A Hero Never Dies (1998)

Although this movie can't be categorized as a masterpiece, it was incredibly memorable. It helps that the main leads, Sean Lau and Leon Lai, are two of my favorite actors. They have this available with Cantonese or Mandarin audio and the subtitle files are easy to find.

The story is summarized pretty well in the synopsis and it really is as simplistic as following two friends who belong to rival gangs. Both are loyal to their leaders and this creates inevitable complexity for the friendship. The differences in their characters and the way they communicate with each other non-verbally was fun to watch. One of the highlights for me in this was how vastly different their girlfriends were, and how each of them showed their loyalty to their men when faced with extreme circumstances.

I've always loved the gangster movies from the 90s. While this one has some holes with the plot and the decisions the leads made were questionable, it was still very unique and many of the scenes stayed in my memory even after years of not having seen it.

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Heroes never die, they live forever

Just as much a tribute to the heroic bloodshed films of yesteryear as it is a brilliantly stylised entry in its own right, A Hero Never Dies is a pure exercise in genre film despite being so hard-boiled that it almost becomes a comedy. Taking a fundamentally tried, tested and clichéd story in a world where the violence is more sudden and the atmosphere much darker and upending nearly every element of the films he's paying homage to, shows the power of Johnnie To's filmmaking ability. To's direction is fantastic with plenty of sweeping camera movements and tremendous use of colour, all coupled with Cheng Siu-keung's outstanding photography make the film a feast for the eyes. The incredible sense of loyalty and honour these characters display ultimately makes them “heroes", the themes are often hammered home so relentlessly that the film nearly enters the realm of parody. Only in a gangland fantasy would characters enjoy a friendship but have no qualms about killing one another later. The performances from its central cast are phenomenal, Leon Lai and Sean Lau especially, both playing fundamentally different archetypes of the same profession to immense effect, all the while Raymond Wong's hauntingly powerful score dominates the sound mix, even if he does repeat a few too many cues from his work on Running Out of Time. A Hero Never Dies ultimately just solidifies to me that Johnnie To is one of, if not the best post-handover filmmaker in the industry. Heroes may die, but their actions live forever.

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