Flaming Brothers

This tense Hong Kong thriller from 1987 marks the film’s UK Blu-ray debut. Part rags-to-riches story and part tough-as-nails action, the engaging plot furthermore has a bit of romance thrown in for good measure.

The story revolves around Cheung Ho-tin and Alan Chan - two young men from Macau whose friendship is so strong that they become blood brothers. Indeed, in public they refer to each other as ‘brothers’. In reality though, both are orphans and the opening sequence depicts snippets of their impoverished childhood and how they were forced to steal food from an early age in order to avoid starvation. Ho-tin befriends a girl, Ho Ka-hei, herself an orphan. She encourages him not to steal anymore and hands him small portions of food while becoming firm friends. Unfortunately for Ho-tin (but no doubt fortunate for Ka-hei), she finds herself adopted soon after and relocates to Hong Kong to start a new life with her adoptive parents.

The years pass, and Chan (Alan Tang) and Ho-tin (Chow Yun-fat) have made it out of poverty and are now the joint owners of a flash night club in Macau. Truth be told, their success isn’t down to just hard work but due to the fact that both are now the leaders of a powerful crime syndicate which controls the entire area. Enter Ko Lo-sei (Patrick Tse), boss of a rival gang who harbours ambitions to one day rule Macau’s underworld himself. During a particularly brutal shootout between the two rival triad actions (a scene which would impress the likes of Tarantino and Scorsese, no doubt), our ‘brothers’ kill a member of Lo-sei, who, unsurprisingly, vows revenge. Lying to Chan, he provides him with an opportunity to head to Thailand for an arms deal but of course, it’s a set-up (or so Lo-sei thinks). Luckily for Chan, the arms dealer in question is a man by the name of ‘Uncle Pui’ (Fong Yau) and he happens to be a rival of Lo-sei. How is that for a bit of luck? Chan even manages to eventually gain Pui’s trust and befriend him!

On the private front, things look quite different for Chan and Ho-tin. While the former - a bit of a cad and lady’s man to put it mildly - has his eyes set on fickle nightclub singer Jenny (Jenny Tseng), Ho-tin - by sheer coincidence - happens to bump into his goody-two-shows friend Ho Ka-hei (Pat Ha) again, now also grown up of course but still the same goodhearted person who, in contrast to Ho-tin, leads a squeaky clean lifestyle. Rekindling their friendship back from childhood years, friendship soon turns into love and when Ka-hei makes it clear that she would like for Ho-tin to leave Macau and come with her as her husband, he doesn’t hesitate. Overjoyed at the prospect of leaving his criminal past behind him, he even invites his ‘blood brother’ Chan to the wedding. He turns up alright, with Jenny in tow, but instead of wishing the newlyweds the very best for the future, he makes it clear that he consider’s Ho-tin’s decision to leave Macau and the triad as an act of betrayal.
Months pass and while Chang sinks deeper and deeper into the quagmire of crime, Ho-tin and Ka-hei indulge in domestic bliss and carve out a meagre yet happy existence running a small convenience store… until one day, Chan’s personal warfare with rival Ko Lo-sei comes full circle. When word reaches Ho-tin that his ‘brother’ is in serious peril, he remembers the strong bond between them and leaves his young bride behind in order to return to Macau and stand united with Chan in a final bitter showdown against Lo-sai and his triad…

The brutality is truly astonishing even by Hong Kong action thriller standards while at the same time, the romantic scene (occasionally even some humorous scenes) juxtapose the violence. Still though, the overall result comes across as somewhat unbalanced at times. Both Chow Yun-fat and Alang Tang are compelling and the stunt choreography is equally impressive.

FLAMING BROTHERS will be released in 2K restoration Blu-ray format - presented in an exclusive O-card slipcase (Limited Edition of 2,000 copies only) and with a collector’s booklet. Bonus material includes various audio options, new audio commentary, new video locations special, archival interview with director Joe Cheung, plus original theatrical trailer.