Cold War 1994: everything we know so far

Writer-director Longman Leung’s astute and highly entertaining Cold War 1994 is the third in the Cold War series, and it ends with a clear nod to a Cold War 1995, reportedly set for release in 2027. Cold War 1994 has emerged this Friday as one of the stories drawing attention in Singapore.

Key facts

• Writer-director Longman Leung’s astute and highly entertaining Cold War 1994 is the third in the Cold War series, and it ends with a clear nod to a Cold War 1995, reportedly set for release in 2027.
• Cold War 1994 begins with Lee’s abduction and Choi’s murder in the wake of the selection of the city’s new Chief Executive-elect, Adrian Yip (actor-producer Louis Koo).
• Kwok, Chow and Leung appear in glorified cameos, handing off the major storytelling arcs to the younger cast and, as entertaining as Cold War and II both were, Cold War 1994 is arguably the strongest of the three to date.
• Blanketed by a past/present, warm/cool sheen courtesy of cinematographer Anthony Pun, Cold War 1994 flirts with an opposites-attract romance between Lee and Yuen and a truly spectacular airport set piece re-establishing Leung’s action bona fides.
• Cold War 1994 is undoubtedly watchable as part of the franchise that's like the snootier, knottier companion series to Infernal Affairs.

What we know

Going deeper, Cold War 1994 begins with Lee’s abduction and Choi’s murder in the wake of the selection of the city’s new Chief Executive-elect, Adrian Yip (actor-producer Louis Koo).

On the substance, Kwok, Chow and Leung appear in glorified cameos, handing off the major storytelling arcs to the younger cast and, as entertaining as Cold War and II both were, Cold War 1994 is arguably the strongest of the three to date.

Beyond the headlines, Blanketed by a past/present, warm/cool sheen courtesy of cinematographer Anthony Pun, Cold War 1994 flirts with an opposites-attract romance between Lee and Yuen and a truly spectacular airport set piece re-establishing Leung’s action bona fides.

More precisely, Cold War 1994 is undoubtedly watchable as part of the franchise that's like the snootier, knottier companion series to Infernal Affairs.

It is worth noting that Except for squeaky-clean Cold War cold fish Aaron Kwok and Chow Yun Fat whose sartorially elegant meet-up in the story's present time of 2017, as current Police Commissioner Sean Lau and senior lawyer Oswald Kan, flashbacks and unearths the sinister underbelly of 1994.

By the numbers

At this stage, the two previous films, 2012’s Cold War and its 2016 sequel Cold War 2, grossed a combined US$115m; the latter got a significant bump thanks to its mainland China co-producer status.

On a related note, With all this to be followed up, as the closing credits show, in Cold War 1995, coming soon.

Going deeper, Lau wonders if the crimes have anything to do with a kidnapping case from 1994, about which legal watchdog Oswald Kan (Chow Yun-fat) has a fat file of information.

On the substance, what at first blush seem like dangling story threads (Koo is also a cameo, albeit wryly dressed up as a hybrid of former CEs and also-rans) have the potential to carry forward in 1995, and cement the franchise as one of the best from post-handover Hong Kong.

The wider context

On a related note, when Cold War II ended, the force had just reckoned with a corrupt co-deputy commissioner and his role in a conspiracy to reorder the power players in Hong Kong law and governance.

Going deeper, If you're a Cold War conspiracy-thriller fan expecting another reunion with series veterans Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Chow Yun Fat, etc..... be duly informed.

On the substance, Basically, instead of focusing on the first two Cold War flicks' more plausible police in-house dirty deeds, Leung expands his nefarious universe to businessmen, mobsters and even the UK government itself which spies on HK with a Union-Jacked space satellite looking like it's from a James Bond movie.

Beyond the headlines, Who, back in 1994, was just Chief Superintendent Lee (Terrance Lau as the younger self) leading the Organised Crime unit.

More precisely, Stars Chow Yun-fat, Daniel Wu and Terrance Lau are joined by Hugh Bonneville and Aidan Gillen for director Longman Leung.

The bottom line

• The two previous films, 2012’s Cold War and its 2016 sequel Cold War 2, grossed a combined US$115m; the latter got a significant bump thanks to its mainland China co-producer status.
• When Cold War II ended, the force had just reckoned with a corrupt co-deputy commissioner and his role in a conspiracy to reorder the power players in Hong Kong law and governance.
• What at first blush seem like dangling story threads (Koo is also a cameo, albeit wryly dressed up as a hybrid of former CEs and also-rans) have the potential to carry forward in 1995, and cement the franchise as one of the best from post-handover Hong Kong.
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