La jaula del tigre

I happened to stumble upon the 1988 movie "Tiger Cage" (aka "Dak ging to lung") from director Woo-Ping Yuen in 2020. Needless to say that with my fascination of the Hong Kong cinema, of course I sat down to watch this movie.

Not only is it a Hong Kong movie, but it also has a pretty interesting cast ensemble, which includes the likes of Simon Yam, Donnie Yen and Jacky Cheung. So the movie does have a pretty good foundation of having strong performances and being interesting to watch.

Turned out that "Tiger Cage" was actually a rather enjoyable crime/action movie. Sure, it was generic, especially for the movies of the genre in late 1980s from Hong Kong cinema. But it proved to be an entertaining movie nonetheless. The storyline was well enough composed by writers Wing-Fai Wong and Kwong Kim Yip, although it was rather straight forward and somewhat generic actually.

There is a good mixture of drama and action in the storyline to actually keep the movie going at a good pace. And while there are no surprises along the way as the movie plays out, it doesn't make it a boring movie given the pacing and the storyline.

My rating of "Tiger Cage" is a six out of ten stars. If you enjoy the 'older' Hong Kong cinema, then "Tiger Cage" is definitely well worth watching.

Tiger Cage is a change of pace for director Yuen Woo Ping . Being previously known for martial art comedy classics like Drunken Master, this is set in a contemporary setting and has little time for humor. Tiger Cage is gritty, dark and violent. This moves along nicely with fluid storytelling, memorable characters and good.acting. Jackie Chung gives a solid performance as male lead opposite actress Do Do Cheng. Ng Man Tat and Simon Yam were excellent as well and Donnie Yen does well in a early supporting role. This is a Yuen Woo Ping film so all of the fights and action are top tier. The action is as down and dirty as the subject matter of police corruption and betrayal. Tiger Cage as such is very bloody and very violent. However, this was a well made film and a good watch.

In the 70's Hong Kong gave birth to the period (classic) kung fu film. The 90's saw the rise of the `flying' kung fu film. And, the 80's saw the surge of cops and crooks films with titles like Long Arm of the Law, the In the Line of Duty series, and Tiger Cage.

Jacky Cheung plays the title role of a cop out to bust some dope dealers, and eventually the very interior of his corrupt department. Carol Do Do Cheng, Donnie Yen, and Simon Yam also star as fellow cops- Carols husband, a fellow cop, being killed by the dope gang, Donnie as a young rookie who finds out his mentor is dirty, and Simon as the two faced, nothing but evil, corrupt supervisor. Its a dark, double crossing tale offset by moments of kung fu and comedy amongst the standard police drama plotline. From the opening shootout that begins the film, you know that you are in for some rough and tumble action, as hundreds of bullets are shot, bodies fall and are hit by cars, the fighting is gritty, and so on. Donnie gets one fight scene (really the only martial arts sequence) with two drug dealing gwailos. Simon Yam is just plain bad with a capitol B. Jacky over-grimaces his way though the drama, and poor Carol gets the stuffing beat out of her a couple of times. The story is well paced, by the great Yuen Woo Ping, and is a competent addition to the Hong Kong cop film library.

There are more than the usual subtitle language errors like- "My gun has no eyes.", "I want you to be limply in jail all your life.", "I am ready for discinplinary and investify.", "They're now fugitive with arms."

The cast of this movie runs like who's who of popular actors of the '80s. Donny Yuen, and Simon Yam are about the only ones still active today.

There's drug trafficking in Hong Kong, and corrupt cops are in on it. Inspector Fan (Jackie Chung) is an officer working in the drug enforcement division of the Hong Kong police department. He's on the trail of the drug traffickers, and finds out that one of his associates are in on it. He video tapes the scene, and gives the tape to his girlfriend Amy. But he gets framed and gets accused of drug possession. He now must clear his guilt by somehow collecting the evidence.

The format is somewhat classic Hong Kong drama of the '80s. D&B studio made the movie. D&B had consistent good quality on almost all of their movies, and this one is no exception. The story is good, and acting is great.

It's still a fun movie to watch. As a fan of D&B studio's movies, I wish they made more movies like this today.

Recommended for viewing.

TIGER CAGE is an ensemble Hong Kong cop film with much in common with the same era's IN THE LINE OF DUTY flicks. This one features Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Jacky Cheung, Carol Cheng and others as a team of crack detectives who take down a drug syndicate at the film's outset. The only problem is that some of the bad guys survive, swearing revenge on the cops who destroyed their operation.

What follows is a roller-coaster ride of a film filled with breakneck action and all of the wonderful martial arts choreography that you'd hope from the genre. This one's directed by Yuen Woo-ping and boy, does he know how to direct a proper thriller: there are barely any slow spots, just tons of action and action that drives the plot forward at that. It's one of the most purely entertaining Hong Kong thrillers that I've seen.

Cast-wise, I have to say that most of the leading members give more than impressive performances, not least an incredibly youthful Donnie Yen in what I think might have been only his second leading part. Simon Yam seems experienced and reliable even at this early stage of his career. Jacky Cheung acquits himself well in a role that Jackie himself could have played, and it's always a pleasure to see American bodybuilder Michael Woods on top form as a hulking henchman. TIGER CAGE is a film filled with twists, betrayals, stunts and incredible one-on-one fights, and Hong Kong film fans will be in movie heaven.