The Big Heat (1988)

Directors: Andrew Kam, Johnnie To

Notable Cast: Waise Lee, Matthew Wong, Phillip Kwok, Lionel Lo, Paul Chu, Betty Mak, Peter Lai, Stuart Ong, Robin Shou

There’s always a sense of shock and accomplishment when one discovers an overlooked diamond of a film out there in the black holes of the cinematic void. This is the feeling that overcame me when I sat down to watch the Hong Kong action flick The Big Heat with my brother the other day. As a fan of the cops n’ criminals genre of Hong Kong action flicks from the 80s and early 90s, I was also a tad shocked that this one has flown under the radar. Not only is this film good, but it’s packed with a phenomenal cast and co-directed by one of Hong Kong’s greatest directors, Johnnie To. The film itself is ripe with wonderful artistic direction, massively entertaining and vicious action sequences, and a darkness to its police team narrative that gives it an impressive depth. The Big Heat, despite its generic title, deserves to be listed among some of the best of the style and belongs up there in the ranks of classics from John Woo, Ringo Lam, and Tsui Hark.

Vanished Murderer, The (2015)

Director: Law Chi-leung

Notable Cast: Lau Ching-wan, Jiang Yiyan, Gordon Lam, Rhydian Vaughan, Lulu Li

One of the most disappointing sequels I've ever had the unfortunate pleasure of getting through. I am not sure where to start, so this review may be a bit scattershot, but here we go!

First off, I loved the previous film in this 'Vanish' series, The Bullet Vanishes, but this uninspired sac of crap barely manages to be a cohesive narrative, faltering under its own repetitive mystery that echoes the 1st entry, to the point where you find yourself wanting the film to hurry along and reveal its already exposed self. It is beat for beat similar in too many moments and aspects.

Iron Angels (1987)

Director: Teresa Woo

Notable Cast: Moon Lee, Alex Fong, Elaine Lui, Hideki Saijo, Yukari Ôshima, David Chiang, Hwang Jang Lee, Kwan Yeung
AKA: Angel, Fighting Madam, Midnight Angel

At this point in my life as a cinephile, I watch a lot of foreign films. I always have, generally speaking, but now it seems I do so with an almost fever pitch as cult cinema from around the world unfolds before me and I continually discover new films. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find a lot of foreign films that peak my interest at times and, in particular, the action films from Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s can be particularly troubling to find. Sometimes you just have to take what you are given like watching something online since you can’t seem to find it to purchase anymore. In this case, it’s the Hong Kong action spy film Iron Angels – also known as Fighting Madam, also known as Angel, also known as Midnight Angel. It’s known by a lot of titles, really, and the one that I found had the title Angel on its credits despite being labeled as Iron Angels which I’m sure complicates matters for newer releases. That’s beside the point, however, when we have a slick little cult gem of an action film like this one. The story is silly and it has the character depth of a child’s swimming pool, but the action…my, oh my, the action is sweet. For those looking for some 80s style Hong Kong entertainment, you could do a lot worse than Iron Angels which features enough intense action sequences to curb any action craving. You can certainly do better too, but that doesn't stop this one from being entertaining on its own grounds.