Why are HK police films just sooo good

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Soldato
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I mean we got Infernal Affairs, Kill Zone (Sha Po Lang), Police Tactical Unit, Flash Point just to name a few.

Yet when Hollywood tries to make something of this genre the best we get is "The Departed".

They manage to have just the right mix of fight scenes, police brutality and an AMAZING story - while Hollywood just goes for a long car chase (which while fun, is not as good)
 
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The Departed is pretty good though or at least the first half hour or so was before I had to go out and meet friends.

Watch Copland if you haven't already, that's a hell of a police drama - ignore any preconceptions about Sylvester Stallone, he's superb in this.

L.A. Confidential is another great cop film.

Stretching a point you could even argue Chinatown with the P.I. JJ Gittes is a police drama and it's brilliant.
 
Agree with the op. Watched the 'Infernal Affairs' trilogy when i was in college and it blew me away. Much, much better than 'The Departed' imo
 
I've seen Copland; and while it is a good film I would not class it as truly amazing (and I'm a huge Stallone fan).

The thing is, The Departed is based on the Infernal Affairs films - and in comparison it is not as good (especially since I would rate the Infernal Affairs trilogy in the same bracket as the Godfather films).

Hollywood has had some great police style films in the past, but nothing over the past 6-8 years really - while HK cinema has picked up over that time and run away with the genre.
 
I'm guessing maybe it is because of some of the themes that are in these films which make them good.

Infernal Affairs with how smart it plays the cat and mouse game and the elaborate use of Morse Code, far exceeds what the Hollywood remake did with the The Departed.

It's also the Chinese culture and elements that add things up into the mix of the story, and with classic themes like the Triad Society, Brotherhood and character relationships which may have some deep complex history behind them. John Woo films being an old example of these.

Then there is the urban setting of Hong Kong itself, with it's huge density of tall skyscrapers and neon lit backdrops. And perhaps also the reputation of the actual Hong Kong Police Force themselves. They are known to be highly regarded by the citizens and being well disciplined and professional, so maybe these movies try to build on upon that to make them look even better.
 
Phatjayunoi said:
They are known to be highly regarded by the citizens and being well disciplined and professional, so maybe these movies try to build on upon that to make them look even better.
Click to expand...

I dunno about that; PTU, SPL and Flash Point all have a fairly high level of police brutality and rule breaking in them (granted SPL and Flash Point are more action than a real good story; but PTU is more about the story).
 
Yeah but then the brutality mostly comes down to the main characters themselves which is one of the most interesting aspects as it also questions the morals and methods behind it. And if you have a police officer and a criminal with some relationships, that is bound to ask for trouble.
 
Good point there, true

Still a shame that the last two proper Hollywood cop films were Heat and LA Confidential which was '95 and '97, everything since then has either lacked a good story, good acting or just lacked that wow factor.
 
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