Flaming Brothers VCD

On a dare from Mr. Kao, Alan takes his macho purse and goes on an arms deal to Thailand from which he isn't supposed to return. There he learns the quickest way to get rid of three pursuing attackers in a pedicab, and he picks up a romantic interest in the form of pampered, pouting Jenny Tseng, who's a flailing nightclub singer with a limp stage show. Not attached to women, he returns to Macau in triumph to his roomie, only to find that Ho-tien is romancing the devoutly Christian Ka-hsi (Pat Ha). With Mr. Kao on his case, Alan is abandoned by Ho-tien who won't give up his gal.

Things look dark, but in these kind of brotherhood movies there's always a triumphant return to heroism by the end, and Flaming Brothers (and no, they're not gay, although other characters speculate about this possibility endlessly) is no exception. Alan Tang was a star at this kind of heroic bloodshed film, and "his acting and image fascinated lots of lassie," says his star bio. Chow Yun-fat gives an average performance, but that's not to say it's weak. The bloodshed is spurt-a-riffic and as Ho-tien and Alan try to bring down the seemingly indestructible Mr. Kao the bullet ballet hits one gory climax after another. Gunsmoke hangs in the air and cordite stains their teeth as atomic squibs explode out of the backs of henchmen and blood mist hangs in a cloud behind them as they fall. Written by Wong Kar-wai, one can see some of his obsessions in embryonic form (he even manages to insert a convenience store into the plot). A standard programmer of the heroic bloodshed genre, Flaming Brothers is a film full of blood and guts and gusto.

by Grady Hendrix