Hong Kong Godfather

A solid meat-and-potatoes triad movie elevated by the performance of Beardy and the final fight scene in the shopping centre. There were a lot of movies made under the same theme so any other movie has to do a lot to stand out. Very well presented or at least in a better format than I am used to seeing Hong Kong movies in on DVD or VCD.

I had fun watching this, I guess the plot is just one young up-in-coming gangster boss trying to seize control and power over hong kong, he confronts the present godfather of the HK underworld to try and do business together, but the present godfather doesn't like him so he brushes him off in a humiliating manner angering the wannabe underworld boss resulting in a war for turf & power, that's the basic/simple explanation for the story. One thing leads to another of course until the bloody finale, in total theres about 3-4 big fight scenes that are all awesome and fun to watch. The gangsters in this movie never really use guns and most of the time just fight with knifes, machetes, and martial arts skill because I guess they're just hardcore like that in their approach to killing someone and in my opinion that just makes the fights more fun and exciting to watch. Theres no english language on this dvd only english subtitles and the picture quality is excellent, sound is great too. I plan on watching it again and maybe improve this review but for now I just wanted to add my 2 cents for this feature, 4 out of 5 stars.

Its like a John Woo movie but with blades instead of guns.

I Just got the movie today and the movie is just in its original language. There is no English Dub on the copy that I have.....

The Shaw Brothers have created over a thousand films and with several having been aired on US television and some being released on video, and as most people tend to think of martial arts when it comes to the Shaw Brothers, they have also done several films outside of martial arts. A perfect example is their 1985 film "Hong Kong Godfather" (Jian dong xiao xiong)."Hong Kong Godfather" revolves around three buddies who are part of a triad gang. Playboy Lung is one of the higher ups in the triad, while Wen is now a sergeant in the police and Wei is the former hack and slash member who has retired from the gang and now living a peaceful life and raising his teenage daughter. Each of these men are loyal to triad leader Uncle Han.But there is a bit of dissension within the gang as one of their own members who doesn't get along with Playboy Lung is working with the rival gang and planning to kill of Uncle Han, his family and everyone who is a member of their triad.When the rival gang goes after Playboy and nearly kills him, both Wei and Sergeant Wen know they must help their friend out and avenge their fallen uncle the best way they know how...by machetes.VIDEO:So far, each Shaw Brothers release that FUNimation Entertainment has looked quite solid. Thanks to Celestial Pictures going through major remastering and restoration for many of the Shaw Bros. films, "Hong Kong Godfather" looks pretty good for a 1985 film. But where there martial arts film doesn't seem so dated, "Hong Kong Godfather" reeks of '80s fashion and music. From the "Miami Vice" clothing, the Crockett and Tubs hairstyle (yes, the mullet is in full-effect) and more.AUDIO & SUBTITLES:"Hong Kong Godfather" is presented in Cantonese. As mentioned, this is a 1985 film and for the most part, dialogue is clear but the film sports some major '80s synth music that is more like listening to early '80s music from the old televison show C.HI.P.S. I don't remember music being like this in the mid-80's, probably early 80's but for the most part, the music doesn't hold up all that well over 25 years later.Subtitles are in English.SPECIAL FEATURES:"Hong Kong Godfather" comes with trailers of upcoming releases.EXTRAS:The DVD release comes with a slipcase cover.JUDGMENT CALL:"Hong Kong Godfather" was definitely an interesting and entertaining triad film.I use the word "interesting" because I have watched many triad films and I don't think I have seen a film this bloody or violent. In some way, it's like playing a video game like "Resident Evil" or "Dead Rising" in which your constantly hacking and slashing or killing so many zombies. In this case, "Hong Kong Godfather" is a film about exact justice and three men taking on a lot of triad members with machetes and a lot of blood spurting while still maintaining some martial arts during the fight sequences. But for the most part, this is a film that focuses on machete slashing.So, in many ways, "Hong Kong Godfather" is an "interesting" Shaw Brothers film for its mere content. Granted, today's violent films look more realistic while "Hong Kong Godfather" sports the "Miami Vice" clothing and hairstyles, bad '80s synth music but because of how crazy this film gets, you can't help but be entertained and in awe of what takes place.The film has violence against men, women, children. Tons of blood and hacking. Many foreign, non-Chinese actors (makes me wonder if the Shaw Brothers was trying to make this film more accessible to a wider audience) as triad gang members (working for the rival gang), full frontal nudity and if your only exposure to Shaw Brothers films was martial arts films, "Hong Kong Godfather" definitely brings something new and over-the-top.Overall, if you are looking for a crazy, bloody and violent Shaw Brothers film, "Hong Kong Godfather" is definitely for you!

Very good mid 1980's Hong Kong gangster film with more than average bloodshed, which means that there is a lot of blood in this film.

Full of 80s haircuts, moustaches, poofy hair, sex, and violence, Hong Kong Godfather is a movie of its time and is definitely not recommended for anybody under the age of 18. This is the story of three brothers (Playboy Lung, former-Hitman Wei, and Detective Man) in a Triad who have sworn to take up arms to avenge their fallen boss and to protect their neighborhood of TsimShaTsui.Don't expect any of our heroes to escape from their mission unscathed.

the story centers around 3 friends who are getting back together to celebrate their elder boss's birthday. One of them is Leung Kar Yan (Liang Chia Jen), now a father, who had previously been a close accomplice of the boss; the other is the boss's current right hand man, a playboy and eventual heir to the leadership position; and the last is now a city cop who had previously worked for the boss. When things start going downhill for the group, they take it upon themselves to right the wrongs, and what results is "a blood-splattered tale of revenge, sex, and corruption." The ending was quite good and not what I expected, and overall there was enough blood and story to keep everyone interested...The Hong Kong Connection/ Funimation/ Celestial print is quite beautiful, in widescreen and remastered at 95 minutes, in Cantonese with English subtitles. As with most of the Celestial films, there is no English dubbing available. The edition itself gets 4.5 stars.I give the film overall 3.5 stars, as it was action-filled and enjoyable, but I had hoped for something more martial-artsy and less knife-wielding connivery. It's a very good cast, and the acting is pretty good too, but I was looking for something more old-school (the Victim, Eternal Conflict, Shaolin Temple) and this was quite 80s dated.Recommended for all "Beardy" fans (those of Leung Kar Yan)