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THE ADVENTURERS (Da Mao Xian Jia)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

A Cambodian fighter pilot (Andy Lau) is recruited by American security forces to penetrate the inner circle of a billionaire arms dealer (Paul Chun) who murdered Lau's parents two decades earlier. But Lau's quest for vengeance is complicated when he falls in love with Chun's beautiful daughter (Jacklyn Wu)...

Though responsible for some of the most popular HK action-dramas of recent times, including such well-received entries as PRISON ON FIRE (1987) and FULL CONTACT (1992), director Ringo Lam courted criticism with this ultra-commercial potboiler, dismissed in some quarters as little more than a vehicle for Asian superstar Lau, as if the actor-singer was somehow unworthy of Lam's 'respectable' oeuvre. However, for all its faults - real and imagined - THE ADVENTURERS is an entertaining mixture of high emotion, brutal violence and thrilling stuntwork, headlined by some of the industry's brightest talents.

Episodic in structure, the movie follows a group of disparate characters from Cambodia to Thailand to San Francisco and back again to Cambodia, where Lau seeks redemption for a traumatic childhood incident in which his family was slaughtered by Chun and his wicked cohorts. Lam makes a virtue of the melodramatic plot and excessive action scenes, culminating in Lau's disastrous assassination attempt on Chun during a swanky reception in a Thai hotel, one of the most dynamic set-pieces of Lam's career to date. Wu - paired with Lau for the third time since their successful teaming in Benny Chan's A MOMENT OF ROMANCE (1990) - is Chun's estranged daughter, a firebrand who falls into the hands of rival gangsters and is rescued by Lau, who detains her in an effort to draw her father's attention and insinuate himself into Chun's criminal organization (there's real chemistry between these two gorgeous young actors, exemplified by a wonderful sequence in which Lau foils Wu's comical attempts to escape from their country hideout), whilst Rosamund Kwan - another long-standing Asian celebrity - plays Chun's unhappy moll, a dignified creature whose desperate longing to escape the villain's clutches has appalling consequences for everyone around her, especially Wu.

Lam's eventful screenplay - co-written with Yip Gong-yam and Sandy Shaw - generates tension by emphasizing Lau's divided loyalties and highlighting the moral uncertainty of his plot to destroy Chun, and while the role is hardly a stretch for Lau (he's built an entire movie career on such flawed but heroic characters, ever since his debut in Ann Hui's 1982 feature BOAT PEOPLE), he plays it with just the right amount of compassion and nobility. Co-stars include Shaw Brothers favorite David Chiang, Ben Ng (the scene-stealing villain from Billy Tang's horrific RED TO KILL), and Asian-American actors Victor Wong (BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) and George Kee. Technical credits are superb: Wong Wing-ming's rapid-fire editing maintains a quickfire pace without sacrificing characters or narrative coherence, and Lam's high-powered direction is well-served by celebrated cinematographers Arthur Wong and Ardy Lam, who flatter Lau's beauty with their careful lighting schemes and underline the drama with tilted angles and fluid, mobile camera-work. Die-hard fans may have been divided by the film, but casual viewers will almost certainly get their money's worth.

(Cantonese dialogue)

Ringo Lam's "The Adventurers" is a star vehicle for Andy Lau, who plays a Cambodian orphan out to get even with the renegade arms merchant who rubbed out his parents. There are lots of explosions, plenty of gunfights and fine production values. The screenplay that Ringo Lam directs is weak on character development, linear structure and conversation. The comic book reality of this movie would have been better if Andy Lau had more personality or screen presence. In his scenes with Rosamund Kwan, she lights up the screen while Andy Lau mostly scowls. There is plenty of action, staged in San Francisco, the Phillipines and maybe Thailand (the police officers in some scenes looked the same as those in "Full Contact," which Lam filmed in Bangkok). For fans of Andy Lau, a top Hong Kong film star and singer, this movie is right up their alley. Ringo Lam complained in an interview after the movie's release that Lau's price tag of over one million dollars (US, not HK dollars) ate up almost half the pictures budget and limited Lam's making this movie. The production values are fine, in spite of Andy Lau's star fee. I saw this movie on a Mei Ah VCD, and the movie is worth looking at as mindless entertainment.

When people are shooting or fighting, the film delivers what action fans hope for. Andy Lau's character has the classic backstory and acquired skills for the hero of dramatic revenge tales set in any era or country. But rarely does one see such repeated incompetence outside of a Clouseau-style comedy. Every step in his course of payback blows up or causes serious collateral damage. The ending provides closure, but not in a way that makes much sense. This one doesn't earn a place on the highlight reel of Lau's otherwise admirable track record of roles and productions.

The Adventurers was the late Ringo Lam's final Hong Kong movie before heading over to Hollywood for a brief stint. Starring the wonderful Andy Lau and lovely Rosamund Kwan, the film is an action packed revenge flick with Lau having witnessed his parents murder when he was a boy. Having been saved by his fathers best friend (the fantastic David Chaing), Andy goes on to be a trained pilot for the Thai Air Force, eventually planning a hit on the killer, Ray Lui (played by Paul Chun - not actually Ray Lui) during a hotel event in Thailand. Obviously, things don't go so smoothly and soon, Lau is on the defence, aided by Lui's mistress (Rosamund Kwan).

Andy Lau gives one of his finest performances as the vengeful orphan who will do nothing to kill his parents murderer, and leaves his usual cheesiness at the door to portray Yan wonderfully...

I like The Adventurers. While it hasn't been cited as Lam's finest work, it still has enough going on to keep things interesting and most definitely action-packed! Of course, no Ringo Lam movie would be complete without its violence, and The Adventurers is no exception as its story spans across three countries. From the murder of his parents (with Philip Ko as his dad), to the kidnap of Lui's daughter, things just get bigger and darker as the film rolls on!

Lui's daughter is played brilliantly by Wu Chien Lien, who started her film career with Andy Lau in the fantastic film, A Moment Of Romance. While much feistier in this compared to the latter, I really enjoyed her performance and often thought she reminded me of Anita Mui at times. As her and Lau's relationship grows, there are a few moments of humour although nothing silly that detracts from the seriousness of the film.

Lam's direction, with that of the beautiful cinematography, is just fantastic offering some stunning moments of action and drama with plenty of camera movement, dutch-angles and great lighting. While I can understand some critics finding its running time a little too long (with more going on in the first hour than most films offer), as well as a few other minor gripes, I found The Adventurers to be a fast paced, highly exciting action thriller and a hugely accomplished piece of film-making for Ringo. The film actually takes a breath on the one-hour-mark for about 30 minutes for some drama that thickens the plot, before going into its explosive and emotional finale!

Overall: Perhaps Ringo Lam's most underrated movie, The Adventurers is well worth the watch...

You would expect the team up of master director Ringo Lam and actor Andy Lau would have had better results. Unfortunately The Adventurers is a somewhat lesser affair for both Director and Star.

The adventurers is a below par (for Ringo Lam) thriller, involving Lau's character Mandy (yes you did read that right)going undercover in America to infiltrate the gang of the man that killed his parents when he was a boy.

Competently made, but more could have been done with the plot and characters. It does involve some good action scenes, but Lam has done better and on a smaller budget. Lam said at the time that it was impossible to make a decent film with Andy Lau because half of the budget was spent on his fee alone. This doesn't make it a bad film.

Generally the performances are good especially Rosemund Kwan as the film's Femme Fatale. Worth a look, but for a better example of Lam check out his other classics The Victim, City on Fire or Full Contact.