Chow Yun-Fat plays Chang Ching, a CIA agent sent to China to recover a 'National Treasure' for the USA, but when he reaches its location at a Shaolin Temple, he discovers that it is a woman with supernatural powers and it soon becomes apparent that there are sinister motives at work. He himself has more pure ambitions and decides to protect the woman at any cost... The woman in question is played by Chien-lien wu who makes a longer appearance in this than in the Return of the God of Gamblers, and again has considerable on screen chemistry with Chow Yun-Fat.The tone and style of Treasure Hunt is extremely uneven, which will be familiar to fans of Hong Kong cinema, with violence entwined with a surprisingly lengthy romantic subplot and some comedy. The action scenes are limited, but well choreographed by Phillip Kwok, who appeared with Chow Yun-Fat in Hard-boiled and doubled for him at some points in Once a Thief. He also has an amusing role as an irate taxi driver and enjoys probably the best fight scene of the film. The gun play scenes fall short of films such as The Killer, A Better Tomorrow or Flaming Brothers, but that is not to say they are terrible.The setting of the Shaolin Temple is unusual in a piece set in the modern day and the location is used to its best effect by cinematographer Peter Pau (The Killer) who does a typically excellent job in the clearly freezing conditions. The special effects are very primitive for such a recent film, but this can be easily overlooked as they are wisely kept to a minimum.Overall, Treasure Hunt is not one of Chow Yun-Fat's greatest or well-known films, but it gives him a chance to show more range than in most of them. Fans of his will know that he excels in roles with less than constant violence (e.g. Anna And The King). The patchy tone leads to some frustration as this film never really seems to know what genre it wants to belong to. However it is definitely worth a look.

This film is what I call a good film. Why? Well, I personally thought that it spoked to me if that´s a way you can call it(you can call it anything belive me). But seriously this film is a great one. As many people can tell nobody nór one can fell the same of a movie. Not to the precise motion in your soul can is reveal the same emotions to any person. This film is about a man called Chang Ching(Chow Yun-Fat). He is a CIA agent that is assigned to Beijing(China) to return a "treasure" back to the US. He is settled at a shaolin temple to his surprise. There he meet a girl named Mei(Wu Chien Lin) who appears to have supernatural powers. Ching does not realize that she is the National Treasure of China(cheezzez). His mission becomes more troublesome than he thought.How will it go? A happy ending? Yes? No?The surrounding is beautifully captured in the movie. Some scenes are just so amazingly made that I wished that I could be there just for a while. I now know why it is called "Treasure Hunt"This is a drama movie with a bit of comedy(really fun comedy I think) and some action. If you are going to se it for action-non-stop I guess another movie would do you more good. "A Better tomorrow" I & II, "the Killer" or "Hard Boiled" are perfect in such a situation if your interested by other movies with Chow Yun-Fat that are more towards Hong Kong action. I really recommend them all.This film with the English name "Treasure Hunt" is a Top of the list film to me. I recommend it to any one interested in an all genres film that can be seen and just has to be seen.

A beautiful and moving fairy tale, set in modern times. Chow Yun-Fat is cast as Chang Ching, a CIA operative sent undercover in Mainland China. Hidden in Shaolin Temple he meets Mei, a young woman with paranormal powers. Mei is the center of the grasping greed of a number of political entities and individual crooks, and it's up to Chang Ching to save this 'national treasure'... a treasure he comes to covet for his own, not for her powers but for her own sweet self.This film is a gentle fantasy but like most fairy tales it has bitterness and violence entwined with the sweetness which makes it all the more poignant. Those who are expecting non-stop bloodletting for its own sake will be disappointed; for those who recognize Chow Yun-Fat at his best - in a touching romance with sprinklings of comedy and action - you will love this film for its warmth and dedication to the ideal that love conquers all.Phillip Kwok has a marvelous role as the sarcastic taxi driver. It's good to see him in a role which allows for both his martial arts and stunt skills as well as gives him a chance to show he is also a fine actor. He was also the stunt director for the film.Ng Sin-Lin (Wu Chien-Lien) as Mei shows again that great onscreen chemistry she has with Chow Yun-Fat; if you remember her from "God Of Gamblers Returns" you will see her take it to even greater effect in this film.One of the most outstanding features of this film is the cinematography of Peter Pau. Beautiful photography and lighting give the screen a warm glow.The use of "Reflections of Passion" by Yanni in this film was inspired; the references to the book on which the television show "The Bund" was based (the show which made Chow Yun-Fat a star in Asia in his youth) give some cute self-referential moments.The subtitles on the Mei Ah DVD are a bit on the uneven side; it starts off with a pretty rough translation but evens out as you go along.A wonderful movie. 10 out of 10.

"Treasure Hunt" is an aimless movie that is a big letdown for any fans of Chow Yun Fat. He plays a teacher who also works part time as an employee of the CIA in Hong Kong. The first action sequence in the picture involves a particularly brutal rescue of a kidnapped Japanese bigshot. A lot of this movie takes place in a temple Chow is staying at. At one point, in accepting the blame for something the priests are punishing a student for, Chow gets lashed on the back about 5 times. This movie has nothing going for it.