Watch: 縱橫四海 1991 123movies, Full Movie Online – A romantic and action packed story of three best friends, a group of high end art thieves, who come into trouble when a love-triangle forms between them..
Plot: Three art thieves try to re-steal a painting after their crime boss double-crosses them.
Smart Tags: #art
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6.7/10 Votes: 6,700 | |
60% | RottenTomatoes | |
N/A | MetaCritic | |
N/A Votes: 107 Popularity: 7.842 | TMDB |
Silly, overacting fun
So, John Woo, one of, if not the greatest Hong Kong action director, directed a comedy. An action comedy, this is still Woo after all, but still a comedy. The story going that there are these three orphans, who have two foster fathers. One of them a criminal overlord, one a police officer. Initially they lean more towards the former, being master art thieves, but the influence of the latter cannot be denied.This is a peculiar movie to review. I mean, John Woo is John Woo. When you see one of his movies you expect iron tight action scenes, grim urban settings and tough antiheroes. And while this movie does have all of those, it doesn’t feature them in a prominent role. It almost feels like a silly parody of a John Woo film, except that the man himself directed it. And yet at the same time it kinda works. Kinda sorta. I mean, it’s silly beyond belief, but the action scenes, when they happen, are of the usual Woo goodness – though admittedly he doesn’t bring in his A-game here.
The actors are also charismatic and talented – with Chow Yun-fat once again stealing the show. The silliness of the story means that there are no great character moments, but then again I’d say that there is enough substance here to please those that require three-dimensional characters in order to enjoy a movie.
Once a Thief is a barrel of laughs. Is it John Woo’s best work? Not even close. Nevertheless, it’s an enjoyable way to spend an hour or two and it certainly doesn’t pale in comparison with Western action comedies.
Once is probably enough.
Once A Thief sees John Woo trying something a little different—at least for the much of the movie’s running time, after which the director once again breaks out the big guns, the slo-mo and the explosive violence for a typically stylish action blowout.The film starts as a comedic crime caper set in the sunny South of France, with a trio of charismatic Chinese cat burglars—Red Bean Pudding (Chow Yun Fat), Red Bean (Cherie Chung) and James (Leslie Cheung)—barely breaking a sweat whilst pulling off a few tricky art heists, with a few flashbacks to their childhoods as happy-go-lucky orphans raised by a Fagin-style father figure.
The action stays in this lightweight gear for quite some time, but a mid-movie shootout and car chase marks a gradual move into slightly darker territory: it’s at this point that it becomes apparent that Woo’s antagonists aren’t all that dissimilar to those in his other movies, having no qualms about taking lives to get the job done. It also sees Red Bean Pudding involved in a nasty car crash that leaves him hospitalised and presumed dead by his friends.
The film then reverts back to playful mode for a while, with Red Bean Pudding revealing to his pals that he is still alive, displaying his skill at dancing the tango in a wheelchair, and teaching his wicked ‘dad’ a lesson in the auction room. Thankfully, the best is saved for last, Woo bringing on the ballistics for a frantic final act, Red Bean Pudding and James pulling off one final robbery that results in numerous explosions, lots of corpses (including several innocent security guards!), and which features a silly bad guy who dispenses with conventional weaponry, preferring to sling playing cards at his enemy.
All in all, Once a Thief isn’t essential Woo or Chow Yun Fat, but the film still has enough going for it to make it a reasonably entertaining way to waste 100 minutes or so.
Original Language cn
Runtime 1 hr 48 min (108 min)
Budget 0
Revenue 4303351
Status Released
Rated R
Genre Action, Comedy, Crime
Director John Woo
Writer Janet Chun, Clifton Ko, John Woo
Actors Leslie Cheung, Chow Yun-Fat, Cherie Chung
Country N/A
Awards 6 nominations
Production Company N/A
Website N/A
Sound Mix Dolby (RCA Sound Recording)
Aspect Ratio 1.85 : 1
Camera Arriflex Cameras
Laboratory Laboratoires Éclair, Paris, France, Mandarin Laboratory (International) Ltd., Hong Kong
Film Length N/A
Negative Format 35 mm (Kodak)
Cinematographic Process Spherical
Printed Film Format 35 mm