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Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Xiaogang Feng, Wen Jiang
Set in China during the warring 1920s, notorious bandit chief Zhang descends upon a remote provincial town posing as its new mayor, an identity that he had hijacked from Old Tang, himself a small-time imposter. Hell-bent on making a fast buck, Zhang soon meets his match in the tyrannical local gentry Huang as a deadly battle of wit and brutality ensues.
In early 1920s, China was in civil war and it was an era when disorder became part of life. Bangde Ma ( GE, You) who just became the mayor of a remote town through bribery was robbed by a group of bandits led by Pock Zhang ( JIANG, Wen). However Ma could not afford any ransom because he had used up all his money for bribery and the only way to collect money was to use the ruling power of the mayor title. Zhang decided to take Ma's position as the new mayor while Ma posed as his private adviser under the name of Tang.
Their destination, the Goose Town, was actually controlled by notorious mafia clan of the Huang family and the only way to collect money was to fully cooperate with the family and handed out most of their gains. However Zhang was only interested in rich families black money and believed in fair justice for each person, which made Huang the IV ( CHOW, Yun-Fat), the boss of the clan, very very unhappy. Almost immediately Zhang and Huang became enemies and the Goose Town would soon turn to be a battle field as well as a stage of hypocrisy, cheating, apathy and snobbery.
The film will not only appeal to lovers of Asian cinema but also to anyone that loves their Hollywood movies with lots of gun fire and explosions as well as lots of laughs along the way. Wen Jiang is an amazing Director, He has four films under his belt now and each one is a gem including this one. We Jiang also stars in the film as well and he does an amazing job but he is not alone. Thee film also stars Chow Yun-Fat who gives a terrific performance as Wang and his body double.
There are certain things in the film that you may not understand because their associated with Chinese culture but it will not take away from the over-all enjoyable here. The cinematography is breath-taking but you come to expect that from Asian cinema and everything else about the production is top-notch as well.
The film is fast-paced and has memorable characters. It's a movie that sticks with you long after it is over. There's no wonder the film is the highest grossing in Chinese history. You can talk about the film all you want but to really appreciate it you have to see it for yourself and now you can. Available on DVD, Collector's Edition Blu-ray, Blu-ray/DVD Combo and Collector's Edition DVD. Each comes loaded with Special Features that include:
Original Language: Mandarin
Dubbed Language: English
Subtitle: English
Extra: Trailers
Collector's Edition contains additional Bonus Material
I had a blast watching this over-top-top action comedy and highly recommend it to everyone. You can order the packaging of your choice HERE.
Released by Well Go USA
**** Out Of *****