This is the opposite of a kid's movie. Many R rated violent movies are fine for kids, but the story, the tragedy, the horror, and just the characters are too much for children. This is not a movie to watch if you are having a party. This is a fine, fine work by John Woo. The four main characters are excellent, and one is a killing machine. In the end you get more from this than even The Killer (which I feel is a better movie). While The Killer may tug at your heart, this will screw with your mind. This movie must be seen much more than the Matrix when it comes to being unable to explain what's going on. John Woo's opening seems very in character for him, but it might not be perfect for this film. Still, it serves its purpose and the end is truly incredible.

I've long been a fan of John Woo's films ever since I saw my first, HARD TARGET, about a decade ago. While I still love that movie, I'm aware that many of Woo's Chinese films are considered far superior to anything he's done in Hollywood. HARD-BOILED is a favourite thanks to the intense action but, having just watched BULLET IN THE HEAD, I can appreciate that this is perhaps his most intense and emotional film yet.

The story is a simple one: three young friends, all male, all ambitious, find themselves on the wrong side of the law in Vietnam, caught up with smugglers and the Vietcong army. What follows is an odyssey of discovery and heartbreak in equal measure. Woo focuses on the darker side of life (and death),making this his most downbeat yet. What happens is tragic and moving, yet captured with skilled direction and masterful action sequences that make it utterly compelling. It reminded me a little of the Korean war film BROTHEROOD, although this is superior.

The three young stars, Leung, Cheung, and Lee, each put in great performances on different sides of the spectrum. Leung is the clear-cut hero, with a conscience; Lee is the one sidetracked by a lust for riches, and Cheung is the comic relief, the one who finds himself in all sorts of scrapes. There's also a brilliant turn from Simon Yam who should have won an Oscar for his supporting performance here – it's the best I've ever seen him and makes me appreciate him as an actor far more than I did previously.

The movie is action-packed and has plenty of brilliant moments. Grenades, sticks of dynamites disguised as cigars, Vietcong torture and a car chase: it's all here, all pulse-pounding. The shoot-out in the bad guy's den recalls SCARFACE in terms of sheer over-the-top carnage, and takes some beating. The finale is over-the-top but works well, and in between we have all sorts of other stuff going down. The Vietcong prison camp sequence is one of the most powerful and disturbing I've seen filmed and it's pretty hard to watch. Blood often flows across the screen in this film and it's definitely not one for the faint hearted. Saying that, I can't help but view this as a masterpiece and a film which should be far better known than it currently is.

I only bought this because it was part of "The John Woo Collection" and having watched it I'm glad that I bought it as it is a good film although it isn't as good as "The Killer" or "Hard Boiled". The action doesn't stop from the beginning to the end. I was expecting it to be a war film as it is mostly set in Vietnam during the war however it is really an action film that happens to be set during a war.

Three friends decide to flee from Hong Kong when the police are after them for the killing of a local gang leader. They decide to head to Saigon believing they will be able to make a quick buck selling items they brought with them on the black market. Unfortunately for them their items are destroyed when a bomber blows up the taxi they were in during an attack on a high ranking ARVN officer. After witnessing the summary execution of the bomber they realise what they need to make money in Saigon is a gun. They soon meet up with their contact and acquire guns, with these they steal a crate of gold from a local gangster, in the process they rescue a singer who gets wounded in the escape. Their escape plan does not go as well as planned and they find themselves prisoners of the NVA. I've tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum so as not to spoil the story for those who have yet to see it.

As one would expect from a John Woo film there is plenty of action, in fact there is hardly a scene that doesn't involve fighting or shooting. The action looks good if a little unbelievable; our pistol carrying friends seem to be able to beat machine-gun carrying ARVN and NVA soldiers along with a hoard of gangsters. I'd recommend this to anybody who likes action films or is interested in seeing a Vietnam movie that isn't centred on the Americans.