''First Shot'' is a 1993 Hong Kong crime film produced and directed by

David Lam David See-chai Lam, (; July 25, 1923November 22, 2010) was a Hong Kong-born Canadian banker, businessman, investor, philanthropist, and politician. From 1988 to 1995, Lam was the 25th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, and he was the first ...

and starring

Ti Lung Ti Lung (born 19 August 1946) is a Hong Kong actor, known for his numerous starring roles in a string of Shaw Brothers Studio's films, particularly '' The Blood Brothers'', ''The Avenging Eagle'', ''Clans of Intrigue'', '' The Duel'', ''The Sentim ...

, Maggie Cheung,

Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...

Waise Lee Waise Lee Chi-hung (born 19 December 1959) is a Hong Kong film and television actor best known for playing the roles of villains and antagonists in various films. Biography Lee graduated from TVB's Artist Training Academy in 1982 and was from the ...

Canti Lau Lau Sek Ming (; born 16 July 1964) is a Hong Kong actor and singing He was born in Hong Kong, but his ancestral home is Chaoyang, Guangdong, China. Filmography * ''Summer of Foam'' (2010) TV series * ''The KungFu Master'' (2012) * ''Zombies Re ...

and

Andy Hui Andy Hui Chi-on (born 12 August 1967) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Hui is considered one of the most successful Hong Kong singers, with an extensive list of Cantonese and Mandarin hits to his credit. Early life Hui's mother is Vietnamese ...

. The film tells the story of events that led to the formation of the ICAC in Hong Kong in 1974.

Plot

During the early 1970s, the ICAC has not been established in Hong Kong yet and the city was swamped with corruption and widespread poverty. Police sergeant Wong Yat-chung (

) is very upright and justice and refuses to partake with his corrupt colleagues and thus, he is marginalized from everyone else at the police station. During an operation, Wong's subordinate Sam Mok (

) shoots Wong in the back heavily injuring him. Meanwhile, Governor Murray MacLehose delegates Sir Barry Drainage to investigate the corruption happening in Hong Kong. Drainage's assistant Annie Ma ( Maggie Cheung) also enlists Wong for help. After investigating, Wong discovers that Mok was forced to shoot him earlier. Wong then recruits Mok alongside two elite cadets from the police academy to assist him in gathering evidence of corruption groups and begins Hong Kong's first strike against corruption.

Cast

as Wong Yat-chung * Maggie Cheung as Annie Ma *

as Sam Mok *

as Faucet Lui *

as Yip Chun-wan *

as Lo Kam-shui *Kam Hing-yin as Yip Fok, Anti-Corruption Division *Betsy Cheung as Chung's ex-wife *Bobby Yip as Chiu's hitman *Kong Man-sing as Brother Ho *Frankie Chan as Muscle *

Hoi Sang Lee Lee Hoi-sang (born April 15, 1941) is a Hong Kong martial arts film actor and martial artist, known for his roles in '' The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (as Abbot Li Hai Sheng) (1978), '' Shaolin Challenges Ninja'' (1978), ''The Incredible Kung Fu ...

as Chiu's man *Chow Hong-chiu as Mak Kay *Jamie Luk as Martial Arts Instructor *Mantic Yiu as Helen *Wong Wai-chi *Leung Kam-san as Chan Ping *Wong Wa-ho as Mini bus driver *Jameson Lam as ICAC Agent *Wong Chi-keung as Chiu's Bodyguard *Tang Tai-wo as Chiu's Bodyguard *Ho Wing-cheung as policeman *Hui Si-man as Councillor *Leung Kai-chi as At Restaurant Opening *Wai Ching as Lui Lok *Leung Chung *Ling Chi-hung *Wong Man-chun as Policeman *Mak Shu-san *Yu Ming-hin *James M. Crockett *Yuen Kam-gai

Reception

''Beyond Hollywood'' gave the film a negative review criticizing its lack of originality by directly lifting its plot, scenes and characters from

Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...

's ''

The Untouchables Untouchables or The Untouchables may refer to: American history * Untouchables (law enforcement), a 1930s American law enforcement unit led by Eliot Ness * ''The Untouchables'' (book), an autobiography by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley * ''The U ...

'' and also criticizes its shoddy writing. ''Hong Kong Film Net'' rated the film 7 out of 10 stars and gave a positive review writing "The characters were enaging (especially

's turn as a weaselly rat, a total 180 from the usual suave characters he plays), the story was interesting, and the action was pretty exciting. ''First Shot'' is really not that much different from many other similar movies (except that it is based -- albeit loosely -- on a true story), but it is done well and worth a look."

Box office

The film grossed HK$5,463,556 at the Hong Kong box office during its theatrical run from 25 February to 10 March 1993 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

References

External links

* *
First Shot
' at Hong Kong Cinemagic * {{David Lam (film director) 1993 films 1993 crime thriller films 1993 action thriller films 1993 martial arts films Hong Kong crime thriller films Hong Kong action thriller films Hong Kong martial arts films Police detective films Crime films based on actual events Gun fu films 1990s Cantonese-language films Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong Films set in the 1970s Films directed by David Lam 1990s Hong Kong films