A Hero Never Dies (1998)

The Worst Film Ever

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

A Masterpiece!

Leon Lai and Ching Wan Lau work well within their respective characters, however their actions don't seem to consistently make sense in the progression of the plot. Opposite hired guns for the mob, they fluctuate in being friends and foe after a rendezvous gone awry. At some points their resulting behavior contradicts what your led to believe, which feels unintentional and confusing. The story is painfully simple, and the visuals eventually become pretentious and overused with too many angles, filters, and slow-mo moments. Not a bad movie, but Johnnie To has directed much better gritty-melodramas and unfortunately this one fails to achieve it's blend with America's Western genre. My biggest complaint is that Ching Wan Lau's character becomes plagued with a handicap, then while much screen time is devoted to portraying his hardship and fight for retribution, his character remains weak and pushed aside in the third act of the film. Lau was built up to such a high degree only to inexplicably crumble, which doesn't feel right being the movie's centerpiece. Overall, a convoluted not-so-satisfying revenge tale. Personally I was disappointed but other Johnnie To fans may enjoy. -6/10

Some reviewers compare this movie to John Woo's A Better Tomorrow. I think that is very misleading. Because the action is nothing like the great shootouts in that film. Only the ending came close to a shootout we are used to seeing in the majority of heroic bloodshed titles. I think this a more a drama about these hit men who have a special kind of relationship. They are rivals who respect each other nothing more nothing less. The girlfriends add some good emotional context to their personalities. If you hear about a title like Hero Never Dies you expect some mayhem, or at least a lot of bloodshed. But it simply isn't there. Except for the ending which was a bit short. I do get that this film is paying tribute to the old genre and at the same time is trying to do something unique and different. In this case you could call it the Johnnie To touch. Most of his movies share the same themes but in all honestly only a few of them I liked. Exiled is an example of that. Actually that title comes closer to being a true heroic bloodshed title than this one. Another title you should be looking out for is The Mission.After seeing many of these so called heroic bloodshed titles / gun fu like Hero Never Dies I realize that John Woo really is the God of Heroic Bloodshed. No other directors have come close to making bloodshed titles like he did (A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard Boiled). And I really wished he would go back or at least make a new one to show them how it is done. Johnnie To clearly has another vision. But what? I don't know what he is trying to tell us but often his minimalistic approach to characterization and storytelling get in the way of whatever he is trying to convey. Consequence is that I lose interest and then automatically focus on the stuff that is compelling. Like the action. In Exiled this worked marvelously. Unfortunately this is not the case with this title. It failed to involve me story wise and action wise. I did not care about any of the characters. That is never good.So is this title worth your time? No, I don't think so. It was never compelling or engaging and the little action that was present certainly wasn't enough to redeem itself.

I'm really surprised there are not more reviews for this very good movie, but I think the depressing content is what did it. As usual, another Asian movie has not ceased to surprise me, and positively at that. This movie starts off pretty slow and really corny, making it's actual content all the more surprising. In a nut-shell 2 opposing bodyguards of warring gangs are betrayed by their own bosses after serving them and risking their lives (and limbs) protecting them. After the Bosses make a truce, they try and forget about the old "guard" who protected them. Both bodyguards loose everything, one looses both legs and his girlfriend is killed protecting his honor, and the other is reduced to working menial jobs while taking care of his girlfriend, who also risked her life for her man and was horribly burned in the process. Very heavy stuff, and completely un-expected after seeing the goofy beginning. Both bodyguards vow revenge, which is only partially realized. The respect they had for each other was touching, as for the tenacity of their girlfriends who took the brunt of the outcome of their revenge. The performance of the crippled Bodyguard was excellent, first time I've seen the "Hero" to be physically impaired. I rank this movie right up there with the best action films, AND some of the best Drama's at the same time. I don't think people were ready for a crippled Hero, which is a shame because this movie gave some credibility to the fact that you can achieve anything you want REGARDLESS of your handicap. Most copies of this DVD are not that great in quality, so that has hurt this film also, but do yourself a favor and see this EXCELLENT movie.

Great film, no wonder Mister To won a few festivals with this film.His work has a director is brilliant in this movie ! Specially the Sukiyaki scene ! Where he proves in an eight-minute scene, that you don't need words to describe a relationship between characters ! Just good shoots, an excellent montage and great actors ! That scene should be a cult scene ! As for the story, it's the story of two men, working for an opposite gang, but still men of pride and honor, this is a story about love, friendship, betrayal, vengeance and hope.Something I really noticed in this movie, is the great soundtrack ! You might feel that To is trying to use it to easily, but it just works out fine in every scene ! So in a few words : A great film, a must-see ! And should definitely be seen by everybody !