Pedicab Driver

You know your film is off to a strong start when you aren't even 5 minutes in and it's already staging its own lightsaber fights, albeit with fluorescent bulbs. Marking the end of Sammo Hung's greatest period as both star and director with a mighty bang, Pedicab Driver exemplifies the type of cinema that Hong Kong loved during the 80s. What that means is it's a mismatched series of bizarre comedy, heightened emotions, sudden tragedy and yes, incredible fight scenes. The extended fight between Sammo and Lau Kar-Leung in the gambling den stands as one of the film's most memorable moments, despite its complete irrelevance to the plot. Although it seems a little overambitious at times in its storytelling, with several seemingly unrelated threads running parallel, the film does manage to hold it all together in a way that only Hong Kong cinema can. While the story threads are certainly only diversions from the main spectacle, they do enhance the film somewhat, thanks largely to the cast's terrific performances and great music. It all starts happy-go-lucky but by the end, revenge is the name of the game and it is one Sammo delivers tenfold with some fantastic direction. For its uneven mishmash of genres and tones, Pedicab Driver succeeds wholeheartedly thanks to its easily empathetic and loveable characters and their plights, it's as entertaining as they come and features something for everyone. While not quite a masterpiece it is well worth seeing.

"In fact, men are responsible for all the whores. It's a man's responsibility to stop the prostitution. We've got no right to call 'em cheap. In fact, we're worse than they are."

The chubby Sammo Hung is as agile as he is charming, and the fight choreography in this film is consistently something to behold. The light saber bit, his battles with Lau Kar-leung and Billy Chow, and some pretty impressive stunt work involving pedicabs and stairways were all top notch. But it was the shift this film took from meet-cute mixed with marital arts to something more dramatic that really made me love it. Without spoiling it I'll just say it was a little contrived, but damn if it wasn't touching, and Fennie Yuen was fantastic in her emotional scenes. Meanwhile, I must admit that the humor was pretty juvenile early on, but as the film progressed, how it was dropped in to fight sequences and after serious moments was impressive, keeping the film light. Hung's character is given a love interest as well (Nina Li Chi), and I thought this was a rare film that worked across the genres of romance, comedy, and drama, the latter of which included tragedy. The pro-women messages were a nice touch, and while women don't play a big role in the fighting, I chuckled when the wife threw caution to the wind and entered the fray. Hell, the film even has a Three Stooges reference. Very entertaining.

This, "Prodigal Son" and "Eastern Condors" are my favourite Sammo Hung films. The Fat Dragon is fatter in this outing than he was in "Condors", but he's no less sure-footed as director or actor. He is, in fact, at the top of his form and delivers a devastating, brutal actioner that boasts half a dozen amazing sequences and manages to tell a compassionate, sweet love story also. Love and romance are not the director's priorities here, but they serve as curious adjuncts to the action, and insure that viewers don't hit the fast-forward button between the physical clashes.

The opening scene, which features a funny light sabre duel, sets a solid but deceptive tone. A sequence in which Sammo's pedicab is chased by a car is beautifully staged and sweetened with a sharp, comic tone. The fast and furious stick fight between Sammo and Lau Kar Leung is a model of dazzling choreography and sharp, superb direction, and easily one of the best ever of its type. The film's violence escalates slowly until, finally, when the climactic showdown comes, we are subjected to some of the most brutal altercations ever seen in a Sammo production. The director/actor's assault on Billy Chow and a house filled with angry, menacing opponents is a bone-cracking, physically punishing delight.

Terrific on every level and one of the best martial arts movies ever made.

Great score, too.

Pedicab driver effortlessly mixes genres in a way that feels like it uniquely belongs to HK cinema. It has comedy,tragedy, kung fu and it manages to be a period piece while it's at it! I love absolutely everything about this film from its cast, to the choreography and its constantly interesting and genre-bending story.

A legendary film

10 out of 10!

This was pretty great. I'm a little embarrassed I didn't know this movie existed until yesterday, but it's better late than never. Pedicab Driver begins as a lightweight martial arts movie, but takes a shift toward melodrama in its second half that actually worked pretty well. There's one kind of comedic scene earlier on that I didn't like, but then when contrasted against something more serious that happens later (keeping things as vague as possible), it ends up being justified.

Sammo Hung starred in this and directed it, and the action's largely stellar. There are shots where the camera lurches back and forth, following the impact of a punch or a kick, and those shots work. The effect doesn't look silly or forced, and makes key moments of impact hit harder. I also appreciated how there were a few more close-ups used in some fight scenes, but never in a way that felt like it was disguising poor fight choreography. Those moments largely worked to make certain parts of certain fights more intense, and while lots of close-ups in fight scenes can make a fight harder to follow, that wasn't something I found with the fights here.

There might be some other things that can be nitpicked here, but much more of Pedicab Driver works than doesn't work. It's pretty underrated, and the finale plus a one-on-one fight with poles early on (the one with Lau Kar-Leung... and no, it doesn't matter if that conflict isn't hugely important to the rest of the movie) are all-timer martial arts set pieces, and are reasons enough to watch this one.