Tiger On Beat is a 1988 Hong Kong action comedy Buddy Cop Show starring Chow Yun-fat, Conan Lee, and Nina Li, directed by Lau Kar-Leung. Released a couple of years after the first A Better Tomorrow film, its one of Chow's many action films released in the peak of his popularity; yet it's known among his fans as the one film where Chow would be Playing Against Type, where instead of a badass action hero, he's a lazy police veteran prone to freaking out.
Hong Kong police rookie Michael Tso (Conan Lee) is sent to work with his new partner, Francis Li (Chow Yun-fat), to investigate the murder of a heroin trafficker associated with crime boss Johnny Law (Norman Chu). Being a freshman in the city, Michael had no option but to bunk in with Francis, where he strikes up a relationship with Francis' sister Mimi (much to Francis' chagrin). After a run-in with bar girl Marydonna (Nina Li Chi) who is the sister of the murdered trafficker, and whom is reluctantly forced to work with Michael and Francis after learning of her brother's demise, Michael and Francis soon finds themselves facing off against drug dealers and an international trafficking ring. Shootouts, chase scenes, fistfights, chainsaw battles, gunfights, explosions galore...
There is a sequel. Tiger On Beat 2, released in 1990, where Conan Lee reprises his role as Michael, but Chow Yun-fat's Francis is conspicuously absent without an explanation. Instead Conan Lee gets to team up with Danny Lee Sau-yin, Chow's co-star from The Killer (1989).
Have we mentioned the chainsaw fight
between Conan Lee and Gordon Liu at the end?
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- All Men Are Perverts: Invoked when Michael and Francis try to track down Marydonna through a supermarket. Marydonna sneaks into the store's lingerie section and tricks the two cops into entering the changing booth, before screaming "Pervert!" and running off as a bunch of onlookers surrounds Michael and Francis.
- Bayonet Ya: In the final shootout, while Michael fights off a horde of thugs, Francis confronts the lead American arm dealer, who picks up an empty M16 machine gun and mounts a bayonet knife on its front. Francis responds by whipping out a small machete and sticking it on the front of his shotgun.
- Big Brother Instinct: Francis, despite his buffoonish attitude, is willing to risk anything for his sister.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Early on in the movie, a robber tries to hold Francis at gunpoint. Michael, not knowing Francis was going to be his direct superior, challenges the robber to just open fire... promptly causing Francis to piss his pants and then faint.
- Bulletproof Vest: Michael and Francis wears these in the final battle. Which saves them from getting shot at point-blank range, slashed by bayonets, gored by chainsaws...
- The Cameo: Ti Lung, who is Chow's co-star in A Better Tomorrow, makes a quick cameo as a bartender-cum-bouncer. He gets into a brief scuffle with Conan Lee's Michael.
- Celebrity Paradox: Early on in the movie, Francis tries hitting on a secretary by introducing himself as Mark Gor. That is the name of Chow's protagonist from A Better Tomorrow.
- Chainsaw Good: The finale had Michael and The Dragon (portrayed by veteran kung-fu star Gordon Liu) fighting each other... with chainsaws!
- Cowboy Cop: Michael Tso may be a rookie, but he's not afraid to play against the rules to get his suspects.
- Destination Defenestration: Happens more than once in the climax, when Michael gets cornered by a handful of thugs in an office above ground level. Michael sends at least two of them out of the windows and falling through catwalks.
- Disguised in Drag: How the drug dealers get the drop on Michael and Francis in the hostage exchange for Francis' sister Mimi in the end, by sending one of their own disguised as Mimi with a wig. The disguised thug manage to land a few shots on Michael and Francis, but its a good thing the two brought their bulletproof vests...
- Full-Frontal Assault: One scene had Michael and Francis tracking down a suspect who is bedding a call girl. Said suspect then rushes out into the streets of Hong Kong only in his undergarments.
- Hidden Depths: Francis may be a buffoon and klutz throughout most of the film, but he's a damn good shot when he gets his hand on his trusty shotgun. Also, when his sister is in danger, he's not afraid to rush straight into an epic gunfight, despite being outnumbered - and win.
- Human Shield: The lead American dealer briefly use one of his goons as a bullet shield in the finale, when Francis is holding several baddies at gunpoint with his shotgun.
- I Have Your Wife: Or I Have Your Sister. Francis' sister, Mimi, gets captured alive by the drug dealers, forcing Michael and Francis to go on a Roaring Rampage of Rescue for the climax.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Michael manage to defeat The Dragon by shoving his chainsaw through an overturned table his opponent is using as a shield, through his opponent's chest. Subverted that The Dragon actually survive the impalement, and tries to attack Michael from behind in a Taking You with Me moment before Francis guns him down.
- Improvised Weapon: Francis, standing behind a single wall where several goons are taking cover behind, grabs a rope and ties it to his shotgun's trigger, then flings the shotgun while pulling the rope, effectively taking down a few mooks along the way with this "yo-yo shotgun".
- Knee-capping: Michael does this more than once in the film when he tries arresting his suspects non-lethally, by shooting them in the knees.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Michael attempts to hit on Mimi, Francis' sister, only to have Francis name-drop this trope.
- Outside Ride: After the arrest scene goes awry, Michael attempts to chase down the drug traffickers by jumping from a set of pipes onto the hood of the traffickers' escape vehicle. He managed to force them to crash this way.
- Psychopathic Manchild: One of the American henchmen is shown to be a bit immature, playing with a Garfield toy in the opening scene and wearing a sweater with a cartoon on it. But he proves to be one of the better fighters in the climax, giving Michael and Francis a rather hard time before getting taken out.
- Raw Eggs Make You Stronger: Invoked in the opening diner scene. Francis orders four raw eggs, and gulps them down in a single glass, followed by a cupful of milkshake, claiming its a new recipe for virility.Francis: "Believe it or not, I learned that from Stallone."
- Sacrificial Lion: Marydonna gets pumped full of lead when the drug traffickers tries to hunt down Michael and Francis.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Francis' preferred weapon, which he use to kill most of his opponents except The Dragon.
- Slashed Throat: How Francis eventually defeat the lead American dealer.
- Throwing the Distraction: Taking cover behind a wall, pinned down by enemy fire, Francis throws out his trench coat, which the bad guys shoots to shreds - allowing Francis to blast them back with his trusty shotgun.
- Unwilling Suspension: Mimi in the ending, hoisted by her wrists when Francis and Michael are trying to save her from the drug dealers.
- What the Fu Are You Doing?: When Francis and the lead American dealer squares off between one another, the American dealer makes a bunch of flashy moves and poses, complete with "owu-wah woo-ahhh" sound effects. Francis promptly knocks him over with one punch.
- Workout Fanservice: One scene had Marydonna working out in a gym, in skintight gymnastic leggings and sports bra.
- Would Hit a Girl: Francis beats up Marydonna after she became hysterical due to her brother's death.
