Extreme Crisis (1998)

Good concept, poorly executed.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Being a huge Shu Qi fan, when I got my DVD in the mail, I was very excited. I knew that she didn't really have a gigantic role in this film (only supporting actress), but that didn't matter. I immediately unwrapped the packaging, ripped open the case, and popped in the DVD. I never really have a very high expectation of the quality of Hong Kong action movies. In general the plots are fairly weak, the acting is usually pretty good given the writing that they have to work with, the special effects and CGI are more hilarious than realistic, and the subtitles are just a pure riot. But that's sometimes exactly what you're looking for - just something to kick back with your friends, pop open your favorite brand of beer, watch someone kick the living crap out of someone, and laugh hard. From the osnet of this movie, something was different. The opening scenes put me in a place that many a Jerry Bruckheimer / Don Simpson film has - on the edge of my seat, watching the good guys heroically get smoked and explosions going off in either large quantities, or quality. The plot is believable, especially given the terrorist attacks in the Japanese subways a few years back, 9/11, and Madrid - which is also a trademark of Bruckheimer (that being quasi-believable plots). The special effects were not something that reminded me of a Hong Kong film, it was more of a Holywood film. Even the musical score sounds like something pulled out of "The Rock." Midway through I was expecting to see Sean Connery come into a scene give his, "winners go home and F the prom queen" speech.In fact this movie paralleled "The Rock" in many ways. Terrorists go and steal some pretty bad stuff and try to use that as leverage to get what they want. The lock themselves inside a pretty defendable place, place their motion sensors and make themselves home. The calvary of Special Operations Team comes in and heroically dies (this is one of the cooler scenes in the movie). Then it's up to the pair of guys who have been chasing them from the get go to save the day. The acting is pretty good, in comparison to your average Bruckheimer film, and i was interested throughout the movie. If you're a fan of Bruckheimer, you'd like this movie quite well. The only movie from Bruckheimer that I'd ever rate over an 8 would be Pirates of the Caribbean, which is why I'd only give this a 6.5 / 10. If you love Shu Qi or like Bruckheimer, see this one.If you are both, get this one.

'Extreme crisis' is a pretty decent action movie that gets better as it goes along. Their are a fair few familiar plot devices (we have 2 minutes to disarm this bomb before we're all blown to smithereens!), but the action is tense and refreshing.It's good to see an action film that is precisely that, and not trying to incorporate humour and drama everywhere where it doesn't belong.I bought the DVD for Shu Qi's appearence, but her screen-time in minimal in the role of the newsreader/girlfriend.

"Extreme Crisis" is what we typically refer to as a "no-substance" kind of movie. If you want things like character development, cohesive plotline, and drama... go watch "Infernal Affairs." If you want a movie that's about 20% talk and 80% action, then this movie's right up your alley.The story (thin, but still present) revolves around Kenya Sawada's character, an SDU team leader whose entire squad is wiped out by a terrorist cult in the first 5 minutes of the movie. Stricken with grief, he visits all of their graves on a regular basis. One day, though, a hot-shot cop (played by Julian Cheung) meets up with him - because as it turns out the terrorists that had killed the SDU team are now planning a sarin attack on all of Hong Kong.Much shooting, exploding, and chasing ensues.In this movie, the terrorists are extremely cold-blooded. When they take over a TV station, you can be assured that there'll be more dead hostages than living ones by the end. There's even a scene where a child gets shot at point-blank range. Also, don't get too fond of the characters in this movie. Without spoiling anything for you, I can say that not many of them make it to the end.All of that aside, the movie's strength rests in its action scenes - which are some of the most well-done I've seen in a long time. My favorite would probably have to be a tense shootout/fistfight inside of a restroom. There's also other eye-candy as well, like a scene in which a row of police cars are simultaneously blown-up, flipping in the air almost like an automobile-ballet.So, in the end, if you just want an action movie for action's sake, Extreme Crisis is a good way to go. If you want something that'll leave a lasting impression on you, look elsewhere.

In the opening credits for Extreme Crisis, Bruce Law identifies himself as Director.Stunt Co-Ordinator. This movie would be about eight minutes long of you removed all the stunt work and action sequences. There are plenty of stunts, shootouts and explosions, as a tough Hong Kong cop teams with a Japanese Special Details Unit (SDU) officer to filght a Japanese cult that is trying to free their imprisoned leader, held in an HK jail. Before HK authorities can turn over the cult leader to the SDU officer for extradition, "Lone", another cult member, goes on a killing spree in downtown Hong Kong, trying to force the release of his leader. While the story seems to have borrowed from Die Hard, including the villain Lone's attire, Extreme Crisis is a tougher movie. In this movie, there are no jokes, little chit chat and no attempt to humanize the psychopathic villains. What stands out is the destructive action sequences, such as when five parked cars on a downtown street are simultaneously launched skyward by a terrorist bomb. Extreme Crisis is all graphic detail, told in a linear story with no flashbacks to slow the action. If it is action you want, it is action you get from ace stunt director Bruce Law.