''First Shot'' is a 1993 Hong Kong

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

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 firs ...

and starring

Ti Lung Tommy Tam Fu-wing (, born 19 August 1946), known professionally by his stage name Ti Lung (), is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist known for his numerous starring roles in a string of Shaw Brothers Studio's films, particularly '' The Duel'', '' ...

Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong actress. She is one of the most successful and internationally acclaimed actresses in Asia, renowned for her diverse and versatile performances as well as her natural acting skills ...

Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He is best known for his performances in films such as '' PTU'' (2003), ''Election'' (2005), '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'' (2005), ''Triangle'' (2007), '' Sparrow'' (2008), ' ...

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 singer. He was born in Hong Kong, but his ancestral home is Chaoyang, Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefec ...

and

Andy Hui Andrew Hui Chi On (born 12 August 1967) is a Hong Kong people , 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' ...

. 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 (

) 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 *

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 (April 15, 1941 – September 9, 2024) was 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 In ...

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 Americans, American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, Crime film, crime, and psychological thriller genres. ...

's ''

The Untouchables Untouchable or Untouchables may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status * Untouchables, word for the Dalits or Scheduled Castes of India * Untouchables (law enforcement), ...

'' 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)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

References

External links

* *
First Shot
' at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, was a bilingual ( French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The we ...

* {{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