The Iceman Cometh
The Iceman Cometh
| 12 August 1989 (USA)
The Iceman Cometh Trailers

When 16th-century Ming guard Fong Sau-ching sets out to capture vicious rapist Feng San, both men end up falling into a glacier to be frozen in time. Thawed out by scientists over 300 years later, the confused guard must learn to cope with the modern world and continue in his quest to vanquish his opponent.

Reviews
Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
thomvic This is a cheesy but enjoyable film about two warriors who live in the Ming Dynasty and quite simply - one is good, the other a womanising rapist. They get transported into modern day Hong Kong where the main character ends up meeting a prositute (Maggie Cheung) who hires him as her servant to do some chores around the house as well as being her bodyguard.This is a film not to be taken seriously and you'll enjoy it the more if you don't. It is a no brainer action comedy flick that has a silly plot that works well in this type of genre. Maggie Cheung is terrific as the self centred prostitute who just doesn't really konw what to do with her life and Biao Yuen as Ching (the protagonist) is pretty good in his role and both of the leads work well together The action scenes are the sort you sort of expect in the Hong Kong action film and they remain believable if slightly outrageous. Essentially what makes the story work is its humour and I wasn't expecting this to be a comedy at all - in fact I think I must have not read the blurb at the back of the DVD cover properly as I didn't realise Ching was going to be transported to another era - and it surprised me the more when I watched it.Check it out - it's a good film. Sure it's not a masterpiece nor will it be helmed as one of the greatest movies of our time but for what it is worth - it is worth the watch.
sarastro7 I am a big fan of Yuen Biao, and I had heard that Iceman Cometh was supposed to be *the* Yuen Biao movie, with a great leading performance and some spectacular kung fu. I finally found the DVD a couple of days ago - and unfortunately I was quite disappointed. Yuen Biao is certainly not bad - far from it -, but the movie actually doesn't have that much fighting in it, and the story, while moderately entertaining, does lack a good deal of charisma. The comedy is fair but not great, and there are some really nasty scenes of violence. All in all, not a very well-balanced product.As a Yuen Biao movie, it certainly falls grievously short of classics like Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain and Prodigal Son. Maggie Cheung is not bad here, either, but doesn't manage to make the movie look better than it is.Iceman Cometh reminds more than a little of the similarly themed 1991 Hong Kong movie Kung Fu Vs. Acrobats (Ma deng ru lai shen zhang), in which Yuen Wah also plays the bad guy, and which I've rated a 6. Iceman Cometh deserves the same grade. But since I had much higher hopes for Iceman Cometh, I can't help being somewhat disappointed.
Dan Starkey The guy-from-the-ancient-past-accidentally-brought-to-the-present plot has been used many times, often in quite charming and amusing films - a recent example being Jean Reno's "Just Visiting." Despite the usually charming Maggie Cheung, "Iceman Cometh" takes this promising theme and manages to go nowhere with it. The fault primarily lies with the smaller-than-life Yuen Biao, who, despite prodigious kung fu skill, has near zero screen presence. **Mild spoiler follows** No woman could seriously be expected to fall in love with this sap, certainly not Maggie's tough-as-nails hooker. Her sudden reformation is the least believable conversion since James Bond transformed Pussy Galore into a heterosexual in "Goldfinger." Deservedly rare, the DVD is, to boot, particularly poor quality.
gerrytwo "Iceman Cometh" starts out as a manhunt by Ming royal guard Yuen Biao after a rapist-killer of thirteen women in the royal palace, including a relative of the emperor. The guard is transported along with the killer to a snow covered area by a Tibetan wheel with time travel properties. After the two are frozen in the snow, a scientific expedition finds them years later and brings their frozen bodies back to modern Hong Kong. The guard and killer are accidentally thawed out, and the guard ends up getting involved with a call girl (Maggie Cheung)Maggie Cheung steals every scene she is in. Yuen Biao is tops in action scenes with his opponent, the actor who played Panther in "Supercop," but Biao is no match for Maggie. She uses him first as a housekeeper to clean up her messy apartment, then as an enforcer to shake down her clients for additional payoff money. She is the one with most of the problems, from a pimp who threatens to throw acid in her face if she doesn't go out with a client to her later run in with the rapist murderer.The movie also has some nice technical effects when the Tibetan wheel goes into its time traveling mode at the end of the movie, but the real special effect is Maggie Cheung's acting range. She can project some personality on the screen.