Let the Bullets Fly [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]

Product Description Set in China during the warring 1920s, notorious bandit chief Zhang descends upon a remote provincial town posing as its new mayor, an identity that he had hijacked from Old Tang, himself a small-time imposter. Hell-bent on making a fast buck, Zhang soon meets his match in the tyrannical local gentry Huang as a deadly battle of wit and brutality ensues. Amazon.com The highest-grossing Chinese film as of May 2012, Jiang Wen's Let the Bullets Fly (2010) is a fast-paced, frequently funny action-comedy enlivened by Jiang's go-for-broke direction and a thoroughly game cast that includes Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-fat. In addition to writing and directing the period film, Jiang also stars as Zhang, a bandit chief who overtakes a train carrying Ma (Ge You), the incoming mayor of a walled city called Goose Town. To avoid certain death, Ma assumes the identity of his adviser, who was killed during the train takeover, and makes Zhang the new mayor of Goose Town. The bandit's rule is initially opposed by mobster Huang (Chow), who holds the real seat of power in the town through ruthless oppression of the locals. Though a bandit, Zhang is opposed to exploiting the poor, and teams with Ma to unseat Huang through a series of increasingly complicated schemes, many of which hinge on assumed identities, impersonations, and body doubles. This theme of judging a book by its cover runs throughout Let the Bullets Fly, as all the characters, including a local prostitute (Zhou Yun) and Zhang's henchmen, all identified by numbers, surpass expectations of their respective positions through their actions: Zhang is a bandit, but also a decidedly democratic leader, while incumbent mayor Ma proves a craftier deceiver than his outlaw partner. The comedy of reversed (and inversed) personalities offers subtle contrast to Jiang's kinetic action set pieces, which career from explosive train derailments to wire-work fights and sprawling shootouts; the balance between action and comedy, the latter driven largely by the performances by the three leads, is handled with a deftness that should serve as a study guide for American filmmakers (or whoever remakes the picture, as it's already been optioned for an English-language remake) attempting the same blend. The Blu-ray/DVD combo presentation offers trailers for several other Asian features from the Well Go label; the collector's edition Blu-ray offers interviews with the cast and crew, as well as a slew of webisodes devoted to its production. --Paul Gaita Review High-Octane Gun Slinging.....Unabashedly Entertaining! --Hollywood Reporter About the Actor Mini Biography Chow Yun Fat is a charismatic, athletically built and energetic Asian-born film star who first came to the attention of western audiences via his roles in the high-octane/blazing guns action films of maverick HK director John Woo. Born in 1955 on the quiet island of Lamma, part of the then British colony of Hong Kong near its famous Victoria Harbour, Chow's family moved to urban Hong Kong in 1965 and in early 1973, Chow attended a casting call for TVB, a division of Shaw Bros. productions. With his good looks and easy-going style, Chow was originally a heartthrob actor in non-demanding TV and film roles. However, his popularity increased with his appearance as white-suited gangster Hui Man-Keung in the highly popular drama TV series_The Bund (1983). In 1985, Chow started receiving acclaim for his work and scored the Golden Horse (Best Actor) Award in Taiwan and another Best Actor Award from the Asian Pacific Film Festival for his performance in Dang doi lai ming (1984). With these accolades, Chow came to the attention of Woo, who cast Chow in the fast-paced gangster film A Better Tomorrow (1986) (aka "A Better Tomorrow"). The rest, as they say, is history. The film was an enormous commercial success, and Chow's influence on young Asian males was not dissimilar to the adulation given to previous Asian film sensations such as Bruce