a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

A tribute to Sanshiro Sugata by the legend Kurosawa ------------------------------------------------------------ Redemption taleA washed-up Judo champion is spending his remaining days boozed up, gambling, and racking up debt . A young Judo student addicting to fighting challenges the washed-up legend and promises to never leave his sight until he accepts his challenge.Mr. Washed life is changed drastically when old ghosts from his past reappear into his life; former judo lord turned yakuza, his old master, and a hardened rival who's fight he ducked over 2 years ago . He joined by the new challenger and a young lady singer - equally as broke as Mr. Washed - as his two companions , whom slowly begin to revive the old champ within ..Classic Johnnie To - minus the guns - Judo style

I have gone into this film very excited as I have become a Johnnie To fan only recently. After seeing both Election movies and PTU, I have been totally amazed at the quality of director he is and how good his films can be. Throw Down continues my fan-ship of Mr To in style. I have always felt that wires and stunt doubles ruin films, no matter what the genre, and this is something Mr To seems to share with me. The fighting style of Judo is perfect for the physical aspect of the film. The actors can get close and throw each other to the ground without need of propelling themselves over bamboo trees, which is great.The three main leads, Sze-To, Tony and Mona are pretty good. Though Mona seems to aimlessly wonder through the film and really only serve as a third wheel at times, she is a nice enough support for the muscle of the film. Louise Koo is amazing as Sze-To, the former champ turned club owner. His drunken and dazed, followed by angered and determined emotions are all portrayed brilliantly. I was even surprised by Aaron Kwok, who is great as the eager Judo fighter, travelling from fight to fight, and spurring Sze-To into his renewed sense of fight.The photography is spot on. The massive fight in the club is so perfectly filmed and cut with the Japanese vocal that it was a joy to watch. Even the simple scenes of clubs, night life, computer games room, restaurant, are all magnificently shot. And then, as if the film were not good enough already, the soundtrack, sound editing, production design (such as the Ext Judo Championship scene) and the screenplay are all as good as you could want. The first hour and ten minutes had me on the edge of my seat. The following twenty minutes had a more mysterious, what can happen now, feel, but it is all just perfect.If you haven't seen a Johnny To film, this might be a good starting point, but be warned, he makes no excuses and feels no obligation to explain anything about anything, it's often left to the viewer to determine the why and the how. This, for me, is what film-making is all about.

I expected a clichéd Rocky-like ('underdog fights his way to the top against all odds!') melodrama from the plot description, and was very glad to discover that the Judo only holds a very marginal role in a movie that's driven by its characters. And to make it even more unique is a very cheeky sense of silliness - only once or twice does Throwdown take itself seriously, and, contrary to just about every other Hong Kong movie I've ever seen, the drama doesn't get confused (or overblown to the point of embarrassing melodrama) in the translation. At times it's very subtle (again, alien to most Hong Kong movies I've seen) and poignant, in addition to sometimes being very funny.And as for the acting, I don't believe I'd seen Louis Koo act before, but I think this was a fine introduction. The same goes for Cherrie Ying, who nearly steals the show with her performance that's in tune with Faye Wong's in Chungking Express (read: so cute you just want to wear her as a hat). And Aaron Kwok, I believe I'll have to reevaluate my apparently unfair opinion of him. He was excellent -- both funny and intense, and fully convincing as a brawler (let's see an American pop singer get the same review).Anyway, if you expect a somber action movie, I can see where you might be disappointed. Personally, I'm very pleased to know of a movie that's so relentlessly fun and charming.

I thought I was a Johnny To fan. I loved PTU, Running on Karma, and Fulltime Killer. I rank Yesterday Once More as one of my favorite films of all time. But I watched Throwdown with my mouth agape in horror at the sheer lameness of it all.I will not even try to lie - I didn't understand what was going on, not even for five minutes. I still can't explain to you what I just watched. Characters' motivations fluctuated wildly, no background was given until your interest had long since waned, and the martial arts sequences were short and unsatisfying in relation to the western marketing and box copy.Tai Seng's translation and subtitling department needs a rework. There is one major scene in a restaurant with about 8 characters talking at once - the subtitling does NOTHING to try to keep up with the important dialogue. Instead of taking a note from Animeigo or ADV and using different colors and stacking lines of text, Tai Seng took the cheapie way out and presented it in a way that was frustrating.