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Throw Down (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Throwdown' (Judo Dragon and the Tiger List) is a 2004 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Johnnie To and starring Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok, Cherrie Ying and Tony Leung Ka-fai. The film is one of To's most personal to date; he dedicated it to the late Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and, in making it, had drawn upon elements of Kurosawa's debut feature, 'Sanshiro Sugata'. 'Throw Down' had its premiere at the 61st Venice International Film Festival.Michael Ingham Johnnie To Kei-Fung's PTU 2009 - - Page 68 "Like To's follow-up film Throw Down, PTU has a strongly pictorial quality, which reveals the director's acute sense of ... Both films on the large screen were coincidentally beautiful to look at, but of course one's expectations of a Hong Kong film"
Plot
Karaoke manager and band leader Sze-to Bo (Louis Koo) was a judo expert and former champion who gave up judo a few years ago for unknown reasons and became depressed and an alcoholic. Current judo champion Tony (Aaron Kwok), a competitive fighter, admires Bo and challenges him to a duel. Bo's longtime rival, Lee Ah-kong (Tony Leung), also arrives to challenge Bo for an old unfinished competition. Bo's mentor, Cheng (Lo Hoi-pang), is old and frail and has a dementia ridden son, Ching (Calvin Choi). Wanting to save his judo dojo, which have become a depressing ruins, Cheng also asks his disciple to help him to restore the reputation of his dojo. Mona (Cherrie Ying) is a girl from Taiwan who dreams to become a singer, but was nearly forced into prostitution by her evil manager. She seeks refuge in Bo's karaoke, but thugs manage to chase her there. At this time, Bo can no longer keep his secret and reveals the true reason he gave up judo: he had developed an incurable retinal disease and his vision is gradually declining and currently only having one tenth of his vision left. When Master Cheng dies for his ideals battling on the judo stage and Bo's eyes are nearly becoming blind, Bo's heart is suddenly able to see clearly and his fighting spirit reignites. Bo is determined to defeat all his opponents before seeing the last line of light.
Cast
*Louis Koo as Szeto Bo
*Aaron Kwok as Tony
*Cherrie Ying as Mona
*Tony Leung Ka-fai as Lee Kong
*Eddie Cheung Siu-fai as Boss Savage
*Lo Hoi-pang as Cheng
*Calvin Choi as Jing
*Jordan Chan as Mona's agent
*Jack Kao as Mona's father
*Albert Au
*Yeung Fan
*Wing Chung
*Kwok Park-yin
*Chui Ka-ho
*Cheung Wai-kit
Release
'Throw Down' was released in Hong Kong on 8 July 2004 and in the U.S. on 22 July 2004. On Metacritic, it receives 53/100 Metascore from four critics (The New York Times, Variety, Village Voice and TV Guide).
Home media
'Throw Down' was released on both DVD and VCD in Hong Kong on September 3, 2004. In the United States, the film was released on DVD by Tai Seng on July 26, 2005. The film was later released on Blu-ray in Hong Kong by Kam & Ronson Enterprises on August 9, 2011.
On May 18, 2020, British home media company Eureka Entertainment released 'Throw Down' on Blu-ray for its Masters of Cinema collection; this release features a new 4K resolution master of the film and a new audio commentary from Frank Djeng. The film will later be released on Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection in North America on September 21, 2021, and will feature new interviews with screenwriter Yau Nai-hoi, composer Peter Kam, and film scholars David Bordwell and Caroline Guo, along with an essay by critic Sean Gilman.
References
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