Paul Magne Haakonsen This 1989 movie was actually a nice surprise, and for some reason then I have never actually gotten around to watching it, despite me being a fan of Maggie Cheung.So after having seen it yesterday, I must say that "The Iceman Cometh" (aka "Ji dong ji xia") was quite a good and entertaining movie. And it was somewhat of a deviant from the typical movies that made it out of the Hong Kong cinema during the late 1980's. And that was, in my opinion, a very good thing.The story in "The Iceman Cometh" is about Fong Sau-Ching, a Ming Dynasty royal guard (played by Biao Yuen) who is sent out to capture notorious killer and rapist Fung San (played by Wah Yuen). They fight it out and plummet to an icy death from a mountainside. Centuries later two men are found embedded in ice and brought to a Hong Kong museum. Here they are accidentally thawed up and brought back to life, rendering the two residents of the Ming Dynasty to be let loose in modern day Hong Kong.The story was entertaining, albeit it wasn't original, and it had been seen before in Western cinema. But still, it turned out to be a good story and director Yiu-Leung Fok did manage to put together a nice movie.It should be said that the movie was really well-carried by the three stars on the cast list; that being Biao Yuen, Wah Yuen and Maggie Cheung."The Iceman Cometh" will captivate you from the very beginning and it stays interesting and well-paced throughout the entire course of the movie, which is good, as the audience is kept in an icy grip.I was genuinely entertained by "The Iceman Cometh" and wish that I had gotten around to watching it earlier, especially since I have had the DVD in my collection for about a decade."The Iceman Cometh" is a movie that will have some appeal even to audiences not usually keen on the Hong Kong cinema. And if you are a fan of the Hong Kong cinema, then do yourself a favor and get around to watching "The Iceman Cometh" if you haven't already seen it. You are missing out on a good movie.

thomvic This is a cheesy but enjoyable film about two warriors who live in the Ming Dynasty and quite simply - one is good, the other a womanising rapist. They get transported into modern day Hong Kong where the main character ends up meeting a prositute (Maggie Cheung) who hires him as her servant to do some chores around the house as well as being her bodyguard.This is a film not to be taken seriously and you'll enjoy it the more if you don't. It is a no brainer action comedy flick that has a silly plot that works well in this type of genre. Maggie Cheung is terrific as the self centred prostitute who just doesn't really konw what to do with her life and Biao Yuen as Ching (the protagonist) is pretty good in his role and both of the leads work well together The action scenes are the sort you sort of expect in the Hong Kong action film and they remain believable if slightly outrageous. Essentially what makes the story work is its humour and I wasn't expecting this to be a comedy at all - in fact I think I must have not read the blurb at the back of the DVD cover properly as I didn't realise Ching was going to be transported to another era - and it surprised me the more when I watched it.Check it out - it's a good film. Sure it's not a masterpiece nor will it be helmed as one of the greatest movies of our time but for what it is worth - it is worth the watch.

Guardia Opera School colleagues Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah face off in this action/drama film, (oh, and Maggie Cheung tags along for good measure). This film has seems to have slipped off the radar somewhat, but if you manage to see it, you'll find it has some very powerful moments.The scope of the film is huge. We start off in Imperial China (the Ming Dynasty), where we are introduced to the characters of Fong Sau-Ching (Biao), and Fung San (Wah) - perfect symbols of good and evil respectively. As in real life, the two are 'brothers', in that they have trained and lived together as Royal Guards. However, Fung has become corrupted, and is a known rapist and murderer. Fong must capture him within twenty days, or face execution himself.Did I mention that they travel into the future Hong Kong, the year 1989? Well they do via a Buddhist Wheel - a kind of primitive Delorian (but built sturdier).This film is by no means perfect, but it's main draw-cards are the exquisitely choreographed (though all too rare) action sequences, and the overall excellent production values. The performances vary somewhat, (Yuen Wah is maybe a little too comical in his delivery), but the film is ripe with powerful scenes and a surprising amount of subtext, if you're willing to look for it.The most interesting contrast the film makes is between the past and the (then) present. We find that honour, loyalty, and friendship mean totally different things in the modern age, and Biao's character has the most difficulty adjusting to his surroundings. Wah's character however (rapist, thief, murderer) adjust very quickly, and has even managed to adopt the most cutting-edge in fashion. The subtle distinctions drawn between Hong Kong and the Mainland are also of interest - though how relevant they are today I cannot say.Clarence Fok has undertaken a very ambitious task here - a film that deals with so much (in my mind) cannot succeed in every area. However, it does succeed in the most important areas for me, and I can only recommend at least one viewing. It does, however, seem to improve with multiple viewings. The rich visuals and and action sequences alone make this a stand-out from it's era.

gerrytwo "Iceman Cometh" starts out as a manhunt by Ming royal guard Yuen Biao after a rapist-killer of thirteen women in the royal palace, including a relative of the emperor. The guard is transported along with the killer to a snow covered area by a Tibetan wheel with time travel properties. After the two are frozen in the snow, a scientific expedition finds them years later and brings their frozen bodies back to modern Hong Kong. The guard and killer are accidentally thawed out, and the guard ends up getting involved with a call girl (Maggie Cheung)Maggie Cheung steals every scene she is in. Yuen Biao is tops in action scenes with his opponent, the actor who played Panther in "Supercop," but Biao is no match for Maggie. She uses him first as a housekeeper to clean up her messy apartment, then as an enforcer to shake down her clients for additional payoff money. She is the one with most of the problems, from a pimp who threatens to throw acid in her face if she doesn't go out with a client to her later run in with the rapist murderer.The movie also has some nice technical effects when the Tibetan wheel goes into its time traveling mode at the end of the movie, but the real special effect is Maggie Cheung's acting range. She can project some personality on the screen.