Young and Dangerous 2 (古惑仔2之猛龙过江)
Young and Dangerous 2 (古惑仔2之猛龍過江) is a 1996 Hong Kong triad film directed by Andrew Lau, the second entry in the Young and Dangerous series adapted from the comic Goo Waak Jai (古惑仔) by Cowman and Dickey Yau. It was released in Hong Kong on 30 March 1996, only two months after the first film, and earned about HK$22 million at the box office.1 • 2 • 3
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 30 March 1996, Hong Kong; Cantonese; runtime 1 hour 41 minutes1 • 4 |
| Director and writers | Andrew Lau (director); Manfred Wong and Sharon Hui (writers)1 |
| Source | Adapted from the Hong Kong comic 古惑仔 created by Cowman (牛佬) and Dickey Yau (邱瑞新)5 |
| Box office | HK$22,494,497, the fifth highest-grossing Hong Kong film of 19963 |
| Lead cast | Ekin Cheng as Chan Ho Nam, Jordan Chan as Chicken, Anthony Wong as Tai Fei, Chingmy Yau as Siu-Yiu1 |
| Setting | Chicken's criminal adventures in Taiwan collide with the Hung Hing society's casino interests in Macao1 |
| Production speed | Made in under 14 days, released two months after the first film2 |
Spoilers
Plot and cast
The story shifts focus from Chan Ho Nam (Ekin Cheng) to his sworn brother Chicken (Jordan Chan), whose criminal adventures in Taiwan bring him into conflict with the Hung Hing society's casino property in Macao. Chicken's old boss and his mistress are killed, and the Hung Hing member Tai Fei (Anthony Wong) feigns cooperation with Ting Yiu, ultimately remaining loyal to Hung Hing and helping to prevent the Taiwanese gang from expanding into Macau.7 Gigi Lai's character Smartie is in a coma, and Chingmy Yau plays the scheming Siu-Yiu from Taiwan.1 • 7
The supporting cast includes Simon Yam as Chiang, Spencer Lam as the Priest, Jerry Lamb as Pao-Pan, Michael Tse as Dai Tin Yee, Moses Chan as Ko Chi, and Jason Chu as Banana Skin, who replaces the character Chou-Pan.1
Production
The film was a rapid sequel. After Young and Dangerous (古惑仔之人在江湖) earned over HK$21 million against an investment of a few million, Lau, Manfred Wong, and Wong Jing rushed the second installment into production, completing it in less than 14 days for release on 30 March 1996.2 • 5 Lau had begun directing in 1990 and had turned to adapting popular comics with the first Young and Dangerous film; in 1995 he, Wong Jing, and Manfred Wong had agreed to work together, though the production company Best Partner (最佳拍檔) was formally organized only in mid-1996, after this film was finished. The first two films' videocassettes therefore carry no Best Partner credit.5 • 6
Dion Lam Dik-On handled action choreography.7
Reception and place in the series
The film took HK$22,494,497, ranking fifth among Hong Kong films released that year, in a market where only six local productions passed HK$10 million in 1996.3 • 2 The reviewer at lovehkfilm.com judged it a more complex story than its predecessor, with less comic-book posturing and more attention to the realities of gang life, though he found the ending anticlimactic.7 On the Chinese review site Douban it scores 7.5, slightly below the first film's 7.8, the start of a steady decline across the series' later installments.2
The film's Taiwan setting fits a pattern noted by the scholar Simon Shen: each Young and Dangerous film engages a different overseas Chinese underworld, with the first set partly in Macao, the second involving Taiwanese gangs, the third Dutch gangs, and later entries Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan.8 Lau went on to direct the series through Young and Dangerous 3 (1996), 97 Young and Dangerous: The Prequel era entries, and Born to Be King (2000), and the series' success launched his career in comic adaptations, leading to The Storm Riders (1998).5
References
- Young and Dangerous 2 (1996), Two Degrees / Ingrid Richter HK cinema archive
- 为什么我们再也拍不出《古惑仔》, Jiemian News
- 1996 Hong Kong box office table, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences repository (PDF)
- Young and Dangerous 2 (1996), Helposter movie database
- 香港影人小傳檢索：劉偉強, Hong Kong Film Archive (PDF)
- 刘伟强王晶文隽聚首《大上海》忆友情岁月, Sina Entertainment / Southern Metropolis Daily
- Young and Dangerous 2 review, lovehkfilm.com
- 沈旭暉：《古惑仔》系列的國際視野, 灼見名家
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Action, thriller, and crime series film entries › Entries released in the 1990s
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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