Product Description

Hong Kong legend Andy Lau (House of Flying Daggers) and Daniel Wu (Legend of the Black Scorpion) star in this stunningly gritty and intense thriller. Inspired by an incredible true story and nominated for 9 Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Action Choreography, Protégé is the saga of a young cop infiltrating the deepest levels of a secret drug ring. He survives seven years of violent, nail-biting close calls, as he works his way from dealer to heir apparent. Every step consolidates his power and reveals another piece of his boss's operations, bringing him closer to destroying a brutal heroin empire...or inheriting it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39855 in DVD
• Brand: GENIUS PRODUCTS INC
• Released on: 2009-02-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Color, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Cantonese
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

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Stills from Protégé (Click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Not An Action Movie
The front cover said 'nominated for best action choreography' but there was no action to choregraph! There was one five minute action scene and can hardly be considered a shootout unlike what one reviewer said. There was good drama pertaining to hard drug use, but it's hard to fully appreciate the acting in a foreign movie because of the language. I buy these Hong Kong movies, especially Dragon Dynasty releases, for the action, so I was disappointed.

I've been spoiled by Hard Boiled, The Killer, A Better Tomorrow I and II, Tragic Hero, Fist of Legend, and others. Check those out for some action.

A great and gritty Hong Kong film
Andy Lau, who's always good, works his way up as an undercover cop until he is so good the boss wants him to take over the gang's heroin trade! Intrigue, double crosses, and lots of soul-satisfying shootouts ensue. There's really no way to know whether Lau will pull out his badge and take down the enterprise, or whether he will turn over a new leaf and take on the gangland leadership role he's been offered. (Of course, you can guess...) Wildly creative cinematography and well-choreographed fights put this film right up there on the top of Hong Kong crime flicks.

Nightmare existence
This is a deep look into the insidious perversion of drugs, from the gangsters who supply them, to the cops who work to catch them, and to the lowest rung of the ladder, the users. At first I was let down expecting another HK action extravaganza, but eventually got drawn into the story. The nightmare seems more real when it isn't varnished over with fights, chases and shootouts. Recommended.