12 Hours of Terror

In The Last Blood, Andy Lau and Alan Tam (a cop and a gangster) team up to find a rare type of blood needed for The Dali Lama and Andy Lau 's girlfriend that were injured in a terrorist attack by The Japanese Red Army. The Red Army also is in search of the people of this rare blood type. (To kill them, of course) Eric Tsang is a would be donor that our heroes must protect (and for comedy relief). This is a Wong Jong production, so expect it to be ridiculous ( for better or worse) and it has some silly slapstick comedy as well as some not so funny jokes about AIDS, as well as some of the intense gun fu action, with a massive hail of blood and bullets with massive explosions and things blowing up everywhere. The action here alone is worth the price of admission and really makes me miss this special era of HK cinema.

Watching a Hong-Kong thriller is always a good experience, there's always hope of find a movie that will stick to your memory like did many movies of John Woo or Tsui Hark. The Last Blood is not only a surprising piece of Hong Kong action is also an under seen movie. It is a good time to discover this hidden jewel that could surprise many viewers. Old racks of movie-stores have many unexpected good movies to be found.

This movie has a frenetic but clear editing that put it in the same league of classics of John Woo. But anyway, Woo is the master and Wong Jing would be a talented disciple. Jing managed to make The Last Blood is an amazing piece of entertainment with a budget that is far from the standards of Hollywood, something that must be studied by filmmakers who want to shot but don't have the money of a mega-millionaire producer.

The level of violence and gore is high, this turn outs to be some of the highlights in the film. The plot is just what one expects from this kind of production. The situations hang between the exaggeration and realism. There's authentic drama (or well focused melodrama), some laughs, interesting characters and enough adrenaline to boost the viewer out of his seat. The relationship between both cops and the common guy who becomes target of the terrorist is handled in a magnificent way. There's space for some reflection in the middle of all the action to focus on important moral matters. All this is quintessential in the good exponents of this genre. Also the characters don't try to be sympathetic to the point of been insufferable. Final notes: Jing tian shi er xiao shi (The Last Blood) was released in the early nineties, a crucial period for HK cinema when it was discovered massively by audiences. This audiences were tired of movies of eighties decadents stars, whose reputations were going down with really lame movies that were mere vehicles for the exploitation of their profiles.

Crazy, and ludicrous Hong-Kong action with a cruel streak. You know, the kind where a lot of innocent bystanders, and I mean alot. Are held hostage or catch a bullet, or two. Wong Jing's "THE LAST BLOOD" is one relentless onslaught after another, which does contribute to a few outstanding set-pieces consisting of wild and imaginative stunt-work (like the airport shootout, bathroom beatdown, tiny cable car combat and gun toting motorbike cyclists road chase)... although i do find the back-half of the film to lose that on-the-clock momentum and set-pieces.

Anyway there's a bit of melodrama on the side, plenty of goofball humour (especially when Eric Tsang's 'fat boy' gets in on the act), a foreseeable game-changing twist and recklessly over-the-top violence. It sure doesnt hold back, and tonally it's all over the place. Chaos and disruption is the name of the game, and this film delivers the promise when it becomes a race against the clock to track down three people with a rare blood type to save a famous reglious leader after an assassination attmept by terrorists. Andy Lau and Alan Tam start off as a duo, looking and wanting the same thing (blood donar), although for different purposes and this leads them to Tsang. Also featuring Leung Kar-Yan and Natalis Chan.

(1990) 12 Hours of Terror/ The Last Blood (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION

The first time I saw this, it was on Laserdisc and that I was so hung up on Hong Kong action movies as they did not use cheap parlor tricks and the action was quick and fearless. I saw this as The Last Blood with zero subtitles, and after Hard-boiled was popular on home video in North America, producers decide to rename it by calling it Hard-boiled Part II even though it was released year earlier, and that it was most likely John Woo who may have been inspired by "The Last Blood" to make Hard- boiled. Anyways there is a impressive shoot out toward the end as well at the hospital. I only watched it solely for the action sequences and nothing else, made during the time when neither Hollywood or before the China takeover of Hong Kong. Anyways because "The Last Blood" is available on line streaming, I am able to understand it better. Written and directed by Wong Jing, the king of Hong Kong's Roger Corman movies that showcases comedy, action, violence or sleaze. It has Lui Tai (Alan Tam) and his partner, Stone (Ka-Yan Leung) infiltrating a possible terrorist with the main baddie, Saporo (Jackson Lou) managing to escape. Saporo main target is the Dehla Lama. A close happens on his life that ended up with the Lama going to the hospital where he has a rare blood type. It turns out Fatty (Eric Tsang) has that rare blood type except that he refuses to cooperate- hence the title "The Last Blood". With gang leader on board, Brother Bee (Andy Lau) on board with the mystery here is that whenever they go somewhere the bad guys appear to be one step on top of it. The point is the action to which all I did to rewatch this movie was use the fast forward to see some of the action since the comedy falls flat with some of the biggest highlights are the explosions that looked very dangerous.

And anyone who is a fan of John Woo's Hard-boiled released a year after "The Last Blood" should be able to tell he was heavily influenced by watching this movie particularly the motorcycle chase sequences; the final shoot out at the hospital, among other action movies Woo has seen.

Has none of the look, style or panache of Hard Boiled, so don't be rushing to the video store counter with glee if you loved the first one. However, if you appreciate the sort of crazy, unbelievable choreography that John Woo made his name with - this is pretty close. It just won't have the quality of plot, characterisation or even, damn me for saying it, script. Funny subtitles, too.