The film's plot is set in 1997 when cops find a corpse and bomb chemicals, Inspector Pao (Lau Ching-wan) arrests suspect Mak Kwan (Francis Ng) hoping that his girlfriend will lead them to his Taiwanese gang, but Mak makes an escape and the girlfriend makes off for Macao.

Pao then figures that the gang will go for the $230 million at the Hong Kong Jockey club while Mak plans his escape from prison.

Pao and his subordinate Bill (Chin Kar-lok) are upset over Yung's death and swear to get revenge, and the police force sets off a high alert for the criminals.

The action scenes in Full Alert are all real and were shot secretly without a shooting permit in the streets of Hong Kong.

[2] Full Alert was released in Hong Kong on 18 July 1997 and earned a total of HK$14,691,880 in the box office.

[4] The BBC referred to DVD's image quality as more poor than average mainstream DVDs but has suffered less print damage than other Hong Kong films.

[8] Variety gave the film a positive review noting that Ringo Lam "invests the outwardly formulaic crimer with dark character play and a visceral power that are new in his career.