The Tom Cruise action movie Mission: Impossible was such a global success in the late 1990s that some Hong Kong producers decided to strip the local characteristics out of their action films to make them more palatable to mainstream audiences in the West. Cue generic plots involving the CIA, international criminals, drug smugglers and terrorists, and of course, really loud action scenes featuring massive explosions. The results did not make a dent in the box office in the West, and the idea of internationalisation soon faded away. These three films, all directed by Teddy Chen Tak-sum, are the best examples of this mini-genre. 1. Downtown Torpedoes (1997) In 1997 Mission: Impossible was the most talked about film on international screens, and Hong Kong studio Golden Harvest did not bother to disguise the fact that Downtown Torpedoes was heavily influenced by it. The film opens with an MI-style hi-tech robbery of a bank in Germany and features a surfeit of then up-to-the-minute computer screens and gadgets; the soundtrack even occasionally hints at MI’s classic theme tune. Lest he be outdone by American directors, Chen throws in every action-classic hallmark he can think of – motorcycles, abseiling, speedboats, hang-gliding, divers, the lot. The result, if not up to Hollywood standards, looked slick in spite of its lack of originality. “Director Teddy Chen took on what many considered an impossible mission,” noted critic Paul Fonoroff in the Post. “That is, to make a home-grown version of Mission: Impossible.” “With Downtown Torpedoes, he and his team of experts – notably action director Stephen Tung Wai – can consider it a ‘mission accomplished’. It’s an action picture, as flawed as the Tom Cruise epic, which still provides some measure of escapist entertainment,” Fonoroff wrote. Tung, who was already one of Hong Kong’s top action directors, had a big enough budget to outdo himself. “It looks like no expense was spared, with one scene featuring an explosion that sets off dozens of automobiles that erupt one by one like dominoes,” noted the Post. Sadly, a stuntman was killed during the filming of an explosion in the movie. The story features pop idols Takeshi Kaneshiro, Charlie Young and Jordan Chan Siu-chun heading an expert gang of hi-tech thieves who are enlisted by the Hong Kong police to track down the printing plates behind a hoard of counterfeit cash. Despite the fast-paced adventures and international locales, the story quickly becomes run-of-the-mill. But the action scenes are exciting right up to the end. 2. Purple Storm (1999) Once again referencing the high jinks and stunts of Mission: Impossible, Purple Storm tried to generate international appeal by featuring international terrorists, CIA operatives, myriad views of computer screens and some big urban explosions. This time, director Chen decided to focus on Asia. “I want to turn Hong Kong films into Asian films,” he told the Hong Kong International Film Festival. “We’re trying to break through national barriers to make some truly pan-Asian films.” The story is above average, focusing on a former Khmer Rouge leader (played by the actor, director and media executive Kam Kwok-leung) who wants to continue the group’s “Year Zero” philosophy by wiping everyone out with a new form of the poison ricin. The film is mainly set in Hong Kong in spite of its global pretensions. The action is solid throughout. “The movie has some impressive special effects, such as a huge blast at a television station,” said the Post review. “It creates a good sense of suspense.” A nervy Daniel Wu Yin-cho is a good fit for the terrorist’s son, who has a bad case of amnesia and is convinced by the police that he is really one of the good guys. But Kam steals the show with an unexpectedly well-rounded portrayal of the terrorist leader. “I don’t see him as a villain. Actually he’s more like the hero,” Kam told the Post. “I don’t want to take the traditional interpretation of good and evil. I played the role true to the personality of the character – this person has a mission and a single belief, and he stays true to it.” Paul Fonoroff wrote in the Post: “Purple Storm is not a bad movie, but it could have been so much better if as much care had gone into the screenplay as into the visuals.” 3. The Accidental Spy (2001) Jackie Chan had wanted to become internationally famous since the late 1970s, but it took until 1995’s Rumble in the Bronx for that to happen. Chan continued to add an international flavour to his work before returning his gaze to the Hong Kong and mainland markets during the early 2000s. Chan tried to internationalise The Accidental Spy, at the time Hong Kong’s most expensive film, by shooting the bulk of it in English rather than Cantonese, and by adding more foreign locations. There is very little to do with Hong Kong in the film at all – it is a global spy story featuring Korean drug barons, Turkish opium growers, and the CIA, who seem to be mainly Chinese and led by Eric Tsang Chi-wai in disguise. Korea was included to capitalise on the Korean New Wave, which was just starting to break, while Turkey was treated as an exotic and dangerous third-world country, much in the way that earlier Hong Kong films used to depict Southeast Asia. The script, by accomplished screenwriter Ivy Ho (Comrades: Almost a Love Story), does not make much sense, and the focus is wholly on the action. Again choreographed by Tung – with Jackie Chan – the action scenes follow Rumble in the Bronx and First Strike by having the star adapt aspects of local culture for the stunts. Scenes such as one involving the Galata Mevlevihanesi in Istanbul, where the famed whirling dervishes meet, prove very entertaining. Most of the budget went on the action. Chan had been planning the big fight on a skyscraper for 20 years, Chen told the Post, but had not been able to afford it. “That was based on a true-life event. But the technology had never allowed him to do it on screen before. He was going to sell the idea to Hollywood but when Tung Wai and I heard about it, we persuaded him to use it,” Chen said. Noted Post critic Fonoroff: “Though it breaks no new ground, the combination of Jackie, director Chen, and martial arts coordinator Stephen Tung has created a light confection with sufficient humour and thrills to make for an enjoyable 100 minutes.” In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved industry. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook