Reviewed by: dandan Date: 11/06/2006 Summary: chop, chop, chop... now, i've read a few reviews of this film, where people seem a little pissed that nothing is explained. i can only assume that the old dvd had pretty terrible subtitles as, having watched the new joy sales disc, it's a pretty straight forward story. that's not to say that the subs are now perfect and to say that it has been remastered is surely stretching the truth... the film focuses on the hung hing gang; when their head is killed, his son ho (chow yun-fat) returns to hong kong for his funeral. ho is not a triad, he's been living in america, where he was educated and is a businessman on the verge of success. lacking leadership, hung hing turns to the son of their fallen boss, persuading him to take the reigns, even as a temporary measure. reluctantly, ho agrees and begins to make an attempt to stabilise hung hing; fending off other gangs, who want their territory and trying to keep kong (roy cheung), a young hot-headed gang member, in check. now, apart from a few points in the narrative being pretty hard to swallow (the fact that they want ho to be their boss, being the biggest), this is a pretty decent film. the production quality is high and there's some good solid performances, from some nicely rounded characters. chow yun-fat is almost worth ignoring, but roy cheung is great, it probably helps that his character (a younger traid, who seems to have more of an understanding of the world he inhabits, despite his reluctance to adhere to it's conventions) is the most interesting. not great, but worth a watch.

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 09/27/2005 If this is supposedly an inside look at Triads, one must wonder after watching this yawnfest how they have managed to stay in power for so long. Every character in this movie is just so wishy-washy, it was near impossible to find someone to care about, much less root for. The basic story has Chow Yun-Fat coming to Hong Kong after his father's (Tin Fung) death at the hands of a rival gang headed by perpeptual smarmy villain Kelvin Wong. For some reason, even though Chow wants nothing to do with the Triads, the old-timers (led by Michael Chan and Shing Fui-On) eventually push Chow into becoming the leader. This angers some of the younger guys, including Roy Cheung, playing one of the first (but certainly not the last) of his "hot-headed hooligan" roles. The result of all this is a bunch of choppers being produced, some people getting killed, and just general boredom to be had by the viewer. Everything moves at too much of a slow pace, and when events do happen, there's no explanation given to them, so that the viewer is not only bored, they're confused -- not a good combonation. It doesn't help matters any that most of the actors give pretty poor performances. It's really not a good sign when Shing "Big Silly Head" Fui-On does a better job in a Triad movie than Chow Yun-Fat (who also hampers matters further by strangling a cat, er, "singing" some of the songs in the movie). Actually, it is a pretty good sign -- a sign to stay the hell away from this stinker, that is. [review from www.hkfilm.net]

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 02/05/2002 Summary: GOOD Triads: The Inside Story, is exactly what the title says. A look into triad life. Certainly not a classic of any sort, but at the time it was very successful and was compared to such movies as A Better Tomorrow and The Killer. The story really is of a Ho (played by Chow Yun Fat) who is forced into the position of taking charge of the triad society that was left behind by his father after he was killed. Ho is unhappy about having to do it, as is his family, but he owes it to his Triad brothers to do so. Things are not so good, as Ho’s father has left him to clear up problems with other societies who are trying to wipe out the rest of the men. Ho tries to persuade his men that being in a Triad society is a bad idea, and although some consider it, others don’t, causing a lot of friction within themselves. It’s produced by Karl Maka, meaning you can expect the quality filmmaking he has been able to keep up over the years. Chow Yun Fat is as ever more than perfect, and the very underrated Roy Cheung too is excellent. The conclude, this is a very good movie, obviously expect high amounts of violence, as obviously this is a serious insight into Triad life, although a lot of it is unnecessary and there is a lot more than could have been covered. Rating: 3.5/5 (This rating is based on the genre and other films made in the same year)

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 12/06/2001 Summary: Not a bad movie TRIADS - THE INSIDE STORY (1989). Now I'm sure there is a story to this movie, and I'm sure it's a story that involves triads as much as the movie plot does. Telltale signs - much more detail in Triad ceremonies/details than I think had ever been shown at that point, and the fact that all the (good) Triads are such ridiculously nice and honorable guys! Chow Yun Fat plays the son of Hung Hing's boss, who returns to HK after years studying in the US when his father is killed by The Bad Triads. The poor Hung Hing head honchos are all terribly upset and in a state of disarray following the loss of their dai lo - how will they ever survive if Chow doesn't agree to take up the role of leader? Chow wants nothing to do with Triad affairs, but is eventually persuaded to get involved a little, which then leads to getting involved a lot. Features any number of classic Triad actors in fairly typical roles (but nicer), with Roy Cheung being the standout alongside Chow. The story has a bit of a 'true story' feel to it - in that it doesn't have much narrative sense. I quite enjoyed it though.

Reviewed by: Yellow Hammer Date: 11/26/2000 Summary: Triad life in the 80's For some reason, the rating for this movie is Category III. I can't figure out why, there is no nudity, nothing major as far as swearing goes. There is a lot of violence in this movie but not more so that any other triad movie. Anyhow, the story goes like this: Lee Kwan, the head of the Hung Hing triad, was killed on a trip to Macau. His son, Lee Mun Ho (Chow Yun-Fat), a resident of the U.S., comes back for the funeral. With the leader now gone, the other triads are salivating at the thought of taking Hung Hing territory. With Hung Hing in disarray, the other leaders of Hung Hing try to convince Ho to stay as the leader. The prevailing theme throughout the movie is a very reluctant Ho tormenting himself, his Hung Hing brothers, and his family over being the leader. He decides to temporarily be the Hung Hing head for a short transitional period, and during this time he is able to not only make peace with the other triads, but to expand the Hung Hing business territory. In addition, he does some unthinkable things in triad society - cooperates with the police, discourages kid recruiting, seeks medical help for the wounded. However, in triad society, there is always in-fighting, enemies from all directions, and family pressures that makes life difficult and tragic. The movie does put triad life in a fairly negative light. Compare and contrast this with the Young and Dangerous movies, where triad life is seemingly glorified. It is very interesting to actually compare this movie with the Y&D 4 movie, where there also is a somewhat reluctant figurehead fighting himself on whether to take over Hung Hing or not. This was one of Chow Yun-Fat's least popular movies during the 1986-1990 stretch where he was Hong Kong's premier attraction. However, during that stretch he did star in some 30 movies, so one or two is bound to be not so great. Yet it still made almost $15 million HK at the box office. In all honesty, this wasn't too bad of a film for him, to a large degree Roy Cheung's persona (as Kong, one of the Hung Hing territorial leaders) is very compelling in this movie to the point where he shares almost equal billing with Chow Yun-Fat. I found this drama to be fairly entertaining.

Reviewed by: leh Date: 12/09/1999 Total shit, more like! The very worst Chow Yun Fat movie I've ever seen; really terrible. He seems to be thinking of something else altogether, perhaps one of the other half-dozen movies he was doing simultaneously?

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 A realistic, richly textured drama about shifts of power in agangland empire. [Reviewed by Anonymous]