Reviewed by: Gaijin84 Date: 07/12/2009 Summary: With power comes sacrifice... Power and in-fighting are well and good in Hong Kong with the fourth installment in the Young and Dangerous series from director Andrew Lau. With the murder of Dinosaur, head of the Tuen Mun district, comes a power struggle to see who will take over the business in that area. Dinosaur's right hand man Barbarian and Chicken are given the task of running 1/2 of Tuen Mun each until a final decision can be determined. From the start, Chan Ho is unwilling to support Chicken's bid, having seen the truly dark side of the Triad business come to the forefront with the murder of Smartie in the previous film. Chan Ho starts to try and convince Chicken that being a branch leader is not all its cracked up to be, and he will end up sacrificing things he loves in order to obtain that power. The writing and acting between the two is quite strong, and I feel that both have sunk into their characters psyche and have started to flesh them out a bit. Young and Dangerous 4 represents Ekin Cheng's best acting in the series to this point. Another great addition to the story is Sister Thirteen, played by an stellar Sandra Ng. The all-star cast is rounded out with an excellent Karen Mok and Roy Cheung. There are some great twists and turns as well that keep the story interesting for its entirety. Another better than average triad film from the Y&D series. 8/10 Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: dandan Date: 06/15/2007 Summary: triads : the soap opera... a fourth installment of the 'young and dangerous' series sees a return to a shakier camera and the recycling of some prior storylines and even roy cheung has been dusted down and thrust back into the fray... after the numerous deaths of main players in the third (and stongest) film, hung hing needs to do some rebuilding. after the marriage of yee (michael tse) and kk (pinky cheung), six of the twelve branch leaders travel to thailand for a meeting with the late mr chiang's brother; mr chiang (alex man), who has been away from hong kong for years and lives like a king in thailand. whilst the group is away, yiu-yeung (roy cheung), a ting sung psychopath who likes a bit of mozart and throwing people from buildings, kills dinosaur (michael lam), the branch leader of tuen mun. with the leadership of tuen mun up for grabs, the new mr chiang instigates a contest between chicken (jordan chan) and, the aptly named, barbarian (chan chi-fai); a brutish, tuen mun local, who is being manipulated by yiu-yueng. after the losses of the last three films, nam (ekin cheng) is reluctant to support chicken through this contest and, with barbarian pulling no punches, it looks as if chicken might have bitten off more than he can chew... well, this is weaker than the other three installments but, considering it's the fourth film they cranked out in less than two years, that's probably to be expected. jordan chan shines as he has done throught the series, whilst cheng is his usual floppy haired self; he does get a chance to play the tortured soul here, and he does a reasonable job. gigi lai is missed, karen mok is not on screen as much as she should be and the same can be said of anthony wong. on a positive note, the introduction of sister 13 (sandra ng), as the short-haired, androgyenous, branch leader of portland street / mongkok, is great; it's just a shame that she doesn't feature more than she does. although, maybe that's just because i'm a huge fan of her. chan chi-fai is great in the role of barbarian, creating a wholly unsettling character who is a genuinely frightening villian. there's also the young tuen mun boys, led by barbarians brother (samuel leung), who add an interesting new dimension to the film, as they did with their brief appearance in the third film. overall, there's enough to keep fans of the series interested, but it isn't great. i hear that the fifth film is particularly weak, but i'll give it a go in the near future...

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 09/27/2005 The focus switches back to Chicken in this installment. A leader in the rival Ting Sung society (Cheung) kills one of the Hung Hing boys, which sets up a power struggle between Chicken and Cheung's protégé Barbarian for control of a key district. Ho Nam, after having numerous loved ones snuffed in the past three movies, tries to talk Chicken out of taking a leadership role, but Chicken thinks it's his time and ignores him. You probably know what happens next -- lots of double-crosses, tested loyalties and beatdowns galore. Will Chicken become triumphant and become a boss of his own? The series starts to show its age in this installment. I guess cranking out four movies in little more than a year had its toll on both cast and crew. There's nothing really special here; most of the leads seem to be on auto-pilot all the way through. Even the great Anthony Wong (in a role that amount to little more than a cameo) doesn't seem to care, forgoing even the hair and makeup used in the previous installments to differentiate his character. The romantic subplots, which were treated well in the other movies, are painfully laughable here, especially the one between Cheng and Reis. Their love scene is so atrociously bad that I was actually groaning in disbelief. The film isn't all bad -- Cheung is quite good as the villain and Chan turns in another good performance, though not quite up to the level of parts 2 or 3. Overall, Y&D4 is a by-the-numbers crime film that you might call "stunningly average"; fans of the series will definitely enjoy this one more than the casual viewer. [review from www.hkfilm.net]

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 05/13/2005 Summary: Hung Hing Fun. This film starts with the wedding of Tai Fai's [Anthony Wong] sister, KK [Pinky Cheung] to a member of Hung Hing[Michael Tse]. Later in Thailand, Ho Nam [Ekin Cheng] and Chicken [Jordan Chan] get in a dispute about territory and a promotion. Murder, revenge and lots of double-crossing intrigue keep the plot moving. Watch for Lee Siu Kei and Ng Chi Hung in cameo roles. Pinky Cheung is in this! Look for looney Samuel Leung as a student in Karen Mok's classroom! Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 09/18/2004 Summary: Nothing new This series has the feel of watching a soap opera, nothing special really happens, its just run of the mill movie 6/10

Reviewed by: SteelwireMantis Date: 12/03/2003 Summary: Not the best, but a very enjoyable installment The Gu Wak Jai's are back for a fourth installment which proves to be rather enjoyable (although everyone slated it on this site). Right hand man to Chan Ho Nam, Yee (Micheal Tse) has married to KK (Pinky Cheung). The branch leaders travel to Thailand to meet Mr. Chiang (Boss Chiangs' brother) to take the seat of Hung Hing leader. Ho Nam (Cheng) is living in sadness as Causeway Bay leader after seeing much turmoil with the death of his boss and girlfriend. With this grief he advises Chicken (Jordan Chan) not to run for branch leader as a post is open. His rival Barbarian (Chan Chi Fai - the guy who got shot by CYF in ABT during teahouse shootout) is obsessed in becoming branch leader as he goes on a full-on war with Chicken and the Causeway Boys. Meanwhile Ho Nam meets Yan Yan (Michelle Reis), a school teacher whom grows an affection for Ho Nam as she is unaware of who he is, as she reminds him of deceased lover Smartie. Yiu Yeung (Roy Cheung!?) is a rival gang member looking to destroy Hung Hing as he joins forces with Barbarian and gets Yee killed and KK raped. Tai Fei (Anthony Wong), Ho Nam and Chicken join forces to avenge their broken brotherhood. Inner Strength bible bashes the Y&D movies for glorifying triads. Where as the audience realise that the whole series is telling us that the triad life isn;t as glamourous as it seems, we learn that as Ho Nam tells Chicken that he never wanted to be branch leader for he had to pay the price with life of his loved ones. Chicken realises that when he sees the body of Yee (a very touching scene) and he bursts out in tears as did Ho Nam. I think everyone in this film played their parts very well, as it shows how much they love playing these roles. This film can appeal to younger kids (GWC wannabes) in the classroom scene with Ho Nam where he tells the ugly guy about the price to pay for being a Triad as there is no turning back. It's a bit tedious for using Roy Cheung again, as his performance in Y&D 4 is nothing compared to Y&D 3 (but he does still proved to be good). Even though the plot was similar to the last one, it does prove to be enjoyable. Probably with the best soundtrack in the whole series, Y&D 4 is very enjoyable, stylish and down right bad-ass entertainment. ****/***** Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Dyogenez Date: 05/10/2002 Summary: Same again Much of this story is the same as previous Y&D. Again someone is up for their own territory, this time it is Chicken instead of Naam. Again the territory is split into 2 to see who is the best to handle it. Sounds a little familiar I'd say? Even the villian of #4 is one from the past that miraculously survived and has come back to stir more trouble with Hung Hing. The story revolves mostly around Chicken and his fights with Barbarian, whom he is in competition with for the territory. This one didn't stick out in any way to me. Most of the story is reused, and retold simply with another character as the lead. The one thing i do remember as unique, were the shots of Thailand along with it's culture. Not as good as the previous movies... 6/10.

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 01/23/2002 Summary: Enough is enough By part 4, I was quite literally fed up. I really don't know why so many people liked these films. Rating: 1.5/5 Reviewer Score: 3

Reviewed by: poseur Date: 07/31/2000 Summary: Chicken's Promotion This fourth one is quite good. Chicken became more of a focus again (the series seems to oscillate back and forth between Chicken and Ho-Nam). Alex Man is superb and Karen Mok's character is suppressed a bit (unfortunately... they all grow up sooner or later, I guess). The best scene in the movie (and in the series, in my opinion) is the death of "Ah Yee" (is that his name ?). Chicken being scolded by Ho-Nam and Ho-Nam, a gang leader, breaking down in tears publicly are my favourite scenes so far. The scene in the school is also a favourite. The only complaints I have are the return of the actors (specifically the bad guy and the school teacher). Why can't they cast other people ? Gigi Leung will be superb as the school teacher. And the bad guy.....What kind of crap is that ?! A Mozart fan and a nutcase (Gary Oldman in The Professional ?). Besides that, many many memorable scenes. Worth watching.

Reviewed by: jfierro Date: 12/21/1999 The focus shifts back to Jordan Chan in this installment of thepopular triad recruitment series. Roy Cheung Yiu-Yeung plays an evil triad from the rival Tung Sing society (not related to his bad guy character from Y&D3) who enjoys listening to classical music, throwing people off roofs, and generally making life difficult for the Hung Hing Boys. He begins by killing Dinosaur, the branch leader of the Tuen Mun area, which opens up a vacancy in the Hung Hing board of directors, with both Chicken (Jordan Chan) and Dinosaur's ruthless righthand man Barbarian nominated for the job. Since the leader of the Hung Hing society was killed in Y&D3, his younger brother (played with finesse by Alex Man) is persuaded to take over the society, and he decides to split Tuen Man in half for two months and see who runs their half of Tuen Man better, Chicken or Barbarian (he must have seen his older brother do the same thing in Y&D2). After losing his girlfriend and numerous friends over the past three movie, Chan Ho-Nam (Cheng Yi-Kin) is cynical and tries to talk Chicken out of running for branch leader, but Chicken wants his share of the glory. Meanwhile, Roy Cheung is backing Barbarian his battle with Chicken. If you've seen any of the Y&D series, you know what's coming next, lots of beatings, girlfriends being brutalized, and plenty of revenge. It's nice to see Chan Ho-Nam showing doubts about the life he has chosen, and Alex Man and Jordan Chan give good performances, but there's nothing new here. It looks like everyone's just going through the motions. Michelle Reis barely even figures in the plot. A warmed over rehash of previous entries in this series.

Reviewed by: hktopten Date: 12/21/1999 The fourth installment is probably the weakest one so far. Ultimately, when you are trying to make the decision whether to see Y&D 4, you should really keep that in mind and ask yourself do you really want to see another Y&D. For me, besides the Michelle Reis part, I enjoyed the film just fine. I hope when they do decide to make another Y&D though, all of characters die horribly and end the continuing gangster youth propaganda.