Chasing the Dragon (Chinese: 追龍; Sidney Lau: Jui1 Lung4), previously known as King of Drug Dealers, is a 2017 Hong Kong action crime drama film directed by Wong Jing and Jason Kwan. The film stars Donnie Yen as Crippled Ho, based on real life gangster Ng Sik-ho and Andy Lau reprising his role as Lee Rock from the film series of the same name.[2] The film is about an illegal immigrant from China who sneaks into British-colonized Hong Kong in 1963 and transforms himself into a ruthless and emerging drug lord. [3][4] The film is a remake of the 1991 film To Be Number One.[5]
Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch, a standalone sequel new characters and a new storyline, was released in June 2019.
Cast
- Donnie Yen as Crippled Ho (跛豪; based on Ng Sik-ho)
- Andy Lau (special appearance) as Lee Rock (雷洛; based on Lui Lok)
- Bryan Larkin as Ernest Hunter, a corrupt British Superintendent of Police and the main antagonist of the film
- Kent Cheng as Piggy
- Philip Keung as Wil
- Wilfred Lau as Wayne
- Yu Kang as Chad
- Kent Tong as Tong
- Michelle Hu as Jane
- Raquel Xu as Rose
- Felix Wong as Jan
- Ben Ng as Chubby
- Julian Gaertner as Translator Geoff, the right hand of Ernest Hunter
- Niki Chow as May, Ho's deceased wife
- Philip Ng as Wai Man
- Jonathan Lee as Peter
- Lawrence Chou as Willy
- Wang Qianyu as Cheryl
- Kenneth Tsang as Sir Chow
- Michael Chan as Master Dane
- Ricky Wong as Grizzly Bear
- Xia Qing as Grizzly Bear's wife
- Han Xinyi as Snake Dancer
- Terence Yin as Tong's brother
- Jason Wong as Comic
Production and release
Director Wong Jing personally flew to Canada in 2016 to persuade Yen to star in Chasing the Dragon while Yen was filming XXX: Return of Xander Cage at the time. Yen was convinced by Wong's sincerity to play a non-traditional role of a villain with limited fighting scenes and the opportunity to work alongside Andy Lau.[citation needed] Yen flew back to Asia to take part in the film after filming Return of Xander Cage in 2016.
In September 2017, Chasing the Dragon was released to mixed reviews from critics.[6] It was a huge hit with audiences in most Mandarin-speaking parts of Asia (including China and Singapore), beating Hollywood blockbuster Blade Runner 2049 and Jackie Chan's The Foreigner, despite being marketed less heavily. In Hong Kong, Chasing the Dragon earned more than 10 times the box office gross of The Foreigner. In China, it earned US$86 million.[7]
Chasing the Dragon was released as a digital, Blu-ray and DVD combo pack on January 23, 2018.[8]
Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 37th Hong Kong Film Awards[9][10] | Best Film | Wong Jing, Donnie Yen, Andy Lau, Connie Wong | Nominated |
| Best Cinematography | Jason Kwan | Won | |
| Best Film Editing | Li Ka-wing | Won | |
| Best Art Direction | James Cheung | Nominated | |
| Best Costume & Make Up Design | Yee Chung-man, Bruce Yu, Kwok Suk-man | Nominated | |
| Best Action Choreography | Yu Kang, Yuen Bun, Yan Hua | Nominated |
References
- ^ "Chasing the Dragon". The Numbers. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
- ^ "《追龍》開鏡劉德華澄清太太沒秘密生娃 - 香港新聞網". Archived from the original on 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
- ^ "娛樂名人- 逆齡做雷洛前傳包庇子丹華仔聞添丁：冇！".
- ^ "King Of Drug Dealers". The Film Catalogue. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ^ New groovy photos of Donnie Yen in ‘Chasing the Dragon’
- ^ Edmund Lee (28 September 2017). "Film review: Chasing the Dragon – Donnie Yen, Andy Lau play notorious criminals Crippled Ho, Lee Rock in slanted biopic". Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ Sina (19 October 2017). "Film review: Chasing the Dragon beating The Foreigner as Runner Up for China's National Holiday releases". Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ Raymond, Nicholas (2017-12-11). "Exclusive: Chasing the Dragon Trailer Starring Donnie Yen". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
- ^ "Hong Kong Film Awards nominations 2018: Ann Hui's Our Time Will Come leads race with 11 nods". South China Morning Post. February 6, 2018.
- ^ "Our Time Will Come wins five awards, including best film, at star-studded Hong Kong Film Awards". South China Morning Post. April 15, 2018.
External links
- Chasing the Dragon at IMDb
- Chasing the Dragon at Box Office Mojo
- Chasing the Dragon at Metacritic
- Chasing the Dragon at Rotten Tomatoes
- Chasing the Dragon at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
- Chasing the Dragon at Douban (in Chinese)
- Chasing the Dragon at Mtime.com (archived) (in Chinese)
