Eureka keeps helping me fill gaps in my Hong Kong cinema fandom. Next up is The Adventurers, a Ringo Lam movie that I didn’t come across during his ‘90s boom.
This is another brutal action drama. Andy Lau plays Wai Lok-yan, a man seeking revenge against the double agent who got his father killed in Vietnam. It’s a war movie, an undercover espionage movie, and violence befalls anyone in Wai’s orbit.
When gun battles ensue, there are acrobatic gun moves. Car chases and fights also occur, with an impressive military vehicle finale, but it’s just a much about the relationships Wai forms that tear him apart, like The Departed or its Hong Kong basis, Infernal Affairs, both made long after this film.
The pristine Blu-ray is surely the best way to experience it. It wouldn’t have looked this good had I imported a VHS or even DVD back in the day.
In the bonus features, author Gary Bettinson gives the Ringo Lam and Andy Lau career histories. Screenwriter Sandy Shaw talks about Lam and Johnny To, sharing their more sensitive sides.
David West is my favorite of the roster of commentators on Hong Kong movies and he fills the running time of The Adventurers with relevant information. All the extras relate Adventuers to Lam’s On Fire series, which makes me want to see the ones after City and Prison, as well as the many other titles they mention for comparison.