The_Phantom_Projectionist MANHATTAN CHASE is technically a Hong Kong movie, though only as much as director Godfrey Ho's previous US-set features HONOR AND GLORY and UNDEFEATABLE are Hong Kong movies. While stylistically similar, MANHATTAN CHASE does not share any of the joyful goofiness that made those films cult classics, and is actually pretty dark. This is Ho's "serious" action-drama, and while substantially better than his worst work, this one scrambles for an average rating. It gets it, mostly due to the scrappy strength of its action content, but I have a hard time recommending this one.The story: After being released from prison, an ex-gangster (Loren Avedon) finds himself on the opposite side of crime when he becomes involved in a matter of stolen heroin.A king of unintentional surrealism like Godfrey Ho probably had to restrain himself considerably to film a story as "normal" as this. The closest we get to a taste of his trademark buffoonery is a scene wherein a boy on rollerblades is kidnapped by two thugs, also on rollerblades, and costar Cynthia Rothrock chases after them on a motorized scooter. A ton of poor acting will give cheese-lovers reason to chuckle, but overall, this is clearly supposed to be a serious crime story…and I have to admit, I hate it. The depressing portrayal of female characters crosses a boundary of taste. Though Rothrock co-leads and remains as cool as one would expect, the film's world is excessively antagonistic towards women otherwise: if female characters are not being terrorized, assaulted, or murdered with abandon, they're scapegoated for the story's dumb turns. Additionally, minority characters face a fierce rate of mortality. These trends come across as dramatic shorthand for "this is gritty and realistic," but their gratuitousness pushes the film into exploitation territory and tarnishes the viewing experience.The action content is this feature's saving grace, and a few more additions to the seven full-length fights would probably have pushed this one to a higher score. The filmmakers are clearly working with little more than the skill of the stunt ensemble, and luckily, this is conducive to the Hong Kong-style of action. Coordinator and costar Steve Tartalia does very well in maximizing his resources, and though Avedon and Rothrock have had better fights against flashier opponents, they personally look close to their best, here. A scene wherein Cynthia chases down a couple of purse-snatchers probably could not have been done much better even in Hong Kong in 1986, and a mid-movie brawl between Loren and Tartalia is particularly satisfying. The feature also introduces Roberto Gutierrez to the screen, who has not done any film work since but whose wushu moves are especially eye-catching.I'm pleased that Loren Avedon is given a chance to flex his acting muscles a bit, even if his Brooklyn accent is as evasive as anything Kevin Costner has ever attempted, but the movie he's in just isn't that great. Fluctuating production values add to the list of detriments chipping away at the film's quality, and even though nothing bearing the name of Godfrey Ho should be regarded with more than modest expectations, this one still falls short. For die-hards, only!

redleader2008 Oh boy I've just watched this and to say I was sorely disappointed would be an understatement.Initially I was drawn to this film via Godfrey Ho, especially his films set in the USA. His double whammy of "Honor and Glory" (which featured the entire cast that would return in "Undefeatable" but playing different roles) and of course Undefeatable itself.The latter film to me is "The Godfather" of unintentional laughing fits that induced me to put Undefeatable up there as a genuine classic film, 5 star (or 10 star IMDb) for inventing a new genre of movie.Even you took all the unintentional funny bits from all the obscure, guilty pleasures, dusty Video Rental VHS you'd watched; put them into one film, it still wouldn't be a patch on Undefeatable.Honor and Glory was no picnic either coming a close second.I was asked by my room-mates to take my headphones out of my laptop whilst watching it at night- as the volume of my laughter was LOUDER than the film itself!So naturally I was looking forward to "Manhatten Chase".The first sign of this being a traditional Godfrey Ho film is the picture quality. Despite the film being made in 1999 it appears to have been shot in the early 1980s with the usual grainy, dark transfer. If it weren't for a scene featuring a guy walking past a cinema advertising Deep Impact or Doctor Dolittle you'd choose the latter decade.I'm not sure what cameras or film Godfrey Ho's Production Team use but they should have tried Home Video Camcorders! However the similarity ends there.As soon as the film started this is when I dosed off. It was just plain boring and if I'm not mistaken I think after a career spanning 30 years of ridicule Godfrey hired a different scriptwriter to make a "proper" movie (or at least one that wouldn't make you laugh unintentionally). Something to do with a girl whose entire family are brutally massacred in front of her because of stolen, pushed drugs, I dunno; I was too busy checking e-mails, forum posts, Facebook to notice.Loren "I'm still waiting for THAT phonecall" Avedon who hadn't made, his much touted, big break after 1991's King of the Kickboxers and the previous No Retreat No Surrender sequels (all produced by the other perennial grainy film makers Seasonal Films) stars in this.His role is a (miscast) Mafia Hit-man and all round family man who after being busted by Cynthia Rothrock (who as usual is not the main star, nor a major character despite the DVD cover) decides to play a bigger part in his sons development after being released from prison.If anything Loren Avedon's ability as a Martial Artist, his much noted charisma, likability and knowing how to look cool whilst firing a gun adds an additional question mark over why Avedon never got better roles. The fact this was made 8 years after King of the Kickboxers doesn't hamper Avedon's enthusiasm for Manhatten Chases' shoe string production and inevitable limited release.So do you want to know if Manhatten Chase is a laugh-a-minute, bona fide "classic" like previous works Undefeatable and Honor and Glory? After all that is Godfrey Ho's specialty, whether he is aware of it or not. The answer sadly is no. I didn't "laugh out loud" once during this film.There are some "daft" moments such as Loren Avedon wearing a Baraclava and holding a high powered sniper rifle during broad daylight in a park. However knowing that this film has no budget its obvious a night-time shoot permit with security would've been too expensive.Yes I too thought Cynthia Rothrock on a Power Scooter that goes slower than jogging pace to chase bad guys on roller blades was a daft option considering her character trips over a peddle bike she could've used instead.But thats it. The only other scene is where Loren Avedon's character hands his son a reconciliation present; a 1990 Black and White Nintendo Gameboy! Even in 1999 it was considered a defunct portable console, succeeded by Playstations, N64s etc.Godfrey Ho retired from film after making this his last. It doesn't bare any trademarks to any of his previous films and I guess if Undefeatable was "The Godfather", Honor and Glory was "The Godfather part 2" then Manhattan Chase is "Robocop 3".PS: I couldn't find this movie anywhere neither on VHS, DVD on Ebay, Amazon or anywhere they didn't even have a listing for it. My guess was it was withdrawn from mainstream video release. I wouldn't bother hunting it down.

HaemovoreRex Following his two previous forays filming action films in the big ol'USA, bad movie god, Godfrey Ho made this, which as it happens, was very sadly his final venture before retiring to teach film-making to students (try not to laugh please). Loren Avedon appears here as Jason, a hit man for the mob who is apprehended (and administered an ass whooping!) at the beginning of the film by a feisty female cop played by perennial high kicking babe, Cynthia Rothrock. Six years later and having served his time in the old slammer our man has subsequently seen the error of his ways (upstanding and sure proof of the efficaciousness of the penal reform system there.....) not least of all due to him missing out on his precious time with his young son; a kid who delivers all of his lines as though he is struggling to practise ventriloquism in fact......but I digress.....Reunited at last, Jason is determined to make a go of it as a dad and vows never to return to his old criminal ways - a refusal which displeases his old boss somewhat. This is where matters take a more convoluted turn; Said crime lord is presently searching for some stolen drugs and has a whole family taken out in his quest - except for the daughter who escapes.....and literally runs into Jason's car. Yes, as you can probably guess, our hero as a result becomes embroiled in the affair, now working against his old employers in the protection of the girl who yes, you've guessed it, he becomes romantically involved with. Ostensibly our Godfrey loves coincidences as much as he loves to elicit bad acting displays from his cast for in another bizarre twist of events, Jason's ex wife turns up out of the blue, also eager to reacquaint herself with her son (said child was previously being raised by an auntie). And wouldn't you know it, but said ex is only none other than Cynthia Rothrock's sis!!!! Wow, what a small world eh?Anyway, to cut a long story short, matters come to a head in central park with a violent shoot out......and a surprisingly downbeat outcome which I won't spoil here.Well, what can I say about all this? The good news is that with our man Godfrey at the helm, the film is predictably, delightfully dreadful on the acting, editing and general logic front - great news for bad movie aficionados. For instance, as is in keeping with the world according to Ho, everyone and their uncle in this appears to be expert at martial arts(!) Yes, even bag snatchers are shown to be highly trained and disciplined fighters, ready to unleash their deadly skills at a moments notice. Unfortunately, and shockingly however, there isn't nearly as much fighting in this as you would expect, indeed, bizarrely, the film actually plays out more like a dreadfully forced sentimental melodrama with some fight scenes sporadically thrown in just to keep you awake.Still, for fellow Ho completists, it's probably worthy of at least a peek although be warned, those hoping for something as glorious as his cut & paste ninja output or else the classic, Undefeatable will likely be left sorely disappointed.

andrew-552 First off, be warned (that is if the rating and the title I've given this review aren't warning enough that is), Cynthia Rothrock may well get top billing in this movie but she is by NO means the star of this movie or even it's main character. That dubious honour falls to Loren Avedon as former criminal, Jason Reed. Just released from prison after a six year stretch for... well... as far as I can tell, laying in the grass in Central Park with a black balaclava on his head and a sniper rifle in his hands, randomly targeting passers-by until the aforementioned Ms. Rothrock pops up and arrests him after, of course, kicking his butt. It later emerges that Loren is a hit-man for what has to be the smallest criminal organisation in the history of New York, consisting of all of five guys! This does even out though as throughout the course of the movie it emerges that there are in fact only three cops in the whole of New York, Cynthia, her crooked partner and, "Moustachioed Uniform Cop," who is the only other cop to show up at any arrests. As in, he's there when Loren gets busted then, six years later (!!!) he's there to help Cynthia kick some mugger butt, (a fight scene which contains the, "Amazing Appearing Table," as in, in the middle of an alley, there is suddenly, out of nowhere, a table for Cynthia to kick some guy through! Thank goodness for randomly appearing furniture!) completely unchanged of course (in fact he may even have the same lines) AND to help her bring her crooked partner down in the finale. By the way, did I mention that Loren Avedon got SIX YEARS for playing sniper in the park with a high powered rifle? Good job he didn't actually shoot anyone otherwise he might've gotten like.... what? Six-and-a-half years? So, this is definitely NOT a Cynthia Rothrock movie. She is shoe-horned in to do a few moves every now and then but the rest of the movie revolves around Loren Avedon's character and his attempt to go straight and build a new life with his son, Tommy, which are sent awry by him becoming mixed up with a girl who just happens to have stolen a stash of drugs, which the five guys in the, "Big Criminal Organisation," want back (just think, "Kitchen Sink Drama," crossed with, "Enter the Dragon"). Yes, coincidentally, the gang after her is Loren's old gang but, then again, this is one of those films where everybody is, "coincidentally," involved with everybody else. Either because the script writer was too lazy OR because they can't afford more actors so, in order to have it all makes sense (and I'm using the phrase, "makes sense," in the loosest terms) everyone you DO have has to be involved in the main plot. I'm going for both. Seriously, not only do we have the whole, "Loren's old gang," connection (so no need to have any different bad guys!) this a movie wherein Loren's ex-wife (and mother of his child) shows up after ten years and is, amazingly enough, Cynthia's sister! And the, "Mysterious Bad Guy," in charge of it all just happens to be Cynthia's partner! Who was sleeping with, "Girl In Trouble's," best friend! Who stole the drugs and gave them to Girl In Trouble's brother! Who Girl In Trouble then stole them off! And was saved by Loren who just happened to be driving past at that exact same time! If only they could have all arranged to hook up for a coffee at the start I wouldn't have had to sit through the next ninety minutes! And that's just the half of it. For your money you also get some dire martial arts action, the kind where guys do triple forward flips after getting lightly slapped across the face. Only the direction and choreography is so bad you can see the stunt-guy missing by miles (which is helpfully underlined by the regular use of slow motion). Loren desperately trying connect with a surly son, who is obviously more interested in playing on his GameBoy, and falling in love with the woman who has caused it all for no readily apparent reason (other than to add, "depth," to their characters). Though that does at least mean we get to hear him utter the immortal line, "You've taught me to love," with a straight face. It's all capped off with the world's worst, "chase," through Central Park wherein bad guys (ON ROLLER SKATES!) are chased by Cynthia Rothrock (ON A POWERED FOLD-UP SCOOTER!) going all of 0.3mph! (On reflection I'm thinking that was in there to warrant the title of the movie). There is also what has to be the most unintentionally hilarious sex scene I have ever seen committed to celluloid. In the end, as Loren bravely sacrifices himself to save his new love, we're taught that crime doesn't pay but you can change your life, connect with your son, and do something good.... but you WILL get shot for it.... and the girl who started it all by stealing drugs to sell and wound up getting you, all your friends and all her friends killed over it WILL wind up with custody of your son... and his GameBoy.