''Return to Action'' is a 1990

Hong Kong action film Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese culture, Chinese and Culture of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling an ...

produced and directed by

Chen Kuan-tai Chen Kuan-tai (born 24 September 1945) is a martial artist and Hong Kong martial arts film star. Background A former fireman, he won a world's kungfu Championship in 1969. He has primarily appeared in Shaw Brothers productions, and was one of th ...

and starring

Alex Man Alex Man Chi-leung () is a Golden Horse Award-winning Hong Kong actor. Born in Hong Kong to Hakka parents, Alex Man became a television actor for ATV in the 1970s. He joined TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television bro ...

Rosamund Kwan Rosamund Kwan Chi Lam (born Kwan Kar Wai on 24 September 1962) is a Hong Kong former actress, best known for starring as the female lead "Thirteenth Aunt" in the 1990s ''Once Upon a Time in China'' film series. She had since retired from acti ...

Mark Cheng Mark Cheng Ho-nam (born 6 October 1964) is a Hong Kong actor. He made his name with his first starring role in the movie ''Cupid One'' with Sally Yeh. He is also known for his role as "Lam Wing" in the 1996 film ''Tai Chi Boxer'' and FuXi in ''My ...

Shing Fui-On Shing Fui-On (成奎安; 1 February 1955 – 27 August 2009) was a Hong Kong actor, best known for his supporting roles in Hong Kong cinema. He had only one leading role in his entire career. Biography Shing Fui-On was the fourth of five s ...

and Chen himself in a supporting role.

Plot

Chan Wan-sing (

) has retired from the underworld for many years and often inculcates his son Wah (

), hoping that his son will not step into his footsteps. However, Wah had secretly colluded with Mad Man (

) in dealing with illegal business. While on the other hand, Chan greatly cares for his adopted daughter Joey (

) as if she was his biological child and is also very proud of Joey's husband, police inspector Man Yung-keung (

) of the Regional Unit of Hong Kong. Man's superiors assign him to assist Interpol officer Ms. Hon (Lee Siu-man), who has come to Hong Kong to investigate smuggling case, and ensure her safety. However, Ms. Hon disapproves of the Hong Kong Police and starts the operation by herself, where she was captured and murdered by Wah. When Joey brings her students to visit her brother's shipyard, she notices a female corpse in photo that was taken during the visit. When she questions Wah about the corpse, he denies it and destroys the photo. To repay Chan's favor of raising her, Joey did not bring this matter up with Man. However, this decision has led her to a fatal disaster when Wah brings Mad Man to ask her for the negative of the photo. When she refused, Wah accidentally kills her. After Joey died, the negative had unexpectedly fallen into the hands of Man. In order to avenge Joey, Man teams up with Chan to find Wah and Mad Man. During an intense battle, Chan punishes his own relations in the cause of justice, and shoots his son dead in order to save Man.

Cast

as Man Yung-keung *

as Joey Chan *

as Wah *

as Mad Man *

as Chan Wan-sing *Lee Yiu-man as Ms. Hon *Eliza Yue *

Kenneth Tsang Kenneth Tsang Kong (; 5 October 1934 – 27 April 2022) was a Hong Kong actor. Tsang's career spanned 50 years and included a variety of acting roles. Tsang won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 34th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015. Early ...

as Officer Ng *Cheng Kang-yeh as Suspect in police station *Yue Tau-wan as Cross-eyed cop *

Dion Lam Dion Lam (林迪安; Lam Dik-On) is a Hong Kong action choreographer and actor. Filmography * 1980 ''The Hangman'' * 1982 ''Energetic 21'' * 1983 ''Crazy Blood'' * 1988 ''Mistaken Identity'' * 1989 '' The Killer'' * 1989 ''Ghost Ballroom'' * 1 ...

as On *Tai Po as Man's informer (cameo) *

Lo Lieh Wang Lap Tat (June 29, 1939 – November 2, 2002), better known by his stage name Lo Lieh, was an Indonesian-born Hong Kong film actor and martial artist. Lo was perhaps best known as Chao Chih-Hao in the 1972 martial arts film ''King Boxer'' ...

as Prisoner (cameo) *Wilson Tong as Prisoner (cameo) *Wong Chi-wai as Mad Man's bodyguard *Yat Poon-chai as Rocky *Chan Chik-wai as Yip *Thomas Sin as Prisoner *Mai Kei as Suspect in police station *Chow Mei-fung *Sin Kwai-chi *Gabriel Wong as Joey's student *

Yu Mo-lin Yu Miu-Lin (, born 4 July 1937) is a Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Yu is credited with 145 films. Early life In 4 July 1937, Yu was born as Yu Chi-nga () in Canton. Her late mother Tang Mei-mei (鄧美美) was an actress who was not widely ...

as Mother scolding her kid *Leung Wing-yim *Chang Sing-kwong as Bodyguard *Chung Wing as Prisoner *Chow Chi-hung as Bodyguard *Lee Yiu-king as Guard *Lau Shung-fung *Lung Ying *Fei Pak *Ling Chi-hung

Reception

Critical

So Good Reviews
' gave the film a mixed review and writes "Standard and rather cheaply made, Chen Kuan-tai nonetheless delivers the beats of the narrative fairly well."

Box office

The film grossed HK$2,340,415 at the Hong Kong box office during its theatrical run from 29 March to 4 April 1990 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

References

External links

* *
Return to Action
' at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual ( French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websi ...

*{{IMDb title, 0099424 1990 films 1990 action films 1990 martial arts films Hong Kong action films Hong Kong martial arts films Gun fu films Triad films Police detective films 1990s Cantonese-language films Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong Hong Kong films about revenge 1990s Hong Kong films