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As Good As It Gets

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

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.

A team of tough mercenaries attempt an extremely dangerous mission: enter the 'Golden Triangle', kidnap a drug lord and bring him to justice, all the while pursued by the drug lord's men, and the forces of a corrupt Thai officer (Lam Ching-Ying) seeking revenge for the loss of his eye. At the same time, one of the team, Chan Chung (Eddy Ko), tries to escort his young son, Little Keong, to the safety of the Thai border.My first experience of John Woo's film-making brilliance was in 1989, when I caught a trailer for one of his 'Heroic Bloodshed' films—possibly The Killer—at a horror film festival; it opened my eyes to a whole new kind of entertainment, the crazy Asian action flick. I've been a fan ever since, but for some reason, I have rarely delved into Woo's earlier work (my only experience of his pre-Killer repertoire being A Better Tomorrow and Hand of Death). Having just watched and thoroughly enjoyed Heroes Shed No Tears, I now realise my mistake.An extremely violent, gung-ho men-on-a-mission movie, this hugely entertaining action flick is like a cross between one of my favourite '80s martial arts movies, Sammo Hung's Eastern Condors, and the brilliant Lone Wolf & Cub series. If you've already seen those films, then you'll understand what a great combination that is: stylish action, cool martial arts, explosions, slo-mo stunts, bullet squibs and excessive bloodletting, with some overwrought drama and just a couple of quieter moments to allow the viewer to catch their breath (and if you haven't seen them, I strongly suggest that you rectify that situation ASAP!).8.5 out of 10, rounded up to 9 for the guy who is skewered by multiple spears, and for the sexy naked Thai chick who gives one of the soldiers of fortune a soapy full body massage (yup, this film even finds time for some gratuitous female nudity!).

John Woo's Heroes Shed no Tears (1986) is a sort of homage to the film Man From Deep River. This violent tale also plays tribute to the Lone Wolf and Cub series. Eddy Ko plays a soldier of fortune working for the US Government. Ko and his men are offered US citizenship along with several thousand dollars in cash for their services. All they have to do is take a Drug Lord into custody, that's the easy part. Taking him back to civilization, well that's another story. Ko, his team of mercenaries and child must endure a trip through hell that'll take them through the jungles, running a gauntlet of death.Ching-Ying Lam co-stars as the Vietnamese Officer hellbent on taking Ko alive, no matter what the costs. HSNT is very bloody and dark. Unlike any of Woo's previous films.Highly recommended for John Woo fans.

My first exposure to John Woo was THE KILLER. Needless to say, I was impressed. Very. Then A BETTER TOMORROW blew me away (so to speak). By this time, I was hooked. Next came my favorite, HARD BOILED. Woo could do no wrong. Or so I thought. HARD TARGET, while entertaining, was a big step backward as far as I was concerned: missing were the fascinating "gray-area" characters that had helped make the three aforementioned films so memorable. It was watered-down Woo. I won't even mention the films that followed. It was clear that, if I wanted to once again enjoy a John Woo movie, I would have to seek out his earlier work. I searched (if you'll pardon the Kurosawa pun) HIGH AND LOW, but the only copies I could find were washed-out bootlegs at comic book conventions, at ridiculous prices. I finally gave up the chase. The seasons changed. Years passed. Then, by chance, I happened to switch on a cable channel just the other day and there, listed in the night's offerings, was a title I immediately recognized: HEROES SHED NO TEARS. My jaw dropped. I may have fainted. I popped a tape in the vcr and set the timer. Halfway through the movie, the vcr cut off, of its own accord. Had this been one of Woo's later films, I would've hit the ceiling. But this was done BEFORE Woo had mastered the medium. This was very crude filmmaking, of the Old School kung fu movie variety (only with guns). That's not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but I'd been spoiled by several of his later films (and VERY disappointed by all of his U.S. films). A matter of taste, I suppose, but I'd hoped to discover that Woo had always been the dazzling stylist he became following this film (up until he started making movies in this country, that is). But such was not the case. HEROES SHED NO TEARS isn't a complete waste of time, but it's not vintage John Woo, either. Pity.

Heroes Shed no Tears was filmed in 1984/1985 but was released only when the huge success of his next film, A Better Tomorrow, was born. Heroes Shed no Tears is not as philosophical and personal as Bullet in the Head (Woo's most personal film to date, set in Vietnam war), but it is no less fierce. A group of mercenaries is sent to get one drug smuggler, kidnap him and deliver to court. They kidnap him, but get an angry league of the drug boss' men after them in the jungle and so the savage chase and fight for life has begun.The usual elements of Woo are not as primary as in his more recent films, like A Better Tomorrow 1-2, The Killer and Bullet in the Head, but there are similar scenes and segments in this early film, too. Men get killed "with honor" and there are couple of "heroic bloodshed" scenes, too, like the human bomb, for instance. One important element not found too often in Woo's films is that there are many female characters in this film and they are depicted very warmly and lovingly, so Woo definitely can direct females, too, if he wants. The brief love making scene between male and female at one point is very emotional and erotic as the female is so full of love and emotion, and that really tells something about Woo's ability to direct his characters and give them charisma.This film is pretty close to Japanese Babycart samurai films Lone Wolf & Cub from the 1970's. The main character in Heroes Shed no Tears has a son and their relationship is very similar to Ogami Itto's and his son Daigoro's, in Lone Wolf & Cub. I don't think this is any rip off of these Japanese films, but it is obvious that Woo had seen these Japanese films and found inspiration from them. After all, Lone Wolf & Cub films are pretty close to Woo's films in their content and philosophy.The adrenaline amount in Heroes Shed no Tears is incredible as it is hard to think a film more fierce and angry than this. The action scenes are totally unbelievable and Ultra violent, and I was totally stunned at the fight scene near the water/lake/river at the first part of the film. The mayhem is so over-the-top and something never found in Western film. Fast paced action never lets up during the 80 minutes running time of the film. The camera use in these action scenes and other scenes as well is very professional and it is easy to see what kind of talent was hiding in Woo. This is very violent film and definitely wouldn't get the R rating in US. There are hyper bloody gun battles, head shots, stabbings, impalings, choppings and other acts of violence that truly are savage, but still pretty stylish and symbolic, as always in Woo's films. It tells something about his films' characters' values and moral, even though violence this brutal is not without its consequences in his subsequent films. Woo depicts violence, but that doesn't mean he glorifies it. Violence is always bad in Woo's films and that is left for viewer to interpret and there are no easy solutions in his films. So this kind of cinema would never come from some big studio in Hollywood, I think. This kind of cinema is too challenging for mainstream audience. Still, as I mentioned earlier, this is not as symbolic, deep and polished as Woo's subsequent films and also violence is not as symbolic as in his other films, but this was only the beginning and the director was still inventing his cinematic philosophy.Heroes Shed no Tears is very great piece of Hong Kong mayhem cinema, and early work of John Woo. I was very surprised when I watched this since I didn't have any expectations even though I of course knew this was Woo's film. The film is little stupid at times (there are some scenes of usual "humor" often found in Hong Kong films), so I give this 8/10 rating, which I feel is the right for this film, but this is definitely not for the casual and mainstream viewer due to its extreme imagery and attitudes! It would get more stars from me if the film had more content and something more to think about, but still I love this early effort of this great director.