On the big screen of Hong Kong films in the 1980s, Hong Jinbao and his "Hong Jia Ban" were loved by many action fans with their sharp action style.
As the name of "Hong Jia Ban" became more and more popular, Hong Jinbao also began to praise the martial brothers under his command, transforming into an actor.
In 1987, Zou Zhaolong was given the opportunity to enter the development of "Hongjiaban" because of his cooperation with Wu Ma and Yuan Kui in "All Out Rebound". At the end of the 80s, Hong Jinbao also began to praise Zou Zhaolong on the big screen. Of course, at that time, Zou Zhaolong was still called Ni Xing.
In 1989, Hong Jinbao planned an action film for Zou Zhaolong, "Streets of Fire", but considering that Zou Zhaolong was a newcomer, the market influence may not be enough. For commercial purposes, Hong Jinbao arranged for Qian Xiaohao to play the male number two of the film.
Qian Xiaohao's participation has indeed brought a lot of highlights to this "Street of Fire". But his excellent performance also masked the brilliance of Zou Zhaolong's protagonist. This film, which was planned for Zou Zhaolong, was also interpreted by Qian Xiaohaosheng as his own screen classic. Today we will talk about this "Street of Fire".
Before we start talking, let's take a brief review of the plot of the movie as usual.
Zhou Xiaolong (played by Zou Zhaolong), a "three-good student" who is both literate and martial arts, was born in a middle-class family and had a superior family situation, which made him receive a good education.
When he was about to graduate from secondary school, Zhou Xiaolong was given the opportunity to study in Canada, and at the "Hong Kong Student Federation Karate Competition" held at this time, he also won the honor of champion with his sharp skills.
After winning the karate competition, Zhou Xiaolong, along with several friends, and his cousin Fat Fat (played by Tai Bao), went to the bar to celebrate. Knowing that his cousin was about to go to Canada to study, Fat Fat decided to find a "dancer" to help his cousin complete the first time in his life and feel the growth of life.
The cousin just made proper arrangements for Zhou Xiaolong, but he encountered the inspection of the "police", and Zhou Xiaolong was also arrested and returned to the "police station" because of "misconduct".
At the police station, Zhou Xiaolong meets the "problem youth" Lu Jialuo (played by Qian Xiaohao). Due to his poor family's financial situation, Lu Jialuo dropped out of school very early and became an ancient puzzle boy. Because of the fight in the street, Lu Jialuo was also taken to the "police station".
In this way, two young people of similar age but with very different origins met together.
Bored, Lu Jialuo took the initiative to chat with Zhou Xiaolong, and as a result, Zhou Xiaolong ignored him. The other party's disregard made the hot-tempered Lu Jialuo very annoyed.
Seeing Zhou Xiaolong's high-spirited look, Lu Jialuo scolded him and greeted the other party's mother as soon as he came up.
In the face of Lu Jialuo's insults, Zhou Xiaolong was not angry, but mocked the other party for not having culture, so he would speak rudely.
The two men's back-and-forth fight quickly escalated into hands-on. The asirs saw that Zhou and Lu dared to fight in the "police station" and immediately gave them a lesson.
Because the "negligent plot" of the two is relatively light, after a meal of education by Asir, Zhou Xiaolong and Lu Jialuo were released from the police station.
Just after being released, Lu Jialuo retaliated against Zhou Xiaolong for "previous verbal conflicts". The two fought in the safe passage of the "police station".
At this point, a "tainted witness" was escorted to the "police station" to expose the "bribery" of a senior inspector. However, as soon as the witness arrived at the "police station", he was ambushed by the killer who was ambushed in the safe passage.
The two sides exchanged fire in the safe passage, and the frightened Zhou Xiaolong and Lu Jialuo also hurriedly escaped from the safe passage and hid in a car in front of the "police station" to watch the liveliness.
Coincidentally, this car is the killer. After an exchange of fire, the killer killed the witness and rushed out of the "police station". The killer returned to the car and tried to escape, but was killed by the pursuing "police officer".
Seeing this, Zhou Xiaolong and Lu Jialuo fled from the car in a hurry, only to be mistaken for the killer's accomplice and embark on the road to escape the pursuit.
Senior Inspector Ye Sir, who was commissioned to investigate the case. Many police officers believe that the appearance of Zhou Xiaolong and Lu Jialuo is just a coincidence, after all, they have just been released. But Ye Sir insisted that the two were closely related to the killer and must hunt down the two.
It turned out that Ye Sir was the senior inspector who "accepted bribes", and this "assassination operation" was also arranged by him. Zhou Xiaolong and Lu Jialuo accidentally hit and bumped into the scene of the crime, and Ye Sir was worried that they knew something, so he wanted to cut the grass and remove the roots.
In order to catch Lu and Tuesday, Ye Sir installed a bugging device in their home. Zhou Xiaolong wanted to escape home, so he called his parents in advance, and Xiaolong's brother was worried that something was wrong with his brother, so he told his brother that his home was monitored by the police and installed a bugging device.
Knowing that his home was dangerous and had nowhere to go, Zhou Xiaolong followed Lu Jialuo to hide in the home of the "dancer" An An. An An is Lu Jialuo's girlfriend, and Lu Jialuo tells Zhou Xiaolong that he is the most righteous person when he walks the rivers and lakes and will take him to escape with him.
Lu Jialuo wanted to find his boss "Hui Ge" to borrow money to run away, and Hui Ge superficially agreed, but behind his back, he told Ye Sir of Lu Jia Luo's whereabouts.
In order to catch Lu Jialuo and Zhou Xiaolong, Ye Sir first released 100,000 hanging reds in the name of the "police station", and then cooperated with the "gangster big brother" behind the scenes to release 100,000 dark flowers. As soon as these two reward messages came out, Lu Jialuo and Zhou Xiaolong became black and white, the common goal.
After encountering several waves of attacks by Gu Qiuzai, Zhou Xiaolong and Lu Jialuo fled to a warehouse. After experiencing several life and death, the two also began to talk to each other and establish friendship.
Lu Jialuo envied Zhou Xiaolong, who had a solid family and excellent character and learning. And Zhou Xiaolong also envied Lu Jialuo's freedom and freedom, and he did not have to pretend to be a well-behaved boy for the expectations of his parents.
Zhou and Lu, who originally had different lives, now encountered the same situation. The two people's different personalities and qualities also began to have an impact on each other. Slowly, Lu Jialuo began to change his habit of saying dirty words, and Zhou Xiaolong no longer held the shelf and pretended to be a well-behaved boy.
In order to get money to run away, Zhou Xiaolong and Lu Jialuo decided to rob the jewelry store. However, the first time they robbed, neither of them had experience. During the operation, the two were discovered by the patrol police, and the robbery plan also failed.
In the end, through the help of his classmates, Zhou Xiaolong successfully contacted his brother and cousin, and got a sum of money from his brother and cousin.
After the money arrived, the two found a boat to prepare to leave Hong Kong. However, the warehouse where the two were hiding was leaked by the boatman, and a large number of Gu Qiuzai came to the warehouse, and after a desperate fight, Lu Jialuo died under the knife of the Gu Qiaozai, and Zhou Xiaolong was also slashed. At this time, the "police" surrounded the warehouse, and Zhou Xiaolong was also taken back to the "police station".
Ye Sir interrogated Zhou Xiaolong alone, only to find that he knew nothing about the "assassination incident". At this time, the "Independent Corruption Police" grasped the evidence of Ye Sir's crime and arrested him. Zhou Xiaolong was also acquitted.
Because of the "desire and sin" of a "senior inspector", a young life ended. This bizarre experience allowed Zhou Xiaolong to witness the cruelty of society, and this cruelty was unheard of in school.
At the end of the movie, Zhou Xiaolong, who left the "police station", gave up his image of "three good students" and became a person who vented his dissatisfaction with dirty words and showed his personality with clothes, and became a person who was very similar to Lu Jialuo.
The plot design and action scenes of this "Street of Fire" are very good.
In terms of story design, the film draws on the theme of "brotherhood" in the style of "Hero Nature", and presents the audience with a story of a man who "became a confidant in tribulation".
After 1986's "The True Colors of Heroes", this kind of film work expressing "brotherly friendship" was all the rage in the Hong Kong film market. This "Street of Fire" is obviously also a follow-up work under this craze.
However, unlike the temperament of "Jianghu Hero Films" such as "The True Colors of Heroes", this "Street of Fire" focuses the protagonist of the story on small characters such as "students" and "ancient puzzle boys", rather than being a "big brother of jianghu" with hands and eyes.
In the story of "Street of Fire", the protagonist is a small person who is powerless in the face of setbacks, he does not have the status of Song Zihao, nor does he have the explosive combat power like Xiao Ma Ge. The helplessness of this small character in the face of big twists and turns also makes the story of the movie more infectious.
In addition to the highly contagious plot, the action scenes are also a highlight of this "Street of Fire". After all, "Hong Jiaban" has never disappointed the audience in the creation of action scenes.
The combination of Zou Zhaolong, Qian Xiaohao, Zhou Billy and Qian Jiale, four powerful stars, also makes the fight bridge section in the film wonderful.
Hong Jinbao originally hoped that this "Street of Fire" would become a career turning point for Zou Zhaolong, but Qian Xiaohao's performance in the film was too dazzling. This work planned for Zou Zhaolong eventually became Qian Xiaohao's "wedding dress".
In this "Street of Fire", whether it is the fierce and domineering image of the ancient puzzle boy, or the interpretation of the comedy contrast bridge section, or the performance of the fight scene, Qian Xiaohao is very in place.
Zou Zhaolong, who was still a newcomer in the film industry at that time, his acting skills were originally full of youthfulness, and under the background of Qian Xiaohao, a male number two, he completely lost the light of the protagonist, but became the foil of Qian Xiaohao.
However, the performance in "Streets of Fire" is lost, and Zou Zhaolong cannot be completely blamed. After all, Qian Xiaohao's personal brilliance in the performance is too strong.
Not only Zou Zhaolong, but even Jet Li had difficulty controlling a partner like Qian Xiaohao. In 1993's "Taiji Zhang Sanfeng", Qian Xiaohao's fierce and sharp supporting role performance also made Jet Li's performance discolored.
When this "Street of Fire" was released in 1989, because of the collision with Andy Lau and Wan Ziliang's "Dragon and Tiger Club", Liang Jiahui and Zheng Zeshi's "Three Wolves Strange Case", it was finally released for only 13 days, and the box office was only more than 2 million.
Although it was frustrated in the box office market, with its wonderful action design and excellent story, this "Street of Fire" has won praise and love from a group of action fans. At the same time, it also influenced the birth and development of the "Ancient Puzzle Boy" Hong Kong film in the 90s.