When he returns home, he discovers that his family had been murdered by foreigners for opposing opium trading. That night, Hero breaks up the foreigners' party and kills them for revenge. He flees from China after bidding farewell to his love interest, Jade, and sails to America.
16 years later, Hero's childhood friend Sheng and Hero's son Sword arrive in America. They meet Monk Lohan in China House in Chinatown and hear news about Hero. Lohan tells them of his meeting with Hero while they were on board the ship for America and their experiences as labourers in Steel Bull Canyon. They travel to Jade's grave later and Sheng tells Sword of how he and Jade travelled to America 16 years ago in search of Hero, as well as their reunion and the subsequent marriage of Hero and Jade in America.
Publication Information
- Title : A Man Called Hero
- Chinese : 中華英雄
- Directed by : Andrew Lau
- Produced by : Manfred Wong, Barbie Tung
- Screenplay by : Manfred Wong
- Story by : Ma Wing-shing
- Starring : Ekin Cheng, Shu Qi, Kristy Yang, Nicholas Tse, Yuen Biao, Jerry Lamb, Dion Lam, Anthony Wong, Ken Lo, Francis Ng, Elvis Tsui
- Music by : Chan Kwong-wing
- Cinematography : Andrew Lau
- Edited by : Danny Pang
- Production company : Golden Harvest, Centro Digital Pictures Limited, BoB and Partners Co. Ltd.
- Distributed by : Golden Harvest, Sahamongkol Film International
- Release dates : 17 July 1999
- Running time : 116 minutes
- Country : Hong Kong
- Language : Cantonese, Mandarin
- Box office HK$23,368,902
At China House, the Boss, along with Sword, Shadow and the others, plan to liberate the labourers at Steel Bull Canyon. They disguise themselves as an opera troupe and infiltrate the canyon. They catch the American supervisors off guard with their surprise attack and succeed in freeing the Chinese labourers there. Lohan is killed in action and Sword is threatened at gunpoint by Bigot when he confronted Bigot on the whereabouts of his twin sister. The long-lost Hero appears at the critical moment and joins in the battle, defeating the villains eventually. However, his daughter's whereabouts are still unknown.
Sword is happy to see his father for the first time after hearing the various stories about his father. However, Hero maintains a cold attitude towards his son and constantly keeps a distance away from him. Hero persistently believes that he was born under the Star of Death and he would lose his loved ones and spend the rest of his life in solitude. Just then, Invincible arrives in America to finish the duel with Pride and since Pride had died, Invincible turns on Hero, Pride's successor. Hero and Invincible have a spectacular duel atop the Statue of Liberty and eventually Hero defeats Invincible. Before the film ends, Sword and Sheng prepare to leave America while Hero observes them from a distance.
Cast :
- Ekin Cheng as Hero Hua
- Shu Qi as Mu
- Kristy Yang as Jade
- Nicholas Tse as Sword Hua
- Jerry Lamb as Sheng
- Anthony Wong as Pride
- Francis Ng as Invincible
- Yuen Biao as Boss
- Dion Lam as Shadow
- Jordan Chan as Shadow (voice)
- Grace Yip as Kate
- Elvis Tsui as Bigot
- Ken Lo as Monk Luohan
- Mark Cheng as Gold
- Sam Lee as Fire
- Benjamin Yuen as Water
- Yu Ka-ho as Earth
- Jude Poyer as Bull
- Cheng Pei-pei as Hero's mother
- Norman Wong
- Frankie Ng as Moon
- Hon San as Big Stone
- Thomas James Hudak, Jr as Black Dragon commander
The music and songs for the film were composed by Chan Kwong-wing.
- Tin Sat Ku Hsing (Star of Death), the theme song, performed in Cantonese by Ekin Cheng. Cheng also sang the Mandarin version of this song, titled Tianya Haijiao (To the Ends of the Earth).
- Faa Cheng Ho (The Flower is Good), insert song, performed in Cantonese by Ekin Cheng. Cheng also sang the Mandarin version of this song, titled Ni Zou Dao Na Li (Wherever You Go).
- Dai Yat Ngan (First Glance), insert song, performed in Cantonese by Nicholas Tse.
Awards
- 1999 Golden Horse Film Awards
- Best Visual Effects - Centro Digital Pictures Limited
- 1999 Golden Horse Film Awards
- Best Film Editing - Danny Pang
- Best Action Choreography - Dion Lam
- 19th Hong Kong Film Awards (2000)
- Best Action Choreography - Dion Lam
- Best Costume Make Up Design - Lee Pik-kwan
- Best Original Film Score - Chan Kwong-wing
- Best Original Film Song - Albert Leung, Chan Kwong-wing
- Best Sound Design - Zeng Jingxiang
