Purple Storm (film)
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| Purple Storm | |
|---|---|
 Purple Storm DVD Cover |
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| Directed by | Teddy Chan |
| Produced by | Willie Chan John Chong Thomas Chung Fiona Lee Tomous Leung Solon So Yee Tung Shing |
| Written by | Jo Jo Hui Oi Wah Lam Clarence Yip |
| Starring | Daniel Wu Kam Kwok Leung Emil Chau Josie Ho Joan Chen |
| Music by | Peter Kam |
| Cinematography | Poon Hang Sang Arthur Wong |
| Editing by | Kwong Chi Leung |
| Distributed by | Hong Kong Legends Shaw Brothers M.I.B. |
| Release date(s) |  25 November 1999 |
| Running time | 112 min. |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| IMDb profile | |
Purple Storm (Chinese: 紫雨風暴) is a 1999 Hong Kong action film. directed by Teddy Chan.
[edit] Plot
Soong, a Khmer Rouge terrorist with plans to unleash mayhem in Southeast Asia by seeding the clouds with a chemical weapon known as Ricin-X, sends his son, Todd Nguyen, and Todd's female partner, Guan Ai, to Hong Kong by sea in a North Korean ship in 1998. On board is a container containing the lethal poison, which the Koreans attempt to prevent Todd from obtaining by dispatching a team of assassins from another ship to eradicate them. In the process, all twelve Koreans were killed and Todd was knocked unconscious from a severe head injury. The Hong Kong marine police showed up, forcing Guan to dump the container into the sea and escape. She could not bear to kill the unconscious Todd to prevent his capture by the police.
It was revealed that Todd was a wanted criminal, and was given medical attention under the supervision of the Hong Kong Anti Terrorist Force (ATF) under the command of Ma Li. Ma also discovers that Soong has arrived in Hong Kong, where he begins to enlist his former Cambodian master to rescue his son. Todd was deemed to suffer from amnesia, and Shirley Kwan, a psychologist, was engaged to restore his memory. Kwan suggested constructing a new identity and implanting them into Todd, such that he becomes an undercover for the police, to which Ma initially objected due to moral grounds. The Cambodian master was found dead in what was deemed as suicide, and MA spots what appeared to be Soong at the scene before disappearing.
Soong enters NTB's (a broadcasting station) headquarters when it was closed, kills the guard, and finds the identity of Ma through old news bulletins. He also discovered several broadcasts condemning the tyranny of the Khmer Rouge and plants a bomb, which was detonated the following day by an unsuspecting employee. The CCTV footage from the NTB building obtained by the ATF confirms Soong's presence in the city.
Suspecting that Soong will launch a rescue attempt at the hospital where Todd was warded, he ordered Todd back to ATC headquarters and sets up an ambush at the hospital. Soong, Guan, and two terrorists arrive at the hospital just as Todd was removed, but they were aware of the set-up. After disrupting their communications, they rapidly kill off the ATC tactical teams and escaped despite Ma's personal intervention. After the major setback, Ma finally agrees to Kwan's idea. In the midst of it, however, Todd begins to have flashbacks of his true past, and becomes confused.
Soong issues an ultimatum to Ma to have Todd at a pedestrian bridge in Wan Chai North with no bloodshed, on the condition that he be alone. Todd was put on the bridge, and again, an ambush team of snipers and undercover officers was setup. At the meeting time, an explosion suddenly erupts in a nearby building, causing a large crowd of building occupants to rush onto the bridge. Guan appears in the confusion, stabs a tinted stub into Todd's neck, and jumps off the bridge onto a passing vehicle with an unconscious Todd, and manages to escape despite police attempts to stop them. Soong appears on the bridge and tries to kill Ma, but escaped when reinforcements arrive.
While in hands of Soong, an attempt was made to "cure" Todd by engaging him in activities which would trigger recollections. Still believing he was an undercover, Todd attempts to tip off Ma when Guan purchased a ship to recover the sunken chemicals. but he continues to struggle subconsciously. Ma arranges another operation at the shipyard where the terrorists are due to take the ship, and did not inform the officers of the existence of Todd as an undercover. The police suffers major casualties to the shock of Todd, who contemplated killing Soong behind his back. No notices Guan watching him with shock, however, and hesitated. He ended up saving Soong later, and all three escaped by sea. Todd sneaks back to find Kwan to reestablish his identity, but by which time, Ma has issued an arrest warrant for him and Soong. Tood returned to Soong and declared his inability to remember the cause of the revolution.
A police convoy was blocked by a parked police car with an officer slumped over the wheel. The traffic policeman unsuccessfully attempts to arouse the man, and notices the policeman's neck was slit and a bomb rigged to his body. Guan triggers the bomb in the presence of Todd, who watches the explosion and gets flashbacks on the way his son died. Ma orders police presence around the area to comb for more bombs.
At Kai Tak Airport, Guan, Todd, and another companion enter the airport's restricted area under the guise of journalists on an airport tour on the last day of its operations before its shift to the new airport. They wander away from the group, and were stopped by a pair of Airport Security Unit officers. Both policemen were killed, one of whom was shot in the head by Guan to the shock of Todd. Meanwhile, Soong manages to recover the chemicals from the sea. He opens the container with the help of his thumb print and that of a finger in preserved bottle, presumably from his former master. Back at ATF Headquarters, the three files found on Todd were cracked, revealing their plans to unleash the chemicals over Cambodia. Ma realises the terrorists may be planning to hijack a plane to the area to seed the clouds, and ordered the Special Duties Unit and other police agencies to rush to Kai Tak. He was informed, however, that most of them has already been erroneously deployed to the new airport site at Chek Lap Kok. Ma ordered the deployment of the remaining 12 SDU officers to the airport hangar.
Guan and Todd successfully infiltrate into the airport's hangar, where they kill off the technicians there and hijack a small plane along with its crew. With a stolen police vehicle, Soong transports the chemicals to the hangar with his men. Just as he arrives, another group of ASU officers appear. All the police officers were shot dead in an ensuing gun battle, but several of Soong's men were also killed, and Guan badly injured in her attempt to save Todd. She kills herself on the aircraft, and an infuriated Todd makes off with the chemicals while the aircraft was still in the hangar.
Ma and his team of SDU officers arrive at the hangar. Todd fends off two of Soong's men, and escapes into a large drain which leads to a massive underground draining tunnel system with Soong at his tail. Ma deploys his men on both sides of the tunnel to trap them, and rushes into the tunnel with his officers. Todd and Soong engages in a tussle in the tunnel before Ma's arrival with a fellow officer resulted in the officer dead and Soong badly injured by Ma. Soong sets off the chemical bomb and dies, while Ma pulls an injured Todd out of the tunnel just as the tunnel gates were shut to contain the chemical. The last aircraft takes off from the airport, and the runway lights are dimmed for the last time. Todd mysteriously disappears from the site.
At the new Hong Kong International Airport Todd leaves Hong Kong with the auspices of Ma, unknown to anyone else.
[edit] Cast
- Daniel Wu as Todd Nguyen
- Kam Kwok-Leung as Soong
- Emil Chau as Ma Li
- Josie Ho as Guan Ai
- Joan Chen as Shirley Kwan
