Reviewed by: chrichtonsworld Date: 04/07/2023 Summary: Rare but brilliant Shaw brothers outing into Gun fu! When you think Shaw Brothers, you think Kung fu. But in the many years that the studio has been around they have been trying out all kinds of other genres, and Mercenaries from Hong Kong is the bold attempt into making a modern day action film that was the rage back then. An early bloodshed title if you will. Although without the traits known to that specific genre. Although I have to say, they came quite close. Ti Lung is the mercenary with a golden heart. He doesn't kill for money alone. No, he also kills to right the wrongs done to innocents. When he successfully assassinates a gang leader, he gets approached by Candice Yu. She proposes the deal of the century, and Luo Li (Ti Lung) wastes no time in assembling a team of mercenaries to accomplish the requested mission. It's funny how a pretty ruthless assassin isn't more paranoid concerning He Ying (Candice Yu). I mean she is beautiful, but when she is playing innocent and vulnerable she couldn't be more fake. And he is not the only one who falls for it. We get introduced to the team and after some necessary team bonding they are on their way. I liked how the film, while for the most part serious, isn't afraid to have comedic moments. It is to be expected from an older Wong Jing, but apparently a younger Wong Jing was game too. Except far more reserved and tolerable. It actually helps to give some characters some depth, which pays off when events go wrong. But like almost every Wong Jing film, the pacing is relentless. Not a moment is wasted. Honestly, I watched this after On the Run, which I didn't enjoy as much, but realized I was having fun throughout. I was chuckling, laughing and enjoying the action. Perhaps not entirely fair since that film was intended to be a serious crime drama and Mercenaries from Hong Kong clearly is far more light-hearted. Action wise, though, it's stellar. Nice choreographed gun combat interchanged with the old school hand-to-hand combat you can expect from the veterans of the Shaw Brothers studio. However, it obviously takes a backseat to the military combat. It's done so well that I wonder why they haven't made more of them. In any case, I can surely recommend this title. Even for a now older title, it still holds up quite well. And it certainly will give you the action fix you crave! Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: cal42 Date: 07/22/2006 Summary: Pretty darn good Modern day all-star feature headed by Ti Lung as a mercenary hired by a respectable lady to bring back a criminal from a guerrilla camp in Cambodia. He heads a team comprising of Chan Wai-Man, Johnny Wang, Chan Pak-Cheung and “Dirty Ho” himself, Wong-Yu. MERCENARIES FROM HONG KONG is pretty great, especially seeing as how it clearly doesn’t have the budget to meet its ambition. It’s nice to see Chan Wai-Man, Johnny Wang and Lo Lei get good guy roles for a change – quite refreshing! Although the story isn’t going to win any prizes for originality (six guys go into the jungle and blow stuff up), there are a couple of twists and turns along the way. However, if you’ve ever seen any film like this you’re going to know pretty much right from the start what’s going to happen, who’s going to die, and who isn’t who they claim to be, etc. Still, it’s good fun and a bit of a forerunner to EASTERN CONDORS, although nowhere near as good (and with surprisingly little of the action taking place in the jungle). On the downside, this does venture into screwball comedy early on (this IS a Wong Jing film, after all) but thankfully it doesn’t last very long. It also gets a bit schmaltzy in places. But on the whole, a very fast paced and action packed film that is highly recommended, especially to fans of EASTERN CONDORS. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: Michael Kistner Date: 04/29/2006 Summary: 8/10 Very entertaining movie with many enjoyable action scenes and cool stars. A great fun. Reviewer Score: 8