As I stumbled upon this 1989 Hong Kong action crime movie "Sang Gong Kei Bing 3" (aka "Long Arm of the Law III"),I must admit that I was somewhat looking forward to seeing it. Why? Well, because the movie had Andy Lau in the leading role.

Sure, I had never heard about "Sang Gong Kei Bing 3" prior to watching it, nor do I actually think that I have seen the previous two movies in the series, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into here from writers Johnny Mak and Stephen Shiu.

Director Michael Mak managed to deliver a watchable enough movie here with "Sang Gong Kei Bing 3", but it wasn't a particularly outstanding or overly enjoyable movie. And for an action crime movie, I must say that there are far better movies out there in the genre. But yeah, "Sang Gong Kei Bing 3" was watchable enough for what it turned out to be. I must admit, hand on heart, that I had expected a tad more from the movie.

The movie didn't really have an overly outstanding cast ensemble, and it was essentially only Andy Lau that proved familiar to me.

While I managed to sit through the entire movie, I was only mildly entertained. I cannot claim that this is a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time.

My rating of "Sang Gong Kei Bing 3" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

The LONG ARM OF THE LAW series from Hong Kong is a mixed bag of realistic crime thrillers typically detailing the lives of gangsters and robbers at loose in the city. The first was tautly realistic, culminating in a great extended climax, while the latter was a step down although still fun. This third film is the best of a lot, an all-out action thriller with Andy Lau as lead. He plays a Chinese llegal immigrant pursued by ruthless mainland cop Eddie Tsui, who falls in love and falls in with a gang of robbers at the same time. Lots of expertly-choreographed mayhem and great stunts throughout here, plus Max Mok in support. What more could you possibly want?!

Andy Lau is sentenced to death after being falsely accused of a crime, but he escapes and meets a girl while he is being smuggled into Hong Kong. The girl he meets is kidnapped and Lau is forced to do a robbery in exchange for the girl's life. Kirk Wong is the leader of the gang that is forcing Lau to do the robbery. Kirk Wong is so evil in this movie. And as if things aren't bad enough, Lau has a communist cop played by Elvis Tsui after him. Elvis Tsui has been in well over 100 movies, but this is definitely one of his finest roles. He is downright menacing.

I thought the story could have been a bit better, but the action really surprised me. I didn't realize this was going to be a great action movie, but that is what I got. Great fights, great shootouts, and some awesome stunts. The action is done by none other than Tony Leung Siu Lung (brother of Bruce Leung),the same guy who did the action for (and directed) Bloodmoon and Superfights. He is not as well known as guys like Yuen woo Ping and Corey Yuen, but I like the action that Tony Leung provides much more (in this movie especially). It looks a lot more real.

I don't want to give anything away in this movie, so just go and see it! And look for a cameo fight from John Ladaski. I would break down all the action scenes, but it is something you have to experience for yourself. Take my word for it. It is truly amazing. And don't worry, you don't need to see Long Arm of the Law I and II before you watch this.

The picture quality on the Joy Sales DVD is not exactly perfect, but still more than watchable.