Ringo Lam Movies
"No money, no time; just do it." So goes the Nike-esque philosophy of one of Hong Kong's most well-known and notorious filmmakers. With a firm grasp on the fast-paced expectations of the Hong Kong film industry, a reputation for having a quick temper, and a tyrannical on-set directorial style, Ringo Lam's gritty crime dramas have been hit and miss with audiences. But when they do hit, they hit hard.Born in Hong Kong in 1955, Lam began his career by enrolling in the TVP Actors Training Program in 1973. It is here that a chance encounter with future star Chow Yun Fat would eventually lead to a long and fruitful collaboration for both aspiring artists. Following a brief acting stint, Lam decided that his skills were better behind the camera, and he emigrated to Canada, studying film at York University in Toronto. Lam returned to Hong Kong in 1981, where Cinema City approached him with his first film assignment. The job -- completing Leung Po Chi's unfinished ghost comedy Espirit D'Amour (1983) -- gave Lam his first taste of success, a taste that would become familiar yet somewhat bitter in the following years.
Lam's breakthrough hit came in 1987 with the gritty City on Fire, earning him the Best Director award at that year's HK Film Awards. Starring old friend Chow Yun Fat (who took home the Best Actor award for his role in the film), City on Fire's harsh crime figures set the standards in style and story line for his later films. City's influence proved longstanding, eventually reaching American audiences in the reworked form of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. Continuing the On Fire series in 1987 with Prison on Fire and again in 1988 with School on Fire, Lam reached full form with the sleazily over-the-top crime drama Full Contact (1992). Again starring Lam's marquee actor of choice, Chow Yun Fat, Full Contact set Lam's reputation for excess in concrete. With its flamboyant gangsters and extravagant, startling violence, Full Contact gained the director recognition both at home and abroad.
In 1996, Lam made his American debut with the lackluster Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle Maximum Risk. Joining the current influx of talented Hong Kong filmmakers forced into their American filmmaking debut via the Van Damme initiation rites, Maximum Risk made little impact at the box office and did little to advance the talented filmmaker's international career. Disappointment aside, success would soon be a familiar taste again with Lam's triumphant return to HK cinema, 1997's Full Alert. Gaining positive critical notice and good word of mouth, Full Alert marked the return of one of Honk Kong cinema's darkest visionaries to his home territory.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Three maestro Chinese action directors - Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark and Johnny To - co-helm the adventure saga Triangle. The film actually constitutes a film serial, divided into thirds, with each filmmaker responsible for one episode. Three drinking buddies, Fai, Sam and Mok are visited one dark and stormy night by a strange old man who dazzles them with the tale of an ancient treasure. The artifact in question - worth untold amounts of money - lies buried beneath an almost impenetrable government facility. The retrieval mission is theirs, if they wish to accept it, and if they can claim the treasure, they get to keep it. Indeed, the "loot" - a magnificent robe of interwoven golden strands, its monetary value inestimable - outstrips everyone's expectations. But in time, the friends' greed and selfishness begin to overshadow their considerations of loyalty, trust and friendship. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
When Kyle LeBlanc (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is prosecuted for killing the man who murdered his wife, he is sent to the most notoriously violent prison in Eastern Europe, where brutality is an understatement. Guards force the prisoners into death matches for their own personal profit, and the already violent inmates are provoked until they're barely recognizable as human beings. Though Kyle initially holds nothing but contempt for his fellow cell mates, it isn't long before their rage takes root in his own mind. When it's his turn to fight, channeling that rage may be the only chance he has at survival. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lawrence Taylor, (more)
- 2003
A spirited female detective who never had time for love realizes just how complicated romance can be after meeting Prince Charming while vacationing in Malaysia with her best friend. Grace is completely dedicated to her job, and as a result she's never had the time to seek out the man of her dreams. Invited by her best friend Joey to take a trip to Malaysia where he's scheduled to shoot a commercial, Grace decides to take the trip but gets caught off guard when she meets the perfect man. Unfortunately for Grace, this is only the beginning of a most unusual nightmare. Shu Qi, Andy On, and Simon Yam star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
This $17 million direct-to-video production by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam is the story of a fire-obsessed serial killer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and the recently retired cop (Michael Rooker) intent on stopping him. After finding his hair follicle at a crime scene, a secret government agency clones the killer in the hopes that the replicant will aid in the search. Although he's full-grown, the clone (also played by Van Damme) has the emotional and mental capacity of a young child. Soon the naïve replicant begins to have visions of past murders and an abusive mother, leading him to escape and seek the killer on his own. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, (more)
Former basketball star Dennis Rodman stars in this action-and-espionage thriller as Simon, an Interpol agent called into action when the daughter of a close friend is abducted. In order to track down the kidnappers, Simon seeks the assistance of a pair of monks (John Pinette and Ricky Harris) who are experts in computer sleuthing. Simon Sez was Rodman's first solo starring vehicle, following his dramatic debut alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme in Double Team. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Rodman, Dane Cook, (more)
Master Hong Kong director Ringo Lam spins this wild genre-bending flick that is equal parts psychodrama, action thriller, caper movie, and ghost story. The film opens with computer designer Ma (Lau Ching-wan) getting kidnapped in a parking structure. His girlfriend Amy Fu (Amy Kwok) informs the police that though he had been jobless for a while and had a lot of debt, he was basically a good egg. Police detective Pit (Tony Leung Kar-wai) soon discovers Ma beaten, bloodied, and dangling upside down from the ceiling of an old abandoned hotel -- one that has been notoriously haunted since the murder-suicide of the owner and his feckless wife. Ma subsequently starts terrifying Amy by behaving like the famous ghost of the hotel. The police, however, suspect that Ma's possession might be a ruse to shield some larger and more nefarious crime. Due to a creative dispute that Lam had with producer Joe Ma, there are two different endings to this film. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lau Ching-Wan, Amy Kwok, (more)
A hit man fears that he may be going back to jail for a crime he didn't commit in this action thriller from Hong Kong. Hired killer Don Lee (Eric Moo) has just been released from prison after serving 12 years for murder. Two of Don's old friends, Max (Louis Koo) and Chan (Simon Yam) offer him a business proposition: they want him to assassinate a prominent politician who is on the campaign trail. Don, eager to get out of the business, turns down the offer, but when the would-be target turns up dead anyway, Don finds himself the target of a murder investigation by the police -- and some private undercover work by Max and Chan. The Suspect was directed by acclaimed Hong Kong auteur Ringo Lam. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
After his Hollywood debut (Maximum Risk), Hong Kong director Ringo Lam returned to his homeland for the 34-day shoot of this $13 million action pic. After cops find a corpse and bomb chemicals, Inspector Pao (Lau Ching-wan) arrests suspect Mak Kwan (Francis Ng), hoping his girlfriend will lead them to his Taiwan gang, but Mak makes an escape and the girlfriend makes off for Macao. Pao figures that the gang will go for the $230 million at the Hong Kong Jockey club. Shown at 1997 film festivals (Rotterdam, Berlin). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lau Ching-Wan, Francis Ng, (more)
Following up on his two-fisted Hong Kong action thriller Full Contact, ace director Ringo Lam spins this hard-boiled revenge drama. After the murder of his parents and only sister at the hands of the villianous gun-running billionaire Ray Lui (Paul Chun Pui) in 1975, crack jet pilot Yan (Andy Lau Ling-tung) vows revenge. Pairing up with Shang (David Chiang Da-wei) -- a Cambodian born CIA operative -- Yan ventures to Thailand, where he soon becomes romantically entangled with Liu's mistress Mona (Rosamund Kwan). Afterwards, events send him to San Francisco where he falls for Liu's beautiful, innocent daughter Crystal (Jacqueline We). Soon Yan finds himself included in Liu inner circle, accompanying the gangster to the secret hideout of a Cambodian autocrat. Yan places a beacon in the dictator's bunker so that the CIA can locate and destroy it with a surprise air strike. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Alain Moreau (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a French cop whose colleagues make a startling discovery -- a man named Mikhail, who was killed in a high-speed chase with police, looks exactly like him. Curious about the stranger with his face, Alain is told by his mother Chantal (Stephane Audran) that Mikhail was in fact his twin brother, whom her poor family was forced to give up at birth. Alain wants to know more about the brother he never knew, but the more he learns the more troubling the news becomes; it seems that Mikhail was involved with gangsters, corrupt FBI agents, and a gang of drug dealers. In order to avenge his brother's death and get to the bottom of his sad story, Alain assumes Mikhail's identity and travels to New York City, where to maintain his cover he takes up with Alex Minetti (Natasha Henstridge), Mikhail's tough-as-nails girlfriend, before finding himself hip-deep in danger with Mikhail's associates. Maximum Risk was the first American film from noted Hong Kong action director Ringo Lam, whose City on Fire has often been cited as a key inspiration for Reservoir Dogs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge, (more)
- 1994
- R
Tsui Hark produces and Ringo Lam directs this bleak kung-fu action thriller. Qing dynasty era martial arts heroes Fong Sai Yuk (Willie Chi Tian-sheng) and Hung Hei-kwun (Yang Sheng) are students at the Shaolin temple when the government decides that the celebrated monastery is a threat to imperial power. Ordered to disband, the disciples of the temple are rounded by imperial troops led by the evil General Crimson (John Ching Tung) and sent to the dreaded Red Lotus Temple, a cavernous underground complex filled with booby traps and other nastiness. The place is run by the pathologically debauched Elder Kung (Wong Kam-kong), who not only has a taste for painting with human blood but also for having his way with his large collection of embalmed women. Along the way, Fong Sai Yuk falls for former prostitute and fellow inmate Tou Tou (Carmen Lee Yeuk-tung) while Hung Hei-kwun considers renouncing his Shaolin vows and allying himself with the villainous Kung. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Another entry into the "cheer for the most likeable bad guy" series of Hong Kong action flicks, Full Contact tells the oft-told tale of betrayal and revenge, but serves it up as a potent cocktail of Western convention mixed with the trademarked Hong Kong style. When Jeff's (Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun Fat in true hard-case form) friend Sam (Anthony Wong) steps on the feet of a local loan shark, Jeff comes to his rescue, creating a powerful enemy in the vengeful gangster. Seeking to skip town and make good, the two hatch a plan to hijack an arms shipment with the help of Sam's flamboyant and malicious cousin Judge (a delightfully sleazy Simon Yam) and his gang of dysfunctional thugs. What Jeff doesn't know is that he's being double-crossed by the wild group of brutal killers, who plan to bury him as they make their getaway. Judge forces Sam to off his loyal friend Jeff, but Sam botches the job, leaving Jeff to return for bitter revenge after dealing with an emotionally painful betrayal and a physically challenging rehabilitation. Director Ringo Lam foregoes the melodrama of Hong Kong counterpart John Woo and goes straight for the jugular with unremittingly stark and graphic violence. At the same time, the characters retain a certain amount of sympathy, keeping their relationships and reactions realistic and identifiable.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat
International action star Jackie Chan stars opposite knockabout comedy sensation Jackie Chan in this story about identical twins separated in childhood who are unexpectedly reunited years later. While on the run from a Hong Kong hospital, an escaped convict takes an infant hostage, leaving the baby's identical twin brother behind. While the criminal is soon back behind bars, the police can't find the baby, who was hidden in the woods. The child is found by a well-meaning but hard-drinking woman who raises him on her own, while his brother moves to the United States with his parents. Years later, the brother raised in America, John (Jackie Chan), is a world-renowned classical musician, while the other, Boomer (Chan again), is a rough-and-tumble auto mechanic who likes to race cars and start fights. When Boomer's best friend hatches a dubious scheme to win the freedom of a nightclub singer (Maggie Cheung) in dutch with gangsters, he finds himself involved and in danger, just in time for John to arrive in Hong Kong for a concert appearance. The two brothers soon meet by accident, and suddenly finds themselves mistaken for each other. On one hand, both are pleased with the romantic possibilities, as John takes a shine to the nightclub chanteuse and Boomer discovers John's girlfriend is turned on by his more physical personality. On the other hand, John finds people are shooting at him, while Boomer is now expected to conduct an orchestra. Two of Hong Kong's leading directors, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark, teamed for this action comedy, which was a major hit in Hong Kong in 1992, but didn't receive a wide theatrical release in the United States until seven years later. The 1999 American release was dubbed into English (with Chan doing his own voice) and trimmed to 89 minutes from the original running time of 100 minutes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, (more)
Hong Kong studio Cinema City tried to make a stab at the international markets with this spy drama helmed by cult action director Ringo Lam and featuring an international cast. The film opens with a comely terrorist named Rebecca (Olivia Hussey) dressed in black leather -- a member of the dreaded militant group the World Liberation Army -- murdering an American diplomat and his family in Poland. The syndicate soon moves its focus to Hong Kong, where harried CIA agent Gary Redner (Peter Lapis) and local cop Bong (Danny Lee) form an uneasy partnership to thwart Rebecca and her partner, Hannibal (Vernon Wells). After Redner and Bong kill Rebecca in a firefight, they slowly piece together Hannibal's horrifying scheme involving numerous international businessmen and a whole lot of explosives. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
After making a name for himself with the gritty action spectacular City on Fire, Ringo Lam returns to directing comedies with his film featuring Sammo Hung. When humble noodle stand owner Fat Goose (Hung) is the unfortunate witness to a mob hit, he is convinced by ambitious cop Pitt (Vincent Wan Yueng) to testify against the killer, Lam Man-fu (Tommy Wong Kwong-leung). When Lam is freed on bail, Goose soon regrets his act of civic responsibility when his apartment goes up in flames and Lam's thugs are threatening his life. It turns out that the gangsters have a series of incriminating photos of prominent Hong Kong residents, including Pitt's boss, as part of an extortion ring run by a shady attorney. Soon Pitt comes to the aid of Goose and squares off against the baddies. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sammo Hung
- 1991
Ringo Lam follow up on his smash-hit prison flick. In this go around, the Stanley prison is in the throes of an ugly turf war between native Hong Kong cons and Mainlanders. Chung (Chow Yun-fat) befriends Brother Dragon (Chen Sung-yung), the boss of the Mainland inmates, allowing him better treatment than other Hong Kong prisoners. When Chung's mother dies, his son is shipped off to an orphanage. The new chief of security, Zau (Tsui Kam-kong) refuses to give Chung a furlough to see his son. So Chung jumps ship, and later surrenders himself to the warden. Enraged, Zau savages his charge. When Dragon is accused of murder, his escapes, and soon Chung is framed for ratting out the Mainland crime boss. When Chung manages to escape again, planning to flee to China with Dragon, he can't help but visit his son, where the cops lie in wait. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat
Action flick auteur Ringo Lam directs this crime thriller loosely based on Peter Weir's 1985 classic Witness. Lau (Chow Yun-fat), along with his partner, Nam (Tommy Wong Kwang-leung), are investigating a band of gun runners when they get caught in a shoot out that kills their lead suspect and leaves the suspect's three-yea-old daughter Ka-ka parentless. Lau eventually tracks down the child's family in a remote country farm in Hong Kong's New Territories run by Cher (Cherie Cheung Cho-hung). Though initially the two loath each other, soon they start to warm to one another. Cher tells him that Ka-ka is the illegitimate child of crime boss Hung (Paul Chun Pui). When Lau confronts Hung, the cop promptly gets his clock cleaned and psychotic Vietnamese gangster Bullet (Roy Cheung Yiu-yueng) is sent out to whack him. Bullet's first attempt goes poorly, resulting in a trashed bar and a wounded hit man. Bullet vows bloody revenge. Meanwhile, Cher's thuggish husband Leong returns from mainland China about the same time that Bullet is about to stage a second attack. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Cherie Chung, (more)
Hong Kong filmmaker Johnny To directed this all-star holiday comedy, another in a string of popular Lunar New Year entertainments for actor/producer Raymond Wong, who engineered the similar All's Well, Ends Well series. As usual, the plot line is just an excuse for a series of amusing cameos and comic routines, but provides a number of laughs as it tells the story of three brothers, the mincingly effeminate Fang Chien-lang (Chow Yun-fat), cartoonist Chien-sang (Jacky Cheung), and their middle-aged older sibling, Chien-hui (Wong). Chien-lang romances both a stewardess (Carol Cheng) and a hedonistic department store saleswoman (Cherie Chung) who has a boyfriend (Lawrence Cheng); Chien-sang falls for a jogger named Ying-ying (Fennie Yuen); and Chien-hui romances a Chinese opera singer (Petrina Fung) whom he isn't aware is the same person who has been crank-calling him. As a result of some telephone problems, all three brothers experience some wild ups and downs in their respective relationships before finally attaining romantic bliss following a climactic opera performance involving all the main characters. As with Wong's other holiday films, genre aficionados will have a field day spotting familiar faces, including Karl Maka and Teddy Robin Kwan in the audience, and City on Fire director Ringo Lam as Fung's husband. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
This tense Hong Kong crime thriller is known best as the film upon which Quentin Tarantino borrowed heavily for his 1992 debut, Reservoir Dogs. Those who criticized the American director for lack of originality have perhaps missed the point. In the highly commercialized, formulaic crime genre of Hong Kong, very few thrillers are truly original, and innovation comes in the form of style, action choreography, and dramatic tension. City on Fire, directed by Ringo Lam, is no exception. The story, told in a more traditional narrative form than Reservoir Dogs, follows Chow Yun-Fat as Ko Chow, an undercover cop who infiltrates a ring of jewel thieves. When a heist goes wrong, Chow is wounded, and tension among the robbers escalates as they begin to suspect a traitor among their ranks. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Sun Yueh, (more)
- 1987
Ringo Lam delivers this two-fisted gritty thriller written by his brother Nam Yin. Timid Lo Ka-yiu (Tony Leung Kar-fai) is thrown in the clink for a three-year stint after being convicted of manslaughter. Possessing none of the requisite instincts to survive in a maximum-security prison, Lo looks like he's going to be easy prey. Yet before you can say, "You dropped the soap," he befriends Chung (Chow Yun-fat) a charismatic con who has charmed every prison guard except security chief Hung (Roy Cheung), a psychotic whose brutalized visage inspired the moniker "Scarface." When Lo snitches on crime boss Micky, the don conspires with Scarface to rub out weedy stool pigeon. When Chung stands up for Lo and tells the warden of Scarface's nefarious acts, Micky gets transferred to another prison and Hung vows revenge. Later, Micky and Scarface frame Chung for a prison protest. Pushed to his psychological limits after days of torture, Chung soon is out for blood. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Kar-Fai, (more)
- 1986
Popular Hong Kong action filmmaker Ringo Lam (City on Fire and Replicant) reputedly directed this third of four official sequels to 1982's Aces Go Places only as a favor to star Karl Maka, and it shows. King Kong (Sam Hui) once again joins bald detective Albert Au (Maka) and his son Baldy Jr. as they fly to New Zealand to save Albert's wife (Sylvia Chang) from a gang of crooks who have kidnapped her. The crooks, led by Ronald Lacey in a send-up of his role in Raiders of the Lost Ark, are trying to get control of an experimental prism which they need for a machine which turns men into indestructible super-beings. The film is dark, violent, and not quite as funny as previous installments, and the goofy subtitles call Sylvia Chang's character "Sylvia" instead of "Nancy." Still, there is a good supporting cast of genre veterans like Sally Yeh, Kwan Tak-hing, and Cho Tat-wah to please Asian film buffs and Lam keeps the film moving at a speedy clip. The official series ended with the next installment, 1989's Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit, but was revived eight years later with a new cast in the subpar 97 Aces Go Places. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Before he became famous for directing gritty, two-fisted action flicks, Ringo Lam Ling-tung helmed this low-budget stalker drama. Alan Ng (Alan Tam Wing-lun), a lonely bar-hopper with absolutely zero luck with the ladies, thinks his luck has changed for the better when the stunningly beautiful Jo Jo (Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia) asks him out on a date. Unfortunately for Alan, Jo Jo was asked to court him by her college professor/lover who is running a morally dubious psychological experiment. Convinced that their love is meant to last, Alan doesn't take the news well and soon starts stalking Jo Jo, even to the point of making a scene at her wedding. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Tam Wing-lun, Lin Ching-Hsia, (more)
- 1984
In this off-beat love story from a typical Hong Kong perspective, Alan Tam plays a young insurance investigator who almost runs over a beautiful woman while he is on his way to his engagement party. Rattled and at the same time fascinated by her beauty, she stays on his mind. The next day, he is sent to a house to find out about an accident in which a woman died in a fall from the roof -- and it turns out to be the same woman he had almost killed. This coincidence sets the stage for what follows next: the dead woman's ghost appears to the insurance investigator and they fall in love, lending a new meaning to ephemeral emotions. When his friends and family find out what is going on, a real battle with the supernatural and natural begins -- and the big question is whether love, even if as unsubstantial as this, will win out in the end. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Tam, Ni Shu-chun, (more)
