''Full Alert'' is a 1997 Hong Kong action film directed and co-written by

Ringo Lam Ringo Lam Ling-Tung (, Cantonese: Lam Ling-tung, 8 December 1955 – 29 December 2018) was a Hong Kong film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Hong Kong in 1955, Lam initially went to acting school. After finding he preferred making f ...

. The film's plot is set in eponymous 1997 when cops find a corpse and bomb chemicals, Inspector Pao (

Lau Ching-wan Sean Lau Ching-wan (born 16 February 1964) is a Hong Kong actor who has acted in both films and television series. He won Best Actor in the 2007 and 2015 Hong Kong Film Awards and in the 2000 and 2007 Golden Bauhinia Awards. Career Lau was born ...

) arrests suspect Mak Kwan (

Francis Ng Francis Ng Chun-yu (; born 21 December 1961) is a Hong Kong actor and director. He is known for his roles in the TVB series ''Triumph in the Skies'' and in films such as ''Young and Dangerous'', '' Once Upon a Time in Triad Society'', ''A Ma ...

) hoping that his girlfriend will lead them to his Taiwanese gang, but Mak makes an escape and the girlfriend makes off for Macao. Pao then figures that the gang will go for the $230 million at the Hong Kong Jockey club while Mak plans his escape from prison. ''Full Alert'' was shown at both the

Rotterdam Film Festival The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

and

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

in 1997. It was nominated for five awards at the

17th Hong Kong Film Awards The 17th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony, honored the best films of 1997 and took place on 26 April 1998 at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The ceremony was hosted by Carol Cheng and Cheung Tat Ming, during the ceremon ...

Plot

Mak Kwan (

) is an expert in bombs and a highly wanted criminal. After killing off his partner, he is arrested by police officer Pao Wai Hung (

Sean Lau Sean Lau Ching-wan (born 16 February 1964) is a Hong Kong actor who has acted in both films and television series. He won Best Actor in the 2007 and 2015 Hong Kong Film Awards and in the 2000 and 2007 Golden Bauhinia Awards. Career Lau was born ...

), who is in deep guilt due to an accidental killing. Kwan's girlfriend/conspirator, Chung Lai-hung ( Amanda Lee) informs the head of the gang that Mak is being held by the police. Since Taiwanese mafia leader Zang (

Jack Kao Jack Kao (, born 23 April 1958) is a Taiwanese actor. Career He began his career in the late 1980s films of Hou Hsiao-hsien. Kao credits his success to the many real-life gangsters he knew when he was young. He appeared in '' City of Sadness'' ...

) fears that Mak will reveal their plans, he nevertheless makes a promise to rescue Mak with his underlings and Chan Wah ( Raymond Cho), Mak's cousin and another criminal. Knowing the mafia leader's plan, Pao prepares to takedown Mak once more. Although the mafia leader cannot get to Mak, they manage to kill Pao's subordinate Yung (Yung Kam-cheong). Mak manages to disguise himself as a prison guard, and escapes by helicopter. Pao and his subordinate Bill (

Chin Kar-lok Chin Ka-lok, sometimes credited as Chin Kar-lok (Chinese: 錢嘉樂, Pinyin: Qián Jiālè, born 6 August 1965), is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, and television presenter. Chin was born in Hong Kong, the younger brother of actor an ...

) are upset over Yung's death and swear to get revenge, and the police force sets off a high alert for the criminals. Chan Wah is then killed by the Zang's men, whose body is placed in a building's

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

in order to frame Pao. Meanwhile, Kwan escapes from prison with the assistance of a fellow prisoner. As he grows to understand Kwan's personality, Pao waits for the latter at the

Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...

. Kwan reacts by tying up Pao's family, including his wife (

Monica Chan Monica Chan Fat-yung (Chinese: 陳法蓉; born 28 October 1966) is a Hong Kong actress and model. She won the Miss Hong Kong 1989 pageant. Before her acting days, Chan graduated from high school in Canada and attended University of Hawaii. Befor ...

). When Mak sneaks into the Jockey Club and takes the money, Zang arrives to kill him so that he can take the whole portion of the money for himself. Betrayed, Mak kills Zang. Mak takes the money with Lai-hung and escape, but are followed by Pao. As they engage at a shootout with each other, Pao shoots Lai-hung. Realizing he cannot handle her death, Mak shoots himself.

Cast

HKPF The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

Senior Inspector Pao Wai-hung *

as Mak Kwan, a former carpenter turned bomb expert and wanted criminal * Amanda Lee as Chung Lai-hung, Kwan's girlfriend and partner in crime *

as Zang/Gentleman, a Taiwanese mafia leader who is working with Kwan on behalf of robbing money *

as Pao's wife *

Chin Ka Lok Chin Ka-lok, sometimes credited as Chin Kar-lok (Chinese: 錢嘉樂, Pinyin: Qián Jiālè, born 6 August 1965), is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, and television presenter. Chin was born in Hong Kong, the younger brother of actor an ...

as Bill, Pao's subordinate *

Yung Kam-cheong Yung may refer to: * Yung (surname), Chinese surname * Yung Joc, (born Jasiel Robinson in 1983), an American rapper * Yung Wun, (born James Carlton Anderson in 1982), an American rapper * Yung Berg, (born Christian Ward in 1985), an American rappe ...

as Yung, Pao's subordinate * Raymond Cho as Chan Wah, Mak's cousin and his subordinate * Emily Kwan Po-wai as Bo, Pao's subordinate * Lee Siu-kei as a prisoner who helps Kwan escape (cameo) *

Ng Chi Hung Ng, ng, or NG may refer to: * Ng (name) (黄伍吳), a surname of Chinese origin Arts and entertainment * N-Gage (disambiguation), a handheld gaming system * Naked Giants, Seattle rock band * '' Spirit Hunter: NG'', a video game Businesses a ...

as a police

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

who gives information to Chung (cameo) *

Tsang Wai-ming Tsang may refer to: * Ü-Tsang (), a traditional region of Tibet * Tsang (surname) * Zang (surname) (), romanized Tsang in Wade–Giles * Zeng Zeng (, ) is a Chinese family name. In Cantonese, it is Tsang; In Wade-Giles, such as those in Taiwan, ...

as the head of the

Cheng Siu-fung Cheng may refer to: Chinese states * Chengjia or Cheng (25–36 AD) * Cheng Han or Cheng (304–338) * Zheng (state), or Cheng in Wade–Giles Places * Chengdu, abbreviated as Cheng * Cheng County, in Gansu, China * Cheng Township, in Malacca, Ma ...

as the head sergeant of transportation * Fok Wing-fu as Sang, Zang's subordinate and driver

Production

The action scenes in ''Full Alert'' are all real and were shot secretly without a shooting permit in the streets of Hong Kong.

Release

''Full Alert'' was released in Hong Kong on 18 July 1997 and earned a total of HK$14,691,880 in the box office. In 1997, the film was shown at the

and the

. The Region 2 DVD for ''Full Alert'' was released on 17 July 2000. It included a Ringo Lam filmography and the film's theatrical trailer. The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

referred to DVD's image quality as more poor than average mainstream DVDs but has suffered less print damage than other Hong Kong films.

Reception

In Hong Kong, the film received five nominations at the

for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (

), Best Editing (

Marco Mak Marco Mak Chi-Sin () is a Hong Kong film director, film editor, production manager, actor, screenwriter, film producer, music composer and assistant director. Filmography Production manager * '' Crazy Romance'' (1985) * ''Why Why Tell Me Why'' ...

and Angie Lam), and Best sound. At the 4th

Hong Kong Film Critics Society The Hong Kong Film Critics Society (HKFCS; Traditional Chinese: 香港電影評論學會), founded in 1995, is the peak organization of film critics and professionals in Hong Kong. It is also a member of FIPRESCI. Objectives The objectives of the H ...

Awards, ''Full Alert'' won the award for best film and best actor (Lau Ching-wan). Outside of Hong Kong, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' praised the film, calling it "one of the best new Hong Kong cop stories (rivaled only by Benny Chan's ''

Big Bullet ''Big Bullet'' () is a 1996 Hong Kong action film directed, produced and co-written by Benny Chan. The film won awards for film editing at the 1996 Golden Horse Film Festival and the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards. Plot After assaulting his tact ...

'')" and praising the plot and characters as "well-drawn" and the camerawork as "Mr. Lam's best". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the film a positive review noting that Ringo Lam "invests the outwardly formulaic crimer with dark character play and a visceral power that are new in his career." A review from the

gave the film three stars out of five calling it "far more entertaining" than Ringo Lam's previous film ''

Maximum Risk ''Maximum Risk'' is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam in his American directorial debut, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Natasha Henstridge. The film was released in the United States on Septembe ...

'' and that the film "has its moments". ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' referred to the film as a "bravura thriller" with "car chases and shoot-outs are staged with ingenuity." and that it was "excellently acted by the two leads Lau Ching-Wan and Francis Ng". The review concluded that "Lam tells his story with such verve that we hardly notice it is riddled with clichés."

Notes

External links

* * {{Ringo Lam 1997 films 1990s action films Hong Kong action films Police detective films Cantonese-language films Films directed by Ringo Lam Films shot in Hong Kong 1990s Hong Kong films