One Hell Of A Ride
Added 5/30/2007
Any movie that opens with nuns brandishing AK47s to massacre parishioners during baptism is off to a bold start.
I saw this movie twelve hours ago and the adrenaline is still in my system! I cannot believe I lived 29 years without seeing this film. It is a must see for any Hong Kong action fan.
`Undeclared War' is a fitting title since it is about an all out war started by a communist terrorist group during the Cold War. From the streets of Warsaw to the streets of Hong Kong the terrorists bring chaos with bombs, shootings and assassinations. These shootouts are very elaborate even by Hong Kong action standards involving helicopters, dozens of police vehicles, chase scenes on land sea and air, and cliffhangers on skyscrapers. No action technique goes unused in `Undeclared War.'
If there is one thing Ringo Lam films have taught us, it's that the Hong Kong police department has more weapons than the entire US army.
Much like `The Killer' or `Hardboiled' we are too caught up in the action to recognize or care about the plot's serious short comings. Our anti-terrorist heroes, CIA agent Peter Liapis and Hong Kong cop Danny Lee (`The Killer' `City on Fire') are not very interesting characters. Liapis comes across as a hard boiled B Jack Bauer and Lee comes across as a nerd. Lee's acting is also hampered by his broken English. Unfortunately there are no scenes of cool cops in black trench coats wearing sunglasses at night and driving Ferraris. But that's OK since Lee and Liapis have little dialogue as they are constantly fighting for their lives.
The terrorists are great villains as they are communists bent on uninhibited destruction. Blowing up a bus or massacring a church is all justified as part of the communist revolution. Few action films are bold enough to bring in communists, terrorists today are like that of `Die Hard' just out for money. But these guys are far more evil, they don't kill innocents for money, killing innocents is their goal. Olivia Hussy (Juliet in `Romeo and Juliet') stars along side an Australian, "Hannibal" the master of disguise. Think Ruger Hauer's character in `Night Hawks'. Hannibal does a good job of hamming it up.
What language is this film in? That was a question I was asking myself 30 minutes into the film. Like `The Longest Day' and `No Man's Land' each character speaks their native language (except for Lee). The result is a mishmash of Polish, English, and Cantonese that even the subtitler can't figure out. The subtitles are VERY poor with misspellings and sloppy abbreviations which look like a text message.
Make things easy on yourself and simply turn the subtitles off. While you may not speak Polish or Cantonese you can still tell what is happening. Fortunately there is far more action and dialogue. Did `Hard Boiled' need subtitles?
Undeclared war is 104 minutes of nonstop Ringo Lam any action fan is sure to love.
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Undeclare This War...Please
Added 8/2/2004
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.
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Hong Kong Classic
Added 1/14/2003
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.
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