Proud and Confident is a 1989 Hong Kong action film starring Andy Lau.
Wah (Andy Lau) is an elite Super Cop promoted to lead the Hong Kong Police's anti-terrorist unit after displaying his sharpshooting skills that saved a group of children from a psychopath. With his best friend Wai (Michael Miu), Wah is to lead a band of new recruits and whip them into shape, but when an international terrorist force called the IBS made landfall into Hong Kong and the military isn't able to respond in time, its up to Wah and his unit to battle the IBS.
Contains various parallels to Top Gun (which is 3 years old when this movie came out, the hype is at its peak) and started a mini-trend of Hong Kong films starring cocky protagonists as police recruits joining anti-terrorist units, including Best of the Best, Special Tactical Unit, Big Bullet, PTU, The New Option and the like.
This film provides examples of:
- Arc Words: "I... am... invincible..." said by Wai, best friend of Wah. Firstly when he gets shot by paintball pellets during a police exercise, then after Wai gets shot by the Big Bad and succumbed in front of Wah.
- Bad Habits: The Big Bad of the film shows up on the yacht, dressed up as a priest, complete with rosaries. And he gets to kill several people while in this disguise.
- Bearer of Bad News: Ultimately, Wah had to be the one to inform Wai's family, including Wai's toddler son, that Wai is dead.
- Blasting It Out of Their Hands: In the climax a terrorist attempts to chuck a grenade at Wah's team, but Wah simply shoots the terrorist's grenade out of his hand. The resulting explosion blasts half a dozen terrorists to kingdom come.
- Cutting the Electronic Leash: When the terrorists attacks a party on a yacht, Wah pursues their leader to the yacht's lower deck despite his Lieutenant ordering him to wait for backup. Wah responds by removing his earphones and chasing after his opponent.
- Expy: Wah is a more action-prone Maverick, representing the army instead of the air force.
- Friend to All Children: Wah, who quickly became friends with Wai's family including Wai's young son.
- Gratuitous English: The terrorist leader, despite leading a Vietnamese/Chinese-based gang, speaks English. Garbled English, to be precise (he's played by a Chinese-American actor, Eddie Maher / Eddie Ma).
- Heroic BSoD: Wah had a rather nasty one after his best friend Wai is killed.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Wah, who is capable of shooting a dropped lighter (about to fall on a gasoline pool, threatening to blow up a gas station) just a few inches from the ground.
- Taken to ridiculous extremes in the final shootout; a terrorist aims his bazooka at Wah, and Wah retaliates by throwing a grenade in a straight line into the bazooka's barrel!
- Lured into a Trap: The first SWAT team infiltrating thew terrorist hideout in the finale. Cue the Big Bad brandishing a ROCKET LAUNCHER to blow away the first two officers he sees.
- Military Salute: Used by various characters, predictably given its setting. Wah does this when greeting his friend from his car, and later when addressing his superiors after blowing up the Big Bad.
- Only a Flesh Wound: The police Lieutenant leading Wah's unit gets shot in the shoulder, and he shrugs it off and continues firing his machine-gun through the terrorist horde.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Two of Wah's friends are only known by their nicknames, He-man and Popeye.
- Pretty Little Headshots: Quite a few terrorists get capped in the head throughout the film, but none of these have any blood (just puffs of smoke from small squibs in the head).
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Delivered by Wah during the hostage rescue scene, where he pummels a lone terrorist before subduing him. He later does the same thing to the Big Bad.
- Reusable Lighter Toss: one of Wah's first action scenes, a hostage standoff in a petrol station where a psychopath had drenched himself and a child in gasoline, and is about to drop an ignited Zippo lighter. Wah then shows the audience why he's one of the Special Forces' best by sniping the lighter as it's dropping, two feet above the gasoline pool.
- Sacrificial Lion: Wah's best friend Wai dies halfway into the middle of the film.
- Survival Mantra: In the final shootout, Wah repeats the words, "I'm confident... I'm confident..." while blasting away terrorists left and right.
- Training from Hell: The recruits, including Wah and Wai, are subjected to one which takes up roughly the entire first thirty percent of the film.
- Trash Talk: Delivered by the Big Bad, after beating up Wah in a Curb-Stomp Battle and killing Wai in front of Wah."You call yourself a cop? You look more like a boy scout! And you want to take me on?"
- Unflinching Walk: After Wah defeats the Big Bad and knocks him to the ground, Wah simply walks away flinging a grenade behind him, and then walks ahead as the ensuing explosion fries his opponent.
- We Are "Team Cannon Fodder": The first SWAT unit that infiltrate the terrorists' hideout gets blown to bits within a few seconds, before the second unit with Wah spearheading the team arrives.
