UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

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

Tweekums I tend to associate the films of John Woo with non stop well choreographed violent action but this one is different. Yes, there is plenty of action, some of which is fairly violent but the over all tone feels much lighter as there are also plenty of gags, some of which had me laughing out loud.The film starts in France where we see a trio of thieves stealing a valuable painting from a moving lorry as it is transferred from a museum. When they give the painting to their French employer he asks them to steal another painting, the two men in the group say they are happy to take on the job but the woman, who is acting as translator tells their employer they have declined the offer.The two men proceed to steal the painting and escape in a thrilling car chase which ends in the apparent death of "Red Bean Pudding" (Chow Yun Fat). James (Leslie Cheung) and "Red Bean" (Cherie Chung) return to Hong Kong and after a while they are surprised to discover that their friend is still alive, it turns out he survived the crash but is now in a wheel chair. They also learn that the painting they stole in France is now the prized possession of their Fagin-like adoptive father. They are determined to steal it back off him which leads to several memorable scenes including attempting to steal a set of keys at a dance where Chow Yun Fat demonstrates that he is quite a dancer... in a wheel chair. The final shoot out is both exciting and hilarious.If you are a fan of John Woo's work I'd recommend this, it is also a great film to introduce his work to people one thinks might not be so keen on his purely action flicks. It probably isn't suitable for children though as there is quite a lot of shooting and some swearing.These comments are based on watching the film in Cantonese with English subtitles, an English dubbed version is also available.

Deleauvive Sorry, guys for the trivial summary ! This is my first review on IMDb, plus I am a Frenchman.It was only when I understood the purpose of this movie, that I was ready to rate it. During the movie, I enjoyed the quality of the picture (colors and lights are great, the music is good too)... The gunfights were OK to me (It's not a typical John Woo bullet-filled movie, and that's a plus to me), the accent of the french businessman funny, and the stupid jokes of the 2 thieves were "cool", the way they defeat their enemies surprising...So I was saying to myself : this was an-above-the-average Kung-Fu and mafia movie when suddenly... I got it ! This movie is full of... love ! John Woo shows his love of Paris, his respect for friendship, the way he would like handicapped people to be treated, and many other things... So, in my opinion, this movie beats every Jackie Chan movie, because it is filled with humanity and humility.I am glad I watched this gem and I recommend it to you.My only complaint is that it's a tiny bit too long.

the_saint_107 This film is in a different vein to John Woo's other films, the body count is lower than in any other of his heroic bloodshed movies. He uses martial arts more than in any other, and the infinitely charismatic Chow Yun Fat, played his role more like Benny Hill than clint Eastwood(Although Mr Chow, versatile as he is can play comedy just as well as his silent assassin, or the take no prisoners cop.) The departure from the standard Woo, high bodycount, 2 hour long shoot out type of film come from the fact that he had just made his two darkest films "The Killer" and "Bullet in the head". "At that time the world thought I was a very pessimistic guy" said Woo "but I just wanted to show to the world that I was actually an optimisic guy. I always think there's hope and beauty in the world" hence this light hearted film, in the style of an old heist movie. The plot centers around three highly skilled are thieves played by Chow Yun Fat, Cherie Chung and Leslie Cheung, involved in a love triangle. Although not as developed as "a better tomorrow", as beautifully cinematic as "The Killer" or as "brutally high octane as "a better tomorrow 2" and the fantastic "Hard boiled". This piece delivers, and is still miles better than anything that could come out of Hollywood. (with the possible exception of John Woo's american projects) If you know you would like this film go and buy it. I did, and although I paid a ridiculouly high price for it, I knew that Woo and Chow would not dissapoint, so it was money well spent.

o.tacke In the beginning I thought: what a strange movie. As I continued watching I realized that it's really a great movie with lots of cool action and lots of fun. Unfortunately, the German version is heavily cut because of too much violence :-(