Tragic Hero (1987)

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Blistering performances.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Plot: Triad families in Hong Kong squabble and take revenge on one another.This is supposed to be a rich gangster epic but is much more like a soap opera (expect plenty of howling Chinese women) with bloody action scenes. It takes tragedy seriously: in one scene a gangster's wife and his ten kids are all blown up whilst in another a woman is shot in the back of the head. There is more blood than the last act of a Jacobean tragedy. The final scene is a family affair as a pair of brothers, their father and a cousin all blow each other (and a large house) to pieces, bit by bit. The 1980s clothing is suitably hilarious and there is an excellent action scene involving a van but it doesn't make up for all the poor melodrama and the overly long running time.Worth no (sober) viewings.

Chow Yun-Fat stars in Tragic Hero, which is a reason to see the movie. However, Tragic Hero is nothing special, when compared to classics like The Killer and Hard Boiled. Chow Yun-Fat acts cool as always, and the action is nicely shot. You could say that Tragic Hero is a mix of The Godfather and The Killer. Tragic Hero is definetly worth a go, if you are a fan of Hongkong action movies. There are lots of worse movies than this. 6,5/10

Considerably lesser sequel to Rich and Famous, the bad brother gets his revenge in this one, and Chow Yun-Fat and Andy Lau go for some payback big time. Two good action sequences, both of which are the only highlights of the movie. However, the seemingly goodness of the Triad folk from Rich and Famous is destroyed when a loyal CYF soldier shoots about 5 or 6 police officers rescuing him.

Danny Lee's performance as a wisecracking cop is the only spot of interest in this film, even though it has an excellent cast including Chow Yun-Fat, Carina Lau, Andy Lau, Shing Fui-On and Alex Man. CYF plays a triad boss who wants to settle down to a life of peace and plenty but Alex Man, a total psycho who has a big grudge against CYF, won't let him. CYF tries to escape to Malacca but to no avail. After his family is blown to bits, his cronies dead or turncoat, wounded and broke, CYF returns to Hong Kong to get into some serious revenge.It sounds a lot better than it is. CYF is well-dressed and handsome, looks pained, grimaces and cries on cue, but somehow or another you just don't care. Andy Lau looks great, but that's about it. Carina Lau has a tiny, tiny little part which was nice, but she gets a bullet in the head early on so that ends that. Alex Man is a cartoon villain he's so over-the-top which at times can be intriguing but the writing here is so flat that he just comes across as a garden-variety nut.Danny Lee is great though - too bad he's only a small blip on the screen of this dark (literally) and essentially boring movie.Rent it, don't buy it. Or just skip it altogether.This is the sequel to "Rich And Famous", even though it apparently was filmed simultaneously; it was released first because of CYF's boxoffice power.