# Flash Point (导火线) (2007 film)
**Flash Point** (導火綫; also issued as *Dou fo sin*), a Hong Kong action picture from 2007, has Wilson Yip as its director and Szeto Kam-Yuen and Nicholl Tang as its screenwriters. Yen also produced the film with Nansun Shi and Zhang Zhao and served as its action director.[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87) It is the third collaboration between Yen and Yip, after *[SPL: Sha Po Lang](https://www.edgepedia.org/spl-sha-po-lang)* (2005) and *[Dragon Tiger Gate](https://www.edgepedia.org/dragon-tiger-gate)* (2006), and is generally treated as a prequel to *SPL*.[2](https://www.thenewslens.com/article/110077)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 導火綫 (Flash Point; also known as 破军 and Dou fo sin)[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87) |
| Release dates | 3 August 2007 (mainland China); 9 August 2007 (Hong Kong); 14 March 2008 (limited, North America)[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87) |
| Runtime | 88 minutes[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87) |
| Languages | Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Vietnamese[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87) |
| Awards | Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and at the Golden Horse Awards, both won by Yen[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story is set in 1997, shortly before Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. Detective Sergeant Ma Jun ([Donnie Yen](https://www.edgepedia.org/donnie-yen)) is a capable but violent officer whose heavy-handed arrests repeatedly injure suspects and draw complaints.[3](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/57759/info/) Lacking evidence against three Vietnamese brothers who lead a smuggling and drug operation, Archer (Ray Lui), Tony (Collin Chou), and Tiger (Xing Yu), the police plant Ma's partner Wilson ([Louis Koo](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-koo)) as an undercover mole inside the gang.[4](https://www.bonafilm.cn/product/179.html)Wilson gains Archer's trust and saves the life of an informant who agrees to turn state's witness, but Tony sees through his cover.[5](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Flash-point/oclc/948308338) After Archer is arrested, Tony and Tiger go into hiding and eliminate the witnesses against their brother overnight; Wilson's girlfriend Judy ([Fan Bingbing](https://www.edgepedia.org/fan-bingbing)) is kidnapped, and Wilson is forced to withdraw his testimony.[5](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Flash-point/oclc/948308338) • [4](https://www.bonafilm.cn/product/179.html) With the legal route exhausted, Ma takes Archer into his own custody and goes alone to the brothers' hideout, leading to a sniper gunfight, a brawl with Tiger in an elevator, and an extended final fight with Tony.[6](https://www.131417.net/outside/4839.html)
## Production and action design
**MMA choreography.** The choreography incorporates [Brazilian jiu-jitsu](https://www.edgepedia.org/brazilian-jiu-jitsu), judo, boxing, wrestling, and submission holds such as the arm bar, triangle choke, and rear naked choke, staged in realistic street settings rather than a ring.[2](https://www.thenewslens.com/article/110077) Yen deliberately cast opponents with strong martial arts backgrounds, Xing Yu (a Shaolin-trained performer) and Collin Chou (trained with the [Sammo Hung](https://www.edgepedia.org/sammo-hung) stunt team), and balanced choreographed sequences against real contact to achieve a sense of immediacy without seriously injuring his co-stars.[2](https://www.thenewslens.com/article/110077) The two principal fights pit Ma against Tiger and against Tony, and the choreography team behind Yen included [Kenji Tanigaki](https://www.edgepedia.org/kenji-tanigaki), John Salvitti, Yuji Shimomura, and Yan Hua.[2](https://www.thenewslens.com/article/110077)
**Relationship to SPL.** Compared with *SPL: Sha Po Lang*, which carried a grimmer atmosphere centered on fate and conflict among its three leads, *Flash Point* has a brisker, more forceful rhythm focused on Ma Jun's fighting principles, and it intensifies the grappling elements already present in the earlier film.[2](https://www.thenewslens.com/article/110077) Reviewers noted the stripped-down approach: the lovehkfilm review described it as an eighty-seven-minute vehicle built around Yen's action, with a simple story and stock characters.[7](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/flashpoint.htm)
## Release and box office
The film opened in mainland China on 3 August 2007 and in Hong Kong on 9 August 2007.[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87) Baidu Baike records a cumulative worldwide gross of US$6.889 million as of 24 June 2024, against a reported production budget of over US$10 million.[8](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BC%E7%81%AB%E7%BA%BF/15684) In North America it received a limited theatrical release on 14 March 2008, where it grossed about US$3,300, and was later released on DVD by [The Weinstein Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-weinstein-company) as part of the Dragon Dynasty collection.[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flash_point) Japan first saw a theatrical release on 16 July 2011, with a re-release on 30 May 2025.[10](https://eiga.com/movie/56792/)
## Reception
Professional reception was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a Tomatometer score of 41 percent from 22 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5 out of 10.[11](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%B0%8E%E7%81%AB%E7%B6%AB/umc.cmc.2e87higtm76je58bisgipuyxg) Critics consistently singled out the action: the final fight between Yen and Collin Chou is widely treated as the film's centerpiece, and the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, which screened the film in 2008, called that fight a culmination of modern mixed martial arts on screen.[12](http://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk%5Fseq%3D3630%26sc%5Fcategory1%3D%26sc%5Fyear%3D2008) Audience measures have been stronger than the critics' score: Douban records a 7.5 rating from 139,784 users, ranking the film better than 89 percent of action films on the site.[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87)
## Awards
Yen's action choreography won Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards (2008) and at the 44th Golden Horse Awards in Taipei; the film also received a Golden Horse nomination for Best Sound Effects.[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87) • [3](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/57759/info/)
## Legacy
The film is frequently cited as a landmark in bringing MMA technique into Hong Kong action cinema, part of a mid-2000s resurgence of hard, effortful fight choreography in the industry alongside *S.P.L.* and the *Ip Man* series.[13](https://hkupress.hku.hk/image/catalog/pdf-preview/9789888390717.pdf) Its grappling-heavy style, in which kung fu cinema's traditional emphasis on striking is supplemented by wrestling and submission techniques, has been described as a continuing influence on Yen's later work and on the genre more broadly.[14](https://thegoodsreviews.com/martial-arts-movies-a-primer/)
## References
1. [导火线 導火綫 (2007), Douban](https://movie.douban.com/subject/2044102/?keywod=%E9%82%93%E5%8A%9B%E5%A5%87)
2. [甄子丹的武術指導高峰？不是《葉問》，是《導火線》！, The News Lens](https://www.thenewslens.com/article/110077)
3. [导火线 详细资料, 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/57759/info/)
4. [导火线, 博纳影业集团](https://www.bonafilm.cn/product/179.html)
5. [導火線 = Flash point, WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/title/Flash-point/oclc/948308338)
6. [导火线 / 導火綫 (2007), 131417.net](https://www.131417.net/outside/4839.html)
7. [Flash Point (導火綫) (2007), lovehkfilm](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/flashpoint.htm)
8. [导火线（2007年叶伟信执导的动作片）, Baidu Baike](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AF%BC%E7%81%AB%E7%BA%BF/15684)
9. [Flashpoint, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flash_point)
10. [導火線 FLASH POINT 作品情報, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/56792/)
11. [《導火綫》, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E5%B0%8E%E7%81%AB%E7%B6%AB/umc.cmc.2e87higtm76je58bisgipuyxg)
12. [Flash Point, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival archive](http://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk%5Fseq%3D3630%26sc%5Fcategory1%3D%26sc%5Fyear%3D2008)
13. [Martial Arts Cinema and Hong Kong Modernity, Hong Kong University Press](https://hkupress.hku.hk/image/catalog/pdf-preview/9789888390717.pdf)
14. [Martial-Arts Movies: A Primer, The Goods](https://thegoodsreviews.com/martial-arts-movies-a-primer/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2005–2009 films › Released 2005 to 2007*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license