Rating:

7

Year of release: 1988

Genre: action/drama

Director: Alfred Cheung

Prodicer: Sammo Hung

Action directors: Sammo Hung, Yuen Wah

Writer: Alfred Cheung, Wong Wang Kei

Cinematography: Ngau Chi Kwan

Editor: Jun Tsui

Music: Violet Lam

Stars: Yuen Biao, Pat Ha, Charlie Chin, Idy Chan, Lee Heung Kam, Lo Lieh, Yuen Wah, Phillip Ko, Alex To, Lam Laap Saam, Bowie Lam, Cheung Choi Mei, Baau Hei Ming, Peter Ngor, Poon Jan Wai

Not rated; contains IIB-level violence

DVD Information

Company: Mega Star

Format: widescreen

Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin

Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese

Extras: trailers, plot synopsis

Notes: Typical for an early HK DVD -- the picture is washed-out, the Dolby-"remixed" soundtrack is mushy and the subtitles are badly translated. This version is also missing the last scene of the movie, but all of the violence is intact.

Related links:

Sammo Hung biography
Movie Review index
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On the Run

In On the Run, Yuen Biao plays a CID detective whose wife (also a cop) has made several big drug busts, which leads to her assassination. While trying to hunt down the female gun-for-hire responsible for his wife's death (Pat Ha), Yuen uncovers a big conspiracy in another department of the police force. The crooked cops frame Yuen for a murder, and so he must try to prove his innocence while bringing his wife's killer to justice.

On the Run's plot sounds like many of the "heroic bloodshed" (cops-and-robebrs action/drama) movies relased in Hong Kong during the 1980's. What sets it apart is Yuen Biao. Like Jackie Chan's turn in Crime Story, On the Run is a much darker and less action-heavy film than fans of Yuen's work might be used to -- but that's not a bad thing. Yuen handles his role with aplomb. Even though he is not widely regarded as a great actor, Yuen shows a great deal of range here, whether it's tenderness with his daughter or rage when he initially deals with the assassin. Yuen's work is very believable and even touching in parts, which helps the viewer get through some of the slower parts of the film.

But don't get the wrong idea -- On the Run isn't just all talk. Even though there isn't much in the way of extended action sequences, what is in On the Run is done quite well, which makes sense since both Sammo Hung and Yuen Wah worked as action directors on this production. Even though some viewers will likely be disappointed at the almost total lack of hand-to-hand fighting, the gunplay and "chopper" (huge knives) attacks displayed here are quite solid and pretty bloody as well. We're not talking Story of Ricky territory, but there is a good amount of claret spilled during the proceedings. Some choice bits include people getting shot in the eye socket or through the hand, as well as an amputation via chopper which will either make you cheer or make you cringe, depending on your tolerance of ultra-violence.

Alas, there are a few problems with On the Run. As I hinted to before, there are parts where the exposition gets to be a bit much. It's not a matter of the acting or script, but rather the pacing. The movie could have used another couple of action scenes to punch things up a notch, particularly during the first half of the movie. Also, like many Hong Kong movies made during this period, the production feels like it was rushed. In particular, the editing is sloppy at times; some of the shots don't match up with the previous one, which becomes annoying during the action scenes. The soundtrack could have used some more polish, though this could be partly due to Mega Star's remix of the movie for its' DVD release. Overall, though, On the Run comes recommended to Hong Kong movie fans (both old and new, since this seems to be one of the lesser-known pictures in Yuen Biao's filmography) who are tired of the half-ass output coming out of HK nowadays and want to check out something from the "golden age".