Full Contact (1992)

Produced & Directed by Ringo Lam Ling Tung

Starring Chow Yun Fat, Simon Yam Tat Wah, Ann Bridgewater (Pak On Nei), Anthony Wong Chau Sang, Frankie Chan Chi Leung, Bonnie Fu Yuk Jing, Nam Yin, Victor Hon Kwan

For many, Ringo Lam's hyper violent revenge tale is the film that over shadows Chow Yun Fat's other action hit of '92, John Woo's "Hard Boiled", and sitting back with Mei Ah's (virtually) uncensored disc it's not hard to see why! This is one ball-tearingly brutal hour and a half of action cinema that bends the rules, twists convention and delivers the goods in blood-drenched fashion. Outside of Tsui Hark's "The Big Heat", this is definitely one of the hardest crime thrillers that Hong Kong has produced, thanks largely to the presence of its Producer and Director, Ringo Lam. Lam has always held an affinity for delving into the darker realms of the human psyche and "Full Contact" is a fine example of that radical (for Hong Kong) mindset. There are no "good guys" and "bad guys" in this film, they're all "bad guys"…it's just the levels of their own corruption that varies. Within that framework, amidst the echelons of crime, Lam still manages to craft a story that has its divisions and sides clearly marked out.

Opening in Bangkok, Thailand, our first port of call is effete crime figure Judge (Yam), paired with his loyal offsiders Virgin (Fu), a slutty yet psychotic miscreant and her partner Deano (Chan), more brawn than brains. Storming their way into a jewelers Judge punctures a store clerk, Virgin drops off colour remarks to male hostages, and Deano shreds the local police with his AK-47. What a bunch of cards, you know they're bad bastards right from the outset. Cue a packed night-club and exotic dancer Mona (Bridgewater) giving her all for an appreciative crowd to the tune of Extreme's "Get The Funk Out", all under the watchful eye of boyfriend and all-round tougher-than-nails bad ass Jeff (Chow). When Jeff gets the word that his best friend, Sam (Wong), is being held by a small-time loan shark he blows the joint and exacts his fury on those that would cross him.

Although free of his would-be captors, Sam is not free of his unpaid debt, hence he enlists Jeff to pucker up with his none-too-stable cousin Judge to pull off a daring highjack of an arms shipment in downtown Bangkok. But Judge is on the payroll of the loan shark whom Jeff has humiliated, the hidden agenda of the mission being to paint the sun-cracked Thai ground with his brains. The resultant heavy metal mess leaves Jeff disfigured and presumed dead, Judge the clear front runner for vacated turf, and Sam disgraced (as well as top of Jeff's shit-list). With Jeff out of the picture, Sam makes his move on Mona, as well as climbing the ranks of the underworld. All seems well and good for Sam and Judge, until Jeff resurfaces on the Bangkok streets, seething with an unfettered lust for revenge. You can steal his girl, slice his fingers off, shoot him and leave him for dead, but don't ever, ever, EVER piss him off…'cause he'll be back for blood!

Lam's film is possibly one of the toughest action films committed to the screen, Nam Yin's (Lam's brother) script an apparent reworking of Donald Westlake's "The Hunter" (previously filmed as "Point Blank"[1967] and later remade as "Payback"[1999]) with the revenge motif intact, and the hard-edged violence pushed way past breaking point. Initially, the baby-faced Chow makes for an absurd screen thug, but as Ringo works his straight-laced magic over the course of the film he rapidly becomes the hard-case you'd never cross paths with in the real world. As wacky as he looks in a red bandana in the beginning, his character evolves into a machismo drenched juggernaut by the carnage-laden finale. Polar opposite, and deliciously camp nemesis, Simon Yam's Judge is the kind of character that would land Lam's film in serious hot water had it been produced in the United States. His flair and elegance is only matched by his cold-blooded intensity, a brutal killing machine when unable to satiate his lust. Perhaps Judge's most bizarre aspect is that his ruthlessness is driven by his desire to get into alpha male Jeff's pants. And if he can't have it, he's gonna kill it!

Of the remaining characters, only Bonnie Fu's Virgin is the outrageous stand-out, a raunchy lust-crazed harlot played ridiculously loose and wanton. Utilising her raw sexuality she gets her way with everyone, except of course the tower of masculinity Jeff (who is repulsed by her) and obviously Judge (who is impervious to her wiles). Virgin was the most radical departure in Fu's short-lived screen career (the same year she could be seen in a stock comedic part in Joe Cheung's off-the-wall "Pom Pom & Hot Hot") but it remains a career highpoint, and firm fan favourite. Tying up the loose ends is some brutal action choreography by old school stalwart Lau Kar Wing, an equally pounding and bluesy rock score by Teddy Robin Kwan, priceless dialogue by Nam Yin (eg: When asked if he sees a tear in her underwear, while she hoists her skirt at him, Chow replies to Fu: "No, I saw a vomiting crab!") and of course, that now legendary "bullet cam" sequence. There is nothing of the calibre of a John Woo-styled bodycount in this one, just a down & dirty, hard as steel, balls to the wall unapologetic revenge fest. Liken it to a modern day Spaghetti Western if you will, positing the lone gunslinger with Chow, and his trusty steed with a Harley…actually, it kinda does resemble a leather-clad "Django"…

Mei Ah's disc looks great, ridiculous amount of print damage notwithstanding (there's scratches and speckles galore throughout much of the first reel!), but let's not hold them to that as we know my standard answer to this inherent issue. Letterboxed at approximately 1.77, the image falls just shy of its 1.85 theatrical ratio but crops so little off the sides of the frame that it's hardly worth getting one's knickers in a knot over. Colours and general detail levels are rendered well, although contrasts are somewhat high leaving shadows brighter (in a murky way) than they should be. This serves only to make image grain all the more noticeable, which I found mildly disappointing. But overall, it's a pretty competent presentation of a decade old film from the land of storage non-ethics.

My BIG bug bear with Mei Ah's release is their new 5.1 remixes of the Cantonese & Mandarin audio tracks. Although they offer loads of directional effects and some nice separation effects, they are packed with huge amounts of reverb that gives virtually everything an unnatural echo when there's not masses of noise littering the mix. The result is a 5.1 mix that sounds amateurish at best. Thankfully, all is not lost as Mei Ah have had the foresight to include the original monaural theatrical sound as a sub-option in Dolby 2.1. If you do end up buying this disc, make sure you only ever select the Cantonese mono track when you watch it, as the 5.1 remix really is a travesty that should never have been forced upon Lam's finest hour. Pure and simple, the 5.1 mix is one of the worst I have heard on any disc in the last couple of years. More the pity it had to be "Full Contact" that such a crime was perpetrated against! Luckily, the original theatrical audio mix is present, as is the superb (though long at 4 & ½ minutes!) theatrical trailer. The only other extras present on the disc, apart from menu music (a rare thing for Hong Kong discs…thankfully it's Alan Tam's rockin' theme tune), are trailers for Chow's romantic-action-fantasy "Treasure Hunt" and Jet Li's amazing "Swordsman 2".

The "virtually uncut" notation above? For years rumours persisted that a scene was shot where Anthony Wong brings Simon Yam a pair of disembodied eyes, only for Yam to lick the blood off the organs, hammering home the depravity of his character. Then the rumour was later denied. HOWEVER, the remnants of the sequence CAN be seen in Lam's final cut of the film (intact on Mei Ah's disc). Tony staggers out of a burning building, his blood-soaked fist clenched tight on something unseen, followed by the scene cutting to Yam grinning evilly…his teeth stained with blood. Had Mei Ah been able to dig up this "lost" footage, then this may have been the definitive version of "Full Contact" (and undoubtedly seen their classification upped to a Category III). As it stands, this still is the definitive version of Lam's broodingly dark action thriller, running some 3 & ½ minutes longer than any previous version. You wanna see the dark heart of Hong Kong action as only the "Dark Face God" (Lam's Chinese nickname) can produce? Check this one out quick smart, I doubt you'll be disappointed! Not only is it a starkly brutal exercise in cinema, it's a literal bloodbath from beginning to explosive end. They definitely don't make 'em like this anymore!

Review by M.C.Thomason