Clevercell Very disappointing...

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Uriah43 After witnessing the murder of his wife and daughter at the hands of a mysterious terrorist known as "the Doctor" (Kelvin Wong), a military officer named "Kit Li" (Jet Li) resigns and becomes a bodyguard/stunt man for a martial arts actor by the name of "Frankie Lone" (Jacky Cheong). The problem is, that while Frankie was a decent martial arts expert at one time, his skills have atrophied to the point that he is hardly able to defend himself—much less anybody else. So when he and a number of other rich and influential people are held hostage by "the Doctor" it falls upon Kit Li to essentially save everyone. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thought that this was a really bad film due in large part to the bad acting, poor quality stunts and less-than-humorous comedy. Likewise, the fact that the director (Wong Jing) had an ulterior motive to discredit Jackie Chan didn't endear me to it either. In short, I found this film to be insipid and without cinematic merit and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

ebiros2 The movie might have been Hong Kong's version of "Rush Hour" if Jackie Chan was playing the role of Frankie. Unfortunately, the chemistry between the principles didn't seem to match, and this didn't happen. Jet Li is a Hong Kong police officer in the special operations. He lost his wife and daughter on his mission to defuse a bomb set under their bus. He's deeply affected by this event, and retires from the police force. He's finding bit part as a stunt man, but then the culprit who was responsible for the bombing of the bus shows up at the hall he happens to be in. Him, Frankie, (Jackie Cheung) and others battle the gangs to save the day.Jet Li was still unknown in the west at the time, but he puts in a great performance. I can't tell if it's wire work, but he does some unbelievable moves in this movie. Perhaps the fastest I've seen him move.What surprised me was how decrepit Jackie Cheung looks in this movie. I almost didn't recognize him. The movie didn't come out as the stellar action movie it could have been, but Jet Li shows his presence in this movie as the leading man. Worth the watch.

gerrythree The words `no talent' and `wastes of skin' are not harsh enough to describe the Hollywood vultures who bowdlerized and rewrote High Risk, renaming it Meltdown. For example, the villain of the movie, called the Doctor, is having a meeting with his gang. In the 1995 Cantonese movie version, with English subtitles, he tells the gang one of them is a police undercover agent. That agent tries unsuccessfully to escape. In the 2000 version, dubbed in English, the Doctor orders the killing of this same gang member for incompetence. In another scene, Jet Li tells a reporter and her cameraman to leave, which they do in a rush by news van as German shepherds chase them. In the original, one of the dogs gets in the van and, off screen, you hear the van crashing. In Meltdown, the scene ends with the van driving away, the dogs chasing it. Whoever adapted this movie for English decided that they would `improve' the movie, with rewritten dialogue and new edits. Wong Jing, the director of High Risk, made an over the top action movie that borrowed heavily from Die Hard. Jet Li is good in this movie, and Jackie Cheung is even better, as a Jackie Chan type actor who is supposed to do all his stunts, but never does. I have read that the real Jackie Chan was upset over being made fun of in this movie. That may or may not be the case. What is true is that I am upset that High Risk could not have just been dubbed into English and the print cleaned up. Instead, the movie has new dialogue and a cheaply done remastered print for the American market.

m0rg16 Some people might think that this is a Jet Li film. Well, it is not. Jet Li IS there, and he kills a bunch of bad guys and causes trouble for the bad guy (The Doctor). But he is not the head character. He is in the movie from time to time, but not enough to be called a main character.It starts out with Kit Li (Jet Li) as a army officer. His wife and some school children are trapped in a bus and Jet Li needs to disarm the bomb beneath the bus. He cuts the wrong wire and the bus goes boom.We fast forward 2 years and now Kit Li acts as bodyguard for the Kung-Fu superstar Frankie Lone. Frankie Lone is known for making all of his own stunts (when infact, Kit Li, or some stunt double, is the one who makes the stunts).One day Frankie Lone goes to see some Tzar jewels from Russia, displayed in a skyscraper. And then Terrorists run in, kill everyone on floor one and go up to the Tzar jewels and takes everyone hostage... But not Kit Li or Frankie Lone. While Frankie Lone runs around the building, avoiding terrorists all the time (he is to cowardly to fight them), Kit Li rushes the building with a cop and an uzi, and mows down enough terrorists to fill a football field with (well, almost. Its entertaining anyway).Excellent writing and goofy acting and directing (intentionally) makes up for a superb action movie. I have seen people here complain about the Kung-Fu just being average in this movie, but I disagree. Its very good indeed. Might not be Jet Li's best, but at least it doesn't use CGI like so many movies today. its fast and entertaining. The final fight scene between Frankie Lone and that long haired terrorist dude is really awesome (and funny).I give this movie a 9 out of 10 stars. Rent it, or even better, buy it!