# Young and Dangerous: The Prequel (新古惑仔之少年激斗篇)
**Young and Dangerous: The Prequel** (新古惑仔之少年激鬥篇) is a 1998 Hong Kong action film directed by Andrew Lau Wai-keung that recounts the teenage years of Chan Ho-nam and his friends before they became the triad figures of the *Young and Dangerous* series.[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) • [2](https://www.hk01.com/%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1/196049/%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94%E4%B9%8B%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%BF%80%E9%AC%A5%E7%AF%87-%E9%9C%86%E9%8B%92%E6%8B%8D%E5%AE%8C%E6%9C%AA%E5%A4%A0%E7%A7%A4%E5%85%A5%E5%A0%B4%E7%9D%87-%E7%86%92%E5%B9%95%E5%88%9D%E5%90%BB%E7%8D%BB%E8%88%92%E6%B7%87) It premiered in Hong Kong on 5 June 1998, less than half a year after the fifth mainline entry, *98 Gu Huo Zhi: Long Zheng Hu Dou*, and served as the film debut of Nicholas Tse Ting-fung.[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) • [2](https://www.hk01.com/%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1/196049/%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94%E4%B9%8B%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%BF%80%E9%AC%A5%E7%AF%87-%E9%9C%86%E9%8B%92%E6%8B%8D%E5%AE%8C%E6%9C%AA%E5%A4%A0%E7%A7%A4%E5%85%A5%E5%A0%B4%E7%9D%87-%E7%86%92%E5%B9%95%E5%88%9D%E5%90%BB%E7%8D%BB%E8%88%92%E6%B7%87)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 新古惑仔之少年激鬥篇 (English: Young and Dangerous: The Prequel)[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) |
| Hong Kong premiere | 5 June 1998[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) |
| Director and script | Andrew Lau Wai-keung; script by Manfred Wong (with Cow Man and Chau Ting credited on some listings)[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) • [3](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/XmFqJmRi/actors) |
| Lead cast | Nicholas Tse (Chan Ho-nam), Sam Lee (Chicken), Shu Qi (Fei), Francis Ng (Kwan), Daniel Wu (Big Head)[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) |
| Setting | Hong Kong, 1989; 17-year-old Chan Ho-nam and his childhood friends drift into the Hung Hing triad under Uncle Bee[4](https://eiga.com/movie/80812/) |
| Rating and runtime | Hong Kong Category III; runtime reported as 1h 55m, 115 minutes, and 117 minutes by different databases[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) • [5](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/161979) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-and-dangerous-the-prequel) |
| Hong Kong box office | HK$2,353,800, placing around 100th for the year[7](https://kungfutube.info/22548) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story is set in 1989. Chan Ho-nam, Chicken, Pou-pan, and Chau-pan are childhood friends living in a new housing development, spending their days on music and first loves.[4](https://eiga.com/movie/80812/) When classmates harass Kelly, a girl Ho-nam likes, he intervenes, and a running feud with the gangsters follows; the friends are arrested after a brawl, and the Hung Hing society bails them out.[4](https://eiga.com/movie/80812/) Feeling out of place at school and abandoned by family, Ho-nam chooses the triad path, and the group fights rival Tung Sing gang members to make a name for themselves, only to be betrayed by Kwan and left in danger.[9](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94%E4%B9%8B%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%BF%80%E9%AC%A5%E7%AF%87/umc.cmc.35af61ofdhxomgrnegygbr3nh)
## Place in the series
The *Young and Dangerous* films, directed by Andrew Lau and based on Cow Man's comic *Rascals* (also known as *Teddy Boy*), were commercial hits between 1996 and 2000, with the mainline series running to six installments alongside spin-offs.[8](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355942/why-young-and-dangerous-film-series-remains-ultimate-1990s-hong-kong-triad-saga?pgtype=topic) The prequel arrived as a derivative work within that run: after the fifth mainline film opened in early 1998, this spin-off followed within the same year.[2](https://www.hk01.com/%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1/196049/%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94%E4%B9%8B%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%BF%80%E9%AC%A5%E7%AF%87-%E9%9C%86%E9%8B%92%E6%8B%8D%E5%AE%8C%E6%9C%AA%E5%A4%A0%E7%A7%A4%E5%85%A5%E5%A0%B4%E7%9D%87-%E7%86%92%E5%B9%95%E5%88%9D%E5%90%BB%E7%8D%BB%E8%88%92%E6%B7%87)
Because the main films had already shown the adult characters, the prequel recast the roles with younger actors. [Nicholas Tse](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-tse) played the teenage Chan Ho-nam, Sam Lee played the young Chicken (Chiu Shan-choi), Benjamin Yuen Wai-ho played the young Chau-pan, and Yu Ka-ho played the young Pou-pan; the fifth member of the comic's gang, Dai Tin-yi, does not appear in his youth.[2](https://www.hk01.com/%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1/196049/%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94%E4%B9%8B%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%BF%80%E9%AC%A5%E7%AF%87-%E9%9C%86%E9%8B%92%E6%8B%8D%E5%AE%8C%E6%9C%AA%E5%A4%A0%E7%A7%A4%E5%85%A5%E5%A0%B4%E7%9D%87-%E7%86%92%E5%B9%95%E5%88%9D%E5%90%BB%E7%8D%BB%E8%88%92%E6%B7%87) • [3](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/XmFqJmRi/actors) Francis Ng, who had played the villain Kwan in the 1996 original, returned as Kwan, and Frankie Ng Chi-hung played Brother Bee (Uncle Bee), the Hung Hing figure the boys follow.[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-and-dangerous-the-prequel)
## Production and cast notes
**A debut under age restrictions.** The film was Nicholas Tse's first movie. He finished shooting while still under 18, so he was not old enough to buy a ticket and watch his own Category III film in a cinema, and his first on-screen kiss went to [Shu Qi](https://www.edgepedia.org/shu-qi).[2](https://www.hk01.com/%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1/196049/%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94%E4%B9%8B%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%BF%80%E9%AC%A5%E7%AF%87-%E9%9C%86%E9%8B%92%E6%8B%8D%E5%AE%8C%E6%9C%AA%E5%A4%A0%E7%A7%A4%E5%85%A5%E5%A0%B4%E7%9D%87-%E7%86%92%E5%B9%95%E5%88%9D%E5%90%BB%E7%8D%BB%E8%88%92%E6%B7%87) The production companies were BoB & Partners Co., Ltd. and Fitto Movie Co., Ltd., with Gala Film Distribution handling release; Manfred Wong and Wong Jing are credited as producers.[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361) • [10](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/young-and-dangerous-the-prequel/3hU5hXcExJ0OPiBgjJJy/main/) Tse also performed songs on the soundtrack, including "Open Day" and "Living Volcano".[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361)
## Reception
The film earned HK$2,353,800 in Hong Kong, a modest figure that placed it around 100th for the year, far below the mainline entries.[7](https://kungfutube.info/22548) Reviewers and viewers have generally described it as darker than the films it precedes: Rotten Tomatoes' audience summary notes that with most of the comic-book feel gone, the prequel "tells a much darker tale than its predecessors, focusing on the hard knocks rather than the bling and glamour of triad life".[11](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_and_dangerous_the_prequel) On IMDb it holds a 7.1 rating, and [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) lists an IMDb score of 6.1.[12](https://auteurgraph.com/person/ang-liu/ratings) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-and-dangerous-the-prequel)
The film also sits awkwardly with one later series entry: a reviewer for hkfilm.net notes that *Those Were the Days*, a later spin-off, has Ho-nam joining the triad first, whereas the prequel had Chicken being the first of the group to join.[13](https://www.hkfilm.net/yngdngr.htm)
## Overseas release
In Japan the film opened on 23 September 2000 through Gaga Communications under the title *Garasu no Generation / Hong Kong Shonen Gekitōdan* (硝子のジェネレーション／香港少年激闘団), presented as a side story to Lau's *Young and Dangerous* series depicting the protagonists' youth.[5](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/161979) • [4](https://eiga.com/movie/80812/) A Blu-ray edition was released in Hong Kong on 4 June 2022.[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361)
## Context
The *Young and Dangerous* series was controversial for glamorizing triads with a youthful, "hip" image, appearing at the same time as a triad push to recruit members from public schools in late-1980s and 1990s Hong Kong.[14](https://hkupress.hku.hk/image/catalog/pdf-preview/9789622098015.pdf) Within that franchise, the prequel's turn toward grit rather than glamour is the trait most often singled out in retrospective commentary.[11](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_and_dangerous_the_prequel)
## References
1. [新古惑仔之少年激斗篇, HKFACT](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/8361)
2. [〖新古惑仔之少年激鬥篇〗霆鋒拍完未夠秤入場睇 熒幕初吻獻舒淇, HK01](https://www.hk01.com/%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1/196049/%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94%E4%B9%8B%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%BF%80%E9%AC%A5%E7%AF%87-%E9%9C%86%E9%8B%92%E6%8B%8D%E5%AE%8C%E6%9C%AA%E5%A4%A0%E7%A7%A4%E5%85%A5%E5%A0%B4%E7%9D%87-%E7%86%92%E5%B9%95%E5%88%9D%E5%90%BB%E7%8D%BB%E8%88%92%E6%B7%87)
3. [新古惑仔之少年激篇演员表, 电视猫](https://www.tvmao.com/movie/XmFqJmRi/actors)
4. [硝子のジェネレーション 香港少年激闘団, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/80812/)
5. [硝子のジェネレーション／香港少年激闘団, allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/161979)
6. [Young and Dangerous: The Prequel streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-and-dangerous-the-prequel)
7. [硝子のジェネレーション/香港少年激闘団 ／新古惑仔之少年激鬥篇（1998）, Kungfu Tube](https://kungfutube.info/22548)
8. [Why the Young and Dangerous film series remains the ultimate 1990s Hong Kong triad saga, South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355942/why-young-and-dangerous-film-series-remains-ultimate-1990s-hong-kong-triad-saga?pgtype=topic)
9. [新古惑仔之少年激鬥篇, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E6%96%B0%E5%8F%A4%E6%83%91%E4%BB%94%E4%B9%8B%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%BF%80%E9%AC%A5%E7%AF%87/umc.cmc.35af61ofdhxomgrnegygbr3nh)
10. [Young and Dangerous: The Prequel Movie, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/young-and-dangerous-the-prequel/3hU5hXcExJ0OPiBgjJJy/main/)
11. [Young and Dangerous: The Prequel, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_and_dangerous_the_prequel)
12. [Ang Liu Cowman Ratings, AuteurGraph](https://auteurgraph.com/person/ang-liu/ratings)
13. [Young and Dangerous series review, hkfilm.net](https://www.hkfilm.net/yngdngr.htm)
14. [Thieves and Pirates: Beyond "Auteur" Cinema, HKU Press](https://hkupress.hku.hk/image/catalog/pdf-preview/9789622098015.pdf)
---
*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 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