# The White Storm

The White Storm, formerly known as The Cartels War (Chinese: 掃毒) is a 2013 Hong Kong-Chinese action film directed by Benny Chan. The film stars Sean Lau, Louis Koo, and Nick Cheung. The film had its world premiere at the 2013 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival on 25 October 2013.
A sequel titled The White Storm 2: Drug Lords was released on 16 July 2019, with Koo returning, Andy Lau joining the cast as well as producing and Herman Yau directing.

## Plot

Ma Ho-tin, So Kin-chow and Cheung Tsz-wai are good brothers who grew up together. When they grew up, they were stationed in the Narcotics Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force. Among them, Chow has been undercover for a long time in the drug trafficking group. He can't live a normal life and make him extremely annoyed. Big brother A Tian and his detective brother A Wei often persuade him that he can return to the team after catching the last big drug lord. The high-level police force asked Aqiu to follow up to catch a long line to catch big fish. Chow was deeply dissatisfied. The last three brothers decided to go to Thailand to catch the big poisonous eight-faced Buddha and help Chow to escape. However, due to the safety concerns of Aqiu, he was reluctant to conduct a fake drug transaction with the Eight-faced Buddha. He secretly used the telephone to contact the other party and said that the transaction was cancelled, which led to the suspicion that the Eight-faced Buddha had bought the drug party Aqiu and others. After the war, the two sides forced Ho-tin to choose a rescue between Chow and Cheung. Finally, Ho-tin chose to save Chow, and Cheung was shot in the crocodile pool. Cheung's death made both Ho-tin and Chow deeply saddened. The two also took care of Cheung’s mother who was hospitalized for her illness and amnesia. Aqi’s wife broke up with Aqiu after giving birth to her daughter.

## Cast

* Sean Lau as Ma Ho-tin
* Louis Koo as So Kin-chow
* Nick Cheung as Cheung Tsz-wai
* Yuan Quan as Chloe Yuan
* Lo Hoi-pang as Wei Xin-guang (Eight-Faced Buddha)
* Berg Ng as Wong Shun-yik
* Ken Lo as Bobby
* Treechada Malayaporn as Mina Wei
* Ben Lam as Hak Tsai
* Hugo Ng as M.D. Wong
* Marc Ma as Dune Kun
* Xing Yu as Kanit
* Law Lan as Tsz-wai's mother
* Lee Siu-kei as Kei, informer for Ho-tin
* Vithaya Pansringarm as Mr. Choowit
* Nut Keasanond as Sanit Wei
* Pacharapon Jantieng as Chatchai
* Chris Collins as Eight Faced Buddha lead mercenary

## Critical response

Andrew Chan of the Film Critics Circle of Australia writes, "The White Storm is easily the most entertaining (Hong Kong) film of the year, an edge of the seat thriller, smash buckling action affair and a powerhouse of acting experience".

## Awards and nominations

List of Accolades :
| Award / Film Festival | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| 12th Changchun Film Festival | Best Cinematography | Anthony Pun | Nominated |
| 12th Changchun Film Festival | Best Visual Effects | Ng Yuen-fai, Chow Chi-sing, Tam Kai-kwan | Nominated |
| 12th Changchun Film Festival | Best Film Score | Nicolas Errèra | Won |
| 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film | The White Storm | Nominated |
| 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Director | Benny Chan | Nominated |
| 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Actor | Louis Koo | Nominated |
| 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Actor | Sean Lau | Nominated |
| 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Law Lan | Nominated |
| 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Cinematography | Anthony Pun | Nominated |
| 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Editing | Yau Chi-wai | Nominated |
| 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Original Film Song | Song: "Tacit for Life" (心照一生) Composer: RubberBand Lyrics: RubberBand, Tim Lui Sung by: RubberBand | Nominated |
| 32nd Hundred Flowers Awards | Best Actor | Nick Cheung | Nominated |
| 32nd Hundred Flowers Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Yuan Quan | Nominated |
| 32nd Hundred Flowers Awards | Best New Performer | Marc Ma | Won |
| 51st Golden Horse Awards | Best Actor | Sean Lau | Nominated |
| 51st Golden Horse Awards | Best Visual Effects | Ng Yuen-fai, Chow Chi-sing, Tam Kai-kwan | Nominated |
| 51st Golden Horse Awards | Best Action Choreography | Nicky Li | Nominated |
| 51st Golden Horse Awards | Best Cinematography | Anthony Pun | Nominated |
| 51st Golden Horse Awards | Best Sound Design | Kinson Tsang, Yiu Chun-hin, Chow Yuk-lun | Nominated |
| 51st Golden Horse Awards | Best Original Film Song | Song: "Tacit for Life" (心照一生) Composer: RubberBand Lyrics: RubberBand, Tim Lui Sung by: RubberBand | Nominated |

## Sequel

On 16 March 2018, Universe Entertainment announced that a sequel of the film, titled The White Storm 2: Drug Lords, would start shooting during the summer and unveiled its teaser film poster. Being a sequel in name only with a similar thematic but a new storyline, Louis Koo returned playing a different role, making him the only returning cast member. Andy Lau joined the cast and also served as the film's producer, while Herman Yau replaced Benny Chan as the director for the sequel. Filming for The White Storm 2: Drug Lords took place in Hong Kong and the Philippines and the budget of the film was over HK$200 million. Production for The White Storm 2 - Drug Lords began on 23 June 2018 and was released on 16 July 2019.