Kill Zone [DVD]

'Kill Zone' is a martial arts crime-action movie, which had a theatrical release in Hong Kong in 2005 and Direct-to-DVD releases both in the UK and America. On its release, the movie was a box-office hit and critically acclaimed, hailed as a return to the classics of Hong Kong action cinema.The lead actors in the movie are as follows, Sammo Hung (starred in Wheels on Meals, Project A & Dragons Forever), Donnie Yen (starred in Ip Man, Flashpoint & Dragon Tiger Gate) and Simon Yam (starred in Election 1 and 2).The movie is known in Hong Kong as 'SPL: Sha Po Lang', which is short for three stars in Chinese astrology. 'Sha' means Seven Killings and is the Power Star referring to Sammo Hung, 'Po' means Army Breaker and is the Ruinous Star referring to Donnie Yen and 'Lang' means Greedy Wolf and is the Flirting Star referring to Simon Yam.The movie tells the story of Detective Chan (Simon Yam) who resorts to illegal methods to bring down Wong Po (Sammo Hung) who is a fierce triad boss. During this time Detective Ma Kwun (Donnie Yen) joins Chan's squad as a replacement for Chan who is retiring soon.'Kill Zone' has a straight forward story that we as an audience have seen so many times before, this however is a flaw that does not take away anything from this entertainer. What makes this movie different is the jaw-dropping action sequences, slick camera work, cool background music and the tense face-off between the heavyweights of Hong Kong cinema, Hung and Yen. The movie is also character driven when it needs to be and adds a touch of emotion, making it more than an action feature.The first half of the movie is all about the perfect build up of tension between the good guys and the bad guys. Once this has been accomplished we as an audience witness an explosion of adrenaline filled action. The movie then climaxes with a shock ending that I never saw coming, I was left GOBSMACKED, even long after the end credits had finished.The veteran Sammo Hung (actor/action choreographer/director) performs brilliantly as the ruthless villain. It is unbeleivable to see how flexible and agile he is in the action scenes, taking his heavy build. Donnie Yen is cool as ice in the movie and steals the show from everyone when it comes to martial-arts action. What I noticed, when I saw him fight was his raging facial expressions, which got my heart-thumping. Simon Yam is competent. Wu Jing plays a deadly assassin who strictly does his talking via fighting and does he fight.The action choreography is directed by Yen who comes up with some fresh ideas making the actions sequences real and phenomenal. Yen deservedly won the 'Best Action Choreography' award at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards. He achieved this by using mixed martial arts in the scenes, making them fresh and heart pounding. There are two back-to-back fights in the end and they are two of the finest martial-art scenes ever filmed. The first one is in an alleyway between Yen and Jing (watched it over and over numerous times) and the second one, which is real as it gets, is between Hung and Yen. Both scenes, which were allegedly improvised are outstanding and a treat to watch. Overall, intense scenes that pack a punch.The first-rate direction is provided by the extremely talented Wilson Yip who specializes in complete martial-arts action entertainers, which includes the cracking Flashpoint, the enjoyable Dragon Tiger Gate and the fantastic Ip Man. All of these movies star the directors favourite, Donnie Yen. Every actor has one director who can bring out the best in them, in Yens case, it's Yip.The background music score, which is provided by Ken Chan and Chan Kwong-Wing is amazing and gets you in the mood for the furious paced action. The music, especially in the Yen and Jing fight was fantastic. The cinematography is stylised and is provided by Lam Wah-Chuen.The picture and sound quality of the DVD is excellent. The language options in the DVD are Cantonese and English. The quality of the English dubbing is average. I personally prefer watching the movie in the original language with English subtitles. The commentary provided by Bey Logan is insightful and the interviews of the lead actors in the special features are enjoyable.'Kill Zone' is slick, stylish and gritty cinema that is a must-watch for action fans.

Many folk come to the action genre or martial arts flicks with a desire or craving for set-pieces. The ultimate aim of the participants or contenders seems to drive onward toward an inevitable painful end. Those audiences that find this too simple, minimalistic or just plain violent without the subtly of modernist drama may not receive much in the way of drama frisson between the set-pieces of acrobatic destruction.Kill Zone, is primarily body action driven, punched with bouts of relevant emotional drama, bearing a plotline, has fateful set-ups for people to lose what is nearest & dearest. Of course show-downs of equal or unmatched talents of whooping backside can overshadow the entire genre. Destruction happens readily to property & body.Yet i must say that, from an overtly western perspective Shakespeares tragic, doomed, fateful spiral of events came most readily to mind. Once revenge is the road one sets out on, both sides lose much. In the asian sense, karmic repercussion seems to be the theme. No good deed goes unpunished in a subversion of mere fate.On a visceral level, unlike many modern action pieces, the plot lulls or changes tempo, to show the underlying emotion of drama for spaces of the film. Yet it all powers along with immediate impact & violent human drives given free reign. A mixture of John Woo's earlier work, lyrical & perhaps balletic imagery, with the slow burning fuse of Beat Takeshi in many characters barely concealed aggression.Some may find the finale or ending either interestingly subverting or perhaps contrived to bring the threads of tragedy together. Personally i found it quite refreshing to go down that avenue. A series of images caps it off in Takeshi poetry again. Ok, it's not all shakespeare certainly not the dialogue but overall there is such tragedy played here it bears similar universal application. This is no mere asian cinema, it is humanity failing dismally to see it's own destruction. Oh, & Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung whoop nether-regions with usual crunchy realism. Entertaining, crisp & better than a dozen american machine-produced, milled out generic bumfluffs.

Not one of his best movies but Donnie Yen does a fairly good job of beating the bad guys.

This is a tense police vs gangsters thriller starring Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Sammo Hun and Jing Wu. It has a good story at its foundation and the fight scenes add to that - none of which are gratuitous/out of place.The 4 actors named above are the stars of the movie and the supporting cast are solid too.Highly recommended if you like this genre.

Great martial arts film.

I just want to back up what Trevor Willsmer and K. Jouni summed up about this movie by going 5 stars too.This is a serious, gritty "in yer face" violent film that won the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards* Winner - Best Action Design (Donnie Yen Ji-Dan) as Insp. Ma* Nomination - Best Supporting Actor (Liu Kai-Chi) as Det. Lok Kwun Wah12th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards - Recommended FilmIt is a very frustrating to get a hold of region 2 or 0, I mean loads of people in UK are missing this. Weinstein or whoever should do something about it.Because it is unrated, I like to inform potential buyers this film is 18 rated. If you seen "In the line of duty" (Donnie Yen), "New Police Story" (Jackie Chan), "Dragons Forever" (Samo Hung), "Election" (Simon Yam) or "Infernal Affairs" (Andy Lau and Tony Leung), you will feel right at home watching this high-octane crime thriller.Seen em all? Wan mo action?Try Donnie Yen's "Flash Point". Same director. Same role for Donnie as "Invincible Inspector Ma".