Search - Kill Zone on DVD

Outstanding Hong Kong Action Film: Best In Years!

Ernest Jagger | Culver City, California | 12/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Now this is how you make a crime-drama action film. The less said about this film, the better. This film is directed by Wilson Yip, and is without a doubt one of the greatest action films to come out of Hong Kong in a long, long time. My friend gave this DVD to me a few months ago, and I can't believe I waited so long to finally open up the package and watch this film. It's terrific. The other reviewers are not exagerating or over-emphasizing how great this film is. It's totally terrific! The beginning, middle and ending of the film is just great!

As for the choreographed action scenes--they are the best I have ever seen. Donnie Yen is just outstanding! The film centers around a group of cops who have attempted to put a crime boss named Po (Sammo Hung) behind bars. However, they have run out of patience and decide to frame him for a crime he didn't commit. And I can tell you, in the action scenes, Sammo can move as quickly as anyone can. Don't let his physique fool you. He's lightening quick.

When Ma (Donnie Yen) is pegged as the replacement for Detective Chan (Simon Yam) he finds that he is in a pretty tangled predicatment. With Detective Chan making up rules as he tries to nab Po, Ma finds his loyalties to Chan in question. However, he views things from a distance. He is a clean cop, and wants to catch the bad guys the right way. The fight scenes with him in this film are so realistic, they are incredible. Please viewers, do not give away this film's ending. It's incredible. I never expected the ending of this film coming. It totally floored me. Highly recommended. [Stars: 5+]"

And now the match we've all been waiting for...

dominion_ruler | Carolina, USA | 05/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I learned that Kill Zone would feature a showdown between Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen (and not even knowing who was good guy and who was bad), I had to get this movie. For years these 2 have starred in many martial arts movies and delivered top notch fights, but have never faced head to head. So I watched. Wow. The "entire" movie was actually wonderful.

Kill Zone really only has 2 major fights, both at the end, but the drama and emotions throughout the movie are so powerful, you can feel the emotions in these 2 fights. The cast is wonderful. The story is superb. Its a tale of revenge told like almost no other. I absouletly loved it. The good cops, led by the Simon Yam charcater, are like family. When they begin to perish under the criminal boss Po (Sammo Hung) and his handy 2nd in command, the good guys become bad to get revenge. The Donnie Yen character shows up, and discovers the cops secrets for revenge, and he tries to stop them at first, but later he gets just as emotionally involved.

I enjoyed the way in which the movie was presented, and how it progressed. Finally a movie, especially martial arts, with flashback scenes that are not cheesy, but very important for the story. If you want a martial arts movie with some depth, Kill Zone is a must. There is nothing else quite like it."

A very dark Father's day tale...

bluemeanie | Fresno, CA United States | 10/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"SPL (or "Kill Zone", which is the ridiculous American title for this movie) is a return to the gritty, hard core action movies from Hong Kong cinema's heyday when John Woo and Ringo Lam ruled the roost with their brilliant, hyperactive bullet ballets. Directed by Wilson Yip and featuring some of HK's greatest veteran action stars, Sammo Hung (Prodigal Son, Pedicab Driver), Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey) and Simon Yam , SPL is one helluva "edge of your seat" roller coaster ride of a movie for HK action fans. It is relentless, tragic, dark and furious, detailing the story of a retiring HK cop (Simon Yam) with terminal brain cancer, dead set on putting the one triad nemesis (Sammo Hung) of his entire career behind bars before he calls it a day and hands over his job to his replacement (Donnie Yen). Aside from the excellent and lightning-fast action choreography by Donnie Yen, this story starts off as a nail-biting, dramatic showdown between Simon Lam's police inspector and Sammo Hung's brutal triad kingpin, building tension with each relentless scene, but ends crashing to a tragic climax on Father's Day. The theme of fatherhood is the connective tissue for all these characters: while Simon's character agonizes over the prospect of not being able to take care of his godchild due to his brain cancer; Donnie's character deals with carrying on his father's legacy as a policeman; another cop deals with reuniting with his daughter after 10 years apart; another cop deals with his long bitterness toward his father; and crime kingpin Sammo is experiencing the joys of his very first Father's day, after suffering through his wife's two previous miscarriages. As time ticks away, methods become more lawless and brutal, with plot twists becoming more convoluted. Sha Po Long delivers the goods with some of the most impressive fight sequences ever filmed, coupled with strong performances and brilliant cinematography. The ending is a shocker, as Sammo's character resounds the poignant message echoes throughout the entire movie: "God is fair". SPL sets a new standard for HK cinema and is a proud new addition to the HK's great cinematic canon. Go check this out."

The best Hong Kong Action movie since the 80s

Peter Henderson | Brantford, Canada | 08/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Kill Zone" - known properly as Sha Po Lang (and improperly as Saat Po Long on the IMDb) - is quite simply one of the finest Hong Kong action movies of all time. It draws heavily on the City Noir genre established and epitomised by John Woo in the 1980s, with corrupt cops and evil crime bosses at every turn. Unlike Woo's movies, the action here is mostly in the realm of martial arts, not gunplay. Donnie Yen, a long established Hong Kong star only recently making his North American debut in Shanghai Knights, plays a policeman newly assigned to a squad led by Simon Yam, who is hellbent on punishing crime boss Sammo Hung by any means necessary. The fighting in this movie is beyond belief - Yen is said to have set out to one-up "Ong Bak" and re-energize Hong Kong fight cinema. Yen, along with Sammo Hung (an old hand at chinese kung-fu movies) and Wu Jing take the fights to the next level. The alley fight between Wu and Yen is a standout - supposedly the director told them to just fight it out, and Yen told Wu to go as hard as possible, because he could take anything Wu threw at him. The story is also first-rate, and in fact takes up much more of the movie than the fighting does. This is no Tony Jaa one-note story, this is an epic exploration of the dark side of man. I could go on for pages, but trust me: you owe it to yourself to see this movie."