Golden Harvest Films was in need of their next action superstar in the mid-70s. Between the death of Bruce Lee in 1973 and the arrival of Jackie Chan in 1980, the studio was eager to find talent that could keep up the audience’s desire for full throttle fighting and intrigue. While this was the era of Bruceploitation, Golden Harvest was looking for leading mean that didn’t have to be renamed Bruce and thumb their nose during after kicks and chops. The studio took a chance on Shin Il-ryong, a South Korean actor who came to Hong Kong. They set him up with fellow Korean director Jeong Chang-hwa (who is listed in the credits as Cheng Chang-Ho) for a film that takes them to numerous Asian locations. The Double Crossers is a revenge plot that requires a passport.
Singapore police Detective Lung (Long Live The Island Frogs‘ Shin Il-ryong) discovers his father has been murdered. Before he can deal with the grief, he listens to an audiotape made by his father that exposes a few dark family secrets. Turns out that dad’s early days in business involved the black market. Dad and Lung’s mother worked with two people in their outlaw days. The father feared Wang (The Chinese Boxer‘s Chao Hsiung) is out for revenge. Judging from the outline in dad’s house, Wang has successfully struck. Lung wants to properly investigate. This leads to him quitting the police force. He doesn’t want to do anything by the book. He heads to Hong Kong to track down Wang. He gets help from his father’s old pal Chang (New Fist of Fury‘s Chan Sing). Instead of merely tracking down Wang down and killing him, the duo concocts a scheme to lure Wang out of Hong Kong, financially ruin his criminal empire and then hopefully getting in a revenge murder at the end.
There are two cuts of the film on the Blu-ray. The Hong Kong version runs 99 minutes and 36 seconds. The Export Cut only has an English dub track and has been truncated to 97 minutes and 44 seconds. The big difference appears to be skipping the father’s death in the opening. The Export just cuts to Lung investigating the crime scene. You might want to watch this with the Cantonese audio track if you have company since all the talk about Wang will have people making Beavis and Butthead laughs. “I’m not interested in Joe, only Wang” might inspire laughter.
Shin Il-ryong has the right moves to be the lead in the film. He looks good fighting with fists or guns. You can believe the romantic angle when he gets a bit too close to a hotel employee. It’s rather shocking to discover that The Double Crossers completely bombed when it came out in 1976. I’m not blaming Shin. This was that time when people were eager for a new Bruce Lee and Shin isn’t faking it. The film is exciting on its own. Coincidentally his next film was the legendary Bruceploitation The Dragon Lives Again where Bruce Lee (really Bruce Leong) has to fight James Bond, Popeye and Emmanuelle. Shin played The Godfather which is a twist since Wang is often referred to as The Godfather in The Double Crossers. He didn’t have too long of a film career, but appeared to have success back in South Korea as an entrepreneur.
What’s interesting is that while people were looking for the next Bruce, The Double Crossers features a future Golden Harvest Superstar. Sammo Hung is hidden behind a hat and mustache as one of Wang’s goons. Golden Harvest didn’t completely overlook his talent. He was the Action Director on the film. The film has quite a few great stunts, car wrecks and fights. Director Jeong Chang-hwa (Cheng Chang-Ho) had previously scored with King Boxer (aka Five Fingers of Death) and would make Broken Oath with Angela Mao after this film. He knew how to fill the screen with action. The Double Crossers deserves a second chance to find a bigger audience.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 2K restoration brings out the variation locations. You’ll feel like you’re in the Bali resort. The Audio is Cantonese LPCM 2.0 Mono. The track is clean. There’s also an English Dub in LPCM 2.0 Mono. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng once more gives us so much background on the cast, crew and production. Ghost Plan Double Hero was the original translated title in Chinese. The film didn’t last a week in Hong Kong theaters. He gets into how the film ended up released in Cantonese instead of Mandarin.
Audio Commentary with Mike Leeder & Arne Venema starts with them singing the Golden Harvest logo theme. They later debate that happy tune that let Chang let Lung know he’s a friend. They get into how Chan Sing was the Hong Kong Charles Bronson.
Trailer (3:30) is packed with action from the film. The best part is the title in English is listed as “The Double Cros Sers”
Booklet has an essay by James Oliver about the production.
Eureka! Entertainment presents The Double Crossers. Directed by Jeong Chang-hwa (Cheng Chang-Ho). Screenplay by Jeong Chang-hwa (Cheng Chang-Ho). Starring Shin Il-ryong, Chan Sing, Chao Hsiung, Chan Wai-Man, Tutie Kirana and Sammo Hung. Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: July 23, 2024.
