Of the Three Dragons of Hong Kong cinema (aka Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao), this reviewer knows Yuen Biao the least. Yes, I knew him from some of his supporting work in films like Chan’s Project A and Cynthia Rothrock’s Righting Wrongs. Though seeing his bigger starring roles have been course corrected over the last five years, viewing films like Dragons Forever and Meals on Wheels shows the range and specific charms of Biao as a leading man. None so much more than the entertaining and wildly inappropriate Rosa, the Buddy Action Cop Romantic Comedy mash-up written by Barry “Hardboiled” Wong and War Kong-wai (yes, the same WKW that every cineaste adores).
Biao plays cocksure HK Police Officer Little Monster Ha. Yes, his nickname is Little Monster because … you know, he loves to wreak havoc on the department and the city in general. It is only when he meets Mustache Lui Kung (Canto-Pop legend Lowell Lo) that he’s met his match in the chaos department. After an incident involving Little Monster and Mustache’s sister Lui Lui (Kara Hui), the higher-ups feel like it’s a good idea to match these two as partners. The thought being maybe they’ll get themselves killed or, at the very least, get into enough trouble to get fired.
As Little Monster and Mustache get involved in a case with a big-time gangster, they must use one of his mistresses, Rosa (Luk Siu-fan), to get information on his next move. No one expected Mustache to, not surprisingly, have the feels for Rosa. As Little Monster, Mustache, Lui Lui, and Rosa team up, a combination of danger and love is (and isn’t) in the air, all culminating in a huge battle in a warehouse with the gangsters.
Rosa is needlessly complicated plot wise that is to be sure. Wong and War both seem to love the complications that come out of work and personal lives comingling together. Not just here but in their greatest works, show both screenwriters loving the mixture of bad romances and jobs, and what effects these have on men. The funniest thing about Rosa is just how annoyed the women are by these goofs and how easily handled they are. This is by no means a progressive film. It features a scene where a man pretends to sleepwalk to cop a feel on a female character. This is one of the least troubling scenes of “playfulness”. What the film lacks in progressive thought, it makes up for in crass entertainment.
There is something altogether winning about the four lead characters as they make bad decision after bad decision, and the messiness of the plot plays out. All culminating in a truly electrifying and funny action-filled third act that has Biao facing off against HK Screen villain legend Dick Wei. If that doesn’t make you smile … Rosa just isn’t the film for you.
Note: There is a depiction of black face.
The Transfer
The new 2K restoration from the original camera negative is another flawless transfer from 88 Films. The transfer is sharp and without defects. The image’s slight grain structure ensures the transfer retains that 35mm cinematic look at all times. Bravo to the boutique label’s continued efforts in bringing their beautiful restoration work to Blu-ray.
The Extras
They include the following;
Audio Commentary by HK Cinema Experts Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto
Audio Commentary by HK Cinema Expert David West
Interview with Joe Cheung & Benz Kong
English Opening and Closing Titles
Image Gallery
Original Trailer
The first of two Audio Commentaries is by HK Cinema Experts Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto. The duo opens with their respective credentials before diving into the film, which is actually an unofficial sequel to the Pom Pom action comedy series – also warning of some very politically incorrect scenes. Some of the details include the literal translation of the title and an interesting story about the title; the box office results of the film; the diverse work and career of Yuen Bao and the year he had when this was released; a discussion of Sammo Hung and his Bo Ho Films which produced the film; unique screenwriting duo of the film Barry Wong (of Hardboiled fame) and Wong Kar-wai (of In the Mood of Love fame); a discussion of the Pom Pom film series; a discussion of the various voice actors that dubbed the actors none of the actors dubbed their own voice; a discussion of the social and political context that this film was made under; a larger discussion of the various locations that the production used; discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors and their work here and throughout their career – keep your notes app open, you’ll want to write some of the films down; and much more.
The second Audio Commentary is by HK Cinema Expert David West. West opens with his credentials before diving into the wild literal translation of the Cantonese Title, and it being a reference to Pom Pom, the unofficial sequel to that film, is for with no related characters or actors in its cast. Some of the other details include the history of Bo Ho films and Sammo Hung’s other film production companies; the career and personal history of Lowell Lo, including his origins as a singer before he became an actor; a discussion of Cinema City as a distributor and their contribution to HK Cinema and changing it in the 1980s; a discussion of the career and personal history of director Joe Cheung; a discussion of the career and personal history of star Luk Siu-fan who plays Rosa and specifically her work in Twain; a discussion of screenwriters Barry Wong and Wong Kar-wai and how much of the film would have been written during the production; a discussion of HK action cinema and its influence and influence of other countries on the style; a larger discussion of the actors that appear in the film and work elsewhere, they are known for; and much more.
Pom Pom and Hot Hot: Director Joe Cheung and assistant director Benz Hong discuss the making of Rosa (23:23) – in this all-new interview with Cheung and Hong, the duo begin with how they got into the film industry in Hong Kong through very different but interesting paths. The men both recorded separate discuss working with Sammo Hung as a producer; the way the script was written during production and developed; working with Yuen Biao; working with Lowell Lo; a detailed breakdown and anecdotes from working on the various action scenes in the film, and on-set safety at the time from both perspectives; and much more. In Cantonese with English Subtitles.
English Opening (1:10)
English Closing Titles (1:41)
Image Gallery (2:14) – this animated image gallery consists of various lobby cards, behind-the-scenes photos, and poster art set to the theme song from the film.
Original Trailer (4:27)
The Final Thought
88 Films continues to release the best of underseen HK Action Films from the 80s and 90s. Recommended!!
Yuen Biao and Lowell Lo star in the Hong Kong Buddy Action Film Rosa. New to Blu-ray from 88 Films.
The Film
Of the Three Dragons of Hong Kong cinema (aka Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao), this reviewer knows Yuen Biao the least. Yes, I knew him from some of his supporting work in films like Chan’s Project A and Cynthia Rothrock’s Righting Wrongs. Though seeing his bigger starring roles have been course corrected over the last five years, viewing films like Dragons Forever and Meals on Wheels shows the range and specific charms of Biao as a leading man. None so much more than the entertaining and wildly inappropriate Rosa, the Buddy Action Cop Romantic Comedy mash-up written by Barry “Hardboiled” Wong and War Kong-wai (yes, the same WKW that every cineaste adores).
Biao plays cocksure HK Police Officer Little Monster Ha. Yes, his nickname is Little Monster because … you know, he loves to wreak havoc on the department and the city in general. It is only when he meets Mustache Lui Kung (Canto-Pop legend Lowell Lo) that he’s met his match in the chaos department. After an incident involving Little Monster and Mustache’s sister Lui Lui (Kara Hui), the higher-ups feel like it’s a good idea to match these two as partners. The thought being maybe they’ll get themselves killed or, at the very least, get into enough trouble to get fired.
As Little Monster and Mustache get involved in a case with a big-time gangster, they must use one of his mistresses, Rosa (Luk Siu-fan), to get information on his next move. No one expected Mustache to, not surprisingly, have the feels for Rosa. As Little Monster, Mustache, Lui Lui, and Rosa team up, a combination of danger and love is (and isn’t) in the air, all culminating in a huge battle in a warehouse with the gangsters.
Rosa is needlessly complicated plot wise that is to be sure. Wong and War both seem to love the complications that come out of work and personal lives comingling together. Not just here but in their greatest works, show both screenwriters loving the mixture of bad romances and jobs, and what effects these have on men. The funniest thing about Rosa is just how annoyed the women are by these goofs and how easily handled they are. This is by no means a progressive film. It features a scene where a man pretends to sleepwalk to cop a feel on a female character. This is one of the least troubling scenes of “playfulness”. What the film lacks in progressive thought, it makes up for in crass entertainment.
There is something altogether winning about the four lead characters as they make bad decision after bad decision, and the messiness of the plot plays out. All culminating in a truly electrifying and funny action-filled third act that has Biao facing off against HK Screen villain legend Dick Wei. If that doesn’t make you smile … Rosa just isn’t the film for you.
Note: There is a depiction of black face.
The Transfer
The new 2K restoration from the original camera negative is another flawless transfer from 88 Films. The transfer is sharp and without defects. The image’s slight grain structure ensures the transfer retains that 35mm cinematic look at all times. Bravo to the boutique label’s continued efforts in bringing their beautiful restoration work to Blu-ray.
The Extras
They include the following;
The first of two Audio Commentaries is by HK Cinema Experts Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto. The duo opens with their respective credentials before diving into the film, which is actually an unofficial sequel to the Pom Pom action comedy series – also warning of some very politically incorrect scenes. Some of the details include the literal translation of the title and an interesting story about the title; the box office results of the film; the diverse work and career of Yuen Bao and the year he had when this was released; a discussion of Sammo Hung and his Bo Ho Films which produced the film; unique screenwriting duo of the film Barry Wong (of Hardboiled fame) and Wong Kar-wai (of In the Mood of Love fame); a discussion of the Pom Pom film series; a discussion of the various voice actors that dubbed the actors none of the actors dubbed their own voice; a discussion of the social and political context that this film was made under; a larger discussion of the various locations that the production used; discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors and their work here and throughout their career – keep your notes app open, you’ll want to write some of the films down; and much more.
The second Audio Commentary is by HK Cinema Expert David West. West opens with his credentials before diving into the wild literal translation of the Cantonese Title, and it being a reference to Pom Pom, the unofficial sequel to that film, is for with no related characters or actors in its cast. Some of the other details include the history of Bo Ho films and Sammo Hung’s other film production companies; the career and personal history of Lowell Lo, including his origins as a singer before he became an actor; a discussion of Cinema City as a distributor and their contribution to HK Cinema and changing it in the 1980s; a discussion of the career and personal history of director Joe Cheung; a discussion of the career and personal history of star Luk Siu-fan who plays Rosa and specifically her work in Twain; a discussion of screenwriters Barry Wong and Wong Kar-wai and how much of the film would have been written during the production; a discussion of HK action cinema and its influence and influence of other countries on the style; a larger discussion of the actors that appear in the film and work elsewhere, they are known for; and much more.
Pom Pom and Hot Hot: Director Joe Cheung and assistant director Benz Hong discuss the making of Rosa (23:23) – in this all-new interview with Cheung and Hong, the duo begin with how they got into the film industry in Hong Kong through very different but interesting paths. The men both recorded separate discuss working with Sammo Hung as a producer; the way the script was written during production and developed; working with Yuen Biao; working with Lowell Lo; a detailed breakdown and anecdotes from working on the various action scenes in the film, and on-set safety at the time from both perspectives; and much more. In Cantonese with English Subtitles.
English Opening (1:10)
English Closing Titles (1:41)
Image Gallery (2:14) – this animated image gallery consists of various lobby cards, behind-the-scenes photos, and poster art set to the theme song from the film.
Original Trailer (4:27)
The Final Thought
88 Films continues to release the best of underseen HK Action Films from the 80s and 90s. Recommended!!
88 Films’ Blu-ray Edition of Rosa is out now.
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