Later this year, Toy Robot Video (a new sub-label of Arrow Video) will be releasing a 4K Ultra HD for for The Corruptor, a 1999 action/thriller directed by James Foley (Glengarry Glen Ross, At Close Range).
The Corruptor stars Hong Kong screen legend Chow Yun-fat (Project Gutenberg, The Killer), Mark Wahlberg (The Departed, Mile 22, The Big Hit), Ric Young (Kiss of the Dragon), Jon Kit Lee (Romeo Must Die), Brian Cox (Braveheart) and Byron Mann (Double Edge, The Man with the Iron Fists).
Nick Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) is not your average New York cop. Working in Chinatown has its multifarious cultural nuances and its fair share of ubiquitous enticement, both of which are reflected in detective Chen’s weary face. He had to get into bed with the highest echleons of the Chinese Mafia as a way of augmenting his own career, while maintaining a semblance of control over the dime-a-dozen hoods who proliferate on this turf. To make matters worse, he now has to break in rookie detective Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg), who has asked to be assigned to the Chinatown division. And all of this under the suspicious eye of Internal Affairs.
Details and features are still pending.
🔥 Footnote: This underrated thriller is exactly how we like it: gritty. Think of it as a buddy cop action flick crossed with Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon. Its standout car chase spares no one, whether they’re criminals or innocent bystanders. If you’re expecting Hong Kong style action, you might be disappointed. Bonus: If you’re a Third Eye Blind fan, your ears will be happy in a few spots
This title will be available at The Goodie Emporium, a U.S.-based online store that currently has many Import Shaw Brothers/Golden Harvest/martial arts DVD/Blu-ray movies in-stock – with New titles being added regularly!
Watch the film’s classic Trailer below:
Hollywood really had no idea what to do with CYF, did they? He never got to display the famous charisma and acting ability that propelled him to white-hot stardom in Asia, never got to show off his comedic or romantic chops, or sink his teeth into a suitably dramatic role.
It was just Temu John Woo (The Replacement Killers), an ambitious but inert drama (Anna and the King), and this forgotten sleazefest that trafficked in recycled tropes from Year of the Dragon.
And to think, these were Oscar-worthy efforts compared to what came after…Bulletproof Monk, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and of course, Dragonball Evolution. His career has never really recovered, but at least he’s carved out a legend through his 80s and 90s films that will stand the test of time, and has been able to coast on that legend in a bunch of throwaway Chinese flicks since.
The Corruptor was his best Hollywood film and didn’t need to take from Year of the Dragon. It was very much in line with a Don Siegel crime film, and I wish that Chow Yun Fat did more of these in the US. He could have gone on to do films similar to Running Scared or 21 Bridges.
I don’t mind upgrading my cardboard DVD.
“I don’t mind upgrading my cardboard DVD.” lol
You’re not wrong. =)
Another film that falls into the tired trope of portraying Asians as villains while positioning white characters as the heroes. It’s no surprise this one has largely faded from the conversation. Marky Mark is a racist Trumper.