Romeo Must Die (2000)

Directed by

Andrzej Bartkowiak

Genre

drama film, action film, martial arts film, romance film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 50m

Rated

R

Rating

6.3 of 10 from 1,368 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A former police officer and the daughter of a crime boss fall for each other while trying to stop a war between an African American gang and a Chinese American gang in Oakland. The movie loosely follows Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet story with lots of fighting and action.

fast-pacedstylishdramaticromanticgrittymartial-arts-flavoredrevenge-drivenurban

What happens

Romeo Must Die is a 2000 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak in his directorial debut, and features fight choreography by Corey Yuen. The film stars Jet Li, Aaliyah (in her film debut), Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, DMX, and Delroy Lindo. The film marks Aaliyah's only film that was released during her lifetime, before she was killed in a plane crash one year later. The plot is loosely related to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, transplanted to contemporary Oakland with African American and Chinese-American gangs representing the feuding families. Frustrated by the lack of originality in Hollywood action films, producer Joel Silver built the film around Hong Kong action films. He cast established Hong Kong actor Jet Li following his role in Lethal Weapon 4. R&B singer Aaliyah was cast and sang the soundtrack's lead single "Try Again" which topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Romeo Must Die was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on March 24, 2000, where it received mixed reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing $91 million against a production budget of $25 million. The film was considered Li and Aaliyah's breakthrough in Hollywood. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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