Hero Dream

 

Director: Lau Siu-kwan
Year: 1992
Rating: 5.0

How to go about discussing this film? Though much of it is your basic low budget action film, it has a few bizarre quirks that only a HK film would throw in there. Lets just say that if naked transsexuals are your thing – this film might be something that you want to run down – if not – well . . . it still has Michiko Nishiwaki in it! For a somewhat perverse film it has a few well known actors in it  - Michiko of course – but also Carrie Ng and Chin Sui-Ho (Tai Chi Master and Fist of Legend). It also seems to have had Fuji Film as a sponsor as their logo is prominently displayed throughout. Somehow though I doubt that they saw the script!

Michiko has some of her sexiest scenes ever – and she plays cruel and wicked to perfection. She really doesn’t get to perform much action – well not the fighting kind anyway – but she is mesmerizing whenever she is on screen.


Chin Sui-Ho leads a police raid on some arms smuggler and in the ensuing fight – an excellent one through the streets of HK – kills off Sophia Crawford. Hello and goodbye Sophia – a very quick gweilo exit. He then goes home to his sweet wife – Carrie Ng – who informs him that her aunt has not come. “Your aunt?”. “My aunt!” – “I didn’t know you had an aunt”. “Not that aunt”. Ah, Chin eventually catches on that Carrie is referring to her period – aunt must be Cantonese slang for it?
 

To celebrate their future child and his killing various people in the raid – they decide to take a vacation to Thailand. Uh oh – if you have seen enough HK films you know that usually going to Thailand on a vacation leads to very bad things – often being possessed by demons or sometimes just being killed. Before they even get a chance to visit the Grand Palace things go very wrong. At the airport a gang is chasing after a transsexual and she leaves her handbag in the happy couple's luggage. The gang sees this – follows them back to the hotel and then kidnap Carrie to get the bag.


It turns out that they have accidentally gotten in the middle of a fight between two different gangs. One is run by a sleazy little guy with a seemingly endless supply of young men in black t-shirts who are willing to get shot. The other gang is headed by our Michiko. Most of her men – well make that women – are transsexuals – real ones mind you – who often go around topless. There is more silicone here than at your typical Hollywood party.

When we first come across Michiko – at about the 30-minute mark – she is kneading a muscle bound chap – and when he later is a bit quick on the draw – she starts smacking the hell out of him. And I would hate to be her pool cleaner – whenever she gets pissed off at one of her employees she shoots him into the pool. You gotta love her!


Chin gets very upset and goes on a bit of a killing rampage. There is a lot of action in this film – and more guys mowed down than you can keep track of. There is also a lot of disturbing up close violence and unseemly sex and nudity. This may not exactly be everyone’s cup of tea or arsenic.