| When a Karate stud (Alexander Fu Sheng) gets murdered, his best friend, Guodung (played by Wang Chung, no relation to the 1980s music group), decides to join the police force to avenge his death. Motivated and dedicated, Guodung makes a vow to himself and to his deceased friend's girlfriend, Shen Yan (Lily Li Li-Li), to catch and kill the murderer. 5 years pass, Guodung, now a senior inspector, discovers deadly new clues that lead to his friend's killer. The closer he gets, the more his superiors warn him that he'll be a disgrace to the force if he goes on with a personal vendetta. At the same time, Shen Yan, who is still obsessed with finding the killer, reminds Guodung the reason he joined the force to begin with. Guodung finds himself in the middle of pleasing either the force or Shen Yan; he also realizes the consequences that follow no matter which option he chooses.
Knowing it was directed by Shaw Bros. great, Chang Cheh, I was expecting Police Force to be good, but not this good. Hell, Police Force is damn good. It never lags and is paced just perfectly. Thanks to the time it was made, it has the colorful 1970's written all over it. Don't let the bad polyester clothing and the mini-Datsuns fool you into thinking it's a typical modern-day chopsocky flick ("Slaughter in San Francisco" and "Rumble in Hong Kong" come to mind -- how dare I compare this to that shit, but you get my point.). One thing's for sure, director Chang Cheh is truly the equivalent of Sam Peckinpah and is obviously the forerunner to John Woo and Ringo Lam.
Police Force marks the first appearance by a young Alexander Fu Sheng. However, he is not the star. He has a small, but crucial role that even Fu Sheng purists should see. Fu Sheng or not, Police Force is a more-than-worthy addition to your Celestial Shaw Bros. DVD collection. Pick it up and Wang Chung tonight. |
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