The Brink (2017) Max Zhang

[whitesnake]

Well Go USA release the Blu-ray for The Brink (original title Kuang shou) on March 12, 2019.  Info at https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Brink-Blu-ray/225953/  and  

http://cityonfire.com/max-zhang-is-on-the-brink-of-destruction/  Since there doesn't seem to be an actual trailer that still exists on this thread, and I can't find one yet from Well Go USA, here's the one from November 2017 - 

 

 

[DrNgor]

I just got done watching this. It was pretty good on the whole. It makes the worst mistake of cramming the best action set pieces in the first half, most specifically the first two fight sequences. Those represent some of Nicky Li Chung-Chi's best overall work. The final fight, set in the middle of a hurricane, has some good choreography--even the occasional use of wires is more well integrated into the action than in Paradox--but it really just drags and the operatic metal song that plays over the very end sounds like something you'd hear in a Dario Argento film, not a gritty, brutal HK action film. The movie also loses a lot of forward momentum during the "calm before the storm" sequence. I think in the inevitable comparison between this and Paradox, the latter wins. The choreography on the whole is better here, but that film was better at escalating the action until the final was just all-out machete/chopper mayhem.

[mark187]

Just a heads up that the US release of The Brink has been postponed until August. 

[whitesnake]

Well Go USA gives The Brink a Blu-ray (and maybe DVD) release on August 13, 2019.  Info here - https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Brink-Blu-ray/225953/

[JackieRome]

I was very anxious to get it back after reading a review in CityOnFire that gave it a 7.5 if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, beyond the marine setting there is nothing to get excited about. The director should be in his debut and is Soi Cheang's helper. The story is sparse, but that's not the biggest problem. There are some inconsistencies and implausible scenes that are quite funny. I was expecting good fights but they are not interesting neither athletically nor how they are filmed (too many editing breaks and higher speed in the frames that take away fluidity). Zhang still doesn't convince me as the main character. He has an unmasculine femininity in his appearance and that peroxide hair doesn't help, it makes him look as ridiculous as the absurd shirts he wears in this film. On a martial level, he's not acrobatic, he's not spectacular; probably also because of the bad choreography and the choice of shooting and editing that penalize him. When you make such a short film, with 2-3 ideas for the story, at least you have to entertain me with engaging fights, but this is not the case. Only Shawn Yue's weird character is interesting (although I don't understand why they insist on not catching actors doing martial arts if the character has to fight with the main one). A Korean film, with this kind of story, could create a masterpiece in every respect...

Edited April 17, 2020 by JackieRome

[LoBo]

I agree. I didn't like the fight scenes. I only made it through the first hour

[DarthKato]

Just got through watching "The Brink(2017)" and I got to say, it was the most painfully average movie I've ever watched. Not much else I can really say about it. It was so average that I don't really hate it, but nor do I like it. I literally have no feelings about it one way or the other. I've never been left so empty by a movie in my life. Yeah, they made a movie, it had actors, a few fights, some dialog must have been written by someone, but it had no emotional weight at all, of any kind.  So yeah, cannot recommend this one. Much better movies out there. 

Edited April 18, 2021 by DarthKato