Friday, June 15, 2018

Tiger Cage



Tiger Cage Directed By Yuen Wo-Ping, Starring Donny Yen (1988).

I’ve been sitting on this review for awhile, like Horton that dedicated pachyderm you may have read about in a Dr. Seuss book. At first I saw this action packed HK classic in the infancy of Netflix streaming and its sequel was there to boot. From the neon production logo to the starting gate, it doesn’t let up or take a breath. The film has constant blasting of hardware and pummeling. Chunks of heads are blown out by Asian dudes with comical mustaches. One of the main actors Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau starred in Demoness of 1000 years and John Woo's Bullet in the Head (which I need to get a copy of). Donnie Yen has gotten just too over exposed I mean he was in one of the lamest Star Wars, Rogue One, but that's definitely a step up in paycheck. Good for him I say!

Lucas was totally ripping off Hidden Fortress anyway.


 The stunts in this film look pretty painful, I'm sure a lot of stunt men were stuck in the hospital with broken bones. One dude jumps off a bridge and dives onto a moving car. What do you expect from Dickson Poon presentation, other than quality! One of my most favorite titles of the DP cannon is Porky's Meatballs (aka Devil Horse School Yard) Thank you HKDB for all the great info! 

actual image from Porky's Meatballs!


 Simon Yam aka Dr. Lamb hisself is one of the CID officers trying to bust up a heroin ring.
There’s an egg blowing prank that wouldn't look that weird on a Japanese game show.
After awhile it slows down to the pace of a ROM Com but not for too long. Then it settles into gun battle territory and another prank that causes fatalities this time.

yeah just like the incredible Mr. Limply

One cop gets covered in tear gas then shredded with a shotgun. His wife starts training for revenge. This dude with a fro and a mustache played by Johnny Wang Lung-Wei is super bad ass. Johnny Wang was in a lot of amazing Chinese flicks like Boxer's Omen, Dirty Ho and even Crippled Avengers. 
I remember watching the sequel to TG first with chop socky dubbing and enjoying it more. 

UGHHH I hate when my crepe explodes!

There’s this one gangster played by Micheal Woods who looks like Lionel Richie with gigantism, he wears a white blazer. It’s all very Miami Vice-ish. The fight scene between him and Donnie yen is highly entertaining and the fight choreography is excellent. Woods was only in a few HK films but he has an unhinged presence and even appeared in one other film featured in the Deep Red catalog, In the line of duty 4.

I just shit my pannntttsss!

Ng Man-Tat gets pelted with a bag of cocaine that erupts and clings to his face. He's one of the main cops and his character is pretty like able, I'm surprised he hasn't appeared in more films that I've seen.
I don’t want to spoil anything but Simon Yam brutally kills a major character and it’s pretty fucked up!

Dr. Lamb just got recruited as the Trump surgeon general.

During the second half, Yam gets more insidious and acts like a thug. Good cops get framed and it’s basically turns into a more gore soaked CSI.
One girl gets hurled out a window and dives onto a car like in the first half! There’s even a montage that gets you amped for the final showdown. I'd say watch part 2 first then revisit in the first one because most of the cast return even though a lot of them are killed. Go figure.

I'm not making copies of the Mad Ron's Prevues tape don't melt my eyeballs!


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