Hong Kong Running Out of Time returned 8.3× its production cost, earning $1.9M against a $225K budget — one of the highest-return Hong Kong films in our catalog.
Synopsis
暗戰
“Let the games begin.”
Police inspector and excellent hostage negotiator Ho Sheung-Sang finds himself in over his head when he is pulled into a 72 hour game by a cancer suffering criminal out for vengeance on Hong Kong's organized crime syndicates.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #62 of 836 Hong Kong films indexed here (93rd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +1.0 points above the Hong Kong average of 6.3/10.
Among Hong Kong Drama productions specifically: #34 of 311 (top 11%).
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 1h 33m runtime, production spent $2K per minute on screen and earned $20K per minute back.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Running Out of Time. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Milkyway Image
Drama + Action in Hong Kong
136 Hong Kong titles in our catalog blend the Drama and Action genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Running Out of Time itself).
The 1998–2000 Hong Kong Window
Among 50 Hong Kong films we catalog from this window, Running Out of Time places #3 — near the top of its class.
The 1990s Hong Kong Landscape
Running Out of Time premiered in 1999 — a quieter year for Hong Kong cinema with only 14 titles in our catalog. The 1990s overall landed 215 films and series across 10 years of activity.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 13 other Hong Kong films in 1999.
The 495th Hong Kong title from Hong Kong we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1955).
Our Hong Kong catalog contains 836 titles in total (828 films).
Audience Engagement
128 audience reviews — more than 84% of Hong Kong films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 82th percentile among Hong Kong films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Running Out of Time, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- thief · 23
- terminal illness · 9
- revenge · 210
- murder · 155
- hong kong · 73
Production Details
| Primary Country | Hong Kong |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Cantonese |
| Spoken Languages | Cantonese, English, Mandarin |
| Production Companies | Milkyway Image, Win's Entertainment Ltd. |
| Runtime | 1h 33m |
| Release Date | September 23, 1999 |
| IMDb | tt0216165 |