This movie is available for purchase at www.sensasian.com

Rating:

7.25

Year of release: 2004

Genre: drama

Director: Soi Cheang

Producers: Joe Ma, Ivy Kong

Stars: Eason Chan, Niki Chow, Qin Hai Lu, Wang Zhi Wen, Raymond Wong, Kenny Kwan, Carl Ng

Rated IIB for violence, drug use and language

VCD Information

Company: Mei Ah

Format: widescreen

Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin

Subtitles: Chinese/English (electronic on lower portion of picture)

Extras: making-of featurette

Notes: The picture is a little dark, but overall, this is a solid VCD.

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Love Battlefield

Director Soi Cheang has made his mark in the Hong Kong movie world creating solid horror works such as New Blood and Horror Hotline. Like most Hong Kong film-makers though, he doesn't seem to be satisfied with working in one genre. As seen with his latest film, Love Battlefield, Cheang is spreading his wings a bit and trying out new things. The end result is a solid picture that shows that Cheang is one of Hong Kong's more promising up-and-coming directors.

Initially, Love Battlefield paints itself as your standard romantic weepie. During a trip to the Mainland, a nurse named Yui (Eason Chan) meets a pretty girl, Ching (Niki Chow). Things seem to be going well for the couple until the day they are planning to go for a vacation in Europe. Yui's car is stolen, and he wants to stay so he can report it to the police, but Ching still wants to leave. After a bitter spat, Yui and Ching break up. While heading to the police station, Yui sees his car, and it's at this point that Love Battlefield totally switches gears.

It turns out that Yui's car was stolen by a gang of Mainland drug runners (led by Wang Zhi Wen). After a vicious shootout, the criminals kidnap Yui, so he can take care of a wounded comrade. Eventually, Ching and her friends figure out Yui's situation and try and report it to the police, but he is already considered a suspect who is in cahoots with the gang. Now on her own, Ching must try and save the boyfriend she has fallen in love with again, while staying one step ahead of the police.

Besides a few minor plot holes and an ending that's a bit sappy, I really enjoyed Love Battlefield. There's a few interesting twists and turns, the actors do a good job, and there's even a bit of decent action as well. Even if there have been fewer films produced in Hong Kong lately, there has been a stretch of very solid pictures coming out. Though it might not have the flash or pizazz of some of the big "A-list" release that have premiered recently, Love Battlefield is definitely one of the better movies to come out of Hong Kong this year.