The live action version of WICKED CITY is one big mess of a movie, as all sorts of monsters chase each other and an anti-monster squad pursues the various monsters. The special effects go from awful to awesome, and the acting is typical Hong Kong cheese whiz. Very little of it makes any sense, so what good special effects there are, are basically wasted. Maybe it makes sense to a Chinese audience, but an endless series of shots of a toy model of a commercial airliner being ridden (!) by various characters made absolutely no sense to this viewer. I will say the actress playing the lead female monster is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, and she has some nude and near-nude scenes that you'd never find in an equivalent American flick. But she alone is not worth seeing this abomination.

This movie rarely pauses to let you catch your breath (or figure out the plot) before another onslaught of stylish action wierdness happens. Like Jackie Chan's CITY HUNTER, this is a Hong Kong adaptation of a Japanese manga (comic) which would explain all the tentacle monsters in the movie (a particular Japanese obsession). I couldn't follow the plot but this film is so manic and overloaded with bizarre wham-bang special effects that only the most jaded of fans could dislike it.

I've seen this movie at least a dozen times, and never once, never, didn't I cry at the end! I'm glad this is my first impression of sci-fi movie (besides ET, when I saw it at 6, which I don't quite remember what was really going on until I become a grown-up) since I first saw it at the age 18. It forever influenced my view of sci-fi movies. Whenever I go to see sci-fi films, I always pay attention to the styles, the messages contained within, the connection between the imaginative world and the real life. For me, that is what sci-fi movies really about, not some fancy special effects.The other day I was surprised to find out we have copies for sale in America, I order a copy at once. But I was also shocked to find that this wonderful film, probably the best Hong Kong movie I'd ever seen, was not received well here in America. Almost all the people who praise the film are Asian. I don't think this has something to do with culture gap, because this is a very unusual Hong Kong films, it didn't contain anything specific about the Asian culture. And that's the point. It is not anything you expect to see in a Hong Kong, or any other Asia films you can find here in the United States. It didn't have fancy martial art, no strange custom (which I strongly disagree with. They always portray Asia as bunch of strange, mysterious, sick places. Because that kind of films can easily won the prize in European film festivals). This is simply a film about humanity. At the same time, it was so beautifully done. Very stylish, with the music that was so heartbreakingly beautiful. But do see this film in its original language with subtitle. NO FOREIGN FILM SHOULD BE WATCHED IN ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION! IT IS ALWAYS THE BIG DISASTER!!! Do take a moment to think about what you see and enjoy that beautiful ending.

The european video version of this film sucks. It boosts pathetic dubbing, and claims to be an "uncensored version" featuring "scenes never showed before", but I doubt this is true. For the film: it's incredibly dumb, has a very ugly production value, bad acting and has such an intense pace that you feel it could end any moment. And if it did, you couldn't give a **** about it. If you must watch it, fast-forward it to the cool scene in which a woman is transformed from an elevator into a motorcycle...