Fan Mei-sheng, a longtime character actor at Shaw Brothers dips his hand into writing and directing with AMSTERDAM CONNECTION, a hardboiled tale of globetrotting gangsters from Hong Kong competing for the lucrative drug trade in Europe. The film features popular Chinese muscleman Bolo Yeung, Jason Pai Piao with a funky dew and all around tough guy Chan Sing in a cameo. It’s a standard, but enjoyable exploitation film with the usual assortment of gratuitous kung fu action, flesh and unrepentant criminal villains and heroes. And a rarity for an independent Hong Kong film, it boasts having real location shoots in Amsterdam, Paris and Hong Kong.

The film is more crime drama than kung fu actioner so it helps to see the film open with some sparring between Pai as Bun and Yeung who plays his boss, a Hong Kong drug trafficker named Big Louie. The pair head to Amsterdam to set up shop and find another player from Hong Kong already dominating the business. His name is Chiu Ting (Fan Mei-sheng) and an attempt to get the local police to close down his operation backfires.

Both parties return to Hong Kong to compete for a supplier (Chan Sing). Bun’s girlfriend is duped by Chiu Ting and sold into prostitution back in Amsterdam. Wing (Wong Yuen-san) is one of Chiu’s men who has an old rivalry with Bun and rescues her. Bun and Wing fight it out over the girl until they realize that they’re being manipulated. They then decide to join forces to bring down both crime bosses.

There have been a number of kung fu movies to be marketed as an Eastern FRENCH CONNECTION including THE CHINESE CONNECTION (aka FIST OF FURY), THE KOREAN CONNECTION and THE TATTOO CONNECTION. But the AMSTERDAM CONNECTION comes closer than any of these to reaching William Friedkin levels. The film is a fairly sophisticated actioner as far as independent Hong Kong productions from this era go. I half-expected another brainless excuse for constant brawling, but Fan had more in mind. There are the classic double-crosses inserted into the story and great use of the international locations. Then you have characters that are all flawed in some way.

But the film does have problems. The direction isn’t focused enough, possibly the fault of having two directors. The leads are okay, but some of the supporting actors such as the woman who plays Bun’s girlfriend are awful. It’s ironic that her character desperately wants to be an actress when she herself cannot act. There is also some unflattering female nudity that’s handled with little tact. Yet this is an exploitation film, so it’s to be expected.

The film contains just enough gritty street fighter-like kung fu to maintain interest. But something is missing, notably blood or anything resembling the semi-real effects of getting repeatedly kicked and punched. It’s not that I need to see every gory detail, but there is a feeling that people just aren’t getting hurt here, except at the end. Part of satisfaction of watching a good kung fu movie comes from seeing people get beat and act beaten, otherwise the action becomes cartoonish. But the choreography is decent and the end fight with Yeung taking on Pai and Wong is definitely above average. Yeung is such a bulky guy and yet he moves remarkably well, as many well know from seeing him in dozens of martial arts movies from ENTER THE DRAGON to BLOODSPORT. Chan Sing appears in a lesser role midway through, but gets in on the action too.

On the English-language soundtrack, Pink Floyd’s opening to “Time” from DARK SIDE OF THE MOON is frequently sampled. It’s used well and is fitting in a movie about drug traffickers.

AMSTERDAM CONNECTION is surprisingly entertaining. Fan Mei-sheng, who never really got off the ground as a filmmaker, shows that he certainly had potential to do so.

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