Undeclared War

Rating:
Summary: Hong Kong Classic
Review: Director Ringo Lam has, like other Hong Kong directors before him, gone on to direct full budget Hollywood movies, but this 1991 effort is a collaboration with European partners he does well given the limited budget that he had. One of his best known HK films, City on Fire, has often been suggested as a big inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, especially the last 20 minutes, and Danny Lee, who plays the gang leader in City, is this time on the right side of the law.

Rating:
Summary: Undeclare This War...Please
Review: I love Ringo Lam, but 'Undeclared War' is definitely not his finest piece of work. Its a shame to even compare this movie to 'City On Fire' or 'Prison on Fire'. 'Undeclared War' stars Danny Lee(looking as sexy as heck with a sweet bowl cut)and Rosamond Kwan(sporting fine hair as well), both Hong Kong film favorites. The story is negligible, something about criminals and cops and world domination...yada yada yada. Its maddeningly mundane, but the film is set in Poland which is a nice change. But I must say, overall, the movie is not good at all. There are huge plot gaps and some annoying performances especially by the one white dude in the movie. Whitey is supposed to be some sort of renegade cop a la Mel Gibson in 'Lethal Weapon', but he comes off as a Billy Ray Cyrus impersonator impersonating an actor impersonating a renegade cop. He's awful. Its possibly the most irritating performance by anyone ever in the history of the entire world. The only cool thing about the piece of crap that is 'Undeclared War', is the squibs that Lam used for the shootouts. They spray a cloud of red dust, that I guess is supposed to be blood but it just looks like red dust. Its pretty cool though. I would say this film is for big-time Danny Lee, Ringo Lam, and, quite possibly, Billy Ray Cyrus fans only.