Wong ga si je ji IV: Jik gik jing yan (1989)

Director:

Woo-ping Yuen

Writers:

Chi-Sing Cheung (writer)
Wing-Fai Wong (writer)

Release Date:

21 July 1989 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Plot:

Two detectives who are up to their necks in trouble and in each other's face, as they try to shut down...

Plot Keywords:

Roman Numeral In Title | Punctuation In Title | Sequel | Number In Title

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Cynthia Khan	...	Madam Rachel Yeung Lai-Ching
Donnie Yen	...	Captain Donnie Yan
Michael Wong	...	Captain Michael Wong
Yat Chor Yuen	...	Luk Wan-Ting
Kai Chi Liu	...	Ming
Chiao Chiao	...	Luk's Mother
Gei Shun Wai	...	HK Police officer
Shun-Yee Yuen	...	Drug dealer
Blaine Lamoureux	...	Officer Peter Woods (as Blaine Camoureux)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stephen Berwick	...	Fighter in blue T-shirt
Wing Cho	...	Loan Shark's Man 1 / CIA Agent
Farid Dordar	...	Thug at pier
Tom Hyland
Jim James	...	Officer John
Yiu Man Kee	...	Loan Shark's Man 2
Farlie Ruth Kordica	...	Blonde female fighter
Eddie Maher	...	Loan Shark in Seattle
Kwok-kin Ng	...	Policeman
David Petersen
Ray Pichette	...	Violent policeman (as Ray Pachette)
John Salvitti	...	Fighter in alley
Paul Wong	...	Killer at hospital
Michael Woods	...	Black fighter on rooftop / Motorbike
Tin Hung Yee	...	Loan Shark's Thug in Seattle

Also Known As:

In the Line of Duty (UK) (video title)
In the Line of Duty 4 (Hong Kong: English title)
Key Witness (International: English title) (video title)
Survival (International: English title) (video title)
Wong ga si je ji IV: Jik gik jing yan (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

D & B Films Co. Ltd.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michael Woods is fighting Donnie Yen on the roof and holding him in an arm lock, Woods head is originally to the right of Donnie's. In the next shot, it has swapped to the other side to be kicked.

Quotes:

Donny: [Luk is in the hospital after being shot at by an assassin] Did you tell his mother?
Madam Yeung: [shakes her head] I didn't want to upset her.
Donny: She's got a right to know what's going on. She gets upset, that's not our problem. You know what, Madam? You're too emotional. He's in here because of you. You made a bad decision. I think you're in the wrong line of work.
Madam Yeung: [skeptically] Could be and you see yourself as a hot shot. I think you're too impulsive though.
[nods to Luk]
Madam Yeung: He's only under suspicion. You didn't have to go and beat him up like that...he didn't do any harm, so you're as responsible as I am. I think you're in the wrong line too.
Donny: Look lady, it's not my job to decide who's guilty. My job is to bring in the suspect.
Madam Yeung: Mine too, but I try to do it with sensitivity. Everyone's innocent until proven guilty, so why couldn't you give him that chance to be innocent? If a guy has a reasonable request, I grant it to him. How come you're so heartless?
Donny: Now you're just taking cheap shots at me.
Madam Yeung: You're paranoid. I just don't wanna work with a machine.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Follows Wong ga jin si (1986)

A sublime classic for more than just the action

Between 1984 and 1991, after the demise of the traditional kung fu film, and before things really started going downhill with excessive wire-work, Hong Kong action movies moved through a kick-boxing phase which introduced more pragmatic fighting but retained some old-school sensibilities. Of all the films produced in these five/six years "Witness: ITLOD 4" is hands down the best. Here's my reasons why:

- the pacing is superb. You watch action films for action - and Yuan Ho-Ping,as is his wont, keeps the movie going at a breathless pace with a fight or chase almost every five minutes.

- Yuan Ho-Ping uses his strict rhythmic parameters so the action is clear and we can enjoy every movement. Some classical moves are dropped in just to make the action a little prettier. Long shots and close ups are used when appropriate and to give variety - all typical Yuan Ho-Ping trademarks and this is what sets him apart from inferior filmmakers in the genre. He also introduces some great novelty fighters - the female foreign fighter who looks like an English teacher with a heroin habit, the crazy eyed foreigner in the alley with the eccentric fighting style and of course Michael Woods.

- The syncronisation of the action and sound effects is SO crisp here and the sound effects have never sounded better - deep body blows and crisp "pak" sounds - music to my ears!

- The soundtrack music is superb! A little bit like the repeated theme of "Halloween" - it's icy and sinister - a delicious backdrop for the brutal and surgically precise action. There's a way that the theme anticipates the action in the way that a repeated theme introduces particularly nasty sequences in a Lucio Fulci film.

- Silence accompanying action. I love the way that characters roll over, across in and out of cars and buildings in silence. It may not have been a deliberate device - but the fact that HK films are shot silent and then dubbed later sometimes results in some very interesting dynamics.

- You enter into a world of claustrophobic and relentless brutality - which slips in and out of a cartoon universe where people take beatings with tire-irons and walk away intact one minute, and end up bleeding and lifeless in lift shafts in another. Yet in this icy universe of remorseless violence there are moments of compassion - for example when the "witness" is allowed to visit his mother - but this touching scene is, once again, abruptly terminated and violence resumes.

On top of the best action you will ever see, there are also the qualities to the film I have listed above. This all results in a quite extraordinary film with a very distinctive feel and ambiance. It's strange - I've never experienced the same kind of quality with any other Hong Kong film. When I first showed this to friends they demanded repeat viewings - it's like a roller-coaster ride that leaves you craving yet another adrenalin rush.