''Manila's Finest'' is a 2015 Filipino action film directed by William G. Mayo and written by Jose Carreon. Inspired by the life of Manila Police Col. Jimmy Tiu, it stars Jeric Raval,

Mark Anthony Fernandez Mark Anthony Lacsamana Fernandez (born January 18, 1979) is a Filipino actor. He is the son of actor Rudy Fernandez and actress-politician Alma Moreno. Career Fernandez first rose to prominence when he was once a former member of one of the ...

, Bangs Garcia, Danilo "Brownie" Pansalin, Jay Prince Armodoval (also producer),

Joko Diaz Francisco Gutierrez Diaz Jr. (born April 26 1976), better known by his screen name Joko Diaz, is a Filipino actor. Throughout his career, he has won two FAP Awards and is three-time FAMAS Award nominee. He is best known for his antagonist and ...

Leo Martinez Leo Martinez (born March 7, 1945) is a Filipino actor, comedian and director. Martinez also served as Director General of the Film Academy of the Philippines. Personal life He is married to Gina Valenciano (sister of Gary Valenciano), and has chi ...

Jao Mapa Jose Vicente D. Mapa III, who is better known by his stage name, screen name Jao Mapa (born February 17, 1976), is a Filipino actor. He is also an accomplished Painting, painter. Acting career Mapa is best known for his Pepsi-Cola advertisemen ...

Rich Asuncion Richell Pacaldo Angalot-Mudie (born January 22, 1989), better known by her stage name Rich Asuncion, is a Filipino people, Filipino actress who became the First Princess of ''StarStruck (season 4), StarStruck: The Next Level''. Asuncion was al ...

and

Rommel Padilla Rommel Cariño Padilla (; born January 4, 1965) is a Filipino actor, model, businessman, politician, and movie producer. Early life He was born to Camarines Norte governor Roy Padilla Sr. and actress Eva Cariño. Padilla's siblings from t ...

. Other than a special appearance in '' Gangster Lolo'' (2014), this was Raval's first starring role in 13 years, last starring in Mayo's 2002 film ''

Lapu-Lapu Lapulapu (fl. 1521) or Lapu-Lapu, whose name was first recorded as Çilapulapu, was a datu (chief) of Mactan, an island now part of the Philippines. Lapulapu is known for the 1521 Battle of Mactan, where he and his men defeated Spanish forc ...

''. Produced by Prince Armor Productions, the film was released by

Viva Films Viva Films, Inc. (also known as Viva Films, stylized as VIVA Films) is a Philippine film production and distribution company owned by Viva Communications. It was founded in 1981 by Vic del Rosario Jr. and his sister Tess Cruz. Viva Films is o ...

on December 9, 2015.

Cast

Jeric Raval Jeric is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Jeric Fortuna (born 1991), Filipino basketball player * Jeric Gonzales (born 1992), Filipino TV personality * Jeric T (born 1986), Singaporean singer-songwriter * Jeric Teng (born 1 ...

as Col. Jimmy Tiu *

as Ismael Lorenzo * Bangs Garcia as Miriam de Dios * Danilo "Brownie" Pansalin as Gorez dela Cruz * Jay Prince Armodoval as Jay Capapaz *

as Brando *

as Gen. Dela Paz *

as Rico *

as Mylene de Dios *

as Col. Lazaro *

Dianne Medina Maria Patricia Dianne Perez Medina-Ilustre (born November 5, 1986) is a Filipino actress, dancer, television host, anchor and part-time model. Medina is also a former member of ABS-CBN's developmental talent agent Star Magic. Early life Diann ...

as Jenny Tiu *Jethro Ramirez as Bryan * Alvin Anson as Akhmed Omar * Boy Alano as lookout * Janice Jurado as Aling Josie * Amay Bisaya as snatcher *Leon Miguel as rebel leader *Rylan Flores as Jake *Ghen Gabriel as Mrs. Dela Cruz *Gypsy Briones as Sarah *Regine Mendieta as wife of Nigerian *Jim Gaines Jr. as Nigerian *Sam Buensuceso as police asset *JC Clint Nicolas as son of Nigerian *Robert Rivera as rebel leader *Levi Ignacio as Sgt. Villegaz

Production

''Manila's Finest'' was shot in the

City of Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is ...

and in

San Jose del Monte San Jose del Monte, officially the City of San Jose del Monte (abbreviated as SJDM or CSJDM); ; ; ; ; ), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 651,813 people, maki ...

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan (; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on ...

. Other than a special appearance in '' Gangster Lolo'' (2014), ''Manila's Finest'' marks actor Jeric Raval's first starring role in 13 years, last starring in the 2002 film ''

''.

Release

''Manila's Finest'' was released in theaters on December 9, 2015; Viva had previously aimed for a June 2015 release date. A press conference for the film was held on August 1, 2015, at the Mowelfund Plaza in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

Home media

On September 1, 2021,

Cine Mo! Cine Mo! (; visually rendered in all capital letters as CINE MO!) is a Philippine pay television channel owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation. It was one of the former freemium channels of ABS-CBN TVplus and was the complement to its En ...

made the film available for streaming without charge on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, while also being available on

Vivamax VMX is a Philippine video on demand, subscription video on demand over-the-top media service, over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by Viva Communications. It features original Filipino movies and series, as well as a variety of non- ...

Critical response

ClickTheCity writer Philbert Dy gave the film one out of five stars, stating that it was "hilariously bad".

References

External links

* * {{Jose N. Carreon 2015 films 2015 action films Action films based on actual events Filipino-language films Films about police officers Films set in Manila Films shot in Manila Philippine action films