High Octane
Summary
A busy and somewhat meandering action film with all sorts of subgenres of action cross-pollinated into one hybrid, The Adventurers (which is not an appropriate title for this movie) is all over the place with its Rambo-esque / Strike Commando approach to exploiting the war hero type of film, while also being a romantic espionage film, as well as a gangster movie too! Lau is probably too handsome and lithe to be playing the hero he plays here, but then the movie swerves again and becomes a sort of a Top Gun / Iron Eagle type thing, which he is more suited for.
Plot: A Thai air force pilot is recruited by the CIA to infiltrate a crime ring operating in San Francisco, which aligns with his own personal vendetta.
Review: When he was a child, Wai Lok-yan witnessed his parents and half of his village in Cambodia being massacred by Pol Pot’s overlords. 20 years later, Wai (played by Andy Lau) is a crackerjack pilot with the Thai Air Force, and having been raised by his uncle, who used to work with the CIA, Wai is offered a rare chance to work with the CIA to infiltrate a crime ring operating out of San Francisco. By then, Wai has nearly completed his own personal vendetta against the man who killed his family – a double agent named Ray (Paul Chun) – whom Wai has been honing in on for decades. After nearly assassinating him in broad daylight, he is wounded and must recalibrate, while also navigating his own personal feelings for Ray’s girl, a woman named Mona (Rosamund Kwan), who helps save Wai’s life. When the CIA recruits him, Wai must join a group of gangsters who oppose another gang faction, which happens to be associated with Ray! Wai kidnaps Ray’s daughter Crystal (Jacklyn Wu) and keeps her in a safe house, which is then invaded by Ray’s goons. Wai and Crystal hightail it on foot back to civilization, and then he must stage the next steps to topple Ray’s empire down, which means tracking him back to Cambodia, where his skills as a pilot come into play as he explodes endless huts to get to Ray and his goons!
A busy and somewhat meandering action film with all sorts of subgenres of action cross-pollinated into one hybrid, The Adventurers (which is not an appropriate title for this movie) is all over the place with its Rambo-esque / Strike Commando approach to exploiting the war hero type of film, while also being a romantic espionage film, as well as a gangster movie too! Lau is probably too handsome and lithe to be playing the hero he plays here, but then the movie swerves again and becomes a sort of a Top Gun / Iron Eagle type thing, which he is more suited for. The movie’s climax has a gazillion huts exploding in fireballs as innocent villagers flee in terror, but for this type of movie that’s what it’s all about! Ringo Lam directed this before seguing into doing Maximum Risk with Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Eureka! brings The Adventurers to Blu-ray in a new 2K restoration, and the transfer soars like an F16 with sharp and clear visuals and sound. This is a limited edition of only 2000 copies, so grab one before it goes extinct.
Bonus Materials
- Limited edition of 2000 copies
- Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Time Tomorrow
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration
- Original Cantonese mono and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio options
- Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
- New audio commentary by film critic David West
- Two Adventurers – new interview with Gary Bettinson, editor of Asian Cinema journal
- Previously unseen archival interview with writer and producer Sandy Shaw
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Hong Kong cinema scholar Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park