Stars: Chiu Man Chuk, Andrew Lin, Ken Wong, Qi Shu

Director: Allun Lam

Summary: In THE BLACK SHEEP AFFAIR, Chinese special agent Yim (Chiu Man Cheuk) is exiled to an Eastern Europe country in disgrace after a mission turns to tragedy. There he faces off against the Japanese terrorist, Mishima (Hoi Lin), leading to a series of action-packed conflicts that ends in an intense martial arts battle.

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In The Black Sheep Affairspecial forces agent Yim Dong (Chiu Man Chuk--the brilliant wu shu marital artist star of 1995's The Blade) is transferred to the fictional ex-Soviet Republic of Lavernia, actually Hungary, where the explosive Now You're Dead(1998) was filmed. Soon he has arrested Mishima, played by Hoi Lin who delivers a chilling performance as a ruthless Japanese terrorist who believes he is Christ returned to bring bloody redemption. Before long Mishima's fanatical followers are causing mayhem, while in a bittersweet sub-plot Yim revives his relationship with the girl he loved in Beijing before the 1989 uprising.

The comparatively low budget shows occasionally, and even in the Cantonese version all the Lavernians are dreadfully dubbed with American voices, one duplicitous official coming across like a camp Oliver Reed. Against that there is an attempt to offer some political substance, and the action--a mixture of martial arts and gunplay--is fast, furious and stunningly staged, so that even as it goes ludicrously OTT it remains exhilarating. The "shoot-the-hostages" finale reaches an emotional intensity and breaks rules no Hollywood action flick would dare, turning into a John Woo-like slaughterhouse which makes the likes of Die Hard(1988) look tame.

On the DVD:The end titles carry the Dolby Digital logo, so why both the Cantonese subtitled and English dubbed versions of a 1998 film are presented in two-channel mono is a mystery. The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image is good but not exceptional, and exhibits some clear compression artefacts. The "music promo" is essentially one of Hong Kong Legends' own specially-made trailers, and is accompanied by more trailers for a further five films. The photo gallery is pointless but the text biographies of the two main stars are detailed enough to be interesting. Two minutes of poor quality video show Chiu Man Chuk demonstrating some wu shu moves, while a four-minute interview conducted at the same time via a translator for French television does little more than reveal the star as an amiable chap. Several of the features are also present on the DVD of Chiu Man Chuk's Body Weapon(1999). --Gary S Dalkin

Aspect Ratio:	Wide Screen
Main Language:	Cantonese
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interview, Wu Shu Showcase, Music Promo, Biography, Filmography, Photo Gallery
Year:	1998
Release Date:	July 10, 2000
Runtime:	87 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	M D V 359
Keywords:	Black, Action, Affair, General, Wide, Screen, Sheep, Adventure, Cantonese, Lan, Bi, Blacksheep, Tian, Xie
Genre:	Action/Adventure