Audience Member
Breaking News is quite out of the ordinary, providing a spiced action along with a psychological mediatic war. Strongly advised.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/19/23
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Audience Member
Lots of hardcore action and gunplay to be found in this action thriller!
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
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camille l
Peu de films parviennent a meler la comedie franchement drole et le thriller policier tres muscle de maniere egale et efficace. Le film de Johnnie To en est un modele de reussite. Toujours spectaculaire, admirablement bien mis en scene (le plan-sequence de 7 minutes qui ouvre le film est parfait), constamment divertissant, teinté d'elements politiques qui enrichissent le recit sans l'entraver et tres bien mis en musique, Breaking News est un film exceptionnel. Richie Ren, Kelly Chen, Nick Cheung & Hui Siu Hung sont excellents.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Very smart thriller with a very powerful underlying message about society and media. This is pure action from the first to the last scene, no interruptions. A should see if you are into fresh experiences.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/18/23
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Audience Member
Action packed film about a televised bank robbery that ends up being terribly mismanaged by the police. This spectacular Chinese production is signed Johnnie To, a master of the genre. It includes enough great special effects and amazing fight sequences to leave its audiences more than just satisfied.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
<i>"We must put on a good show."</i><p>
Hong Kong based director Johnny To is famous for his violent and gutsy action films. <i>Breaking News</i> is no exception. It is <b>bloody, explosive, fun, and exciting.</b> However, the most interesting element of the film is its concept with the way media works.
<u>SUMMARY:</u><p>
When an ambulatory TV news unit live broadcasts the embarrassing defeat of a police battalion by five bank robbers, led by Yuen (Richie Ren), in a ballistic showdown, the credibility of the police force drops to a nadir. While on a separate investigation in a run-down building, detective Cheung (Nick Cheung) discovers the hideout of the robbers. Cheung and his men have also entered the building, getting ready to take their foes out any minute. Meanwhile, in order to beat the media at its own game, Inspector Rebecca (Kelly Chen) decides to turn the stakeout into a breaking news show.
<u>REVIEW:</u><p>
For a Hong Kong action film, the plot is extremely <b>typical</b>. This is a typical cops vs. robbers film, and we get a lot of these from Hong Kong. What makes the script in this film well written is its idea of using media as a major theme of the movie. Both the cops and the robbers use the media to influence the public, and get closer to their objective. It works well throughout the film, as the cops try not to look bad, while the robbers make the cops look bad using the media. The characters are a let down though. There aren't any interesting characters here, except for Yuen. All the cops are so one-dimensional, and it's really hard to take a liking to them. In fact, you soon start to hope that the robbers kill the cops, but we know that won't happen. Yuen is such an interesting character though. He has a soft side to him, and that's something I like to see in a villain. The ending is disapointing, and it can even be called confusing. So, overall, the only smart thing about the script was its use of media as a theme.
Richie Ren brings the best performance of the film. He was terrific as Yuen. He had a cool-collected attitude that made his performance work. Kelly Chen is so gorgeous that she can make her unlikeable character likeable, but her acting in this brings up a small problem. Nick Cheung has proven himslef as a great actor, in other films, but he was horrible in this, or maybe it was his character. Lam Suet makes a special appearance here as a hostage of the robbers. He was hilarious. Another funny addition to the cast was Siu-Hung Hui as Cheung's partner.
The action is so well done it's not funny. The intro is one shot that lasts about 2 minutes. It's all filmed in one shot - no editing at all. The tension is set up so well in this intor, and at first we only have talking, the fireworks boom afterwoods. Yep, this is so action packed. There are well shot gun fights. Terrific editing. The cinematography is top notch, as it allows such visual excitement in the action sequences. However, the soundtrack is terrible. It's not catchy, not suitable - it sounds like crap. But the pacing is good. The film manages to move along at a nice and steady pace, so you're never bored throughout this film.
Overall, <i>Breaking News</i> has fine action and a good themes, yet its script doesn't impress as much. However, it's fun and if you ever want to see an excting, edge of your seat thriller, this would be the film for you.
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Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
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