Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

apwatts Wu Jing is Kong Ko, a Chinese kung fu champion in Hong Kong briefly for a theatrical performance. He is approached by some influential figures in the underground fighting league who recognise his potential but turns them down as he has honourable intentions and wants to be "the next Jet Li" without resorting to illegal or underhand means. However, the intoxicating Siu Tin (Miki Yeung) convinces him to take part, and a delicately nuanced and tense action thriller/romance ensues. Kong is an honourable and respectful fighter, and is taught to be more brutal and ruthless by the brilliant and thrifty Captain (Ronald Cheng) as his tactics can only get him so far. To the end however he remains true to his principles, no matter how far he strays from his path. An action packed, moving and in places, beautiful and well characterised Hong Kong thriller. Definitely worth a watch.

traian13 I can't even begin to describe the sicky feeling I have after watching this movie. It should be worth starting by saying I wasn't even able to watch the whole movie in one go. I really don't know what kind of masochistic thought made me watch the rest of it in the first place.Sometimes I wish we could use negative ratings. This film is an insult to anyone interested in martial arts movies. Apart from the fact that most fighting scenes were visibly sped up, the last half hour doesn't even have any kung fu. The choreography was good and clearly the actors knew what they were doing. If they would have ditched the fast-forwarding and added more fighting scenes it would have been a lot better.And this brings me to the story... *sigh* This "movie" tried so hard to be a movie it inexorably turned into an epic fail. The characters have no depth and give no reason for what they are doing. They don't seem to be driven by any moral principles but they have philosophical dialog that is seemingly unrelated to the romantic-cheesy-dramatic plot.Fatal Contact is nothing more than a fatal blow to anyone's intellect.I never thought I'd say it, but now I wanna watch a Hollywood movie.

ericthered01 After seeing Jacky Wu Jing in "Kill Zone", I was excited to see "Fatal Contact". That excitement died quickly when I realized it was a wire-fu movie. There's not one single fight scene that doesn't use wire work extensively. I'm not talking about a jump here or a kick there either, it's the whole fight scenes. Jacky is good. His fight with Donnie Yen in Kill Zone is classic. That's why I don't understand the overkill with wires here. Why not use the guy's real talent. I like realistic fight scenes and this doesn't have a single one. It's not impressive when a guy does a flip off of a stack of wooden pallets if he is using a wire. The same can be said for spin kicks. The rest of this movie is equally bad. Terrible dialogue, acting, story, and one of the worst endings in movie history.

zdac I've watched a lot of HK action films... some are pretty amazing, many are guilty pleasures, and sadly a few are just plain awful. This one falls into the latter category. Fatal Contact is terrible, and not in that "so bad it's good" enjoyable sort of way. The writing is awkward, the acting is hollow, and the direction is stiff and joyless. Every scene is miserable. It's like someone made a backyard-grade production with half a normal film's budget. I don't speak Chinese, so I read the subtitles... which means I can be pretty generous with regards to the performances, especially in a martial arts film. When I can tell how flat and mechanical the acting is, even across the language barrier, you know it's pretty bad. The dialog is recited as if read from scribbled cue cards. Actors stare at nothing in particular, making nervous faces like they've just ad-libbed a bad line.. they even sometimes look at the camera. This may seem like a petty complaint for a silly action movie, but it really makes it impossible to enter into the film and feel any excitement.The script is similarly weak...dull, fragmented, predictable, preachy, and at times painfully misogynistic. Even for manic HK genre film, the tone is inconsistent. It seems to hit a sour note at almost every turn. I might have praised this film for showing illegal underground boxing matches in realistically mundane environments like old train stations, fluorescent-lit rented hotel conference chambers, boat marinas, etc, but somehow the lack of interesting locations or presentation often robs the scenes of any drama they would normally have. Instead, it just feels cheap and unimaginative.So what about the action? Jacky Wu has always been a competent martial performer, if not particularly engaging on a personal level, and the action sequences should be the highlight of this film. Unfortunately, the impact is consistently killed by bad editing and unexciting villains. The choreography is pretty dull and unexciting. Every confrontation is a disappointment. Granted, Wu does pull off a couple of sweet moves. Unfortunately I mean that LITERALLY... I think I counted them and there are about two. Wu is a proved talent, but this film is strong evidence that having good screen fighters is not enough to carry even a fun action cheapie if every other aspect of the movie fails.Notably Ronald Cheng DOES sort of portray an interesting character... I was hoping for him to become more significant in the story, but don't be fooled. NOTHING happens with this character. That goes Lam Suet and Ken Lo too, sadly. The familiar HK supporting faces in this film are no indication of its quality. I was under the impression that a Dragon Dynasty release would at least be worth a look. Don't waste your time... or if you must, skip to the fight scenes just to relieve your curiosity. Nothing else here is even remotely worthwhile.