david-sarkies The movie had elements of Highlander and Les Visiteurs and some other time travel type movies, like Demolition Man (though this movie precedes Demolition Man). It is about two warriors from the Ming Dynasty. One is a psychotic killer while the other is an honourable royal guard who has to arrest the killer in twenty days or be executed himself. He chases the killer to Buddha's time wheel, originally designed to force Evil to experience a hundred life times, but used now to escape into the future. They meet, fight, and fall of a cliff and are frozen in ice only to be revived in the 20th Century.This movie goes through all of the stages of culture shock in regards to time travel. Cars being monsters, television, and the old toilet and light switch jokes, which were performed heaps better in Les Visiteurs, but then Les Visiteurs was purely a comedy movie while this movie is more of a typical Hong-Kong action comedy. Then comes the shock of the changes, the Ming Dynasty has collapsed and everything has changed. Women has risen in status to a point where, as Ching is convinced, men are subservient. Then there is the bad guy who fits in with society reasonably well, except that he goes for pearls instead of Rolex watches.I enjoyed it, as generally I like Hong Kong movies. There is little in the way of in-depth themes, or none that I can draw out of it (unlike John Woo films). There is the struggle of Ching to come to terms with the collapse of his empire, but this is something that we don't face, or not on his level. Yes, we find that at times our life simply collapses to a point where everything has changed, but I don't think The Iceman Cometh is design to provoke such thoughts. I think this movie is purely designed to entertain with martial arts extravaganzas. Woo seems to deal more with interweaving thought into his films, especially with the Killer, but we never really see Woo films on SBS. This is a good movie and would watch it again.

thomvic This is a cheesy but enjoyable film about two warriors who live in the Ming Dynasty and quite simply - one is good, the other a womanising rapist. They get transported into modern day Hong Kong where the main character ends up meeting a prositute (Maggie Cheung) who hires him as her servant to do some chores around the house as well as being her bodyguard.This is a film not to be taken seriously and you'll enjoy it the more if you don't. It is a no brainer action comedy flick that has a silly plot that works well in this type of genre. Maggie Cheung is terrific as the self centred prostitute who just doesn't really konw what to do with her life and Biao Yuen as Ching (the protagonist) is pretty good in his role and both of the leads work well together The action scenes are the sort you sort of expect in the Hong Kong action film and they remain believable if slightly outrageous. Essentially what makes the story work is its humour and I wasn't expecting this to be a comedy at all - in fact I think I must have not read the blurb at the back of the DVD cover properly as I didn't realise Ching was going to be transported to another era - and it surprised me the more when I watched it.Check it out - it's a good film. Sure it's not a masterpiece nor will it be helmed as one of the greatest movies of our time but for what it is worth - it is worth the watch.

Guardia Opera School colleagues Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah face off in this action/drama film, (oh, and Maggie Cheung tags along for good measure). This film has seems to have slipped off the radar somewhat, but if you manage to see it, you'll find it has some very powerful moments.The scope of the film is huge. We start off in Imperial China (the Ming Dynasty), where we are introduced to the characters of Fong Sau-Ching (Biao), and Fung San (Wah) - perfect symbols of good and evil respectively. As in real life, the two are 'brothers', in that they have trained and lived together as Royal Guards. However, Fung has become corrupted, and is a known rapist and murderer. Fong must capture him within twenty days, or face execution himself.Did I mention that they travel into the future Hong Kong, the year 1989? Well they do via a Buddhist Wheel - a kind of primitive Delorian (but built sturdier).This film is by no means perfect, but it's main draw-cards are the exquisitely choreographed (though all too rare) action sequences, and the overall excellent production values. The performances vary somewhat, (Yuen Wah is maybe a little too comical in his delivery), but the film is ripe with powerful scenes and a surprising amount of subtext, if you're willing to look for it.The most interesting contrast the film makes is between the past and the (then) present. We find that honour, loyalty, and friendship mean totally different things in the modern age, and Biao's character has the most difficulty adjusting to his surroundings. Wah's character however (rapist, thief, murderer) adjust very quickly, and has even managed to adopt the most cutting-edge in fashion. The subtle distinctions drawn between Hong Kong and the Mainland are also of interest - though how relevant they are today I cannot say.Clarence Fok has undertaken a very ambitious task here - a film that deals with so much (in my mind) cannot succeed in every area. However, it does succeed in the most important areas for me, and I can only recommend at least one viewing. It does, however, seem to improve with multiple viewings. The rich visuals and and action sequences alone make this a stand-out from it's era.

Dan Starkey The guy-from-the-ancient-past-accidentally-brought-to-the-present plot has been used many times, often in quite charming and amusing films - a recent example being Jean Reno's "Just Visiting." Despite the usually charming Maggie Cheung, "Iceman Cometh" takes this promising theme and manages to go nowhere with it. The fault primarily lies with the smaller-than-life Yuen Biao, who, despite prodigious kung fu skill, has near zero screen presence. **Mild spoiler follows** No woman could seriously be expected to fall in love with this sap, certainly not Maggie's tough-as-nails hooker. Her sudden reformation is the least believable conversion since James Bond transformed Pussy Galore into a heterosexual in "Goldfinger." Deservedly rare, the DVD is, to boot, particularly poor quality.