My guess for number 1 has to be HARDBOILED, though i love THE MISSION and CHUNGKING EXPRESS,HARDBOILED is just the best modern action movie made PERIOD!!

It’s not easy to like a movie while access to it is limited. ROMANCE II & III (especially III) are pretty much forgotten if not completely missed. To was running out of bullets when III was made, as far as I remember reception was pretty bad. These movies will never be remastered because no one really wants them anyway. My only rant to the 90’s was that film studios (or whatever they were called) never really packaged their intellectual properties as air-tight as, say, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, and let them run loose when it came to DVD releases (if lucky, many films only made it to VCD, an alien format to North American viewers). OUATIC has more than 3 films. As lumpdechunk mentioned, Zhao was completely whited out like the guy never existed. Lau’s Y&D wasn’t any better, the last movie had to undergo a complete name change. I understand that movie bosses had to usher the movies out fast only to serve the sole purpose of making easy money with fast sequels; understanding is one thing, accepting is another. Years later, we’re looking at an ugly picture of lost, forgotten, or intentionally destroyed chapters of a somewhat significant serial. Mixed feelings clouded my mind when putting my list together, I hated the 90’s as much as I loved it. I’d be entertained if ROMANCE III or OUATIC V ever came close to spar with the heavyweight champs.

Hollywood treats sequels, no matter how bad they usually are, with better respect. FAST & FURIOUS is always 3 movies + 1 reboot. Lucas will continue to package STAR WARS as 6 movies no matter how many fans riot down the streets with Jar Jar Binks tied up and burning on a crucifix. The marketing guys know the word “recognition” sells. And people buy them. Not until recently HK film industry realizes this, but it is still too late for the 90’s where many good films were lost, inaccessible or left in the vault with no chance of parole to see daylight again.

Interesting enough, WKW didn’t revive ASHES OF TIME. He buried the old and gave us the new. It couldn’t hide the fact that his original movie was a hated and badly-received mess by gluing pieces on a 1920×1280 high-def template. It’s not the way Criterion do things.

What makes The Mission great is the silence comradeship that is crafted between that different men during the film. Since there is few dialogues, we feel what is happening on screen. The shootouts simply rock too.

And as I said, God of Cookery is very good because it is the pinnacle of the archetype of an arrogant character who seeks redemption after his downfall constructed by Stephen Chow during all his career. And full human acting without CGI to help the comedy.

Certainly there will be people who prefer CGI, and taste is taste.

Zhao Wen Zhou needs more love as a Wong Fei Hung. Poor guy has so much been forgotten until True Legend pops up this yr.

What’s the deal with Carlsberg beer?

Why doesn’t Lam pluck that mole hair, is it good luck?

Questions Questions Questions!!

Where the heck is Moment of Romance III?

My guess for the top5:
5. Drunken Master II
4. The Mission
3. Bullet in the head
2. Hard Boiled
1. Chungking Express

So I’m guessing Tony in all top 3 movies…