Hero Dream (1992)

Hero Dream (1992)
Chinese Title: 淫妖豪情
Translation: Lewd Demon Passion

Starring: Chin Siu-Ho, Chin Kar-Lok, Carrie Ng, Michiko Nishiwaki, Lau Siu-Kwan, Hung Fung, Hon Yee-Sang, Ka Ling, Sophia Crawford
Director: Lau Siu-Kwan
Action Director: Ma Yuk-Sing, Wong Choh-Wah

Hero Dream is a film I’d heard about before, probably thanks to Keith Allison’s review at Teleport City. The general gist of the review was: “Parts of this movie represent the bygone days of the best of modern Hong Kong action, but it’s really just a porno movie.” That more or less sums it up. It has a great action cast, a few decent fight sequences, a large helping of gunplay…but it’s mostly just a skin flick. This is one of those movies that I could see developing a cult following today, as much of the salaciousness revolves around LadyBoys (or transsexuals).

The hero of our movie is Hao (Chin Siu-Ho, of Fist of Legend and The Tai Chi Master), your standard-issue Hong Kong policeman with superior martial arts skills and competence with any sort of firearm imaginable. Hao is married to Kiki (Carrie Ng, of Crystal Hunt and Naked Killer), who has just discovered she’s pregnant. Life seems to be going well for him.

Hao and his colleague, Chuen (Lau Siu-Kwan, of Corpse Mania and The Emperor and his Brother), are on the tail of Lok (Chin Kar-Lok, of King Boxer and Little Hero on the Run), a crime boss who’s dealing in arms and industrial espionage (of the arms industry). When the police crash one of Lok’s deals—or it may have been him crashing the party and stealing the material—a big shootout erupts, followed by a foot chase, followed by a martial arts duel between Hao and Lok. Lok is only able to escape after Chuen shows up and wrestles him into the harbor.

Following that mess, Hao takes leave and goes on vacation with his wife to Thailand. Upon arrival, a transvestite being chased by a gang hides her purse in Hao’s taxi. The gang, known as the Chiu Gang, assumes that Hao is in cahoots with the mysterious girl. They break into their hotel room and take Kiki hostage, threatening to kill her if Hao doesn’t turn over whatever’s in the purse.

While this is going on, we learn that the transvestite is in the employ of Lok, who in turn is a mid-level lieutenant in another gang, run by Yi (Michiko Nishiwaki, of Outlaw Brothers and My Lucky Stars)…the subtitles refer to them as the “Transvestite Gang.” Yi also employs Chuen, whom she occasionally uses for sex whenever he has enough time to visit Thailand.

From that point, the film escalates into a series of violent encounters between Hao and the Chiu Gang, or the Transvestite Gang and the Chiu Gang. Lives are taken. People are tortured and murdered. Lok is pressured by Yi into handing over his transvestite friend into Chiu’s hands. In the end, Hao and Lok are compelled to team up to bring down the Chiu gang.

So…uh…yeah. I’m not sure who the writer was, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was director-producer-supporting actor Lau Siu-Kwan. Lau, whose career started in the waning days of the Shaw Brothers, worked as an actor in low-budget films well into the 2000s, but occasionally produced, directed, and even wrote some of his own movies. Many of those were either adult films or no-budget horror schlock. This was his first foray into directing, which makes me wonder how he had much of a career at all.

The plot, such as it is, never makes very much sense. Most reviews state that the plot revolves around the search for stolen plans for American missile technology, but that doesn’t really feel like a thing after the first big set piece five minutes in. It’s like the movie sets up the McGuffin, quickly forgets about the McGuffin, occasionally mentions something that might be the McGuffin (the contents of the transvestite’s purse), but then allows the plot to escalate to the point that the McGuffin loses all relevance. By that point, you wonder what the entire point of the McGuffin was in the first place.

Something similar can be said about the subplot involving Chuen being a dirty cop. It’s established early on that such is the case, but it ultimately turns out to be irrelevant. Why? First of all, I don’t think Hao ever even discovers Chuen was even in Thailand, let alone that he was corrupt and in cahoots with Yi (whenever he wasn’t just outright in her). Second, nothing about him being a cop makes a difference in his actions while in Thailand: he could’ve been introduced as one of Yi’s lieutenants and the resulting film would have been largely the same.

Then there the usual plot holes for films like this. Mainly: Where does Hao get a hold of so much military-grade hardware in his running vendetta against the Chiu Gang? I mean, the guy arms himself with M-16s, grenade launchers, hand grenades…the works. I know these things probably go for (reasonably) cheap in Southeast Asia if you know where to look, but surely they can’t be so cheap that a man on a Hong Kong cop’s salary can just buy them at a minute’s notice.

Ultimately, the film is more about the sex than it is about anything else. This is exemplified by Chin Kar-Lok’s introductory scene, where we see him in bed with a naked woman, his head placed right next to her (exposed) crotch. Early on, we get a scene where an older policeman (who helps cover up Chuen’s activities) has a threesome with a pair of well-endowed woman, including HK Playboy Playmate Ka Ling (of Hong Kong Eva). The scene goes on for about eight minutes and, well, leaves you no doubt about the actresses’ bodies. Michiko herself also gets some love scenes, although she never shows anything more than some bare back. There is a lot of nudity—including a love scene of sorts—involving the Thai Lady Boys, with their silicone breasts and “man parts” on display. It’s equal-opportunity sleaze in Hero Dream. Something for all tastes!

The film’s action sequences were staged by Ma Yuk-Sing (Fist Power) and Wong Choh-Wah (The Cyprus Tigers and The Killer’s Romance). Much of the action is gunplay, which staged OK for an otherwise low-budget film. There are a number of shootouts—probably about six—that are probably on the level of Commando in terms of credibility, if not overall carnage. There are also a few fight scenes here and there: Brothers Chin Kar-Lok and Chin Siu-Ho have two short throwdowns, with Kar-Lok stealing these fights with his impressive kicking skills. Sophia Crawford shows up early on, throws a few kicks, and is promptly killed. Michiko Nishiwaki’s fights feel over-edited, either to compensate for her limited skills, or for those of her opponents. At the climax, there are a few individual fights once the heroes run out of bullets. Once again, not bad, but far from the caliber of the best of Sammo Hung.

As an actual film, with a story and things like that, Hero Dream comes pretty close to being a complete bust. Some of your lower-budgeted HK action films from the 80s and early 90s had questionable plots, but this one largely forgets what it’s supposed to be about for long swaths of time. Vintage HK action fans may enjoy the fights, but there are better showcases for the skills of the Chin brothers without having to wade through so much female skin. But then again, if you’re not the type to watch outright XXX porn and want to know how a ménage-a-trois works, than this is the film for you!