Tragic Hero (film)
Encyclopedia
Tragic Hero is a 1987 Hong Kong action-crime film directed by Taylor Wong, and starring Andy Lau, Chow Yun-Fat and Alex Man. The film is the sequel to Rich And Famous
but was released first due to its appeal as an action movie.
Yung's sister, Wai Chui (Pauline Chan) picks up their father, who is going to Malacca to visit with his stepson Kwok (Andy Lau). Kwok is now married to a local woman and has adopted many children. They talk about the past and his father tells Kwok that Ah Chai might be in danger of being killed by Yung. He assures him that things will be ok.
Ah Chai meets with Chu Lo Tai (Ko Chun Hsiung) and they are now business partners. Chu Lo Tai notes that they are getting old with age and that the young upstarts are starting to take control and gain influence. Ah Chai warns Chu Lo Tai that perhaps Yung is becoming too powerful. Chu Lo Tai acknowledges this threat and plots to have Yung assassinated. They meet for dinner and Chu Lo Tai gets up after another one of Yung's outbursts and berates him. His men draw their guns at Yung. Yung reaches for an oyster shell and now there are even more men supporting him. Most of Chu Lo Tai's gang rebel on him and Yung jumps over the table and smashes his head with a wine bottle. He then takes the shards and stabs Chu Lo Tai to death.
Ah Chai's wife Po Yee (Carina Lau) goes to the mall with her son where she runs into Yung and his men. Yung tries to be sweet to Po Yee, who refuses his advances. He then orders his men to attack Number 6 (Shing Fu-On) and Chuan (Ng Hong-Ning), who valiantly fight against 8 men and lose.
Ah Chai arranges to have a meeting with Yung at a club. Yung takes opportunities to insult Ah Chai about his age, courage, ability to drink, sexual prowess and his wife as he is furious that Ah Chai plotted to have him killed by his own boss. He provokes Ah Chai into splashing water into his face.
Later that evening, Ah Chai and his two lieutenants, Number 6 and Big Eye (Lin Chung) discuss what to do about Yung. They both note the need to take action and strike first. Ah Chai says that he will call a meeting with the other remaining gangs to wipe Yung out. Ah Chai is then interrupted and told that his son is ill and that he will need to take him to the hospital. His two lieutenants are disappointed that their boss has grown soft.
Yung is then unexpectedly visited by Kwok who begs for Yung not to kill Ah Chai. Yung humiliates his step brother by forcing him to beg for forgiveness and serving him tea on one knee. Yung then stops the embarrassment and hugs Kwok, telling him that he will oblige as long as Ah Chai does not attempt anything first.
The following morning, Kwok is driven to the airport by his step sister Wai Chui and Kwok has Wai Chui swear to secrecy that no one knows that he has come to talk to Yung. She promises to. Kwok then jokes that Wai Chui is now almost 30 and still works for Ah Chai and that she should settle down. Wai Chui admits that she loves Ah Chai too much and cannot bear to leave his side. Kwok jokingly promises to keep that a secret but says that if she doesn't move on after 2 years that he's going to tell Ah Chai about it.
The scene switches back to Number 6 as he decides to take matters into his own hands. Big Eye notes that a fortune teller told him that he would live beyond 70. Number 6 ignores him and goes through with his plot to assassinate Yung.
That afternoon, Number 6 masquerades as a window washer and Yung pretends to ignore him. His men then come into the room and shoot Number 6 many times. Number 6 appears to be dead but then bursts through the window and is close to killing Yung before his men shoot Number 6 multiple times in the neck and face. Yung taunts the dead Number 6 and is enraged. He is hell bent on killing Ah Chai and disregards his step brother's request.
Ah Chai receives the news that Number 6 is dead and he and Big Eye go out for a drive. The driver, Chuan purposely causes a flat tire and they pull over. Ah Chai questions Big Eye about how they knew about Number 6's assassination plot. He says that Big Eye must've betrayed Number 6 to Yung since Number 6 is very tight lipped and he would only tell Ah Chai or Big Eye of his plans. Big Eye admits to his betrayal and Ah Chai shoots him in the arm. Big Eye explains that Ah Chai growing soft over the years has doomed them all and he was only trying to save himself from the same fate. Ah Chai realizes Big Eye is right and spares him. Big Eye attempts to get out of the car and is killed by the driver Chuan with a knife. He looks despondently at Big Eye sprawled against the window as he is sad to see his old friend die, but then is dismayed to realize that Big Eye had wanted to kill him.
Ah Chai goes to his meeting, he realizes they've been tampered. The other gangsters have all brought weapons and now they hear police sirens coming. They are completely trapped and one of fellow gang leaders attempts to run to the car to get Ah Chai out of there. The gang leader is wounded badly and Ah Chai confiscates all the weapons and puts them in a bag. He walks out and drops the bag and begs for the police to get an ambulance there. The rest of the gangs are all arrested and Ah Chai is driven away in custody. Yung drives by the police car and taunts Ah Chai that he no longer has any allies.
Ah Chai's wife Po Yee comes to the police station to visit Ah Chai. Yung takes this opportunity and meets with her in one of the rooms. He then attempts to force himself onto her until she bites his lip and he backs off. He tells her that she was his woman and that he gave her to Ah Chai.
After Ah Chai gets out of custody, he arranges a meeting with his longtime police ally to find out how his meeting got busted. Wai Chui is suspicious and lurks about outside the window with a gun. The police ally notes that Ah Chai is a nobody now and that everybody wants to bring Ah Chai down. He slices his own chest and handcuffs himself to the wall. He then shoots Ah Chai. Wai Chui shoots the police ally and then jumps in to check on Ah Chai. The police ally shoots Wai Chui in the back of the head and kills her. Ah Chai, in a fit of rage, gets up and shoots the police ally to death, not before taking 2 more bullets himself. He then escapes out the window to a boat with the help of Chuan as the police coming pouring in to shoot at Ah Chai.
Ah Chai and his family escape to Malacca and visit Kwok. They reminisce about the past and he tells Kwok about Yung's actions. Ah Chai and Kwok seem content in Malacca until Yung decides he needs to finish the job. He sends assassins to Malacca to leave a bomb in the house. Ah Chai and Kwok are bbq-ing away from the house. Kwok and Yung's father is lured away from the house to the airport. The bomb kills everyone inside, Kwok's wife, his adopted children, Ah Chai's family are all dead. They are filled with anguish and swear revenge on Yung.
Yung is then called into the police station in regards to the killings. Inspector Cheung (Danny Lee) tells Yung that he is the number one target of the police. He then receives a phone call and dismisses Yung and it is Ah Chai. Ah Chai apologizes for the way that he treated Inspector Cheung and asks him to keep the police out of his way when he attempts revenge on Yung. Inspector Cheung asks why and Ah Chai says that he is going to take care of his and Inspector's Cheung's problem and that he wants to do what's right for once. Inspector Cheung agrees.
Meanwhile, Yung is celebrating now that he rules surpreme. He has one of his lackies keep tabs on his father in the event that Ah Chai and Kwok attempt revenge. His lackey notes that Yung's father has gone crazy, crying endlessly at his daughter's grave, sitting and mumbling for hours at a port and has no contact with his step son, Kwok. Yung is anxious and asks whether his father has been seen cohorting with Ah Chai and Kwok. The lackey does not know. The father shows up and confronts Yung about whether he killed Ah Chai and Kwok's family in Malacca. Yung denies it and then lies to him that someone else did it. His lackey then reports that Yung's father was seen in the same area as Ah Chai and Kwok. Yung is enraged that his father has openly betrayed him and admits to the killings. His father attacks him and Yung tells his lackeys to beat his father. The lackeys hesitate but do so and throw him out of the house.
Yung's father gets in the car as Chuan asks him what happened in the house. A lackey checks the back of the car and is shot in the face. Ah Chai and Kwok jump out of the car and kill everybody in the vicinity. Chuan gets out and grabs a large of bag of heavy weaponry. They reach the mansion and it is quiet. Chuan goes out to inspect the pool area and is shot to death. A number of men show up and Ah Chai and Kwok are completely surrounded. They quickly pull out their heavy weaponry and blow up the mansion with grenades and rockets. They rush into the house and kill many of Yung's men. At one point, Ah Chai is wounded by Yung's right hand man and they become trapped in the fire at the house. Yung kills his right hand man for suggesting the idea of retreating. Yung has gone completely mad. He wounds Ah Chai more and has a gun pointed at his face. Kwok charges out and knocks Yung over. Yung attempts to shoot Ah Chai and Kwok takes the bullets and is seriously wounded. Again, Yung has Ah Chai at gunpoint and suddenly Yung's father appears and shoots Yung. Yung shoots his father to death. Ah Chai gets up and beats up Yung to the point where Yung is now hanging onto the edge. Ah Chai throws Yung into the fire below and Yung blows up due to all the ammunition he has strapped onto his vest. Ah Chai falls down in exhaustion and Inspector Cheung shows up to save them. Ah Chai and Kwok are carried out on stretchers as the movie ends.
Rich and Famous (1987 film)
Rich and Famous is a 1987 Hong Kong action-crime film directed by Taylor Wong, and starring Andy Lau and Chow Yun-fat. The film was concluded by a sequel, Tragic Hero which was also released in 1987.-Plot:...
but was released first due to its appeal as an action movie.
Summary
The movie begins in 1980, 9 years after the events of Rich and Famous. Li Ah Chai (Chow Yun Fat) has slowly become passive with his focus on family life. Meanwhile, Yung (Alex Man) is now out of jail and is now a rising power within Chu Lo Tai's gang. They run into each other at a gangster's funeral where Yung patronizes Ah Chai. Ah Chai shakes his hand and Yung reminisces sarcastically about how he was once taught a lesson by Ah Chai. As he is leaving, he swears revenge on Ah Chai.Yung's sister, Wai Chui (Pauline Chan) picks up their father, who is going to Malacca to visit with his stepson Kwok (Andy Lau). Kwok is now married to a local woman and has adopted many children. They talk about the past and his father tells Kwok that Ah Chai might be in danger of being killed by Yung. He assures him that things will be ok.
Ah Chai meets with Chu Lo Tai (Ko Chun Hsiung) and they are now business partners. Chu Lo Tai notes that they are getting old with age and that the young upstarts are starting to take control and gain influence. Ah Chai warns Chu Lo Tai that perhaps Yung is becoming too powerful. Chu Lo Tai acknowledges this threat and plots to have Yung assassinated. They meet for dinner and Chu Lo Tai gets up after another one of Yung's outbursts and berates him. His men draw their guns at Yung. Yung reaches for an oyster shell and now there are even more men supporting him. Most of Chu Lo Tai's gang rebel on him and Yung jumps over the table and smashes his head with a wine bottle. He then takes the shards and stabs Chu Lo Tai to death.
Ah Chai's wife Po Yee (Carina Lau) goes to the mall with her son where she runs into Yung and his men. Yung tries to be sweet to Po Yee, who refuses his advances. He then orders his men to attack Number 6 (Shing Fu-On) and Chuan (Ng Hong-Ning), who valiantly fight against 8 men and lose.
Ah Chai arranges to have a meeting with Yung at a club. Yung takes opportunities to insult Ah Chai about his age, courage, ability to drink, sexual prowess and his wife as he is furious that Ah Chai plotted to have him killed by his own boss. He provokes Ah Chai into splashing water into his face.
Later that evening, Ah Chai and his two lieutenants, Number 6 and Big Eye (Lin Chung) discuss what to do about Yung. They both note the need to take action and strike first. Ah Chai says that he will call a meeting with the other remaining gangs to wipe Yung out. Ah Chai is then interrupted and told that his son is ill and that he will need to take him to the hospital. His two lieutenants are disappointed that their boss has grown soft.
Yung is then unexpectedly visited by Kwok who begs for Yung not to kill Ah Chai. Yung humiliates his step brother by forcing him to beg for forgiveness and serving him tea on one knee. Yung then stops the embarrassment and hugs Kwok, telling him that he will oblige as long as Ah Chai does not attempt anything first.
The following morning, Kwok is driven to the airport by his step sister Wai Chui and Kwok has Wai Chui swear to secrecy that no one knows that he has come to talk to Yung. She promises to. Kwok then jokes that Wai Chui is now almost 30 and still works for Ah Chai and that she should settle down. Wai Chui admits that she loves Ah Chai too much and cannot bear to leave his side. Kwok jokingly promises to keep that a secret but says that if she doesn't move on after 2 years that he's going to tell Ah Chai about it.
The scene switches back to Number 6 as he decides to take matters into his own hands. Big Eye notes that a fortune teller told him that he would live beyond 70. Number 6 ignores him and goes through with his plot to assassinate Yung.
That afternoon, Number 6 masquerades as a window washer and Yung pretends to ignore him. His men then come into the room and shoot Number 6 many times. Number 6 appears to be dead but then bursts through the window and is close to killing Yung before his men shoot Number 6 multiple times in the neck and face. Yung taunts the dead Number 6 and is enraged. He is hell bent on killing Ah Chai and disregards his step brother's request.
Ah Chai receives the news that Number 6 is dead and he and Big Eye go out for a drive. The driver, Chuan purposely causes a flat tire and they pull over. Ah Chai questions Big Eye about how they knew about Number 6's assassination plot. He says that Big Eye must've betrayed Number 6 to Yung since Number 6 is very tight lipped and he would only tell Ah Chai or Big Eye of his plans. Big Eye admits to his betrayal and Ah Chai shoots him in the arm. Big Eye explains that Ah Chai growing soft over the years has doomed them all and he was only trying to save himself from the same fate. Ah Chai realizes Big Eye is right and spares him. Big Eye attempts to get out of the car and is killed by the driver Chuan with a knife. He looks despondently at Big Eye sprawled against the window as he is sad to see his old friend die, but then is dismayed to realize that Big Eye had wanted to kill him.
Ah Chai goes to his meeting, he realizes they've been tampered. The other gangsters have all brought weapons and now they hear police sirens coming. They are completely trapped and one of fellow gang leaders attempts to run to the car to get Ah Chai out of there. The gang leader is wounded badly and Ah Chai confiscates all the weapons and puts them in a bag. He walks out and drops the bag and begs for the police to get an ambulance there. The rest of the gangs are all arrested and Ah Chai is driven away in custody. Yung drives by the police car and taunts Ah Chai that he no longer has any allies.
Ah Chai's wife Po Yee comes to the police station to visit Ah Chai. Yung takes this opportunity and meets with her in one of the rooms. He then attempts to force himself onto her until she bites his lip and he backs off. He tells her that she was his woman and that he gave her to Ah Chai.
After Ah Chai gets out of custody, he arranges a meeting with his longtime police ally to find out how his meeting got busted. Wai Chui is suspicious and lurks about outside the window with a gun. The police ally notes that Ah Chai is a nobody now and that everybody wants to bring Ah Chai down. He slices his own chest and handcuffs himself to the wall. He then shoots Ah Chai. Wai Chui shoots the police ally and then jumps in to check on Ah Chai. The police ally shoots Wai Chui in the back of the head and kills her. Ah Chai, in a fit of rage, gets up and shoots the police ally to death, not before taking 2 more bullets himself. He then escapes out the window to a boat with the help of Chuan as the police coming pouring in to shoot at Ah Chai.
Ah Chai and his family escape to Malacca and visit Kwok. They reminisce about the past and he tells Kwok about Yung's actions. Ah Chai and Kwok seem content in Malacca until Yung decides he needs to finish the job. He sends assassins to Malacca to leave a bomb in the house. Ah Chai and Kwok are bbq-ing away from the house. Kwok and Yung's father is lured away from the house to the airport. The bomb kills everyone inside, Kwok's wife, his adopted children, Ah Chai's family are all dead. They are filled with anguish and swear revenge on Yung.
Yung is then called into the police station in regards to the killings. Inspector Cheung (Danny Lee) tells Yung that he is the number one target of the police. He then receives a phone call and dismisses Yung and it is Ah Chai. Ah Chai apologizes for the way that he treated Inspector Cheung and asks him to keep the police out of his way when he attempts revenge on Yung. Inspector Cheung asks why and Ah Chai says that he is going to take care of his and Inspector's Cheung's problem and that he wants to do what's right for once. Inspector Cheung agrees.
Meanwhile, Yung is celebrating now that he rules surpreme. He has one of his lackies keep tabs on his father in the event that Ah Chai and Kwok attempt revenge. His lackey notes that Yung's father has gone crazy, crying endlessly at his daughter's grave, sitting and mumbling for hours at a port and has no contact with his step son, Kwok. Yung is anxious and asks whether his father has been seen cohorting with Ah Chai and Kwok. The lackey does not know. The father shows up and confronts Yung about whether he killed Ah Chai and Kwok's family in Malacca. Yung denies it and then lies to him that someone else did it. His lackey then reports that Yung's father was seen in the same area as Ah Chai and Kwok. Yung is enraged that his father has openly betrayed him and admits to the killings. His father attacks him and Yung tells his lackeys to beat his father. The lackeys hesitate but do so and throw him out of the house.
Yung's father gets in the car as Chuan asks him what happened in the house. A lackey checks the back of the car and is shot in the face. Ah Chai and Kwok jump out of the car and kill everybody in the vicinity. Chuan gets out and grabs a large of bag of heavy weaponry. They reach the mansion and it is quiet. Chuan goes out to inspect the pool area and is shot to death. A number of men show up and Ah Chai and Kwok are completely surrounded. They quickly pull out their heavy weaponry and blow up the mansion with grenades and rockets. They rush into the house and kill many of Yung's men. At one point, Ah Chai is wounded by Yung's right hand man and they become trapped in the fire at the house. Yung kills his right hand man for suggesting the idea of retreating. Yung has gone completely mad. He wounds Ah Chai more and has a gun pointed at his face. Kwok charges out and knocks Yung over. Yung attempts to shoot Ah Chai and Kwok takes the bullets and is seriously wounded. Again, Yung has Ah Chai at gunpoint and suddenly Yung's father appears and shoots Yung. Yung shoots his father to death. Ah Chai gets up and beats up Yung to the point where Yung is now hanging onto the edge. Ah Chai throws Yung into the fire below and Yung blows up due to all the ammunition he has strapped onto his vest. Ah Chai falls down in exhaustion and Inspector Cheung shows up to save them. Ah Chai and Kwok are carried out on stretchers as the movie ends.
Cast
- Andy LauAndy LauAndy Lau MH, JP is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, actor, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time...
– Lam Ting-Kwok - Chow Yun-fatChow Yun-FatChow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...
– Li Ah-Chai - Alex ManAlex ManAlex Man , Hong Kong actor who has played leading roles in numerous movies and television serials.Born in Hong Kong, Alex Man joined ATV in 1970s, casting some TV drama. He became popular when joining TVB in 1980s, in which he had been the main character of several TV drama with big production...
– Tang Kar-Yun - Pauline Wong – Tang Wai-Chiu
- Carina LauCarina LauCarina Lau Kar-ling is a Hong Kong actress. She was especially notable in the 1980s for her girl-next-door type roles in films....
– Lau Po-Yee - Danny Lee – Inspector Cheung
- Shing Fui-OnShing Fui-OnShing Fui On was a Hong Kong actor, best known for his supporting roles in Hong Kong cinema. He had only one leading role in his entire career.-Biography:...
– Number 6 - Ko Chun-Hsiung – Chu Lo-Tai
- Ng Hong-Ning – Chuan
- Lin Chung – Big Eye
- Elvis TsuiElvis TsuiElvis Tsui , also known as Tsui Kam-kong, is a Hong Kong-based Chinese film and television actor.-Biography:...
– Chai's Man - Yeung Kwan – Kit
- Bruce Leung – Lui
- San Yip – Kwok's wife
- Yu Chien – Mrs. Chu
- Hung Aw-Chun
- Wah Lau-Tak