Episode #111: Retreat of the Godfather
Listen to Episode 111 of the Podcast here while you enjoy the show notes.
SUMMARY - In Retreat of the Godfather, a powerful mob boss had very expensive antique vases stolen from him. The theft is blamed on a high-ranking officer Andy (played by Wai Lam) and his partner. Someone is framing them, so now they have to go around the city trying to find the actual thieves to save their name and their lives.
Screenplay by Chi-Sheng Hsieh and Ji-Shang Lu; Directed by Chi-Hwa Chen; and released in Hong Kong on January 25, 1991.
PREVIEWS
We actually have a preview on this. "Shaolin Popey II: Messy Temple"
It looks like a completely off-the-wall action comedy
With big names like Michelle Yeoh
It's not a 1991 release, so we won't be seeing it for the podcast, but we may just have to track it down
FILM DISCUSSION
The main attraction does not have that level of humor and tells a relatively basic story of two guys trying to save their names
As you might imagine, the fight scenes are the star of the show. The first takes place in a playground
Most are in simple rooms or outdoors, but all have some very hard hits
The story itself is nothing to write home about, but it's at least well-paced.
A lot of the scenes are almost too quick moving to the point where character development is implied and it makes it tough to keep track of some things.
It was also tough to keep track of things as we needed to build our own cast and character list. Very little info is online and some of it is wrong on IMDB.
There is a lot of death, and the blood special effects are very low budget. You can tell that this is a churned out picture.
There is a little bit of humor injected, but most of it is from the lead's girlfriend's mother who is oblivious to everything.
The big climactic fight scene was really well done and an appropriate show stopper
One downside is that there wasn't proper care when one of the leads dies.
We get a huge sequence for a tertiary character and his two-scene girlfriend. This hill was very important.
Anyway, a lot of destruction and mayhem and revenge and then it's quickly over.
And just like most movies of the region, there are some bloopers and injury outtakes
Awards Talk: None to speak of this time.
TRUE CRIME & POP CULTURE
This week we don't have any true crime to talk about so we start by discussing the "Golden Age of Hong Kong Cinema"
We also provide a little bit of info about the Golden Sun Film Distribution Company
In other pop culture news, we have a famous birth and death for January 25, 1991.
Ariana DeBose is born
MLB player Hoot Evers passes away
RANKINGS & RATINGS
Nikki 1-5 star scale - 3 out of 5
Jon 0-4 star scale - 1 1/2 out of 4
Would you watch it again? - When we watched Fight Back to School, we talked about how few Hong Kong movies from this era we've seen. So, even though we both enjoyed it and certainly weren't bored by the hard-hitting fight scenes neither of us would watch this again anytime soon. We think that production wise, this is probably lower-tier overall, and there are simply too many other titles from this time that we'd want to educate ourselves on first.
If you want to watch Retreat of the Godfather, as of this recording in April 2023, it’s available on VHS. Check your local listings.
NEXT EPISODE & WHERE TO FIND US
You can listen to us on all your major podcasting platforms and please consider rating, subscribing, and sharing with your friends.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Letterboxd
Join us next time for If Looks Could Kill available on VHS, DVD
Comments