This one did not look promising, mainly because no 'name' Hong Kong actors were in it. but it turned out to be a pretty decent thriller. some scenes were pretty intense and violent, but realistic. acting was overall OK, i just wish Hong Kong actors wouldn't shout so much.
8 Reviews
Welcome to Philippines!
Bogey Man14 July 2002
Eric Tsang directed and starred in this vacationer's worst nightmare of a movie, Fatal Vacation. This Hong Kong film tells the story of group of Chinese people that are on vacation in the Philippines and their tour guide is funny and optimistic Bob, played by director Tsang. Soon the group is kidnapped and taken hostage by some local revolutionaries who have their member in prison. They will free the tourists if their member is freed by the Philippines government. After many killings and rapes by the kidnappers, our group gets a chance to fight back and so they do.
This is a routine Hong Kong heroic bloodshed action with plenty of humor elements, but not too much, fortunately. As an action film, this is only mediocre and offers nothing special when compared to the real masterpieces made in Hong Kong. Photography is nothing special this time, but at least the action scenes are fairly interesting and explosive. There is one harrowing scene that reminds me of similar scene in John Woo's Bullet in the Head and its savage war camp segment, that is still far more disturbing than the scene in Fatal Vacation. The scene in Fatal Vacation ends in one of the more memorable "heroic death" scenes in Hong Kong cinema, and that is a must see for fans of the genre. Otherwise, as mentioned, this is pretty mediocre Eastern actioner, pretty violent but never as powerful and masterful as the real classics made in Hong Kong. Still, this is worth checking out for fans of Hong Kong cinema.
There are many scenes that depict the fears of future and what will happen to Hong Kong in 1997. That was a topic in many Hong Kong films made before 1997 so Fatal Vacation is among many others to criticize and depict these fears. The humor is sometimes too stupid as Eric Tsang tries to be funny (he succeeds also) but still this is not any slapstick Stephen Chow film, fortunately.
I give Fatal Vacation 6/10 and recommend it for fans of the genre only. If one has seen masterpieces of Ringo Lam, John Woo and Mak brothers among others, then this feels pretty tame, but still watchable film.
This is a routine Hong Kong heroic bloodshed action with plenty of humor elements, but not too much, fortunately. As an action film, this is only mediocre and offers nothing special when compared to the real masterpieces made in Hong Kong. Photography is nothing special this time, but at least the action scenes are fairly interesting and explosive. There is one harrowing scene that reminds me of similar scene in John Woo's Bullet in the Head and its savage war camp segment, that is still far more disturbing than the scene in Fatal Vacation. The scene in Fatal Vacation ends in one of the more memorable "heroic death" scenes in Hong Kong cinema, and that is a must see for fans of the genre. Otherwise, as mentioned, this is pretty mediocre Eastern actioner, pretty violent but never as powerful and masterful as the real classics made in Hong Kong. Still, this is worth checking out for fans of Hong Kong cinema.
There are many scenes that depict the fears of future and what will happen to Hong Kong in 1997. That was a topic in many Hong Kong films made before 1997 so Fatal Vacation is among many others to criticize and depict these fears. The humor is sometimes too stupid as Eric Tsang tries to be funny (he succeeds also) but still this is not any slapstick Stephen Chow film, fortunately.
I give Fatal Vacation 6/10 and recommend it for fans of the genre only. If one has seen masterpieces of Ringo Lam, John Woo and Mak brothers among others, then this feels pretty tame, but still watchable film.
The action almost makes the talky parts worth seeing
dbborroughs28 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Eric Tsang writes directs and stars in a nasty exploitation film about a bunch of Chinese tourists to the Philippines who get taken hostage by rebel forces. Trapped in a village where they are manhandled abused and raped they must find away to help themselves when it appears that the military and police will be unable to find them.
Tsang, one of my favorite Hong Kong actors, has made a nasty little film filled with hopelessness, humor and brutal violence. Had the film come out ten years earlier it would have been considered a classic from the end days of the Grind House cinemas. The action when it comes is well done. The performances are good with Tsang often touching as Bob, the tour leader who tries his best to do his best to keep everyone safe.
The films weakness if that its characters are a tad cliché and that it can be overly talky with the film taking a while to get going, and the slowing down once the group is being held hostage. The trouble is not that the material is bad its just that the talk pales next to the great action sequences.
Worth a look if you run across it as a rental or on cable.(or in my case as a dollar vcd in a dump bin.) (and Victor Wong, Egg from Big Trouble in Little China, appears playing one of the hostages-though not using his voice in either the Cantonese or Mandarin dub tracks)
Tsang, one of my favorite Hong Kong actors, has made a nasty little film filled with hopelessness, humor and brutal violence. Had the film come out ten years earlier it would have been considered a classic from the end days of the Grind House cinemas. The action when it comes is well done. The performances are good with Tsang often touching as Bob, the tour leader who tries his best to do his best to keep everyone safe.
The films weakness if that its characters are a tad cliché and that it can be overly talky with the film taking a while to get going, and the slowing down once the group is being held hostage. The trouble is not that the material is bad its just that the talk pales next to the great action sequences.
Worth a look if you run across it as a rental or on cable.(or in my case as a dollar vcd in a dump bin.) (and Victor Wong, Egg from Big Trouble in Little China, appears playing one of the hostages-though not using his voice in either the Cantonese or Mandarin dub tracks)
Deliciusly gory, entertaining exploitation from ex-soprano-voiced goofball
fertilecelluloid21 December 2005
When this narrowly distributed flick was made, Eric Tsang was playing soprano-voiced goofballs in piles of average Hong Kong forgettables. Now, he's matured beautifully and he's playing crime bosses in accomplished dramas like "Infernal Affairs". In other words, he's come a long way, baby! "Fatal Vacation" is one of the few features Tsang has directed, and it's a keeper.
Simple set-up for maximum bloodshed: A bus load of holiday makers are taken hostage by brutal, unreasonable revolutionaries. They do what they can to survive and end up dead for their efforts. Most do, anyway.
Being a child of late Eighties Hong Kong cinema, this is a graphic, unapologetic, mean-spirited exploitationer with close to a dozen jaw-dropping displays of vicious mayhem. It moves like a bullet train and is efficiently directed by Tsang. The rural setting is pictorially interesting and acts as a stark counterpoint to the deliciously gory violence, some of which is admirably shocking.
Simple set-up for maximum bloodshed: A bus load of holiday makers are taken hostage by brutal, unreasonable revolutionaries. They do what they can to survive and end up dead for their efforts. Most do, anyway.
Being a child of late Eighties Hong Kong cinema, this is a graphic, unapologetic, mean-spirited exploitationer with close to a dozen jaw-dropping displays of vicious mayhem. It moves like a bullet train and is efficiently directed by Tsang. The rural setting is pictorially interesting and acts as a stark counterpoint to the deliciously gory violence, some of which is admirably shocking.
Hey, it's Walter Chang from "Tremors"!
Coventry23 December 2021
I may not have seen that many movies from Hong-Kong, but in the ones I have there's always the same thing annoying me tremendously. I'm referring to the sudden, abrupt, and extreme leaps in tone and atmosphere. One moment, you're looking at something that almost feels like slapstick, then the next you're in the middle of a sadist and disturbing thriller. It's also like this in "Fatal Vacation".
I almost turned off the film after half an hour because it felt like a lame comedy about uptight and eccentric tourists from Hong-Kong traveling around in The Philippines. The first half hour only features idiotic situations (like males dancing in bikinis) and stereotype comedy-characters, like an over-enthusiast tour guide, a dancing midget, an overbearing grandmother, and an adulterous husband. Then, practically out of nowhere, the group is taken hostage by a violent band of guerillas, and there isn't anything to laugh about anymore. The tourists are brutally executed, regardless of age or gender, raped and beaten up. It may just be me, but my autistic brain short-circuited due to this sudden shift in tone. The half hour of comedy is quite annoying, but the barbaric half isn't much better. It's unoriginal, raw, and deeply unpleasant.
Bizarre detail, this extremely obscure (at least, I assume it is) stars the recognizable American - although with obvious Chinese roots - actor Victor Wong, known from cult hits "Big Trouble in Little China", "Prince of Darkness" and my personal favorite monster-movie "Tremors". This guy was the inventor of the name "Graboids", I'll have you know!
I almost turned off the film after half an hour because it felt like a lame comedy about uptight and eccentric tourists from Hong-Kong traveling around in The Philippines. The first half hour only features idiotic situations (like males dancing in bikinis) and stereotype comedy-characters, like an over-enthusiast tour guide, a dancing midget, an overbearing grandmother, and an adulterous husband. Then, practically out of nowhere, the group is taken hostage by a violent band of guerillas, and there isn't anything to laugh about anymore. The tourists are brutally executed, regardless of age or gender, raped and beaten up. It may just be me, but my autistic brain short-circuited due to this sudden shift in tone. The half hour of comedy is quite annoying, but the barbaric half isn't much better. It's unoriginal, raw, and deeply unpleasant.
Bizarre detail, this extremely obscure (at least, I assume it is) stars the recognizable American - although with obvious Chinese roots - actor Victor Wong, known from cult hits "Big Trouble in Little China", "Prince of Darkness" and my personal favorite monster-movie "Tremors". This guy was the inventor of the name "Graboids", I'll have you know!
Excellent action CAT-III-style
gollum1120 January 2004
A fast-paced actionfest about a group of tourist who are kidnapped by some local terrorists while on vacation on the Philippines. Who will survive and what will be left of them? FATAL VACATION is a great and very violent (and I do mean VERY violent) action movie with some sequences that are pretty hard to watch. The bodycount is incredible (mostly of the bodies-riddled-with-bullets variety) and though it's not so gory one doesn't shy away from the violence either. Recommended. The HKMDB states a CAT IIb rating, but my VCD is rated Category III.
Not too bad...
paul_haakonsen11 January 2021
I was given the chance to sit down and watch the 1990 Hong Kong / Philippines movie "Fatal Vacation" (aka "An le zhan chang") here in 2021. Sure, I hadn't even heard about it prior to watching it, but the fact that it was a Hong Kong movie that I hadn't already seen was more than enough to make me find the time to sit down and watch it.
First of all, I must say that I was surprised to see Eric Tsang in a movie such as this. And while he was out of his usual element, then he was actually putting on a fair enough performance in an action thriller, though at times it was hard to forget that he is usually a comedian. It was fun to watch Victor Wong in a Hong Kong movie, as I have only seen him in American movies, so I was surprised to see him here.
The storyline told in "Fatal Vacation" was pretty straight forward, and actually have some hold in some reality, as tourist kidnappings actually do happen in the Philippines. Sure, the movie was cranked up somewhat for entertainment purposes, but writer Yin Nam actually concocted an interesting enough storyline and plot. I didn't know that it was Eric Tsang whom directed the movie, so that was a nice surprise.
The acting in the movie, was for the most parts, actually adequate enough. Though some scenes had some pretty badly and over-exaggerated acting performances, which seemed so out of place and just dumbed down the movie unnecessarily.
Visually then "Fatal Vacation" definitely bears witness to being from 1990s, so you shouldn't be expecting to be impressed by the special effects in the movie. They served their purpose well enough, but haven't withstood the test of time all that well.
"Fatal Vacation" is good enough entertainment for what it turned out to be, however this is hardly a movie that you will watch more than once. I know that I will not be returning to the movie a second time, as there just wasn't enough of solid contents to the storyline for a second viewing.
My rating of "Fatal Vacation" settles on a five out of ten stars.
First of all, I must say that I was surprised to see Eric Tsang in a movie such as this. And while he was out of his usual element, then he was actually putting on a fair enough performance in an action thriller, though at times it was hard to forget that he is usually a comedian. It was fun to watch Victor Wong in a Hong Kong movie, as I have only seen him in American movies, so I was surprised to see him here.
The storyline told in "Fatal Vacation" was pretty straight forward, and actually have some hold in some reality, as tourist kidnappings actually do happen in the Philippines. Sure, the movie was cranked up somewhat for entertainment purposes, but writer Yin Nam actually concocted an interesting enough storyline and plot. I didn't know that it was Eric Tsang whom directed the movie, so that was a nice surprise.
The acting in the movie, was for the most parts, actually adequate enough. Though some scenes had some pretty badly and over-exaggerated acting performances, which seemed so out of place and just dumbed down the movie unnecessarily.
Visually then "Fatal Vacation" definitely bears witness to being from 1990s, so you shouldn't be expecting to be impressed by the special effects in the movie. They served their purpose well enough, but haven't withstood the test of time all that well.
"Fatal Vacation" is good enough entertainment for what it turned out to be, however this is hardly a movie that you will watch more than once. I know that I will not be returning to the movie a second time, as there just wasn't enough of solid contents to the storyline for a second viewing.
My rating of "Fatal Vacation" settles on a five out of ten stars.
Old movie but still rank one of the best !
keVin-1914 January 2003
I just bought this movie. Didn't expected much since i just bought it because it's an offer item. But it turned out to be a very enjoyable movie. The acting are ok, you can see most of the hong kong actors are still young at that time. Mostly up and coming especially Eric Tsang. It's a movie with a mixture of action, drama, romance, violence and comedy. Worth watching !
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