“Thunder Run” DVD Cover
Director: Hsu Hsia
Cast: Ray Lui, Alex Fong Chung Sun, Ha Chi Jan, William Ho Ka Kui, Jason Pai Piao, Fung Hak On, Tony Liu Jun Guk, Ho Pak Kwong, Wan Seung Lam
Running Time: 117 min.
By Paul Bramhall
At the time of writing in 2021, Ray Lui returned to screens in (the ironically titled) Heroes Return, in which he plays a former soldier that ventures into the Thai jungles to rescue Yuen Biao, who’s being held prisoner. It sucked. However it’s worth noting that, exactly 30 years earlier, Ray Lui also ventured into the Thai jungles to make a rescue, although instead of it being Yuen Biao it was Alex Fong, who similarly was being held prisoner. That movie was Thunder Run. Perhaps the most striking comparison point between both productions, is that Lui doesn’t look all that different in either, clearly indicating he knows something that most of us don’t when it comes to anti-aging.
Thunder Run is somewhat of an anomaly for the year that it was made, as almost any Hong Kong action flick being shot in Thailand during the late 80’s and early 90’s exclusively belonged to the Girls with Guns genre. Angel 2, Angel Force, and Dreaming the Reality to name just three all use Thailand’s cheaper filmmaking conditions and game stuntman community to create cheap and cheerful mixes of fisticuffs, pyrotechnics, and unlimited machine gunfire. Swap out Moon Lee for Ray Lui (not something many of us would do voluntarily I’m sure), and it gives you some idea of what to expect.
In the directors’ chair is Hsu Hsia, one of the great unsung talents of action choreography, especially during his time at Shaw Brothers. Hsia choreographed the likes of Five Superfighters and The Master, before trying his hand at directing with the 1981 Lo Meng vehicle Lion Vs Lion, which he co-directed with Chin Yuet-Sang. He’d go onto helm the likes of Kid from Kwangtung, Ghosts Galore, Fast Fingers, and I Will Finally Knock You Down, Dad! for Shaw Brothers, before the studio wound down its film production department in the mid-80’s. Thunder Run would be the last time for Hsia to sit in the directors chair, made the same year he’d helm the Donnie Yen flick Crystal Hunt, which was also shot in Thailand, making it not entirely improbable that both productions were shot at the same time
Here Thailand doubles as its neighbouring Laos, and the plot concerns a couple of hotshot special forces agents played by Ray Lui and Alex Fong. Hsia had a particularly quirky trope for both of his final movies, which involved kung fu cinema legends from his Shaw Brothers days appearing in the opening scene (in both instances involving some kind of raid style setup), then disappearing. In Crystal Hunt we get a cop played by Leung Kar-Yan raiding a den of villains, one of whom is played by Gordon Liu. 5 minutes later and the scene is over, with neither of them to appear again. Thunder Run presents us with an opening scene which has a group of hostages being held to ransom by Fung Hak-On, before facing off against a special force’s unit led by Jason Pai Piao, after which they both disappear. At least Hak-On directed the classic Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues the same year, where he put in more of a worthy appearance.
Lui and Fong are part of the special force’s unit, and after the raid concludes in dangerous fashion, the 2 are told to take a break for the next couple of weeks. Naturally, they decide to go to Thailand together, with Lui using it as an opportunity to hunt down a drug dealer who’s known to be hiding out in Laos, and Fong only worried about contracting AIDS from the women (c’mon, it’s a 1991 HK movie, this stuff was standard). After meeting with Lui’s friend upon arrival, played by Ha Chi-Chun (Eastern Condors, Aces Go Places V – The Terracotta Hit), the pair attempt to find the drug dealer, leaving Fong to relax in the hotel. In true HK fashion, it’s Fong that unknowingly stumbles across the drug dealer, played by Tony Lou Chun-Ku (the director of Killer Angels and the aforementioned Dreaming the Reality).
The pair get into a furious fight in Fong’s room as Chun-Ku attempts to escape a police raid on the hotel, and ends up plunging to his death through the window. When the police arrive on the scene, Fong is left with a suitcase full of drugs and a dead body to his name, which promptly sees him sent off to a notorious prison in the middle of the jungle. With their claims to be part of the Hong Kong police force carrying no weight in the local environment, Lui makes it his mission to infiltrate the prison and get Fong out, but with a jungle full of booby traps, heavily armed guards, and a sadistic warden, it’s not going to be an easy task.
For the most part, Thunder Run plays out exactly how you’d expect a HK prison movie shot in Thailand to play out, however when it comes to an early 90’s HK action flick, unlike in most other genres, that’s actually a positive thing. The same sentiment also applies to the plot, which is to say, not everything makes a whole lot of sense. Lui decides that the best way to get Fong out of prison, is to be sent to prison himself, which is kind of dumb. Perhaps to distract from the fact, once in Lui befriends a midget who knows his way around, much to the chagrin of the prison bullies (led by Kawee Sirikhanerut – who turned up in almost every early to mid-90’s Thailand shot HK flick as the local action talent, amongst them Fire Phoenix and Mission of Justice). To show their close bond, soon Lui is carrying the midget around like he’s his child, or they’re walking around holding hands together. Frankly it’s a little weird.
Thankfully action beats are never too far away, with fights breaking out frequently, and choreography duties go to both Hsia and frequent collaborator (and fellow Shaw Brothers stalwart, naturally) Chui Fat. Hsia and Fat choreographed together on several occasions during their time at SB, including on The Boxer from the Temple and Coward Bastard, and they’d continue to work together, with Fat also applying his talents to the action in Crystal Hunt. An action highlight has Lui and Fong team up to take on Sirikhanerut, with plenty of wince inducing impacts and falls (thanks to their doubles), and full of the kind of ferocious back and forth exchanges which were particularly prevalent during this era.
The finale is particularly entertaining, as Lui goes John Rambo, and takes to the jungle armed with a bow and explosive tipped arrows (although in fairness, they just look like sparklers attached to the end of the arrow). Ha Chi-Chun, who gives us a brief glimpse of her action credentials earlier on when she’s harassed by 3 guys while waiting for Lui and Fong at the airport, here gets a 1 on 1 with who I can only assume is a local Thai femme fatale, as she’s not listed in the cast anywhere. Similarly for Fong who also gets to take on a Thai stuntman, while Lui gets to do the heavy lifting by facing off against the sadistic prison warden, played by the prolific William Ho (a role he’d return to in The Story of Ricky the following year). Their fight is heavily doubled, but its intense and acrobatic, with power hits sending whoever’s on the receiving end into trees and whatever other immovable objects are in the vicinity.
Naturally, the Thailand setting means it wouldn’t be complete without the appearance of rocket launchers for some gratuitous explosions, and Thunder Run doesn’t disappoint (although the fact that none of the prison watch towers get blown up somehow feels like a missed opportunity). If that isn’t enough for you, then we also get Ray Lui demonstrating what to do if you’re being restrained and having a venomous snake waved in front of your face (hint – it involves using your teeth), plus a butt clench inducing cavity search just for good measure (and we’re not even watching a Chang Cheh movie!). While Thunder Run has largely found itself overlooked thanks to the sheer volume of Hong Kong action movies that were being cranked out during the late 80’s and early 80’s, for a healthy mix of prison movie meets HK action, it’s definitely worth a look.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10
