Full Contact: Golden Princess Film Production Ltd.
Rating: USA: Unrated/ Hong Kong: Category II

It’s doubtful that even the most astute Hong Kong film industry observers could have predicted the impact that John Woo’s 1986 film A Better Tomorrow would have on the island country’s domestic film scene. Woo’s movie, which essentially gave birth to the incredibly popular Heroic Bloodshed subgenre of action film, spawned an entire cottage industry in its wake. Soon, countless tales of cops and triad gangsters battling it out over weapons or drugs filled nearly every screen in the land, supplanting Hong Kong staples like the kung-fu/martial arts films in the process. Simply put, Hong Kongers couldn’t get enough of these moralistic tales of honor and betrayal filled with dizzying and dazzling gunplay that played out larger than life on the big screen. The heroic bloodshed film helped usher in a new golden age of Hong Kong cinema—and showcased the talents of numerous actors and filmmakers to western audiences who were previously unfamiliar with their work.

Any legitimate cinematic movement manages to spawn at least a handful of films that are classic, or at the very least indicative of what the movement was all about aesthetically. The heroic bloodshed subgenre is no exception and has managed to not only offers us several films that are rightly regarded as classic examples of the form (The Killer, A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2), but to also grow and develop beyond the constraints of the form as well—not quite reinventing itself in the process, but certainly tackling new thematic material and working it into the traditional narrative. Woo’s seminal film, 1992’s Hard-Boiled is a prime example of this evolution, as is the film we’re about to discuss, Ringo Lam’s 1993 release, Full Contact.

Jeff (Chow Yun-Fat: Hard-Boiled, The Killer) is a bouncer in a nightclub located in Bangkok. He’s a tough as nails biker struggling to make a life for himself, his girlfriend Mona (Ann Bridgewater), and his best pal Sam (Anthony Wong: The Untold Story, Ebola Syndrome). However, Sam’s run afoul of local triad boss and loan shark Hung, and Hung’s calling in the debt. Jeff saves Sam, but not without having to humiliate Hung’s men in combat—earning him the ire of the powerful gang leader.

Needing money fast (in order to try and pay off the debt and ease Hung’s anger) Sam tells Jeff of a friend of his whom they could team up with in order to pull a heist. Jeff agrees to go along and look into it, and soon he and Sam are working alongside Judge (Simon Yam: The Mission, Naked Killer) and his crew (comprised of the wild-haired Deano and his inappropriately named girlfriend Virgin). Soon, the plan is in motion—only Jeff doesn’t know that triad boss Hung has paid Judge to double-cross him. After an intense chase and shootout that culminates in a local home, Judge sends the cowardly Sam in to kill Jeff before they blow up the house.

Jeff lives, though, and spends an undisclosed amount of time healing while in the care of some Buddhist monks. He’s lost two fingers on his right hand, so he must learn to shoot with the left—and once that’s accomplished, he sets out seeking revenge against those who’ve wronged him, taking the film to a fantastic showdown between Jeff and Judge.

Historically speaking, there are a lot of similarities between this film and Woo’s Hard-Boiled despite the fact that their stories are completely unrelated. Both Full Contact and Woo’s movie stand as the final evolution of the heroic bloodshed form, almost as the point where the subgenre can go no further. If the early films in this field were violent, yet ultimately moralistic affairs about honor, brotherhood, and the thin line between right and wrong, then Full Contact stands as the cynical, world-weary big brother who’s seen enough of life to lose his naiveté. Both Lam and Woo’s movies operate in the same universe as the earlier films in the field, but these movies have looked into the abyss—and the experience has made them different than their predecessors. Both films are bleak and almost nihilistic affairs, with Full Contact ultimately being the darker of the two. Each is filled with an intense and discomfiting level of violence—again, even more than their predecessors—the idea that right will win is no longer a given at this point, and innocent people will die needlessly whatever the outcome. Each features heroes who are certainly flawed individuals (Chow’s Tequila Yuen is a supercop who puts others in danger to get his man in Hard Boiled, Jeff is just another thief like Judge and his crew in Full Contact). Much has been made of this change in tone and most critics attribute it to the impending return of Chinese rule to the island (which happened in 1997).

It’s interesting to note that neither film did well at the box-office in Hong Kong and that both films have been far more successful here in the United States. Many Hong Kong filmgoers found the films to be too violent and disturbing, and in the case of Full Contact, didn’t like seeing Chow Yun-Fat (who isn’t particularly fond of the film himself) playing something other than the well-dressed, debonair assassin that had catapulted him to international stardom in the Woo films.

Yet, I think Hong Kong’s casual dismissal of Full Contact on such moral grounds is somewhat misguided. There’s very little doubt that this is the finest film in director Ringo Lam’s (Prison on Fire, City on Fire) filmography.

The direction in the film is fantastic, be it the quiet, non-action scenes or any of the elaborately crafted shootouts. Lam continually creates tension through images, particularly any time Jeff and the homosexual Judge appear on the screen together. In their first encounter, each man breaks up a fight—both using pistols to shoot chairs out of the hands of the combatants. Judge does it first (in a typically flamboyant style, making the gun materialize out of a purple handkerchief), then Jeff follows suit—sort of one-upping him in the process. The scene has no real dialogue between the two men, but with two simple actions and some facial shots, Lam has set the stage for a showdown between them.

Lam also demonstrates a keen eye for striking visuals. Jeff’s other weapon of choice is a balisong knife, which he twirls around casually before dispatching two wakizashi-wielding henchman. We see Jeff twisting the knife around in his hand, water and light glinting off of it, then, moments later, we see the same shot only with the plinking water washing the blood off the blade. In other segments, Lam uses swirling smoke and fog to maximum effect, allowing characters to appear and disappear into the clouds seemingly like ghosts.

And while all the visual flourishes are nice, the real standout part of the direction is provided through the action set-pieces. After the emergence of John Woo and his double-fisted style of gunplay, every Hong Kong action film (and a few years later, every American action film) tried to mimic Woo’s style. Lam makes a wise choice here, setting out to create hyper-stylized set-pieces, but not trying to pattern them after Woo’s. There’s no double-fisted gun action in Full Contact, and that’s okay because the single-handed gunplay is fantastic enough on its own.

Of course, no review of this film would be complete without a mention of the infamous ‘bullet-cam’ sequence during the nightclub shootout. Lam pulls a Sam Raimi, putting us on each and every bullet fired as it zooms across a crowded nightclub and crashes into a target. By today’s standards, the effect is looking a little dated—yet its audaciousness more than makes up it, with this being the most entertaining sequence in the film. Basically, believe everything you’ve heard about this scene—it’s considered a classic for good reason.

Lam also makes the wise choice to decrease the number of dead bodies in the film. Any regular viewer of these movies realizes that the typical heroic bloodshed title often features a body count in the 100 dead range. Lam takes a different approach, giving us far fewer dead bodies, a fact which makes the tension in each shootout ratchet up a few notches because anyone who dies in this film is generally an important character and not some faceless henchman. Bullets fly fast and furious in many of the scenes here, but don’t go into this one expecting wave after wave of bad guys to fall after tasting hot lead.

Featuring a cast comprised of three of Hong Kong’s biggest stars, it’s no surprise that the performances in Full Contact are so engaging. Chow Yun-Fat turns in another classic portrayal as Jeff. The character is surprisingly nuanced for this kind of film, continually seeking revenge even though he realizes that there’s no redemption to be found through this course of action. Chow does an excellent job bringing the single-minded nature of the character to life, and as always, he acquits himself quite well in the action scenes (even his hand to hand combat scenes are believable in this film).

Anthony Wong turns in another solid performance as the cowardly Sam. Sam’s an interesting (if a bit underdeveloped) character who you can’t help pulling for even though you know he double-crossed Jeff and took his girlfriend to boot. Wong goes from coward to hardcore killer in the time that Jeff is recovering, which might seem to be a stretch, but Wong is such a solid actor that he pulls it off. In fact, it’s almost harder to accept him as a cowardly character in the early going than as a killer later.

Yet, while both of those performances are good, neither is as good as Simon Yam’s portrayal of Judge. Judge gets my vote for one of the greatest onscreen villains in film history. Yam steals every scene he’s in, exuding a flamboyant confidence coupled with some sociopathic tendencies that make him completely intriguing. His mannerisms, his speech, his penchant for pulling guns and knives out of scarves, etc. are all little things that work together to make this character one of the most unforgettable in all of Hong Kong cinema.

I viewed the film on a Golden City import laserdisc, which I’ve since come to find out is cut (argh! why do people feel the need to cut movies?). The film has been released on DVD and is uncut in that format—I recommend grabbing a copy of that version if you’re interested in checking this classic action flick out.

In the end, Full Contact is an action film that is worthy of all the fanboy praise it receives from Hong Kong cinephiles like myself. This is a bleak and violent film, but it’s also one that never fails to entertain. Fine performances from Chow Yun-Fat, Simon Yam, and Anthony Wong, coupled with ultra-stylish direction from Ringo Lam, and a high-octane, balls out script make this one of the finest examples of the heroic bloodshed style of action film. If you love Hong Kong action, then this is a must see title.




Recommended: Yes