Synopsis

In New York City's Chinatown, veteran detective Nick Chen leads the Asian Gang Unit while quietly serving the interests of the Triads. When idealistic rookie Danny Wallace joins him, the partners are drawn into a dangerous web of gang warfare, police corruption, undercover operations, and divided loyalties. As Danny learns the rules of Chen's world, both men must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice for justice.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was released in the United States on March 12, 1999, and runs 110 minutes. It uses both English and Cantonese.

• Principal photography took place from February 25 through May 22, 1998. Locations included Manhattan's Chinatown and Toronto, Ontario.

• Ethan Hawke was initially attached to the role eventually played by Mark Wahlberg.

• James Foley and cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchia gave the film an intentionally restless visual style, using handheld camerawork, whip-pans, snap zooms, colored fluorescent lighting, and Dataflash strobe effects.

• The cinematography changes noticeably as the story approaches its conclusion, moving from saturated colors toward a more monochromatic look and eventually a predominantly blue palette.

• The point-blank shooting images in the lamp-store shootout and massage-parlor raid were inspired by Eddie Adams' famous 1968 photograph of a South Vietnamese police chief executing a handcuffed Viet Cong prisoner.

• Kim Chan's character, Benny Wong, is also nicknamed "Uncle Benny." Chan had played another crime boss with the same name and nickname in Lethal Weapon 4 the previous year.

• Made on an estimated $25 million budget, the film earned approximately $24.5 million worldwide.