dworldeater The Big Heat is a very underrated HK action flick. This was made in the late 80's, a great time for action and the peak of this genre in HK. this overlooked gem is HK action at its finest. Gritty, fast paced with solid action and direction and lots of high octane, extreme action. The Big Heat is really cooking with truckloads of crazy action, blood and gore. This film has two directors, Andrew Kam and Johnny To. While some projects suffer from "too many cooks in the kitchen", The Big Heat is totally solid and cohesive. Johnny To would later become one of the most prolific and respected directors in HK cinema. Waise Lee is the lead in this film and is an overworked, stressed out cop that is about to retire until he gets the news that one of his close friends gets barbecued in Malaysia. He scratches that idea and starts to work on the case. Waise Lee does a good job as veteran cop and hero. He usually is cast as villain in this type of movie. Speaking of going against type, Chu Kong (who is best known to western audiences as Sydney from John Woo's classic The Killer) is in his element as a violent, drug pushing villain. Also appearing is Shaw Brothers kung fu star Phillip Kwok in one of his most memorable performances in a modern action movie besides Hard Boiled. The gorgeous Joey Wang has a brief, but memorable performance as a nurse. She also is a love interest for the rookie cop working on the case with Waise Lee's group of cops. If you are a fan of action, The Big Heat is hard to beat. Gorehounds should also take note as the violence in this film is very bloody and very extreme.

Comeuppance Reviews Hong Kong cop Wai-Pong "John" Wong (Lee) has been having nightmares about his right hand. He's worried it will cramp up and be of no use should he get into a firefight and he won't be able to protect his partners Kam (Kwok), Clumsy Lun (Wong), or Malaysian cop working with them, Ong (Lo). Not to mention his wife Maggie (Mak), who he's been having troubles with lately. But Wong is going to have to put his psychological/physical issues on hold, because Hong Kong is about to be turned upside down by drug-dealing, blackmailing, ruthless gangsters that kill witnesses at the drop of a hat and want to do as much illegal activity as possible before 1997 (when HK becomes independent of British rule). This sets the stage for one of the most blood-drenched battles Hong Kong has ever seen. The heat isn't just big...it's HUGE! It's pretty easy math to do: Stylish police drama + Hong Kong + The 80's + GORE scenes = complete and total winner! We believe this movie's under-the-radar status, coupled with its being credited to not less than THREE directors, one of which is Johnnie To, another being an uncredited Tsui Hark, plus its groundbreaking uses of extreme violence, puts The Big Heat firmly in the category of cult movie. Which is saying a lot because that's one of the most misused terms out there today. Most movies deemed "cult" are not. We're pretty sure The Big Heat is. The title is not to be confused with the also-excellent (but couldn't be more different) film noir from 1953. Quick sidebar: if you look closely in one of the scenes, you can see a poster for Young Warriors (1983) in the background.The Big Heat delivers all the bone-crunching violence you could ever possibly want, and we applaud them for going so far over the top. But the real truth is that this would be a good, solid, interesting movie even without the excessive blood and mayhem. It's stylishly and energetically directed, and would easily hold the viewers' interest sans all the brutality on show. So you can imagine the thrill-ride this movie is WITH all the violence. All the fights and stunts are spectacularly well-staged, and the viewer is never less than totally entertained. Plus there's plenty of slow-motion dramatics so popular at the time to increase the operatic feel of it all.If The Big Heat was an 80's boombox, it would have all the levels cranked to the top. We give this movie a very strong recommendation so make sure you see it!

Simon Booth Tsui Hark produces and Johnnie To directs this classic tale of hard-boiled cops and powerful criminals who might be above the law, but aren't above justice (Hong Kong style).Waise Lee plays the detective who wants to crack the proverbial 'one last case' before retirement, with Wong Hin-Mung as the rookie with a weak stomach and admirable support from Phillip Kwok and Lo Ging-Wa as the ice-cool action cops with an unspoken respect and affection under the competitive appearance of their relationship. Paul Chu Kong is truly fearsome as the ruthless villain, and Joey Wang is... cute as a chipmunk (sorry, but she really does look like one - she must never have babies with Donnie Yen!).The film opens with a shocking image of a power drill piercing a hand, in quite convincing detail. It's just a nightmare/metaphor for Waise Lee's nerve condition, but it sets the tone for the film effectively - one of the most violent and cynical films Hong Kong has produced. It's reminiscent in more ways than one of the recent SPL, and the appropriation of the name from Fritz Lang's at-the-time-shocking noir is... appropriate. The film is quite openly influenced by Robocop too, with several moments of violence essentially stolen from Verhoeven's still-shocking work. This is mostly at the start of the film... as it progresses it shifts more towards Hong Kong style gunplay action in the John Woo style, but never gives up on its mission to up the ante for violence. There is some fantastic gunplay in the film, grittier and less stylised than Woo's, but just as 'ballistic'.The film is just as intense in its narrative and atmosphere as in the action, genuinely 'thrilling' and dark as it sucks you into the characters' situation, making you care for the relatively-good guys and despise the undeniably-bad guys. There's very little 'fluff' or wasted screen time (Tsui Hark's tacked on cameo at the end being the major exception!).I first saw the film years ago - one of the first DVDs I imported when I joined the digital world, as it happens. I wasn't all that impressed at the time, though the level of violence/gore definitely stuck in my head. After an overdue rewatch on the new/improved HK DVD, Waise Lee is still a terrible actor, even in this (one of his best efforts), but the film is so intense and uncompromising that he can't destroy it. If Chow Yun-Fat had been free (and affordable) there is no doubt in my mind that this would be held up as one of the all-time classics of HK Cinema's 'Golden Age'. My new evaluation is that it comes pretty darn close anyway.

Joseph P. Ulibas The Big Heat (1988) was a violent and brutal police drama that is still shocking and disturbing. A police inspector(Waise Lee) is partially crippled in his quick draw hand. He's haunted by the fact that he'll never be able to use it like he did ever again. Meanwhile a brutal crime lord (Chu Kong) is making all kinds of trouble amongst the Hong Kong Police department. Corruption is at an all time high and no one is innocent. Inspector Lee and his partner (Philip Kwok) are assigned a new partner (Matthew Wong) and a foreign fellow officer, the four of them make a very unlikely group of officers. Their job is to take out and apprehend the crime lord (or is it?). The hot Joey Wong is the love interest of the novice officer.If you like no holds barred action films, then look no further. Violent deaths, brutal fist fights and hardcore action is the rule in this movie. I haven't seen anything like this in a long time and neither will you. Maybe some day a true uncut version of this movie will appear. But don't worry about it because I doubt it'll be any more bloodier than it already is.Highly recommended for the sheer carnage alone.