Bullet Points: The Hot, The Cool and The Vicious
Lee Tso-Nam is one of the most prolific directors in the history of Hong Kong cinema. Lee Tso-Nam’s directorial career has spanned more than four decades and he has over 50 movies to his credit including The Tattoo Connection, Challenge of Death and one of my personal favorites, Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger.
Lee Tso-Nam was also the director of the subject of this movie review, 1977’s The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious.
- Singled Out: Tao-Ling Tan plays Captain Lu Tung Chun, the security force captain in a small village. But it isn’t long into the movie before lawman Captain Lu finds himself singled out by ol’ Murphy’s Law. First, Captain Lu’s fiancée is nearly raped by a known troublemaker in town, fortunately for Lu’s fiancée, her mother interjected. Unfortunately for her mother, she died as a result. I should point out that the known troublemaker turned murderer is the son of Mayor Yuen aka Captain Lu’s boss. So now Captain Lu has a grieving fiancée AND he has to go to his boss’ house to find the man responsible for the grief. This means an uncomfortable and awkward conversation with his boss and Lu quickly realizing that the Mayor is not going to cooperate in this matter. Then there’s Mistress Li, she recently arrived in town looking to avenge her brother’s death from years earlier, a death she blames on Captain Lu. And then there is the icing on the cake, an infamous killer known as Pai Yu Ching (Don Wong) who has recently been released from prison shows up in town and almost immediately gets into it with Captain Lu… at this point the movie could have easily been titled Everybody Hates Lu especially after Mayor Yuen fires Lu for doing his damn job.
- Double Agent: Fortunately for Captain Lu, the bad news does eventually stop. We learn that Pai Yu Ching is not just an infamous killer, he is also an undercover government agent who is in the village to investigate Mayor Yuen’s involvement in a counterfeiting ring. Pai infiltrates Yuen’s operation offering his bodyguard services to Mayor Yuen. Once Pai knows that Captain Lu is not involved in Yuen’s dirty business the two join forces to take down Mayor Yuen and his murderous no good son. Pai even manages to convince Mistress Li to drop her grudge against Captain Lu and see him for the good man he really is.
- Triple Threat: When Mayor Yuen realizes that Lu and Pai are now working together he pulls out the ace up his sleeve… Mr. Lung (Tommy Lee). Lung is Mayor Yuen’s last resort. Lung is a truly menacing character with a white face and golden hair. Lung doesn’t just look scary though, he is a highly skilled and ruthless martial artist. No man has been able to defeat Mr. Lung… but what about two men? This leads to our big fight finale with Lu and Pai taking on Mr. Lung in what truly ends up being a battle of the hot, the cool and the vicious!
Of all the chopsocky films I have seen, The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious has the best balance of story and fighting action. All the main characters have a purpose and there is some actual character development as the movie progresses which adds a level of intrigue. I now know first hand why this movie is considered a favorite by genre expert Michael Worth (something he has mentioned a time or twelve on The Clones Cast).
Something I like to mention in every review is that it is time for the Bonus Bullet Points…
- Favorite Quote: “She’s a real loose bitch.”
- Why Did It Have To Be Snakes?: If you are wondering who really killed Mistress Li’s brother allow me to SPOIL it for you. Mistress Li’s brother was bitten by a poisonous snake while he was fighting Lu in the woods one day, something that we find out about in a flashback scene. Lu was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- The Great Escape: With his reputation preceding him, the forces of good try to negate Mr. Lung by tricking him to go inside the old temple where they then lock and barricade the door after he enters.. but Mr. Lung just jumps through the roof and starts kicking ass. One of my favorite moments from the movie.
- Push It: The debut album of the rap group Salt n Pepa was titled Hot, Cool & Vicious, which was also the simplified title of the movie in many regions around the world.
