- Actors: Chow Yun-Fat, Simon Yam, Anthony Wong, Ann Bridgewater, Frankie Chin
- Directors: Rick Jacobson, Ringo Lam
- Format: PAL, Dolby, Digital Sound, Anamorphic, Widescreen
- Language English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 18
- Studio: Hong Kong Legends
- DVD Release Date: 30 Aug 2004
- Run Time: 94 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0002DXN3Q
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 32,597 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Chinese track is lacking the musical background, although it is present in the English dubbed track. It's a shame really since the visual transfer is quite good. But lacking the background music, the movie is only marginally as effective as the earlier Tai-Seng version. Wait for Hong Kong Legends to correct this flaw.
Format:DVD
A gonzo high point of the Hong Kong gangster genre. A gang of good bad guys joins forces with a gang of bad bad guys. The bad bad guys betray the good bad guys and the spiral of revenge kicks off. Oh, and the leader of the bad bad guys (Simon Yam) openly and lasciviously fancies the pants off the leader of the good bad guys (Chow Yn Fat).
In the late eighties and early nineties, the better directors of Hong Kong action movies began to be feted internationally. The likes of John Woo and this film's director, Ringo Lam, suddenly found themselves lauded as pulp visionaries and, for a brief time, because their films made money, were allowed to make whatever the heck they liked.
"Full Contact" really is some kind of apotheosis of the Asian gangster movie. All the "types" are here: the murderous nymphomaniac; the homicidal brute; the gay psycho; the gangster who's only doing it to pay for his mother's funeral; the killer with a conscience; the "good" girl. The film knowingly and mischievously plays with these staples of the genre. It offers everything a (ahem) straight action movie would: the vicarious enjoyment of mayhem and lawlessness; a good wallow in a demented teenager's idea of "cool". But it also rips open these elements and reveals the sometimes downright crazy impulses actually motivating them. Alas, the movie wasn't really a success, and these days Ringo Lam is better known for making straight-to-DVD Jean Claude Van Damme no-brainers.
Although made in 1992, this is a two-headed mutant of an eighties movie, as if made by a giddy kid out of his mind on Duran Duran videos and Buckfast Tonic Wine; someone to whom Russell Mulcahy is some kind of deity. There's nothing quite like it.
In the late eighties and early nineties, the better directors of Hong Kong action movies began to be feted internationally. The likes of John Woo and this film's director, Ringo Lam, suddenly found themselves lauded as pulp visionaries and, for a brief time, because their films made money, were allowed to make whatever the heck they liked.
"Full Contact" really is some kind of apotheosis of the Asian gangster movie. All the "types" are here: the murderous nymphomaniac; the homicidal brute; the gay psycho; the gangster who's only doing it to pay for his mother's funeral; the killer with a conscience; the "good" girl. The film knowingly and mischievously plays with these staples of the genre. It offers everything a (ahem) straight action movie would: the vicarious enjoyment of mayhem and lawlessness; a good wallow in a demented teenager's idea of "cool". But it also rips open these elements and reveals the sometimes downright crazy impulses actually motivating them. Alas, the movie wasn't really a success, and these days Ringo Lam is better known for making straight-to-DVD Jean Claude Van Damme no-brainers.
Although made in 1992, this is a two-headed mutant of an eighties movie, as if made by a giddy kid out of his mind on Duran Duran videos and Buckfast Tonic Wine; someone to whom Russell Mulcahy is some kind of deity. There's nothing quite like it.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Full Contact release on DVD was long overdue, and now, in this finely presented package, it has been worth the wait.
By far one of the more brutal Hong Kong Gangster movies, Ringo Lam delivers a film noir esque tale of an imperfect hero who collaborates with a sadistic psychopath in a botched arms robbery that ruins his world. Broken and defeated, Judge rehabilitates himself and seeks revenge.
Whilst the gun battles are not quite on a par with John Woo's, as they lack both the scale and the choreography, Ringo Lam ensures that he makes up for it in style. Using the bullets eye view twice in the film, Lam delivers an intensity to his film making that has little comparison elsewhere. With eye catching cinematography, an awesome soundtrack than really delivers the goods, and one of Chow Yun Fat's greatest performances, this is a truly must have film.
Special credit must go to Simon Yam who totally steals the show with his sadistic villian Judge. Not even Dennis Hopper's character in Blue Velvet can hold a candle to the sinister, homosexual psychopath that is portrayed here. There rivalry is given an almost homoerotic overtone as Judge expresses his underlying desire for Jeff. Simon Yam gives great insight in an interview found in the extras. A special expose on the choreography of Hong Kong gun battles is also offered amongst the extras on this DVD.
With superb picture quality, an unforgettable film, and a great variety of extras within a finely presented package, this DVD is true value for money.
Full Contact is an absolutely integral purchase for any fan of Hong Kong cinema, or any casual admirer of Chow Yun Fat.
By far one of the more brutal Hong Kong Gangster movies, Ringo Lam delivers a film noir esque tale of an imperfect hero who collaborates with a sadistic psychopath in a botched arms robbery that ruins his world. Broken and defeated, Judge rehabilitates himself and seeks revenge.
Whilst the gun battles are not quite on a par with John Woo's, as they lack both the scale and the choreography, Ringo Lam ensures that he makes up for it in style. Using the bullets eye view twice in the film, Lam delivers an intensity to his film making that has little comparison elsewhere. With eye catching cinematography, an awesome soundtrack than really delivers the goods, and one of Chow Yun Fat's greatest performances, this is a truly must have film.
Special credit must go to Simon Yam who totally steals the show with his sadistic villian Judge. Not even Dennis Hopper's character in Blue Velvet can hold a candle to the sinister, homosexual psychopath that is portrayed here. There rivalry is given an almost homoerotic overtone as Judge expresses his underlying desire for Jeff. Simon Yam gives great insight in an interview found in the extras. A special expose on the choreography of Hong Kong gun battles is also offered amongst the extras on this DVD.
With superb picture quality, an unforgettable film, and a great variety of extras within a finely presented package, this DVD is true value for money.
Full Contact is an absolutely integral purchase for any fan of Hong Kong cinema, or any casual admirer of Chow Yun Fat.
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