For me and my friends in Junior High (this was the early 1990s), Chow Yun-fat was the biggest movie star in the world. There was no one who came even close. Not Arnold. Not Stallone. Not Jackie. Not even Harrison Ford. So great was his charisma and star power, he was the Movie Star even though it would be years before we saw the man on the big screen. Our first interactions were on 27-inch Sony Trinitrons. It wasn’t just my friends. My sister and mother were both fans. He was cool and romantic and badass all in one package. Steve McQueen had nothing on Chow Yun-fat.
I mention this because Flaming Brothers is the perfect example of the reasons why the man was a star to so many. He could be the action star. He could be the charismatic, dramatic lead. He would be the romantic lover. Joe Cheung’s heroic bloodshed picture gives Chow a chance to be all those things. Armed with a script by Wong Kar-wai (yes, that Wong Kar-wai), the film is the best kind of “all over the map” tonal mash-up that made Hong Kong Action cinema of the 1980s and 1990s such a potent stick of dynamite around the world.
Alan (Alan Tang) and Ho-tin (Chow) are not brothers by blood but brothers by honor, having grown up on the streets of Macau to make it as successful “businessmen” (re: low-level triad members). Their business is threatened by the rise of a new triad leader (Patrick Tse) who wants to squeeze them, and in doing so, the duo kills one of his men. Starting a war, Alan and Ho-tin split in different directions during this war. Alan heads heavy into it. Ho-tin finds and rekindles a childhood love affair (Pat Ha), seeing a chance at a normal life. Though fate and Karma never let anyone go and Ho-tin is brought back into the war as Alan finds himself facing a suicide mission of revenge.
Flaming Brothers is the type of film that is silly and goofy one minute and is deathly serious with tragic acts of violence the next. Tonal consistency is never a worry or thought in any HK Action film of the era. The films “feel” their way through their stories. Arched and heightened mixture of rage, passion, tears. It is melodrama, but done in the way that feels perfectly at home in the style of the hyper-violent worlds these take place in. There is something cinematically perfect about how Flaming Brothers and its brethren are able to do things that no English-language film could ever do. Make the bond between men a hypertext. Make the honor code amongst thieves as real as written law. It is an evolution of the world that Jean Pierre-Melville built (it’s no surprise that many of the HK Directors cite Melville as direct inspiration, including Chueng).
Though Flaming Brothers would not be what it is without Chow Yun-fat. Yes, the film’s star is Alan Tang, who is great, but the film belongs to Chow. The role of Ho-tin is more of a supporting one, similar to Chow’s role in A Better Tomorrow, and just like that film, he is the center of gravity that pulls everything. The script understands this better than one initially thinks, as though Ho-tin/Chow is the glue that holds things together; once he leaves the picture and Alan’s life, things fall apart in the most terrible of ways. Wong Kar-wai’s script is, as expected, a wonderful deviation from the norms of the heroic bloodshed tropes, but when it does lean into them … it goes hard. The final third of the film turns the film into a dark, violent downward spiral of kinetic action scenes that the action directors and Cheung film with the story of slow motion and blood spurting squibs to make Sam Peckinpah and John Woo proud.
Even in its brutal existential ending, Flaming Brothers finds grace notes in the way that the best of the genre does. It may not be a happy ending for our characters, but it’s the right one.
The Transfer
Eureka continues to release truly revelatory discs of Asian cinema. Flaming Brothers presented here from an all-new 2K restoration looks stunning. That restoration is due in large part to Fortune Star’s work, but the work here from Eureka to bring this to Blu-ray should be discounted. There isn’t a scratch, blemish, or speck of dirt throughout the runtime of the film. The razor-sharp image is near flawless. Fans of the film will be pleased by the presentation that puts the prior iterations of the film on home video to shame.
The Extras
They include the following;
New audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
CFK X Flaming Brothers Locations
Interview with director Joe Cheung
Alternate Credits
Original theatrical trailer
The all-new audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema begins with a terribly bad and terrible great impersonation of the Golden Harvest musical logo cue. Some of the details include the various production companies involved with the film, including Alan Tang’s own; the various locations this film takes place in and around Macau – which leads to a discussion about the life and social history of the region, including the Casinos and traveling between Hong Kong and Macau; the various films that take place and are shot in Macau; the transition from the Chang Cheh swordplay films to gunplay heroic bloodshed films; Phillip Chang’s appearance who was a real life police officer and some history about him; where Chow Yun-fat was when the film was being produced, including how he went by a different name; a discussion of the cultural norms of the smoking and drinking in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia – including great conversation about Keanu Reeves; a discussion of the work and career of director Joe Cheung; a side discussion of Thailand, and the influence of Hong Kong Cinema had on current Thai cinema; the work, professional and personal history of actor/producer Alan Tang; the work, professional and personal history of actress Pat Ha; a detailed discussion of the writing here, the professional and personal history of screenwriter Wong Kar-wai; a discussion of the cinematography by Jingle Ma, including a larger discussion of his other films and his directorial career; a great discussion of the THREE action directors and their various work outside of this film; a discussion throughout of the various locations the film used; a discussion throughout of various cultural touchstones, social norms, pop culture, that may be lost on western audiences – oftentimes as great side tangents that have nothing to do with what’s appearing on screen; discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors that appear in the film and their personal and professional histories; and much more. Leeder and Venema hit it out of the park again, providing an informative, entertaining, fun, and oftentimes hilarious commentary track on this early Chow Yun-Fat heroic bloodshed film.
CFK x Flaming Brothers Locations (31:36) – hosted by Arne Venema, this featurette charts all of the locations the production used in Macau, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. Venema does a great job of not just giving us information about the production but also the location and the history behind it as well. The featurette is beautifully edited and shot with multiple split screens used to ensure that one can compare the original shot from the film and the location as it currently looks.
Interview with director Joe Cheung (45:04) – in this archival interview, director Joe Cheung opens with how he got into the Hong Kong film industry with a summer job as a PA at Shaw Brothers Studios, then working his way from Location Manager to Assistant Director and Script Director. Cheung goes on to discuss the film’s themes and relationships; the development of the script with screenwriter Wong Kar-wai; the way he approached the film as a relationship drama rather than an action film; working with Action Director Tung Wai and the approach to the collaboration; the reasons why Thailand and other locations were chosen for the production; the difficulty of shooting the ending; the way he directed the infamous killing; working with Chow Yun-Fat and Alan Tang and the differences between the two stars; the European cinema that inspired him and this film; and much more.
In Cantonese with English Subtitles.
Alternate Credits (3:12) – the alternate opening titles credit various people with pseudonyms and begin differently. The ending credits again credit people under pseudonyms and uses a different musical cue.
Original theatrical trailer (2:18) – In Cantonese with English Subtitles
The Final Thought
Eureka continues its streak of releasing some of the best in Asian action cinema. Highest recommendations!!!
Chow Yun-Fat stars in the action crime thriller Flaming Brothers, new to Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment.
The Film
For me and my friends in Junior High (this was the early 1990s), Chow Yun-fat was the biggest movie star in the world. There was no one who came even close. Not Arnold. Not Stallone. Not Jackie. Not even Harrison Ford. So great was his charisma and star power, he was the Movie Star even though it would be years before we saw the man on the big screen. Our first interactions were on 27-inch Sony Trinitrons. It wasn’t just my friends. My sister and mother were both fans. He was cool and romantic and badass all in one package. Steve McQueen had nothing on Chow Yun-fat.
I mention this because Flaming Brothers is the perfect example of the reasons why the man was a star to so many. He could be the action star. He could be the charismatic, dramatic lead. He would be the romantic lover. Joe Cheung’s heroic bloodshed picture gives Chow a chance to be all those things. Armed with a script by Wong Kar-wai (yes, that Wong Kar-wai), the film is the best kind of “all over the map” tonal mash-up that made Hong Kong Action cinema of the 1980s and 1990s such a potent stick of dynamite around the world.
Alan (Alan Tang) and Ho-tin (Chow) are not brothers by blood but brothers by honor, having grown up on the streets of Macau to make it as successful “businessmen” (re: low-level triad members). Their business is threatened by the rise of a new triad leader (Patrick Tse) who wants to squeeze them, and in doing so, the duo kills one of his men. Starting a war, Alan and Ho-tin split in different directions during this war. Alan heads heavy into it. Ho-tin finds and rekindles a childhood love affair (Pat Ha), seeing a chance at a normal life. Though fate and Karma never let anyone go and Ho-tin is brought back into the war as Alan finds himself facing a suicide mission of revenge.
Flaming Brothers is the type of film that is silly and goofy one minute and is deathly serious with tragic acts of violence the next. Tonal consistency is never a worry or thought in any HK Action film of the era. The films “feel” their way through their stories. Arched and heightened mixture of rage, passion, tears. It is melodrama, but done in the way that feels perfectly at home in the style of the hyper-violent worlds these take place in. There is something cinematically perfect about how Flaming Brothers and its brethren are able to do things that no English-language film could ever do. Make the bond between men a hypertext. Make the honor code amongst thieves as real as written law. It is an evolution of the world that Jean Pierre-Melville built (it’s no surprise that many of the HK Directors cite Melville as direct inspiration, including Chueng).
Though Flaming Brothers would not be what it is without Chow Yun-fat. Yes, the film’s star is Alan Tang, who is great, but the film belongs to Chow. The role of Ho-tin is more of a supporting one, similar to Chow’s role in A Better Tomorrow, and just like that film, he is the center of gravity that pulls everything. The script understands this better than one initially thinks, as though Ho-tin/Chow is the glue that holds things together; once he leaves the picture and Alan’s life, things fall apart in the most terrible of ways. Wong Kar-wai’s script is, as expected, a wonderful deviation from the norms of the heroic bloodshed tropes, but when it does lean into them … it goes hard. The final third of the film turns the film into a dark, violent downward spiral of kinetic action scenes that the action directors and Cheung film with the story of slow motion and blood spurting squibs to make Sam Peckinpah and John Woo proud.
Even in its brutal existential ending, Flaming Brothers finds grace notes in the way that the best of the genre does. It may not be a happy ending for our characters, but it’s the right one.
The Transfer
Eureka continues to release truly revelatory discs of Asian cinema. Flaming Brothers presented here from an all-new 2K restoration looks stunning. That restoration is due in large part to Fortune Star’s work, but the work here from Eureka to bring this to Blu-ray should be discounted. There isn’t a scratch, blemish, or speck of dirt throughout the runtime of the film. The razor-sharp image is near flawless. Fans of the film will be pleased by the presentation that puts the prior iterations of the film on home video to shame.
The Extras
They include the following;
The all-new audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema begins with a terribly bad and terrible great impersonation of the Golden Harvest musical logo cue. Some of the details include the various production companies involved with the film, including Alan Tang’s own; the various locations this film takes place in and around Macau – which leads to a discussion about the life and social history of the region, including the Casinos and traveling between Hong Kong and Macau; the various films that take place and are shot in Macau; the transition from the Chang Cheh swordplay films to gunplay heroic bloodshed films; Phillip Chang’s appearance who was a real life police officer and some history about him; where Chow Yun-fat was when the film was being produced, including how he went by a different name; a discussion of the cultural norms of the smoking and drinking in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia – including great conversation about Keanu Reeves; a discussion of the work and career of director Joe Cheung; a side discussion of Thailand, and the influence of Hong Kong Cinema had on current Thai cinema; the work, professional and personal history of actor/producer Alan Tang; the work, professional and personal history of actress Pat Ha; a detailed discussion of the writing here, the professional and personal history of screenwriter Wong Kar-wai; a discussion of the cinematography by Jingle Ma, including a larger discussion of his other films and his directorial career; a great discussion of the THREE action directors and their various work outside of this film; a discussion throughout of the various locations the film used; a discussion throughout of various cultural touchstones, social norms, pop culture, that may be lost on western audiences – oftentimes as great side tangents that have nothing to do with what’s appearing on screen; discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors that appear in the film and their personal and professional histories; and much more. Leeder and Venema hit it out of the park again, providing an informative, entertaining, fun, and oftentimes hilarious commentary track on this early Chow Yun-Fat heroic bloodshed film.
CFK x Flaming Brothers Locations (31:36) – hosted by Arne Venema, this featurette charts all of the locations the production used in Macau, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. Venema does a great job of not just giving us information about the production but also the location and the history behind it as well. The featurette is beautifully edited and shot with multiple split screens used to ensure that one can compare the original shot from the film and the location as it currently looks.
Interview with director Joe Cheung (45:04) – in this archival interview, director Joe Cheung opens with how he got into the Hong Kong film industry with a summer job as a PA at Shaw Brothers Studios, then working his way from Location Manager to Assistant Director and Script Director. Cheung goes on to discuss the film’s themes and relationships; the development of the script with screenwriter Wong Kar-wai; the way he approached the film as a relationship drama rather than an action film; working with Action Director Tung Wai and the approach to the collaboration; the reasons why Thailand and other locations were chosen for the production; the difficulty of shooting the ending; the way he directed the infamous killing; working with Chow Yun-Fat and Alan Tang and the differences between the two stars; the European cinema that inspired him and this film; and much more.
In Cantonese with English Subtitles.
Alternate Credits (3:12) – the alternate opening titles credit various people with pseudonyms and begin differently. The ending credits again credit people under pseudonyms and uses a different musical cue.
Original theatrical trailer (2:18) – In Cantonese with English Subtitles
The Final Thought
Eureka continues its streak of releasing some of the best in Asian action cinema. Highest recommendations!!!
Eureka Entertainment’s Blu-ray Edition of Flaming Brothers is out September 16th
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