Watch The Iceman Cometh For Free

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The movie had elements of Highlander and Les Visiteurs and some other time travel type movies, like Demolition Man (though this movie precedes Demolition Man). It is about two warriors from the Ming Dynasty. One is a psychotic killer while the other is an honourable royal guard who has to arrest the killer in twenty days or be executed himself. He chases the killer to Buddha's time wheel, originally designed to force Evil to experience a hundred life times, but used now to escape into the future. They meet, fight, and fall of a cliff and are frozen in ice only to be revived in the 20th Century.This movie goes through all of the stages of culture shock in regards to time travel. Cars being monsters, television, and the old toilet and light switch jokes, which were performed heaps better in Les Visiteurs, but then Les Visiteurs was purely a comedy movie while this movie is more of a typical Hong-Kong action comedy. Then comes the shock of the changes, the Ming Dynasty has collapsed and everything has changed. Women has risen in status to a point where, as Ching is convinced, men are subservient. Then there is the bad guy who fits in with society reasonably well, except that he goes for pearls instead of Rolex watches.I enjoyed it, as generally I like Hong Kong movies. There is little in the way of in-depth themes, or none that I can draw out of it (unlike John Woo films). There is the struggle of Ching to come to terms with the collapse of his empire, but this is something that we don't face, or not on his level. Yes, we find that at times our life simply collapses to a point where everything has changed, but I don't think The Iceman Cometh is design to provoke such thoughts. I think this movie is purely designed to entertain with martial arts extravaganzas. Woo seems to deal more with interweaving thought into his films, especially with the Killer, but we never really see Woo films on SBS. This is a good movie and would watch it again.

Having read many poor reviews of this title I was not expecting much from the film to say the least, but it turned out to be an extremely good Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah vehicle given their chance to shine away from Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. The acting honours though are stolen by Maggie Cheung whose character is also far removed from her appearances in Jackie Chan films.Yuen Biao plays a Ming Dynasty Imperial bodyguard whose brother (played by Yuen Wah) has used his martial arts skills for evil ends and he is dispatched to hunt him down. In the ensuing fight they fall over a precipice into a chasm of ice and are frozen, only to be defrosted 300 years later. Yuen Biao is taken in by Maggie Cheung - a prostitute - for her own purposes as he finds himself completely lost in a very different world. Meanwhile Yuen Wah quickly adapts to the modern Hong Kong crime scene and Yuen Biao realises his mission is not over...I can see why people watching this film may be disappointed by the fight scenes as they are certainly not as realistic or as frequent as those to be found in his earlier classics such as Prodigal Son or Knockabout. However there is still much to enjoy and the fight scenes are certainly varied and there are some high quality stunts.While the storyline has its failings such as large leaps of faith, it at least shows some effort and imagination compared to many action films and has much to recommend it. I certainly do.

I really like this beautifully shot and choreographed action-fantasy/time travel yarn from Clarence Fok, the director of the moody "Gun and Rose" and the highly regarded "Naked Killer". It is an ambitious, rich production that boasts several stunning martial arts sequences and not a few jaw-dropping stunts. It is such an aesthetically rich and varied piece of entertainment that it never fails to please.Yuen Biao plays the film's hero, a Ming Dynasty palace guard who resumes his pursuit of a nasty rapist/butcher, the great Yuen Wah ("Eastern Condors"), in the 20th century after their bodies, long encased in ice, are thawed. There are elements of Schepisi's wonderful "Iceman" here and aspects borrowed from Mulcahey's "Highlander", but, despite the film's varied influences, this is a fresh, fascinating synthesis of its raw elements and a damn great example of energetic film-making.Biao is excellent as the naive palace guard who comes into contact with sweet-natured callgirl Maggie Cheung. He is totally believable as the fish out of water and stunning when asked to demonstrate his extraordinary physical skills. A fight atop a crane is masterful, as is a snow-bound sword fight, a duel inside a museum and a heart-stopping leap over a speeding car on a freeway. Yuen Wah, whose character warms immediately to 20th century firearms and criminality, is also amazing in his demanding, bone-punishing role.Fok, who always brings a strong visual style to his movies, directs the sometimes brutal action with consummate professionalism and fills the cast list with memorable character actors and assorted beauties. A great score helps, too.A gem.

Yuen Biao is a highly underrated actor for his time, his acrobatic skill and comic timing are so much better than Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung or Jet Li.This movie trys to do sci fi kung fu and ends up looking cheap n nasty. Similar to Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain but not as good.Don't get me wrong all the action scenes are awesome no doubt due to Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah, but the story isn't (Ming dynasty guard teleported into the future to capture a criminal). Comedy is different from his usual methods too, not as good in my opinion.Well worth a watch for any fan and if your looking for excellent Biao movie watch Prodigal Son or Kickboxer or Dreadnaught or Knockabout (and plenty others). You wont be disappointed if you like quick action and quick laughs :).