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.

This movie was just barely watchable. I kept wishing it would end already and if it weren't for the fact that my friend was actually really into it (he liked the judo scenes, but admitted to having no idea what the movie what about) I would have walked out.Perhaps it has to do with a Hong Kong movie style, but the plot was all over the place and I had only the vaguest idea as to what was going on. I didn;t even really know or care about the characters. Why did Sun Tzo need money? WHy did he leave judo? Why did the other guy want to fight so badly? What is the girl's relationships to the men? Why are they suddenly lightheartedly grasping for a balloon? Why is the guy at the end wearing a blindfold? I appreciate subtlety but, perhaps because of the translation or cultural differences, I found this movie was unbearable.

Anyone who watches a Johnnie To movie only for the fight scenes is rather missing the point by a few country miles. This is a director with an impeccable dramatic sense, for whom the violence is purely a by-product of the fallibility of his characters. How on Earth can anyone watch a movie in a language they do not understand, without subtitles, and expect to come away with any feeling but disappointment? It would be like watching The Godfather in Croatian. The point with Throwdown, as with most of Johnnie To's movies, is the CHARACTERS! This may not be his all time greatest film (I would still go for All About Ah - Long), but it is still a great piece of drama. I would recommend anyone to check this out, the subtitled version, not the mainland Chinese pirate version, which is all they sell in Pacific mall, and enjoy a very entertaining piece of film making from one of Hong Kong's masters.