1990 - UNDECLARED WAR, disappointing action film from Ringo Lam

 Undeclared War is a big disappointment from Hong Kong action director Ringo Lam.  The plot has something to do with a world terrorist organization trying to destroy an international conference of nations, seen that one before.  The film has the American and Hong Kong police joining forces to stop the terrorists.

The Hong Kong cop is played by Danny Lee his girlfriend is Rosamund Kwan who has shown up in some Jackie Chan and Tsui Hark films.  They deliver a lot of their dialog in English for the benefit of the American cop and  American audience and do fairly well with it although at times it's a little shaky.  I don't know how many times Danny Lee has played a Hong Kong cop but it seems like every time I see him in a film that's the character he seems to be stuck with.

 

The bad guys are played by Olivia Hussey one time star of Romeo and Juliet and Vernon Wells, the "Wez" from The Road Warrior and the chief bad guy in that Schwarzenegger classic Commando.  Olivia Hussey seems completely out of place in this film she should be playing a nun or something in a Zeffirelli film.  Vernon Wells could do these really evil bad guy parts in his sleep by this point in his career and he seems very sleepy in this film.

 

Usually Ringo Lam could rev it up with some great action stuff even in his so-so films but in this case he doesn't seem to have had the inventiveness or energy to rise to the occasion.  It's just one boring gun fight after another.  Even a speedboat chase towards the end of the film is boring.  Undeclared War is a big tiresome letdown  from a usually reliable director

The film was written by Nam Yin, Timothy Lung, Deborah Grant and Louis Roth.  Four writers for a standard action film never a good sign.  The running time is 109 minutes.