Chinese name: Dark War
English name: Run.Out.Of.Time
Region: Hong Kong
Language: Mandarin
Length: 01:33
Subtitles: Chinese
Release time: 1999
Director: Johnnie To
Cast: Andy Lau, Shiu Hung Hui, Waise Lee, YoYo Mung, Ruby Wong, Ching Wan Lau
Synopsis:
Ahua (Andy Lau), who only has four weeks to live due to cancer, robs a financial company, stealing diamonds and taking hostages. Ahseng (Ching Wan Lau), who has just been transferred to a clerical position and also serves as a negotiator, arrives at the scene and tries to persuade Ahua to surrender. However, Ahua declares that he wants to play a seventy-two hour game with Ahseng before escaping, leaving Ahseng deeply disgruntled. During his escape, Ahua encounters a police roadblock and coerces Ah-ting (YoYo Mung) into pretending to be his girlfriend in order to successfully evade the police, leaving a deep impression on both of them from their accidental meeting.
The seventy-two hour game begins with a screw sent by Ahua to Ahseng. Ahseng sneaks into the financial company at night but falls into Ahua's trap. It turns out that Ahua had been monitoring Ahseng and intended to use him to rob the jewelry of the mastermind behind the transportation company next to the financial company. Ahua uses Ahseng to divert attention, disguises himself as the said mastermind and escapes with the gemstones. During the investigation, Ahseng discovers that the mastermind smuggles jewelry and had betrayed Ahua's father years ago. After his father's death, Ahua rushed back from England to avenge his father. In order to bring Ahua to justice, Ahseng reluctantly agrees to cooperate with Ahua to jointly deal with the mastermind. Ahua dresses up as a woman, uses Ahseng's intelligence to obtain twenty million dollars from the mastermind and escapes with the gemstones amidst the chaos. The mastermind is arrested by the police due to Ahua's sleight of hand. Ahseng waits in the car but is deceived again by Ahua, conceding defeat. The next day, the Children's Cancer Foundation receives a donation of twenty million dollars in the name of He Shangsheng.
Three years later, Ahseng accidentally meets Ah-ting on a bus and notices that she is wearing the priceless gemstone necklace given to her by Ahua, who told her it was fake. Ahseng chooses not to reveal the truth, allowing Ah-ting to cherish this romantic encounter for the rest of her life.
Review:
This film stars Andy Lau and Ching Wan Lau, with a script co-written by two Frenchmen, Julien Colombo and Roland Joffé. The story is ingeniously crafted, keeping the audience guessing until the climax about what trick Ahua will pull off. However, the ingenious plan to steal the treasure lacks some plausibility. Director Johnnie To performs admirably in this film, capturing many interesting details. The "romantic encounters" between the two protagonists and actresses YoYo Mung and Ruby Wong are well portrayed. Overall, the film is highly entertaining, combining elements of crime dramas and martial arts films. This is one of Hong Kong director Johnnie To's representative works. The sequel, "Dark War 2," clearly does not match up to this film.