Flash Point (film)
Encyclopedia
Flash Point is a 2007 Hong Kong film directed by Wilson Yip
Wilson Yip
Wilson Yip Wai-Shun is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and screenwriter. His films include Bio Zombie, The White Dragon, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Dragon Tiger Gate, Flash Point, Ip Man, and Ip Man 2.-Early career:...

, featuring fight choreography
Stage combat
Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. The term is also used informally to describe fight choreography for other...

 by the film's producer and star Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist...

. Yen portrays Ma Jun, a police sergeant who plants his friend and partner, Wilson, (Louis Koo
Louis Koo
Louis Koo is a Hong Kong actor. He was once a notable local television series actor, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 for Detective Investigation Files IV. In recent years, he has focused on film...

) as a mole in a pursuit against a triad led by three Vietnamese brothers (Collin Chou
Collin Chou
Collin Chou , sometimes credited as Ngai Sing, is a Taiwanese actor and martial artist based in Hong Kong known in the United States for his portrayal of Seraph in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions as well as the Enter the Matrix video game...

, Lui Leung-Wai, and Xing Yu
Xing Yu
Xing Yu a.k.a. Shi Xing Yu gained his fame after playing the role of Coolie in the movie Kung Fu Hustle.He was a 32nd generation martial monk at the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song ....

).

Flash Point was repeatedly hailed as a prequel to the 2005 film SPL: Sha Po Lang
SPL: Sha Po Lang
SPL: Sha Po Lang , , is a 2005 Hong Kong martial arts and crime film written and directed by Wilson Yip, starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Jing Wu...

, which was Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen's first feature-film collaboration as director and star respectively. Yen denied the SPL sequel reports, claiming that Flash Point was a completely original film. Principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....

 began in Hong Kong from November 2006 to March 2007. For his conception of Flash Points major fight sequences, Yen relied on the use of mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

, working alongside an international group of martial artists. His work as a choreographer won him "Best Action Choreography" awards at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards
27th Hong Kong Film Awards
Ceremony for the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 14 April 2008 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Sandra Ng, Carol Cheng and Sammi Cheng. Winners in nineteen categories were unveiled, with film The Warlords being the year's biggest winner.The nominees were announced on 2 February...

 and the 2008 Golden Horse Film Awards
Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962, by Government Information Office, Republic of China...

.

Flash Point was released in Hong Kong on 9 August 2007. It was a box office hit during its two month theatrical run in China, despite receiving mixed reviews. It had also premiered at the "Midnight Madness" program of the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
2007 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007. The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissions...

.
Flash Point was later given a limited theatrical release in North America on 14 March 2008, before being released on DVD by The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...

 as part of Dragon Dynasty
Dragon Dynasty
Dragon Dynasty is a joint venture started by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. The company was created on May 23, 2006 for the sole purpose of distributing East Asian films on DVD in the US, whose licenses are held by, or will be acquired by The Weinstein Company...

's collection of films.

Plot

Set in pre-1997, before the return of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, the film opens with brothers Archer, Tony and Tiger discussing a drug deal with Sam, a rival gang leader. Ma Jun, a serious criminal investigations detective, along with a team of police officers, raids the nightclub for investigation, and winds up fighting against his partner, Wilson, who has been planted as a mole.

The three brothers are later attacked by Sam and his gang who are impatient over receiving the drugs from the brothers' native Vietnam. Archer and his brothers later threaten the elder leaders of their gang, when they attempt to intervene. Tiger is later assigned to kill Sam out in public, but the plan backfires when Wilson intervenes. While in hospital, Sam agrees to testify in court against the three brothers. On the night of their mother's birthday, the brothers plan to recover their drug money, but as the heist is being performed, Archer is arrested by Hong Kong police, while Tony and Tiger discover that Wilson is a mole.

While in court, Archer is forced to turn in all of his travel documents, in hope that he will not flee from Hong Kong before his hearing. Tony and Tiger brutally murder Sam along with several other witnesses and crime figures crucial to the police investigation. After their first plan to kill Wilson fails, Tony and Tiger decide to sneak into a hospital guarded by police. Ma discovers that Tiger, disguised as a janitor, is in the building and goes after him, they both end up being in the same elevator where Tiger attempts to kill Ma with a silenced pistol. Here they engage in a grueling fight, a female police officer runs into the elevator and tries to help Ma but ends up getting shot in the heart by a stray bullet after hesitating to shoot Tiger. Tony, having kidnapped Wilson's girlfriend, Julie, threatens to kill her, if Wilson, now a sole witness, testifies in court. Ma chases Tiger when he tries to escape until he squares off against Tiger inside a restaurant, and brutally beats him to death in front of a crowd after Tiger severely injures a little girl by throwing her on the concrete. During the court hearing, Wilson refuses to testify, and the case is dismissed for lack of evidence. Wilson later attempts to rescue Julie, but is captured by Tony and his gang.

Once Archer walks free, Ma holds him captive, and calls his brother, Tony, for an exchange of hostages, leading to a confrontation in a Chinese village. Ma singlehandedly takes on the remaining gangsters, and engages in a grueling fight with Tony, whom he later arrests.

Cast










  • Donnie Yen
    Donnie Yen
    Donnie Yen is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist...

     as Det. Sgt. Ma Jun
  • Louis Koo
    Louis Koo
    Louis Koo is a Hong Kong actor. He was once a notable local television series actor, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 for Detective Investigation Files IV. In recent years, he has focused on film...

     as Wilson
  • Collin Chou
    Collin Chou
    Collin Chou , sometimes credited as Ngai Sing, is a Taiwanese actor and martial artist based in Hong Kong known in the United States for his portrayal of Seraph in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions as well as the Enter the Matrix video game...

     as Tony
  • Ray Lui as Archer Sin
  • Xing Yu
    Xing Yu
    Xing Yu a.k.a. Shi Xing Yu gained his fame after playing the role of Coolie in the movie Kung Fu Hustle.He was a 32nd generation martial monk at the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song ....

     as Tiger
  • Fan Bingbing as Julie
  • Kent Cheng
    Kent Cheng
    Kent Cheng Jak-si is a Hong Kong film and television actor. He has won twice the best actor award in the Hong Kong Film Awards.-Biography:...

     as Inspector Wong
  • Xu Qing as Madam Lau
  • Teresa Ha as Tony's mother
  • Law Lan
    Law Lan
    Helena Law Lan is a Hong Kong actress. Law Lan is popularly cast as a type of mystic in many Hong Kong horror movies.-TV series:-Films:*The Kid *Story of the White-haired Demon Girl...

     as Ma Jun's mother

  • Tony Ho as Cannon
  • Irene Wong as Cindy
  • Timmy Hung
    Timmy Hung
    Timmy Hung Tin Ming is a Hong Kong actor and the eldest son of martial arts superstar Sammo Hung. He is half Korean, his mother is Sammo Hung's first wife.-Film:-Television series:-External links:* at the Hong Kong Movie Database*...

     as Yeung
  • Liang Zhenhui as Deco
  • Ben Lam as Sam
  • Austin Wai as Four Eyes
  • Wilson Tsui as Hero
  • Huang Zhiwei as Baldy
  • Tanigaki Kenji as Kenji
  • Yu Kang as Tony's underling

  • Damian Green as Boxer #1
  • Damon Howe as Boxer #2
  • Min Yoo as Boxer #3
  • Drafus Chow as Boxer #4
  • Dus Luu as Boxer #5
  • Zen Berimbau as Boxing trainer
  • Shimomura Yuji as Sniper
  • Fanny Lee as Four Eyes' wife
  • Siu Hung as Beach swimmer
  • Victy Wong as Cop
  • Kam Loi-kwan as Fatso
  • Chang Kin-yung as Senior police officer
  • Sherwin Ming as Little girl's father


Production

Flash Point marks the third re-teaming of director Wilson Yip
Wilson Yip
Wilson Yip Wai-Shun is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and screenwriter. His films include Bio Zombie, The White Dragon, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Dragon Tiger Gate, Flash Point, Ip Man, and Ip Man 2.-Early career:...

 and actor Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist...

 after 2005's
SPL: Sha Po Lang
SPL: Sha Po Lang
SPL: Sha Po Lang , , is a 2005 Hong Kong martial arts and crime film written and directed by Wilson Yip, starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Jing Wu...

and 2006's Dragon Tiger Gate
Dragon Tiger Gate
Dragon Tiger Gate is a 2006 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Wilson Yip and featuring fight choreography by Donnie Yen, who also stars in the film. The film is based on the manhua Oriental Heroes, which bears the same Chinese title as the film...

. Yen also served as fight choreographer, and produced the film alongside Nansun Shi
Nansun Shi
Nansun Shi, born Shi Nan-Sun , is a Hong Kong film producer, presenter and a former Senior Advisor for Media Asia Group. She has been in the film industry for nearly thirty years, and has contributed a lot to the Hong Kong cinema scene since the late 1970s...

, the celebrated wife of filmmaker Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:...

. The film was co-written by Szeto Kam-Yuen
Szeto Kam-Yuen
Szeto Kam-Yuen , sometimes credited as Sze To Kam Yuen or Szeto Kam Yuen, is a Hongkonger screenwriter.-Career:He is best known for his action-thrillers including SPL: Sha Po Lang , Exiled and Flash Point ....

, who also co-wrote the script for
SPL. Flash Point was executive produced by Raymond Wong, whose production company, Mandarin Films Ltd.
Mandarin Films Distribution Co. Ltd.
Mandarin Films Distribution Co. Ltd. , formerly known as Mandarin Films Ltd. , is a Hong Kong film production company and distributor. It was established in 1991 by film producer Raymond Wong Pak-Ming, and is a subsidiary of Mandarin Entertainment Holdings Ltd.-Company:Since its foundation,...

, served as a producer and distributor in Hong Kong.

Development

While
Dragon Tiger Gate was in post-production, Donnie Yen had announced that plans for a sequel to SPL: Sha Po Lang had already begun, with Mandarin Films set to finance the film. Production was planned to begin in May or June 2006. Yen and his management company later clarified that the team behind SPL would be working together again on a new film, but due to copyright issues, they would not be making a sequel to the 2005 film. Yen lobbied for an American-based studio to co-produce the new film, tentatively known SPL 2, with Mandarin Films. With financing from abroad, Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen decided to raise the budget of the film to HK$50 million. Yip reportedly intended to have Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok Fu-shing is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. He has been active since the 1980s to the present. The media refer to him, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . Kwok's onstage dancing and displays is influenced by Michael Jackson...

 join the cast, but Kwok declined the role and Louis Koo
Louis Koo
Louis Koo is a Hong Kong actor. He was once a notable local television series actor, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 for Detective Investigation Files IV. In recent years, he has focused on film...

 had already agreed to join the cast. With Yen and Koo now cast as the lead actors, Yen and Yip had also pondered on their supporting cast for the film, even with an incomplete script. Zhang Jingchu
Zhang Jingchu
Zhang Jingchu is a Chinese film actress. She graduated in Directing at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing.Zhang was brought up in a middle-working class family in the countryside...

 and René Liu
René Liu
René Liu was born June 1, 1969. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer. She is the first to win Best Actress awards at the Asia Pacific Movie Festival in both television and film productions...

 were considered as female leads.

Following the box office success of Dragon Tiger Gate, Yen had announced SPL 2s development, along with plans to make a sequel to Dragon Tiger Gate. SPL 2 was now given another tentative title, Battling the Police Force (强战型警), and Yen also announced that the film would be written in a style similar to SPL. Yen had hoped the film would take part in the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
2007 Cannes Film Festival
The 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the sixtieth, ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights opened the festival, and Denys Arcand's The Age of Ignorance closed...

 and scheduled for a Labour Day release in 2007.

The film was later retitled to Army Breaker (破军), which means destroying thousands of opponents in war. The film was given a budget of US$8 million and production was set to begin in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

 on September 2006.

Filming

The film was now given the working title City Without Mercy, and director Wilson Yip was forced to drop plans of shooting in Macau, due to the lack of extras needed for filming. Yip needed 250 extras for one scene, and decided to return to Hong Kong with his crew for filming. Filming in Hong Kong began on 13 November 2008, and the cast for the film had been finalized. Filming finally ended in March, and the film was now given its former title, Flash Point (導火線). After filming, it was revealed that the film had gone over budget.

Fight choreography

The fight scenes were choreographed by Yen, who combined mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

, an interdisciplinary form of fighting utilising elements of Brazilian jujutsu, judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

, karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

, boxing, kickboxing and wrestling, with his trademark wushu
Wushu (sport)
The sport of wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was created in the People's Republic of China after 1949, in an attempt to nationalize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts...

 and taekwondo
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

. This method of fighting is something Yen considers to be the greatest development of martial arts in his lifetime. Yen admits that his challenge during filming was to communicate the essence of these techniques in the dramatics of the film. To ensure that the action scenes stood out, Yen not only hired martial artists from around the globe but also invited Collin Chou
Collin Chou
Collin Chou , sometimes credited as Ngai Sing, is a Taiwanese actor and martial artist based in Hong Kong known in the United States for his portrayal of Seraph in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions as well as the Enter the Matrix video game...

 to join the cast.

Festivals

A promotional video highlighting Flash Point was shown at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

 and the 2007 Hong Kong Film Awards
Hong Kong Film Awards
The Hong Kong Film Awards , founded in 1982, are the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong and among the most respected in mainland China and Taiwan. Award ceremonies are held annually, typically in April. The Awards recognize achievement in all aspects of filmmaking, such as directing,...

. It also premiered at the "Midnight Madness" program of the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
2007 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007. The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissions...

 in September that same year, at the Ryerson University
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...

 Theater, with director Wilson Yip attending the premiere.

Awards

Award Category Winner/Nominee Result
27th Hong Kong Film Awards
27th Hong Kong Film Awards
Ceremony for the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 14 April 2008 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Sandra Ng, Carol Cheng and Sammi Cheng. Winners in nineteen categories were unveiled, with film The Warlords being the year's biggest winner.The nominees were announced on 2 February...

Best Action Choreography Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen
Donnie Yen is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist...

Won
2008 Golden Horse Film Awards
Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962, by Government Information Office, Republic of China...

Best Action Choreography Donnie Yen Won

Box office

Flash Point opened in Hong Kong on 9 August 2007. In mainland China, Flash Point grossed a total of RMB15 million (US$1.98 million) in its first three days of release, according to its Hong Kong production and sales house Mandarin Films
Mandarin Films Distribution Co. Ltd.
Mandarin Films Distribution Co. Ltd. , formerly known as Mandarin Films Ltd. , is a Hong Kong film production company and distributor. It was established in 1991 by film producer Raymond Wong Pak-Ming, and is a subsidiary of Mandarin Entertainment Holdings Ltd.-Company:Since its foundation,...

. While in Hong Kong, it grossed over HK$3.67 million (US$470,047) on its opening weekend. At the end of its box office run in Hong Kong, the film had grossed a total of over HK$9 million.

Distribution

South African film distributor Distant Horizon acquired North American rights to the film. The film's release in all English-speaking territories is handled by The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...

 which released the film on DVD as part of their Dragon Dynasty
Dragon Dynasty
Dragon Dynasty is a joint venture started by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. The company was created on May 23, 2006 for the sole purpose of distributing East Asian films on DVD in the US, whose licenses are held by, or will be acquired by The Weinstein Company...

collection.
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