If it makes for a breathlessly assaultive, vastly entertaining couple of hours, it can be discomfiting whenever there's a brief pause in the pelting gunfire and we glimpse the contours of the actual, flesh-and-blood tragedy.

Though more sensationalistic than serious, this film has a scale and an energy that rivals any Hollywood blockbuster.

Restlessly kinetic even by Far Eastern standards, the film eventually settles into a tolerably frenetic groove, but it's best when Lam allows the suspense to build.

Operation Mekong is a definite action film, HK style, which will definitely find appeal to all fans of the genre. Its commercial success was utterly justified.