The Iceman Cometh

Clarence Ford's 1989 Hong Kong film begins with a sixteenth-century Ming guard and the criminal he is pursuing both falling into a glacier and freezing. Three hundred years later scientists thaw them out and the two men continue their fight in modern Hong Kong. The film is an extreme case of genre mixing: martial arts, science fiction, romantic comedy and crime all run at once. The fight scenes between Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah are among the best-choreographed of the period, and Maggie Cheung plays the character who represents the modern world. The humour comes from the mismatch of eras, though the film does not always use the idea well. The villain's introduction and the tone of certain scenes are uncomfortable today; the film uses sexual violence in a comic frame, and that is a serious fault. Who it's for: those who love eighties Hong Kong cinema and genre hybrids. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by scenes that treat sexual violence lightly; the film is problematic on this even by the standards of its own time.