The Iceman Cometh (1989)

That was an excellent one.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Yuen Biao's leading role and the promise of yet another titanic ding-dong between him and sparring partner Yuen Wah was enough to sell me THE ICEMAN COMETH, a 1989 Hong Kong film that takes HIGHLANDER's central premise and reinvents it with a Chinese spin. Unfortunately, the film is far from the cult classic that it has been advertised as, although it does have much to recommend it. The film features an unlikely combination of comedy and drama, pathos, and more familiar martial arts stunts and action.Unfortunately the subject matter is very dark and the film is often depressing. The central villain is a rapist and at least one scene – a rape in a car – is done in incredibly bad taste, souring the experience of the film as a whole. Clocking in at one hour fifty minutes, the film is also very talky, and much of the dialogue centres around Maggie Cheung as the love interest. Cheung plays an obnoxious hooker, far from her sweet character in the POLICE STORY films. Here she's brash and unpleasant, unappealing to the viewer. Unfortunately much of the comedy centres around her instead of letting the male actors enjoy the type of physical hijinks so beloved of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.While Cheung is an immediate detraction every time she's on screen, the film is bolstered by Yuen Biao's typically strong leading performance; he's a far better actor than Christopher Lambert, the man he imitates at times, and he ably handles the dramatic scenes along with the comedic ones – the sequence in which he drinks from a toilet bowl is hilarious, made more so by Biao's acting of the innocent. Biao is matched by Yuen Wah, never more evil than he is here as the villain. I have to say, though, that it's pretty odd to see the skinny Wah stripped to his underwear and showing off his muscles to a hooker. With two top martial artists in the film, you can guarantee some great fights, and the film doesn't disappoint in the action stakes.Sword duels, a great battle on top of a car suspended in the air by a crane, and the top-notch one-on-one at the film's climax, which is set in a museum, certainly add up to counter the movie's deficiencies. The painful final fight is a particular keeper and the best showdown we've seen between Biao and Wah – their later chandelier ruckus in ONCE UPON A Chinese HERO is short and unspectacular in comparison. The film boasts some really good '80s animation that I'd choose over CGI any day. THE ICEMAN COMETH is a very different style film than we're used to from Hong Kong. With a better director and more action, it would have been a classic to rival DRAGONS FOREVER. As it is, it's an unwieldy movie with some great fights but a plodding storyline and Maggie Cheung's worst ever role.

This is a fantasy action film from Hong Kong, starring Yuen Biao as Ming Dynasty royal guard named Fong Sau-Ching, who got frozen in time after a fierce battle with the evil Fung San (Yuen Wah). After many years, both Fong and Fung have been thawed out in modern Hong Kong, where they continue their battle.This movie is chock full of martial arts action, from Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah duking it out in the Ming Dynasty to modern day Hong Kong. It's really smashing and edge-of-your-seat excitement seeing these two martial arts greats do their amazing stunt work.Caught in the middle of the centuries-old duel is call girl Polla (Maggie Cheung), who takes in Fong at her home. Seeing Fong try to assimilate and adjust living life in the modern day was pretty hilarious. But, much of the comic relief came from Maggie Cheung, who gave a rather dramatic but sassy performance at the same time. There were some touching chemistry between the two as well.Yuen Wah as the villain offers up some dark moments in the film as well, being a merciless attacker and all-around bad guy - somebody you would love to root against. I do think, though, that Wah's character was overkill and over dramatic at times.Rounding up the cast of characters are cameo appearances from a host of Hong Kong actors, from Elvina Kong to Elvis Tsui, and from Stanley Fung to Corey Yuen. Fun stuff here! Grade A-

During the eighties, Hong Kong cinema had some of the most enjoyable action films on the planet, and this was one of them.Basically the plot revolves around two soldiers, one good and one bad, fighting to the death and being frozen in ancient china. They are then thawed out in the eighties, forced to battle once again but now with greater powers.Although a great deal of the film is based on how the two soldiers react to there new surroundings, with some interesting results, the film is more about the action sequences, which are all pretty impressive. It has to be said that the final sword battle between the two foes is one of my favourite sequences in history, even though it is clearly a rip off of highlander. Of course, like many Hong Kong flicks, it is done 10 times better then the American version. This is a pretty good way to introduce yourself to Hong Kong cinema.

Yuen Biao is the most underrated martial artist of his generation. In my opinion his acrobatic skills outdo both Jackie Chan and Jet Lee although for some reason he isn't as highly rated as JC and JL. This film, his finest, is actually a sort of sci fi/fantasy film. He stars as a warrior of the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century. He and his adversary are fighting and they both fall of a cliff and are frozen; only to be found in the 20th century by scientists and accidentally unfrozen. This film with it's fantasy plot could have been his worst but with his acting, the fighting and the outrageous comedy with the lovely femme fetale Maggie Cheung this is a modern and all time classic. The things Yuen Biao does in this film show why I rate his acrobatic skills higher than JC and JL. The comedy interplays with violent action with Yuen Wah's performance as a sadistic villain spot on. The script is pretty intelligent and the jokes come thick and fast making fun of the late 1980s seen through the 16th century eyes of Yuen Biao who discovers television, electricity and... toilets. The jokes however aren't as glaringly obvious as Jackie Chan and some (very few) Jet Lee films (as very few Jet Li films are comedic if any); the humour is like an episode of The Simpsons, you have to recognise them but when you do they are really funny and actually very intelligent and heartwarming jokes. Maggie Cheung is absolutely brilliant in surely an Oscar winning role as the hard hearted hooker with a soft inside, she shows here that only she could have played this role perfectly. However Yuen Biao just steals the show from Maggie Cheung with his portrayal of a serious but innocently funny warrior. Also the chemistry between Yuen Biao and Maggie Cheung is absolutely electric, they really do sizzle when they are both on screen together. Also unlike Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung films the humour is played with a straight face throughout and this film is the better for it. A modern classic with some great humour fused with some violent fights and the best acting I have ever seen. The ending also has a wonderful bitter-sweet denouement. One more thing is the soundtrack. It is absolutely wonderful and the best bits are the xylophone and the violin when Yuen Biao messes up some very simple house tasks. Surely this film defined the words "all time classic".