IMDB
A gem of a suspenseful, intense noir crime drama from Hong Kong. On The Run is one of the darkest, grittiest and most violent movie to ever come out of Hong Kong. Yuen Bao stars in the film but there is none of his trademark acrobatics here. In fact, there is no martial arts at all. The brutal fight to the death at the end is an all-out, no holds barred brawl.
The story involves a detective forced to team up with a cold-blooded hitwoman from Thailand, who just happens to be the murderer of his ex-wife, against corrupt policemen.
The use of colors and lighting is simply fantastic. The script is intelligent and supported by a very strong performance all around. Not to mention the score which is great and appropriately moody.
On The Run is, quite simply put, a real gem.
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Review from HKMDB:
Alfred Cheung has directed a few decent films over the course of his career, most of them being comedies such as Her Fatal Ways, or All's Well, Ends Well 97. But nothing else in his filmography would lead you to believe he was capable of delivering a film as polished and stylish as On the Run, a gritty and quite violent crime noir classic which he wrote and directed in 1988. The movie is truly a gem that represents not only one of the creative peaks of HK cinema in the late 80s but also a highlight in the acting career of star Yuen Biao.
Shot mostly at night, the film is awash in colored neon light, reflected in the wet asphalt of HKs urban jungle, bouncing off car windshields, and providing a warm glow through windows and doors, bathing walls and interiors in strong reds or greens. The color composition is lovely, and on more than one occasion I wished I could freeze and print out the image on the screen to hang it on a wall. Cheung uses the environment to perfection, and creates moody, dark settings simply by playing with shadow and light. The closeups are often gorgeously framed and enhanced by natural effects, such as Pat Ha's face behind a screen of rain pouring down a car windshield, or the silhouette of Pat Ha and Yuen Biao against a background of staggered angled walls, each lighted in different colors. It all looks very stylish without ever becoming mannered - and it was shot years before WKW and Christopher Doyle came along...
The story is unrelentingly dark and tense, without ever becoming depressing or moody. And Cheung ensures that the tone of the movie, once established, is carried through in a consistent manner - no comic relief, no jarring concessions to sentiment, no self-referential irony, just honest, direct story-telling in the best film noir tradition.
Yuen Biao plays a CID detective whose wife is brutally assassinated in a restaurant by a lone female killer (Pat Ha). It turns out she had uncovered evidence of wrong-doing by some members of the homicide squad, and so the corrupt police officers ordered the hit to keep her silent. Yuen Biao starts investigating and soon finds the murderer, except that the aforementioned bad guys are trying to silence the hired killer as well - Yuen Biao spoils their plans by saving the killer, which puts him in their crosshairs as well, and soon Yuen Biao and Pat Ha are on the run for their lives, with nowhere to turn to for help.
The action is presented in a realistic manner - no acrobatic gunplay, no fancy moves, no gravity-defying stunts. Pat Ha is convincing as the cold-blooded killer, and Yuen Biao for once gets to act, and does so very impressively: freed from the burden of having to display acrobatic stunts and martial arts prowess, he concentrates on his character and does an execellent job conveying his pain, despair and finally his deadly resolve. There's very little dialog in the scenes between Pat Ha and Yuen Biao, but still a picture of the complex relationship between these two hunted people begins to evolve. The dynamics between the two are quite involving, and I was completely caught up in their story. The bad guys are somewhat more stereotypical, although it helps that Charlie Chin as the lead villain gives a very calm, subdued performance that is all the more menacing precisely because he doesn't overact his role.
A lot of people die in this movie, including some characters who would be untouchable in a Hollywood film. The final showdown is extremely gritty and violent. Unfortunately, the movie ends right after this final fight, with only a screen caption giving a grim, bleak update on the fate of the survivors. Supposedly, there is a longer version of the film that includes an extended epilogue, but it's not on this Megastar dvd (with a running time of about 84 minutes).
I had very very high expectations for this movie, and I was still blown away by how good the film actually is. This is a must-see for any HK movie fan. Very strongly recommended.
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http://tinypaste.com/9d29a
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Language: Cantonese
Subtitles: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
File : 1.36 GB, duration: 1:24:09, type: AVI, 1 audio stream
Video : 1.14 GB, 1942 Kbps, 29.970 fps, 672*368 (16:9), XVID
Audio : 231 MB, 384 Kbps, 48000 Hz, 5 channels, AC3, CBR
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