# The Iceman Cometh (急冻奇侠) (1989 film)
**The Iceman Cometh** (急凍奇俠, also romanized *Ji dong qi xia*) is a 1989 Hong Kong science-fiction action comedy directed by Clarence Fok Yiu-leung (霍耀良), starring [Yuen Biao](https://www.edgepedia.org/yuen-biao), Yuen Wah, and [Maggie Cheung](https://www.edgepedia.org/maggie-cheung), in which a [Ming dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/ming-dynasty) imperial guard and the criminal he is pursuing are frozen in ice and revived in 1980s Hong Kong.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%80%A5%E5%86%BB%E5%A5%87%E4%BE%A0/2959196?fromModule=lemma_inlink) It was produced by Golden Harvest and Johnny Mak Productions, written by Johnny Mak and Stephen Shiu, and released in Hong Kong on 18 August 1989 with a running time of 114 minutes.[2](https://kungfutube.info/5508)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 18 August 1989, Hong Kong; 114 minutes; Cantonese and Mandarin; rated IIB in Hong Kong[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%80%A5%E5%86%BB%E5%A5%87%E4%BE%A0/2959196?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Director and writers | Clarence Fok Yiu-leung; screenplay by Johnny Mak (麥當雄) and Stephen Shiu (蕭若元)[2](https://kungfutube.info/5508) |
| Cast | Yuen Biao as Fong Sau-Ching, Yuen Wah as Fung San, Maggie Cheung as Polla[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097618/) |
| Box office | HK$14,433,282 in Hong Kong, 16th place in the 1989 annual ranking[2](https://kungfutube.info/5508) |
| Awards | Three nominations at the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards (1990): Best Editing, Best Action Choreography, Best Cinematography[4](https://moviecool.asia/film/qwc_P_4fdHkF) |
| Later versions | Remade as *Iceman: The Door to the Future* (2014) with Donnie Yen; sequel *Ice Man 2* (2018)[5](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_1260430664_4b20a54800100nxcj.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
In the Ming dynasty, the rapist and killer Fung San ([Yuen Wah](https://www.edgepedia.org/yuen-wah)) murders a princess, and the imperial guard Fong Sau-Ching (Yuen Biao), his junior fellow disciple, is ordered to arrest him. During the pursuit Fung San tries to use the sect's treasure, the black jade Buddha, to travel through time; Fong stops him, and the two fall from a cliff and are buried in snow.[6](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/NWgpLCM%3D) In 1988 a Chinese geological research team discovers the two frozen bodies and ships them for study in the United States; while the shipment passes through Hong Kong, contact with electrical wires thaws them, and the two men revive and go separate ways.[6](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/NWgpLCM%3D)
Fong, disoriented by modern Hong Kong, rescues the streetwise prostitute Polla (Maggie Cheung) and becomes her bodyguard and servant, while Fung San joins a criminal gang and resumes killing. When Fong learns from a newspaper that his quarry is also in Hong Kong, he resumes the hunt.[6](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/NWgpLCM%3D) The film ends with a showdown in which Fung San tries to use the time wheel to carry modern weapons back to the Ming dynasty.[7](https://tv.apple.com/sg/movie/%E6%80%A5%E5%86%BB%E5%A5%87%E4%BE%A0/umc.cmc.2bzjv4yo167njgz27w4w8yceb?l=zh)
## Production
The film was made under the Johnny Mak production company with Golden Harvest, with Stephen Shiu as producer and Johnny Mak as co-writer and presenter.[2](https://kungfutube.info/5508) • [4](https://moviecool.asia/film/qwc_P_4fdHkF) Action choreography was credited to the Yuen family clan, with Chin Kar-lok, Yuen Tak, and Yuen Wah among the action directors.[2](https://kungfutube.info/5508) Clarence Fok, a former [TVB](https://www.edgepedia.org/tvb) producer-director, was known for handling action scenes and striking imagery; *The Iceman Cometh* was one of several commercial hits he directed around this period, alongside *The Perfect Match* (公子多情, 1988) and *Red Force 3* (紅場飛龍, 1990).[8](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/Chinese/Clarence-FOK_c.pdf)
The premise mixes time travel with kung fu. Commentators have traced its inspiration to the American film *The Terminator* (1984), filtered through Hong Kong's martial-arts tradition.[9](https://theinterview.asia/column/%E5%BD%B1%E9%9F%B3%E6%83%85%E6%80%80/89008/) Reviewers have also compared it to *Highlander* (1986), complete with a fight under a large neon sign.[10](https://qwipster.net/1998/07/25/the-iceman-cometh-1989/) The Hong Kong Film Archive notes that in the film Yuen Biao traverses [Happy Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/happy-valley) in one of the era's notable location-stunt sequences.[11](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter35_c.pdf)
## Reception
The film was a commercial success in Hong Kong, earning HK$14,433,282 and ranking 16th for the year.[2](https://kungfutube.info/5508) It received three nominations at the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards: Best Editing for Pan Hung, Best Action Choreography for Yuen Wah, the Hung family stunt team, and Yuen Tak, and Best Cinematography for Poon Hang-sang; it won none.[4](https://moviecool.asia/film/qwc_P_4fdHkF) It was screened at the [Berlin International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/berlin-international-film-festival) on 24 February 1991.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%80%A5%E5%86%BB%E5%A5%87%E4%BE%A0/2959196?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
Critics have treated it as a representative piece of late-1980s Hong Kong genre mixing. A 1905.com retrospective describes it as blending science fiction, action, gunplay, romance, comedy, and eroticism, and reads the hero's fall from imperial guard to a prostitute's bodyguard as the genre's characteristic playful subversion of tradition.[12](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988689/) The action pairing of Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah, both graduates of the China Drama Academy's Seven Little Fortunes, was their first joint starring outing; reviewers single out their fight work, including a rooftop duel with an aircraft passing behind them, as the film's strongest asset.[13](https://darrenyiwen.pixnet.net/blog/posts/8178120773) • [14](https://yule.sohu.com/20090413/n263344639.shtml) Maggie Cheung's comic turn as the brassy Polla is also repeatedly cited as a highlight.[15](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-iceman-cometh) Common criticisms concern plot inconsistencies around the time-travel premise and the film's length.[16](https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/348051.html) • [17](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/iceman_cometh.htm) On Douban the film held a 6.7/10 rating from 6,390 users as of 4 September 2024.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%80%A5%E5%86%BB%E5%A5%87%E4%BE%A0/2959196?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
## Remakes
[Donnie Yen](https://www.edgepedia.org/donnie-yen)'s *Iceman: The Door to the Future* (冰封：重生之门, 2014), starring Yen, Wang Baoqiang, and [Simon Yam](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-yam), was an official remake; it scored 3.8 on Douban and underperformed at the box office. A sequel, *Ice Man 2: The Time Traveler* (冰封侠：时空行者), followed in 2018 and scored 2.6.[5](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_1260430664_4b20a54800100nxcj.html) Screenwriter Manfred Wong acknowledged at a promotional event that the story's prototype came from the late-1980s film written by Johnny Mak, saying that with Mak's story as a base the remake could not go far wrong.[18](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7hSMXudDqeu) Commentators comparing the two versions argue that the remake traded the original's character-driven storytelling for large-scale spectacle.[5](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_1260430664_4b20a54800100nxcj.html)
## References
1. [急冻奇侠, Baidu Baike](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%80%A5%E5%86%BB%E5%A5%87%E4%BE%A0/2959196?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
2. [タイム・ソルジャーズ～愛は時空を超えて～／急凍奇俠（1989）, Kungfu Tube](https://kungfutube.info/5508)
3. [The Iceman Cometh (1989), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097618/)
4. [《急凍奇俠》, 華文影視數據平台](https://moviecool.asia/film/qwc_P_4fdHkF)
5. [翻拍续集评分仅2.6！时隔29年，甄子丹毁了这部武侠经典, Sina News](https://k.sina.com.cn/article_1260430664_4b20a54800100nxcj.html)
6. [急冻奇侠剧情介绍, 电视猫](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/NWgpLCM%3D)
7. [《急冻奇侠》, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/sg/movie/%E6%80%A5%E5%86%BB%E5%A5%87%E4%BE%A0/umc.cmc.2bzjv4yo167njgz27w4w8yceb?l=zh)
8. [香港影人小傳檢索：霍耀良, Hong Kong Film Archive](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/Chinese/Clarence-FOK_c.pdf)
9. [从《明日战记》追溯香港科幻片沧桑史, The Interview](https://theinterview.asia/column/%E5%BD%B1%E9%9F%B3%E6%83%85%E6%80%80/89008/)
10. [The Iceman Cometh (1989), Qwipster](https://qwipster.net/1998/07/25/the-iceman-cometh-1989/)
11. [Hong Kong Film Archive Newsletter 35](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/18995340/19057014/newsletter35_c.pdf)
12. [急冻奇侠 (1989), 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/1988689/)
13. [〖影評〗《急凍行者(上卷)》, 痞客邦](https://darrenyiwen.pixnet.net/blog/posts/8178120773)
14. [港片百年之金像完全攻略-最佳动作, Sohu Entertainment](https://yule.sohu.com/20090413/n263344639.shtml)
15. [The Iceman Cometh, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-iceman-cometh)
16. [想當年的港產片──《急凍奇俠》, Hong Kong In-Media via China Digital Times](https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/348051.html)
17. [Iceman Cometh (1989), LoveHKFilm](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/iceman_cometh.htm)
18. [《冰封侠》沙龙：编剧文隽大胆批首部, Phoenix Entertainment](https://ent.ifeng.com/c/7hSMXudDqeu)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 1980s › Released 1986 to 1989*
*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