Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13737 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-12-30
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Cantonese Chinese, English, French, Mandarin Chinese
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Dubbed in: English, French
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Review
So Close to Charlie's Angels, and yet so unique. In the world of cinema, turnabout is fair play. McG borrowed heavily from Hong Kong cinema to give Charlie's Angels added panache, and So Close comes off as a high-flying, energetic, candy-colored rip-off of McG's film. But the movie is so much fun to watch that one can simply ignore the lifted musical cues and excessive use of the word "angel" and enjoy it for its own pleasures. The plot is disposable, as these things go, but the three lead actresses succeed in creating distinctive and sympathetic characters. They're more than just eye candy. Karen Mok is particularly good as Hong, the maverick cop who develops a surprisingly flirtatious relationship with Sue (Zhao Wei), one of her targets. Mok has the perfect take-no-prisoners demeanor in the role. You can almost believe she could take out an elevator full of baddies between floors, and that brilliantly staged throwaway sequence is just one of the film's spectacular fight scenes. As his work with Jet Li attests, director Corey Yuen has skills only hinted at by his major studio debut, The Transporter. He brings these to bear in a big way with So Close. In the opening scene, Lynn (Shu Qi) uses her specially designed high-heeled boots to take on a whole building full of thugs. This elaborate set piece sets the film's tone of ludicrous, glossy, high-tech mayhem. And it just gets better, with an exciting car chase, which Lynn directs via satellite while fighting off an army of assassins, and the phenomenally choreographed climactic sword fight, which has Mok and Zhao teaming up to fight Yasuaki Kurata. The drama and romance aren't quite as interesting, but these action sequences alone make So Close worth watching. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

On the DVD
ccTheatrical trailers
Interactive menus
Scene selections

Synopsis
A high tech corporation is sent into turmoil when hackers demanding ransom break into their internal computer system with a powerful and apparently unstoppable virus. A mysterious, beautiful young woman who calls herself "Computer Angel" quickly saves the business. But when she requests a meeting with the company's shady CEO, he gets more than he bargained for. Lynn (Shu Qi of The Transporter) turns out to be a highly skilled assassin, who knocks off the CEO with the help of her rambunctious younger sister Sue (Zhao Wei of Shaolin Soccer). Sue uses a powerful computer program developed by the girls' murdered father, which uses satellites to tap into closed-circuit security cameras, enabling her to see where all the cannon fodder/guards are and direct Lynn's escape, while taking over the security team's audio system to pipe in a cover of the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You." But things soon get dicey for Lynn and Sue. A brilliant, sexy forensics expert, Hong (Karen Mok, who also sings the film's theme song), is hot on their trail, and the creeps who hired the girls decide to cover their tracks by killing them. Complicating matters further, Lynn reunites with an old flame and contemplates giving up the business and settling down, much to Sue's chagrin. So Close was filmed in Mandarin, necessitating (reportedly poor) dubbing into Cantonese for the Hong Kong release. The film was directed by Corey Yuen, who made his Hollywood debut with The Transporter. Before that, he was best known for his fight choreography on many of Jet Li's films. So Close was shown at the Subway Cinema's 2003 New York Asian Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

so close but no cigar
Stylishly fantastic to watch especially the usual ballet-like fight scenes. the problem is (SPOILER ALERT) the best character gets killed off too quickly. Then we get 30 more mins of her sister and some vague lesbian overtones towards the female cop that make no sense at all followed by yet another shoot-'em-up.

Using my best Joe Bob: Gratuitous Carpenters' tune, gratuitous satellite CCTV images, hot lips and bod of Shu Qi, cuteness factor turned way up for Zhao Wei offset by Karen Mok's plain Jane looks, tatami fu, samurai sword fu (why an HK Chinese dude was into Japanese stuff beats me and we are never told why), car chase fu through streets of HK, elevator fu and more titillation than real sexual tension throughout.

Decent B movie flick that loses its momemtum 30 mins from the end.

DVD extras are a joke as nothing really at all added.

Move over CHARLIE'S ANGELS
Yes, I am a sucker for Lucy Liu. Though the original CHARLIE'S ANGELS was pretty good with some cool fight scenes, FULL THROTTLE was not. She was THE reason I took interest in the CHARLIE'S ANGELS flicks, even if the martial arts battles in FULL THROTTLE were insipid, banal, and poorly chreographed (at best.)

But it looks as though Charlie's so called ANGELS may have some competition from (where else?) Hong Kong. Yes, I am also a sucker for Shu Qi, "Vicki" Zhao Wei, and Karen Mok, and even if the sight of Shu Qi and Vicki Zhao in black cocktail dresses ain't enough for you, the fight scenes will certainly make you wonder why anyone ever entrusted McG with making a decent martial arts film.

Let's just go to the scoreboard:

FULL THROTTLE-Demi Moore flying off a building in an almost see-through skirt, that stupid thin man showing up for no reason at all, Cameron Diaz constantly giggling like the buck-toothed geek she is, Drew Barrymore performing what may be the weakest spinning hook kick in film history (no wonder why Demi Moore catches her from behind, even though Demi herself is not much better),Lucy Liu dancing circles around everyone else, and making FULL THROTTLE at least somewhat redeemable.

SO CLOSE-Shu Qi and Vicki Zhao sparring in their bathroom, Karen Mok beating the snot out of some guys in an elevator, Shu Qi vs Karen Mok in a parking garage, Vicki Zhao and Karen Mok vs Smaurai bad guy, etc.

Do you think that even with Lucy Liu, FULL THROTTLE can hold a candle to SO CLOSE?

Neither do I.

Suberb
I brought this disk because it was recommended by people who brought "Returner" (another excellent movie). I started watching it in English language and very quickly got anoyed with the mis-matched voices, so swapped it back to it's original language with English subtitles. This made the whole thing fit better. This is a classic HK police drama and has an excellent story, albeit a formula one, and some amazing action scenes. For me the best scene is the opener, I loved the music (Karen Carpenter - Close to you) mixed to the background of the office shootout! If you are a fan of HK action/drama movies then you won't be disappointed with this one.