Eat grenade!
Final Run is a 1989 action movie starring Cheung Kwok-keung, Michael Miu, Simon Yam and Yukari Oshima.
When supercop Cheung Chi-nam (Cheung) finds himself investigating an international drug trafficking ring, and his former friend Ma Chun-Fung (Miu) might be involved with operations of local triad leader Yan Yu-Yiang (Simon), he ends up being dragged knee-deep into a war in South East Asia's notorious Golden Triangle.
Action Girl icon Yukari Oshima co-stars as a South-East Asian military Colonel, and despite her popularity at the time of the movie's release, Oshima only had a somewhat small role in the film, showing up briefly in the opening scene before being pushed aside until the last thirty minutes when she suddenly becomes one of the film's leading characters. She does, however, serve as the film's action director, making it her sole directorial effort.
Do not confuse this movie with the 1999 disaster movie.
Final Run contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Yee-wa, played by Yukari Oshima. Who serves as Nam's Getaway Driver and Hyper-Competent Sidekick for the last half hour of the movie.
- Bald of Evil: On the Cambodian guerila leader, a drug kingpin and reasonably difficult King Mook in the climax.
- Bring It:
- The Caucasian thug does this gesture when intimidating Sergeant Kau to take him on in the penthouse battle.
- Yee-wa does a variation of this when facing the Dark Action Girl guerila chick. With a Finger Wag.
- The Cavalry: In the guerilla camp assault, Nam's capture is interrupted when the military arrives, right on time, in a Big Damn Heroes moment leading to the final shootout of the movie.
- Ceiling Cling: Nam does this in a toilet while evading hitmen searching for him.
- The Chessmaster: Feng, the Big Bad, and one hell of a Manipulative Bastard. Besides sending assassins to kill Nam's mother and sister, he made it looks like it was his mob rival boss who did the hit, causing Nam to publicly attack the rival and get himself convicted by the police. He then arranges for a deal to be made with his Cambodian allies without his partner Yan knowing, causing Yan to be killed in his stead while he flees the country.
- Destination Defenestration:
- Happens constantly during fight scenes, notably the hitman Nam kicks through a window towards a slope. Yee-wa herself also gets thrown through a glass panel, although there isn't a drop on the other side.
- Yee-wa notably does the reverse during the infiltration scene, crashing into Feng's penthouse through a window. She later repeats this stunt, crashing through a window into an office while trying to escape.
- Every Car Is a Pinto:
- An overturned car during a chase scene inexplicably blows up into a massive fireball simply from being flipped over.
- And apparently a tuk-tuk is also a pinto as well, when Nam's cousin, Xiong, tries tackling Fung on one of these vehicles while wounded through the gut. Fung simply fires a shot with his shotgun, and that somehow results in the tuk-tuk exploding.
- Evil Former Friend: Nam and Fung used to be best buddies, before Nam decides to join the police while Feng becomes part of a triad.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Feng, the Big Bad, wears glasses.
- Grenade Launcher: Used by Nam when he stages a one-man assault on the Guerila camp. Naturally he uses it in conjunction with his pistol, firing the launcher one-handed.
- Guns Akimbo:
- Yee-wa and a few military officers uses dual guns against guerrillas in the final shootout.
- Nam does this with a pistol and a grenade launcher.
- Horseback Heroism: Yee-wa and her commando unit all gets around on horses, especially in their opening scene. Justified that they operate on rough jungle terrains, and are unable to gain access to jeeps given their location.
- It's Personal: Nam, towards the killers of his mother and sister.
- Jungle Warfare: The lengthy climatic shootout scene takes place mostly in a jungle region, between the guerilas and the commando team.
- Mexican Standoff: Between Yee-wa and the Cambodian female guerrilla. Yee-wa pulled her trigger first, but somehow the guerilla girl dodges her point-blank shot, leading to their one-on-one duel.
- "Mission: Impossible" Cable Drop: Yee-wa's preferred method when she crashes the penthouse to interrupt the meeting between Fung and Yan to confront them over Wan's murder. She later escapes the penthouse using the same method as well, combined with a Super Window Jump towards the cable outside and sliding all the way down.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Yee-wa and Sergeant Kau held their own reasonably well in the penthouse fight, kicking all kind of ass, until Feng grabs a machine gun. Kau ends up getting shot dead, buying barely enough time for Yee-wa to flee by jumping out of the window she crashed in through.
- Only a Flesh Wound: Nam gets blasted in the shoulder by a mook's shotgun, but later he simply disarms the mook, and continues fighting a few more mooks with his fists and winning. To be fair, the shooter blasts him through a wooden wall, which could've somewhat reduced the impact of the hit.
- Peekaboo Corpse: The corpses being Nam's mother and sister.
- Pineapple Surprise: Subverted with the grenade used by Sergeant Kau. It's a plastic dud.
- Recycled Soundtrack: The background music used during Nam's One-Man Army rampage through the guerila base sounds suspiciously similar to the Aliens score...
- Revenge Before Reason: Upon discovering his mother and sister brutally murdered, Nam immediately attacks the first person he believed to be responsible, which is the triad leader he's investigating, who happens to be Feng's rival. He ends up nearly killing the wrong person and doesn't realize who is truly responsible for his family's demise until later on.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Nam's entire motivation for the movie, to find out who is responsible for his mother and sister's murders, and bring them to justice.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: With a grenade launcher!
- Shouting Shooter: Nam for most of the movie, especially when finally killing Feng, the Big Bad responsible for his family's murders, avenging their deaths.Nam: "BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD!!!" (fills Feng with lead)
- The Squadette: The Cambodian guerila had a sole female soldier, a Dark Action Girl with Braids of Action. Naturally, in the final raid and shootout she ends up fighting Yee-wa.
- Tempting Fate: Wan, during a meeting with Fung and Yan, boasts that he holds the location of the sole evidence of Fung's involvement with the arms deal. When Fung's bodyguard points a gun at Wan, Wan smugly responds that they wouldn't shoot him since they would need him alive to have the incriminating evidence retrieved and destroyed. Unfortunately Fung and Yan already had plans to flee the country, and doesn't need Wan for the next phase of their plans.Wan: "You think you can shoot me? You need me alive, asshole! Come on, shoot me now if you can! Shoot me..."Fung: (shoots Wan dead) "You asked for it."
- What the Fu Are You Doing?: The Caucasian Elite Mook (Mark Houghton) tries intimidating Sergeant Kau with Monkey Fist-style kung fu, which he obviously learned from watching martial arts movies. Sergeant Kau simply knocks him aside with one punch.
- White Shirt of Death: On Yan, when Nam pumps him full of bullets, with a lingering aftermath shot of his red-splattered white shirt. Subverted with Nam himself, who wears white for the entire movie, and while his shirt gets bloody in the final action scene he didn't die.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Nam momentarily gets cornered by a bunch of guerilas as he rampages his way through the base, who then orders him to drop his guns. Nam obliges, and then lashes out and starts punching the guerilas from up close. There's Mook Chivalry, and then there's Too Dumb to Live...
- Although the guerilas could have wanted to shoot Nam afterwards, but their attempt is interrupted when the military, led by Yee-wa and the Captain, starts attacking the guerila camp.
