The Postman Strikes Back

The Postman Strikes Back

Being a fan of Asian cinema (with a great love for Hong Kong cinema) and being a long-time fan of Chow Yun Fat, it was with some anticipation that I sat down to watch "The Postman Fights Back". And I must say that this is a fairly mediocre movie, unfortunately. It was nice to see a very young Chow Yun Fat here, and I actually think this is some of his earliest work that I have seen, at least that I can remember. The story told in "The Postman Fights Back" is about Ma (played by Ka-Yan Leung) who is a postman back in the the early days of the Chinese Republic. He is hired to bring some mysterious parcels to someone, and joins up with a couple of traveling companions. The group undergoes a long travel to deliver the parcels, and are waylaid by marauders, villains and bad weather along the way. Everyone is not whom they claim to be. So who can Ma trust and what is in the parcels that he was given strict orders not to open? The plot in the movie was fairly simple and straight forward, bordering on being too plain and mundane, you might say almost boring actually. The dialogue, well it was staggering at times, but otherwise fairly ordinary stuff here from such an old Chinese movie. As for the acting in "The Postman Fights Back", then people actually did good jobs with their roles, despite having a mediocre script to work with. There were some good performances being put on here and there. However, as for the martial arts, well... Some of the fighting scenes were an eyesore and straining to behold, while others were nicely executed and choreographed. Now, mind you, don't expect to see martial arts that you see in Tony Jaa, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, etc. movies, because that ain't happening. And prepare yourself for some rather overly-painted sound effects for the fight scenes. I couldn't help but smiling at times because of the sound effects used. "The Postman Fights Back" actually did have some nice scenes and some good cinematography every now and then, and that was one of the better things in the movie. And without saying too much, then prepare yourself for a royal eye-candy treat when you see the two (black and white) ninja outfits that the main villain donned towards the end. They were off the charts, I was laughing so hard at that. Notice, in one of the close-up scenes, that the black, form-fitting shirt he wears looks to be a knitted shirt. Got to love stuff like that. For a Hong Kong movie, "The Postman Fights Back" was fairly average as to be expected from a 1982 movie. But if you like Asian cinema, and don't mind older movies, and/or is a fan of Chow Yun Fat, then "The Postman Fights Back" is worth watching if you haven't already seen it, just to check it off the 'to-watch list'.

source: The Postman Strikes Back

Hu (Eddy Ko Hung) has had four men selected to transport a gift through enemy lands. They include a thief named Yao Jie (Yuen Yat-chor), Bu the dynamite expert (Fan Mui-sang), a postman named Ma (Leung Kar-Yan) and conman Fu Jun (Chow Yun-Fat). They have a week to deliver the box and must never open it. They're joined by Guihwa (Cherie Chung Cho-hung), who wants to free her sister from slavery somewhere in the city. It seems simple, but soon there is a ninja, masked killers on ice skates and all manner of criminals out to take whatever is in the package. Yuen Woo-Ping directed the action. Chow Yun-Fat may be the selling point to American audiences, but Leung Kar-Yan is the hero. But I mean, ice skating ninjas. That's worth watching. Director Ronny Yu also made The Bride with the White Hair before coming to the U. S. where he directed Bride of Chucky and Freddy vs. Jason before going back home to make Fearless.

The Postman Fights Back is an early film for director Ronny Yu, who would later direct the wuxia masterpiece The Bride With White Hair. This is mostly a starring vehicle for Ka Yan Leung best known as "Beardy") and if you seen a few old school kung fu flicks, you definitely will recognize him. This puts a postman, a thief, an explosive expert and a con man together to deliver a package that has people trying to kill them on the way. Chow Yun Fat and Cherie Chung give early appearances here and is cool to see Chow Yun Fat mixing it up with some old school chop sockey action. The Postman Fights Back is crazy, unpolished action that is a bridge between the old school Kung Fu flicks and the new wave of HK action cinema that was about to revolutionize the action movie market with the films of John Woo, Jackie Chan and others. Eddie Ko plays a similar ninja character that he played in Duel To The Death and has similar insane ninja action. The Postman Fights Back is not without it's flaws, but is definitely a worthy Hong Kong action flick that is good enough to please fans of the genre and is interesting enough to give it a shot.

No pun intended - before the Transporter we had others you had to deliver packages ... although in this case it is not people that are being transported. Well at least not in the boxes they have to carry, they would be far too small for that anyway. Quite a good troop of people you get here. Although as I understand it, Chow Yun Fat was not the one we came to know and love in later years. No John Woo movies under his belt is what I mean. Apparently he was more of a romantic movie star back then. Funny I never saw him like that (no pun intended and King & I left aside of course). The action is very well shot and the story is tight - well it is not much of a story, but more than enough to get you invested. It is about new technology being able to ... well get rid of a lot of people (again no pun intended). There still is time and the place to add a lot of action scenes. With a lot of violence and blood ... we wouldn't want it any other way ... right? Great soundtrack too btw ... felt like I had heard certain themes ... but it probably just means others have used stuff from this ...

Dramatically set during times of rural privation, and turbulent political unrest, heroic courier Ma (Leung kar-yan) reluctantly undertakes an increasingly precarious journey. Delivering a mysterious package to a rebel leader, Ma, and his motley companions, must courageously overcome many life-threatening obstacles. Ace director Ronny Yu's wintry, thrillingly violent quest, has the mythic qualities of an existential western alongside the hyper kineticism of a blazing, exquisitely choreographed Martial Arts epic! This wild bunch's thrillingly bloody exodus in bandit country provides an adrenalizing number of dazzling sequences, and the bravura, bullet-blasted finale is a gonzo Golden Harvest classic!

Kung fu wise, this movie doesn't offer a great deal. There is very little fighting in it, and the quality of it isn't great. Eddy Ko (the bad guy) is good (in terms of acting), and there are a couple of pretty girls, too, but ultimately the movie is quite dull. Chow Yun Fat has a couple of fight scenes, but his moves are unconvincing - one understands why he subsequently stuck mostly to gangster movies. The main character, capable Ka-Yan Leung, hardly does any fighting, which is a great disappointment. The story has him as a traveling postman, who's delivering an important but fateful set of boxes to an evil lord. The result is tragic, and the "hero" doesn't do anything about it until he finally gets angry and takes out the bad guy. But the story is unsatisfying, doesn't have much entertainment value, and is generally rather dull. 5 out of 10.

Ronnie Yu's powerful and sometimes savage account of the struggle between heavy artillery and the plight of man is an engaging romp, the high production costs and smart direction taking it a notch above other standard kung fu fare. We are taken back to the early days of the Chinese Republic, and a popular folk tale is revived detailing the adventures of four heroic dead-end types, sent on a secret mission to reach the Lo Yang Pass in seven days carrying a special secret cargo. Our mismatched quartet become patriotic heroes however when the cargo is revealed to be heavy arms destined for the notorious warlord Yue Sai Hoi in his quest to defeat Dr Sun Yat Sen's Nationalist Guard, forcing the group to leap into action to save self and country. Action wise the movie has divided moments: from the graphic machine gun massacres and the silly supernatural Ninja bits, to some high class kung fu confrontations featuring the undoubtedly gifted talents of Kar Yan, this time not so much beard as stubble.

In 'The Postman Fights Back', couriers who work under the stressful conditions in the war-torn Republic of China are hired by Hu(Eddy Ko) to deliver a set of mysterious cases. The couriers assume that the cases are simple birthday gifts until they're attacked by mysterious warriors who may be after their cargo. This film leads to an exhilarating and action-packed surprise ending. This is an early Ronny Yu film starring Fan Mei-sheng, Eddy Ko, Cherie Chung,a young and lanky Chow Yun-fat, and many others. Even Chow Yun-fat looks good the film's fight scenes as we watch his acting prowess as he fights. Not all of the action is martial arts, there's some guns which are fired as well as some monster fire ball explosions. There's also a fight scene on frozen lake which is well-crafted and exhilarating to watch. This wonderfully-crafted period-piece filmed in Korea is a classic which I feel should not be missed.