In the US, movies about kickboxing are often regulated straight to video; just take a look at the Kickboxer series of films. In Hong Kong, the sport is taken more seriously, so (as you might guess) movies about it are usually given a bit more panache.

Unfortunately, despite their best intentions and higher budgets, we usually end up with middling efforts like the Andy Lau snoozer A Fighter's Blues. Perhaps in a bit of irony, Dreams of Glory manages to craft one of the best takes on the genre, all with no real star power or budget to speak of.

The film centers on two young men, Ming (Jackie Lui) and Tak (Do Siu-Chun). Ming is the local school's most promising student, but his cocky attitude prevents him from beating any real opponents. Tak is the school's newest student, and shows a lot of ability, but his years of training in kung fu become a stumbling block as he tries to adapt to the Muay Thai style.

The above plot synopsis is pretty simple. It would fit in with most any movie of this genre, and provide a decent bridge to get to the next match scene. However, Dreams of Glory takes a different tack that seperates it from the pack. At its' heart, this movie is not about showing the in-ring brawling; actually, there really isn't a whole lot of action to speak of.

Rather, it is more of a "slice of life" picture that tries to explain why kickboxers compete in this sometimes deadly sport. Ming has a rough home life, with his whole extended family packed into a tiny apartment, as well as a meaningless job working on construction sites, where he helps to build homes he could never afford to live in. Tak, as the son of a successful herbalist, would seem to have a better go at life, but like many young Hong Kongers, he feels trapped and lonely in his current situation.

This sort of stuff can become extremely cheesy with melodrama and sickly-sweet with sentimentality, but director Lawrence Lau crafts an almost documentary-like picture that still manages to be highly entertaining.

Some viewers might take the proceedings here as "rough" or "amateurish", but it's the lack of polish which makes the performances all that more compelling. The viewer is allowed to let the story open organically, unlike many films of this type, which ram the plot (and it's twists and turns) down their throat.

The unconventional storytelling methods employed by Lau paid off. Even though Dreams of Glory was by no means a box office hit, both leads were nominated for Hong Kong Film Awards, and it has since become known as one of the most solid entries in Hong Kong's kickboxing ouvre, both past and present.

If there is one complaint to be leveled here, it would the somewhat sloppy final reel of the film that leaves too many questions unanswered. It almost seems as if the film-makers ran out of money, and so hastily created an ending that left room for a sequel. Unfortunately, that sequel never happened, but Dreams of Glory in and of itself is a movie that's well worth your time.

RATING: 7.5