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烈火戰車 (1995)
Full Throttle


Reviewed by: Chungking_Cash
Date: 07/18/2008

Derek Yee's crotch rocket opera takes few if any of the risks that lifted its predecessor (1993's "C'est la vie, Mon Cherie") above the various trappings of the romance genre. Yee, to his credit keeps the melodrama agreeable due largely in part to lead Andy Lau who plays his role as a rogue with parental issues sincerely and promising new comer Gigi Leung who co-stars as Lau's uncomfortably on-again-off-again girlfriend. That aside, audiences attracted to the film's title and to the prospect of white knuckle street racing directed by car crash connoisseur Bruce Law might leave feeling cheated by Yee's indifference to the illegal sport. Others may walk out wondering about that look co-star David Ng Dai-wai (1) has in his eye every time he comes into contact with Lau.

Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: STSH
Date: 04/04/2006

Downbeat story of competition and loyalty which doesn't quite gel. I shook my head in wonder at the complete lack of chemistry between Andy Lau and GiGi Leung (a beauty made to look like a dork). A couple, engaged seven years, and every sentence he ever says to her contains at least one insult, yet she stands by him. Lau plays a similar character to the one he did, but much better, in the Moment_Of_Romance trilogy. The rivalry between him and David Ng seems very forced, making the eventual reconciliation hard to believe, if a bit surprising. Not much glorification of bike riding heroics here, which is perhaps just as well.

OVERALL : Don't bother with it.

Reviewer Score: 2

Reviewed by: Dyogenez
Date: 05/06/2002
Summary: More relationship than racing

I've never been much of a motorcycle racing fan, but I thought i'd give this one a shot, as anything with Andy Lau in it is sure to be great. As a racing movie I do believe this fails. There are very few racing scenes and very few shots would establish the situations. Most of the racing scenes only go towards character development and establishing injuries to be sorted out later. Most of the movie revolves aroudn the relatioship between Andy Lau and Gigi Leung Wing-Kei, his girlfriend of 7 years. The interactions between the racers at the local bars and the on the racetracks make for spurring the stroy and changing Andy Lau's views of his girlfriend. I would recommend this movie for Andy Lau fans, but overall it wasn't as interesting as a relationship or a racing film as i thought. 6/10


Reviewed by: Inner Strength
Date: 04/16/2002
Summary: Very good

Very good indeed, both Andy Lau and Gigi Leung act their characters out perfectly, to a very convincing finish.

Rating: [4/5]


Reviewed by: Yellow Hammer
Date: 05/10/2001
Summary: excellent drama

Yes, there are a lot of bikes, a lot of bike talk, and a lot of street racing in the movie. But the movie is a drama, and a very good one in every sense of the word. Joe (Andy Lau) is a rogue biker who has had his license revoked for 7 years and is finally getting it back. He and his friend Jiele (Chin Ka-lok), a fellow rogue racer, own a small bike shop. Joe's father Paul (Paul Chun) is a major racing bike dealer who is the team manager for a group of championship caliber racers. Joe's girlfriend Yee (Gigi Leung) is a demure and docile girl works for Paul. She essentially is the antithesis of Joe. David Kwan (David Wu) has come back from overseas looking to make friends and race.

The movie focuses on relationships - the strained relationship between Joe and Paul, the on-again, off-again relationship between Joe and Yee, and the friendships between Joe and Jiele and Joe and David. Excellent portrayals by the major actors in the movies. High recommendations for the movie, thumbs down for the DVD.

Tons of 1995 HKFA nominations for this movie, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Andy Lau), Best Supporting Actor (Chin Ka-Lok), Best Supporting Actress (Ha Ping), Best Newcomer (Gigi Leung), Best Director and Screenplay (Derek Yee), Best Original Film Score (winner), Best Editing (winner), and so on...


Reviewed by: OC_Gwailo
Date: 04/24/2001
Summary: Good stuff, but less about bikes than you might expect

I'll say this right up front: "Full Throttle" is a damn good movie. The only thing is, if you're looking for a roadracing movie where the racing is primary and the plot is secondary, try "Race for Glory" (U.S.) instead. While there are some extremely well shot racing scenes on HK streets, "Full Throttle" is less about bikes and more about relationships. Namely, the relationship between Joe (a typically morose Andy Lau), the street racing king; Annie (Gigi Leung), Joe's long-suffering girlfriend; and new guy David (David Ng), an up-and-coming racer who befriends Joe.

The street-racing scenes are more than decent, but the dramatic elements are what really make this movie something special. Joe looks suitably tortured as he recovers from a debilitating crash, attempts to reconcile with his father, and tries to stop sabotaging his relationship with Annie. The chemistry between Ng and the standoffish Lau is convincing as well, particularly in the arcade scene: Joe and David meet on the street and tell each other they have other engagements; David goes to an arcade to play a motorcycle racing game, and Joe unwittingly sits down beside him. Priceless.

Without the convincing dramatic elements, the movie would not have held up, and while I would have preferred more racing, I found "Full Throttle" to be a solid piece of work that you'll keep coming back to. You can't ask for more than that. [www.hkactionfilms.com]


Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 09/19/2000
Summary: Excellent

A very touching drama which i was VERY suprised by. The script, acting and the races are all good in this.
Something to watch with a loved one!!

8/10

Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: SUPERCOP
Date: 12/27/1999
Summary: Yee's follow-up to C'est La Vie Mon Cheri....

Derek Yee Tung-sing's follow up to the surprise hit C'est La Vie Mon Cheri earned equal acclaim, and again was huge at the box office. Andy Lau Tak-wah stars as a motorcycle racer who must contend with the strained relationship between his girlfriend, his father, and a hot-headed best friend who is constantly putting his life on the line. Lau is superb as the star, but Chin Kar-lok outshines him with a fine performance which earned him a best supporting actor nomination. The great performances, along with exhilirating race scenes and some fine script writing makes Full Throttle yet another worthy effort for director Yee.


Reviewed by: jfierro
Date: 12/21/1999

A solid movie from start to finish. Well written, strongdirection, and an impressive job by the immensely talented cast. Joe is the best motorcycle racer in Hong Kong and dreams of racing in Macau, ignoring everything else in his life including his girlfriend of seven years. When he almost dies after wiping out in an illegal road race, he loses his nerve to race again, and begins to question his own self-worth. He must now decide how important racing is to his life. Imagine Tom Cruise' DAYS OF THUNDER done with far more intelligence. Andy Lau turns in one of his better performances. Derek Yee, who normally directs small, intimate films, makes a seamless transistion to action director. The only weakness in this movie is the lack of chemistry between Andy and Gigi Leung, which is crucial to the movie.


Reviewed by: kjohnson
Date: 12/09/1999

Easily one of the best movies of the year. It's not a traditional racing movie--in fact, you never even get near a race track. Derek Yee seems to have an obsession with realistically portraying facets of lower-class life in Hong Kong. In this film he covers the area of illegal motorcycle racing. Although there are some exciting (read: scary) races in the film, winning the big race is not the subject of the film. The subject is the people involved in the racing and their relationships with each other and the people around them. While not a tearjerker on the level of C'EST LA VIE, MON CHERIE, I still shed quite a few tears. A pleasant surprise was that Andy remembered how to act in this film and was quite good. The other actors are uniformly excellent. I particularly liked Gigi Leung Wing Kei, who plays Andy's girlfriend.


Reviewed by: spinali
Date: 12/08/1999
Summary: NULL

Character study of two motorcycle racers: David Ng's the top racer in a commercially sponsored motorcyle club, while Andy Lau is a top talent who's only just regained his license after seven years after racing illegally. After a near-fatal spill, Lau recuperates with the help of plain-jane girlfriend Gigi Leung -- while his friend wins the Macau Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Lau's girlfriend has laid down an ultimatum: racing or her. It's the usual Andy Lau melodrama, with racing sequences that aren't partic ularly gripping and (as you can gather) a plot that's pretty much off the rack. The slowest racing film since Cannonball Run 1 and 2, and certain to inspire a generation of HK kids to cripple themselves on their bikes.

(2/4)



[Reviewed by Steve Spinali]

Reviewer Score: 5