Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


Hot War (1998)

Director: Jingle Ma

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Sterling Chinese scientists researching subliminal imagery in a CIA lab in Chicago are targeted by bleach-blond terrorist 'Alien' on behalf of a sinister mogul who plans to create economic chaos by inserting subliminals into television coverage of the Asian Games. With one wife murdered and one fiancée kidnapped, the two men submit to an experimental programme to turn them into hyper-skilled 'VR Fighters' and rush to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur for daring rescues, showdowns, etc. This expensive, derivative attempt at a virtual reality thriller with much dialogue in English is a misguided response to the decline of the HK film industry. The stars, charismatic elsewhere, might as well be CGI figures; cinematographer-turned-director Jingle Ma's only non-Hollywood idea is to give it a tragic/elegiac ending. Yawn.

Author: TR

Time Out Film Guide


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields




Most popular on this site


Top Stories

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?

The 10 worst date movies

The 10 worst date movies

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas

10 unlikely badboy biopics

10 unlikely badboy biopics

Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing