Cheap Gen-X Cops (DVD) (Benny Chan) Price

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Customer Reviews of Gen-X Cops

The movie looked really cool, with an interesting cast and some great action sequences. I know the girls will go crazy over Nicholas Tse and Stephen Fung, my cousin thinks they're real cute. I had never seen a movie like this. It was hip, humorous, and like I said the action was awesome.

The dubbing matches the actors quite well if you ask me. When you listen to their dubbed voices, it sounds as if it could actually almost be them. In the Cantonese/Mandarin version there is some English being spoken.

The special features are awesome also, including a music video, a making of-featurette, and some awesome trailers.

Overall, this movie is great. I think that a little over 10 bucks isn't enough to charge for a movie like this. Do not bother renting this movie. Just buy it. It's awesome. By the way, if you like this one, there is an internationaly made sequal titled Gen-Y Cops. I know, the name is kind of corny but at the same time makes sense. Anyway, that one is even better. You can get it at [URL]...

a fun action flick
"Gen X Cops" isn't quite your average Hong Kong action movie, adopting instead the look of a low budget Hollywood summer flick. A trio of young cops with an attitude tail gangsters all while looking pretty damn cool at it. Jack (Nic Tse), Match (Stephen Fung), and Alien (alien-like Sam Lee) find themselves kicked out of police academy only to be picked up by Officer Chan (Eric Tsang), himself on the outs with his unsympathetic superiors. Chan wants their help on a dangerous undercover mission, one involving gang bosses, gang betrayals, and rocket fuel (??) They're joined by Y2K (Grace Yip) whose sole purpose it seems is to be the tough girl of the group. Everyone's got a little something to prove and set out to get a little respect. Balletic gunfights, questionable English, and the explosion of a Hong Kong landmark ensue.

The formulaic plot satisfies for the most part and makes sense in that action movie sort of way. Nothing is too over-the-top, equaling harmless fun for all. Clearly no one is taking themselves too seriously, and director Benny Chan was smart in throwing in a healthy dose of humor. The end result is a slick, satisfying 1 1/2 hour reality break.

The cast consists mostly of young talents but the older actors turn in some scene stealing performances as well. Francis Ng, who owns every role he takes, stands out as gang boss Lok. He possesses an intensity that keeps his character believable without giving into parody. (Beware Jackie Chan fans; he produced the movie and only appears for a one minute cameo at the end.)

The DVD extras won't disappoint either. In addition to the Coming Attractions, the Special Features include cast and credit info, a production diary, a film magic sequence exhibiting storyboards and special effects, a Making Of, additional footage, and trailers and TV spots. There are Cantonese and Mandarin language tracks with traditional, simplified, and English subtitles. There is also a great in-depth commentary (w/ subtitles) from the cast and crew. Unfortunately some of the special features do not have subtitles, though you won't miss much. Another drawback is the overall sound quality of the Cantonese track, which is uneven at best.

Routine blockbuster showcases new HK talent
GEN-X COPS (Hong Kong - 1999): Jackie Chan co-produced this routine blockbuster as a showcase for some of Hong Kong's hottest new teen stars, including Nicholas Tse Ting-fung, Stephen Fung Tak-lun, Daniel Wu Yin-cho and comic relief Sam Lee Chan-sam. The convoluted storyline posits Tse, Fung and Lee as a trio of rebellious young cops, recruited as undercover agents by police commander Eric Tsang Chi-wai to investigate the shady business dealings between low-level Triad underling Wu and a Japanese crime lord (Toru Nakamura) who has seized a shipment of deadly explosives for nefarious purposes, prompting a sequence of betrayals and counter-betrayals amongst members of the opposing criminal factions, until events reach an explosive climax during a showdown at the newly-opened Hong Kong Convention Center.

Veteran director Benny Chan Muk-sing (A MOMENT OF ROMANCE, NEW POLICE STORY) marshals proceedings into a cohesive whole, though the movie fizzles badly after a dynamic opening sequence before rallying again somewhere around the halfway mark. The action scenes are staged and executed with all the breathless abandon one expects from HK cinema, but many of them unfold so quickly, it's often difficult to know who's doing what to whom, or even why, and crucial plot points are sometimes lost along the way. Few of the actors emerge with any credit, though Nakamura is admirably solemn as an English-speaking Japanese villain who clings to old-fashioned notions of truth and righteousness in a world where such virtues no longer have currency. The young leads are OK (Wu's transition from beleaguered second-in-command to ruthless hard man is surprisingly convincing), while Tsang spends much of his screen time trading insults with his younger, slicker police counterpart (Moses Chan Ho). Stand-out set-pieces include a breathtaking skydive from the roof of a high-rise building, and the climactic scenes at the Hong Kong Convention Center which utilize ambitious visual effects supervised by a US effects team, headed by Oscar-winner Joe Viskocil (INDEPENDENCE DAY, APOLLO 13). Sensitive viewers may be irritated by some xenophobic comments directed toward the Japanese villains, and there's a couple of dialogue exchanges which play directly to bigoted attitudes about gay men, but the offence is fleeting, if unnecessary. Ultimately, this big budget fluff - designed to compete with a flood of Hollywood blockbusters dominating the HK box-office - amounts to little more than a feel-good fantasy thriller, as slick and hollow as the very films it seeks to emulate. A huge success on its home turf, the film spawned an inevitable sequel, GEN-Y COPS (2000). Original title: DAK GING SAN YAN LUI (Cantonese) or TE JING XIN REN LEI (Mandarin).

Columbia TriStar's DVD offers a fine representation of the original film, and there's a generous helping of extras, including trailers, outtakes and a US-style 'Making of' which sells the film as a major blockbuster. Sound and picture quality is excellent. Major irritation: For some unfathomable reason, the disc continues to provide English subtitles during the lengthy English-language sequences in the original Cantonese version of the film.

113m 6s
2.39:1 (Anamorphic) / Anamorphically enhanced
DVD soundtrack: Dolby 5.1/Dolby 2.0
Theatrical soundtrack: Dolby Digital
Cantonese and English, with optional English subtitles
(Dubbed English version also included)
Closed captions
Region 1