Yi ben wu yan (1987) User Reviews

Underrated Hong Kong gangster flick

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 21 May 2017]

CODE OF HONOUR is an underrated little gangster flick, made in Hong Kong in 1987. Most people seem to dislike it because of the mispackaging that makes it look like Chow Yun Fat is the main actor, even though he only has about five minutes of screen time. This didn't bother me as the film is an ensemble production with lots of familiar faces in it anyway. The story is familiar, about an ageing mob boss losing control of his 'family' and the violence that ensues, and is in fact very similar to John Woo's JUST HEROES, which is even better.

It's a low budget production but one that also holds the interest even if it doesn't have as much action as some. Dick Wei has a great role on the side of good for once, playing a dedicated cop hot on the heels of the gangsters. He's involved in most of the brief action sequences including a fantastic foot chase near the climax which is a real highlight. Lam Wai, best known for playing the corrupt cop against Jackie Chan in PROJECT A PART II, has a nice dramatic role in this while the likes of Shing Fui-On and Ko Chun Hsiung convince as Triads. Dennis Chan and Danny Lee have decent cameos, and the film as a whole is a minor treat for fans of this overworked genre. Watch out for that cringe-inducing fork scene!

Trading off Chow Yun Fat's fame.

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 21 August 2007]

At least this wasn't as bad as the Denzel Washington ripoff, License to Kill. Still, it was deceptive advertising as Chow Yun Fat was still a TV star at the time of this movie and had only a very minor part. However, the DVD has him prominently displayed on the cover, just like they did with Washingto.

Lots of chop socky as an aging Triad leader (O Chun-Hung) tries to rehabilitate himself in retirement and a policeman (Dick Wei) is determined to put him away for his past crimes.

Director Billy Chan is no John Woo, so don't expect much other than a little fork and hibachi action.

Great, overlooked gangster action, Hong Kong style

[dworldeater · 8/10 · 7 April 2019]

Code Of Honor aka Triad Savages aka Brotherhood is an excellent triad film that was released and unearthed here in the US on dvd courtesy of Tai Seng Video. This lesser known gem actually was filmed and shelved, but due to the huge success of A Better Tomorrow and the popularity of its break out star Chow Yun Fat this was released later to cash in on the enormous success of both. Some may be disappointed that Chow Yun Fat (as well as Danny Lee) have only cameos in the film, but Code Of Honor(or whatever it's called) is a pretty kick ass entry to what would be known as the heroic bloodshed genre. Chun Hsuing Ko plays an old school triad gang leader that tries to leave his past behind and go legit. However, his underlings have different ideas about abandoning their criminal enterprises, which leads to murders that leave law enforcement to go heavily after the triads. The acting is solid and has a whole ton of regulars that appear in HK action and gangster pictures like Shing Fu On, Wai Lam, Dick Wei and others. The thing that sets this apart from a lot of other movies in this genre is that instead of gunplay, you have martial arts/kung fu style action chroreography which is excellent. The fights are ultra gritty, realistic and brutal, but you can tell that these guys actually know some kung fu. There is another, similar film made by Shaw Bros studios that came out around the same time as this called Hong Kong Godfather that I highly recommend if you dig this film. In my opinion, this film is very good and deserves much more respect. Code Of Honor is much better than most of the A Better Tomorrow clones and is absolutely worth a look for those that dig the genre.

Nothing worth seeing

[action-6 · 22 August 2000]

During my recent holiday in Denmark, I picked up "Code Of Honour", because it looked cool and Chow Yun-Fat was at the cover. I believed, and any movie-fan would believe by looking at the cover, that Chow Yun-Fat was the star in this film. The film is about 90 minutes long, and Chow Yun-Fat was present for about 3 minutes. So, Chow Yun-Fat only had a small supporting-role. Other than that disappointment, this move hadn`t got a lot going for it. A few scenes were good, but there was almost no action and the characters weren`t as good as I`ve come to expect from my exotic actionflicks from the East. As in all Hongkong-films, honour and betrayal stand as the main themes in the films. 4/10

see it

[Gabe3185 · 20 January 2003]

triad savage is a good movie besides the fact that chow yun-fat is only present 4 a few minutes. the version i saw (code of honor)was pretty crappy even though it was on dvd. there was more fighting than gun shooting. but still its a good movie so c it.