Cage (1988)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

TIGER CAGE is an ensemble Hong Kong cop film with much in common with the same era's IN THE LINE OF DUTY flicks. This one features Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Jacky Cheung, Carol Cheng and others as a team of crack detectives who take down a drug syndicate at the film's outset. The only problem is that some of the bad guys survive, swearing revenge on the cops who destroyed their operation.What follows is a roller-coaster ride of a film filled with breakneck action and all of the wonderful martial arts choreography that you'd hope from the genre. This one's directed by Yuen Woo-ping and boy, does he know how to direct a proper thriller: there are barely any slow spots, just tons of action and action that drives the plot forward at that. It's one of the most purely entertaining Hong Kong thrillers that I've seen.Cast-wise, I have to say that most of the leading members give more than impressive performances, not least an incredibly youthful Donnie Yen in what I think might have been only his second leading part. Simon Yam seems experienced and reliable even at this early stage of his career. Jacky Cheung acquits himself well in a role that Jackie himself could have played, and it's always a pleasure to see American bodybuilder Michael Woods on top form as a hulking henchman. TIGER CAGE is a film filled with twists, betrayals, stunts and incredible one-on-one fights, and Hong Kong film fans will be in movie heaven.

Sometimes, when you are fortunate, a very cool Hong Kong action movie will appear on SBS outside of the Cult Movie program (9:00 pm Saturday). Tiger Cage was one of them. What is it that makes a Hong Kong action movie any different from your typical American action movie? The answer from my friend is that in Hong Kong cinema, the movies tend to be more violent than those in America. It is not just violence that Hong Kong cinema pushes the boundaries, it is also sex. In the movie Erotic Ghost Story, there is more flesh than in your average American movie. American movies generally only show one or two bare breasts in selected (non-pornographic) movies, where as Hong Kong cinema will not worry about such restrictions. Even then, with most of the action movies that I have seen, nudity is mostly non-existence.Tiger Cage is about a group of cops in the drug unit of the Hong Kong police department. It opens with the bust of a major crime ring but the leader escapes. He then returns to kill one of the police officers only to be later arrested himself. The dead officer was engaged to marry another officer on the team so she is out for vengeance. What is slowly unravelled though is that a number of the officers on the team are a part of a drug ring. They are not being paid to turn their heads, but rather they are actively involved in dealing with drugs.Tiger Cage is not typical of an action movie as the plot focuses more around the characters rather than the antagonists. In a normal movie there might be an explosive opening and then the team will chase one particular bad guy. The criminals in Tiger Cage play a minor part as it is the team that the police are fighting. The focus of this movie is corruption within the police force than crime outside of it.As with most Hong Kong action movies, Tiger Cage is an explosive action movie. It pulls no punches and protects nobody. Both men and women are subject to the violence in the movie, and they are willing to go places that the Americans do not (such as a guy's head being skewered on a coat hook). Tiger Cage is typical of Hong Kong action and is a good movie to see for those who enjoy that genre.

Fortunately we have an all-star cast of Hong Kong legends working their magic here, (Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Jacky Cheung, Ka-Yan Leung) along with director Woo-ping Yuen helming this action extravaganza. The story is nothing special, straightforward with a few twists thrown in to keep the audience interested. Drug smuggling ring, betrayals, corrupt cops, and all the other usual elements of a late 80's HK crime flick. Dull in this regard however the movie wasn't intended to showcase script writing, rather we get some nice displays of martial arts fighting.The fight choreography and shootouts are the highlights of the film, although the plot wedged in-between sequences feels painfully like filler to meet the minimum run time. In typical fashion bizarre Chinese humor is used as a device to provide character development, and as usual it feels misplaced in a serious crime movie such as this. Despite the small amount of character development it's sufficient to provoke a reaction when the protagonists end up in peril. Donnie Yen only is given a few minutes of screen time, but during his few minutes he really steals the show. The action is entertaining but not enough to deem a second watch. I would only recommend to those wanting to see Donnie Yen's early work. -6/10

The cast of this movie runs like who's who of popular actors of the '80s. Donny Yuen, and Simon Yam are about the only ones still active today.There's drug trafficking in Hong Kong, and corrupt cops are in on it. Inspector Fan (Jackie Chung) is an officer working in the drug enforcement division of the Hong Kong police department. He's on the trail of the drug traffickers, and finds out that one of his associates are in on it. He video tapes the scene, and gives the tape to his girlfriend Amy. But he gets framed and gets accused of drug possession. He now must clear his guilt by somehow collecting the evidence.The format is somewhat classic Hong Kong drama of the '80s. D&B studio made the movie. D&B had consistent good quality on almost all of their movies, and this one is no exception. The story is good, and acting is great.It's still a fun movie to watch. As a fan of D&B studio's movies, I wish they made more movies like this today.Recommended for viewing.