|
|
|
In the Line of Duty I-IV: Limited Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - 88 Films Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (29th May 2023). |
|
The Film
 "88 films proudly presents the first four films in the In the Line of Duty" (皇家師姐) series of "Girls with Guns" films produced by Hong Kong movie studio D&B Films in this collectible 4-disc Blu-ray box set!" Royal Warriors: Returning from a vacation in Japan, Hong Kong police officer Michelle Yip (Tomorrow Never Dies's Michelle Yeoh) helps air marshal Michael Wong (City Hunter's Michael Wong) and Japanese cop Yamamoto (Message from Space's Hiroyuki Sanada) foil the attempt of Crazy Chicken (A Better Tomorrow's Kam Hing-Yin) to free his buddy Tiger (Legacy of Rage's Michael Chan Wai-Man) who is being escorted back to Hong Kong for trial. The resulting deaths of Tiger and Crazy Chicken puts the trio in the cross hairs of vengeful partner Raging Bull (Long Arm of the Law's Lam Wai) who attempts assassinations on all three. When Yamamoto's wife Yukiko (Niwa Reiko) and daughter Yuko are the victims of a car bombing, Yamamoto turns from justice to revenge. While Michael tries to keep Michelle and himself out of danger, Michelle may have to risk her career to keep Yamamoto from getting himself killed and bring Raging Bull (and his unknown associate) to justice. Although shot and released in Hong Kong after Yes, Madam, Royal Warriors' international handling by German world sales agent Atlas International under the title "In the Line of Duty" and Yes, Madam in some territories as "In the Line of Duty II" has lead to the second film being considered the first (as in this boxed set). While all four films are self-contained with little continuity, much of the light comedy that was organic to Yes, Madam is absent here – apart from Yeoh fighting off some Japanese gangsters in the opening teaser – and the tonal evolution from the brutal here to the almost sadistic In the Line of Duty III is evident. While there is a certain cynicism in the film's setting up of sentimental romantic and familial relationships as motivation for revenge when love interests and relatives are brutally murdered, the film's action set-pieces are exhilarating – from the airplane hijack sequence to the nightclub shootout that rivals In the Line of Duty III's fashion show in the slaughter of innocent bystanders, and the building site finale where Yeoh goes Jackie Chan with a bulldozer on a shack on stilts – and the villains truly earn their fates. Yeoh acquits herself well dramatically and physically – not an experienced martial artist at the time, her skills as a former dancer are put to good use in fights that utilize a lot of kicks and neck-twisting ankles – while Sanada does the brooding, and Wong is required to be slightly obnoxious as the Casanova character who is cautious rather than craven and more honorable and selfless than the other "Michael Wong" he would play in In the Line of Duty IV: Witness. Like Yes, Madam, the film is shot-through with locally-recognizable cameos from Hong Kong action cinema performers – including Eddie Maher (Magic Crystal) as a weapons dealer and Kenneth Tsang (The Replacement Killers) as yet another police captain – as well as Japanese network TVB stars (some just for a few seconds onscreen and many not known to many viewers stateside). The majority of cinematographer-turned-director David Chung's directorial efforts were from this period, and he would return to working only as a cinematographer shortly after, winning Hong Kong Film Awards "Best Cinematography" prizes for both Painted Faces and Once Upon a Time in China. Yes, Madam: In spite of the newfound popularity she has gained after foiling an armored car robbery while in the middle of a vice operation, Senior Inspector Ng (Michelle Yeoh again) is looking forward to nothing more than a vacation in Scotland with her former mentor Richard Nornen (Michael Harry) who is currently in Hong Kong. Little does she know that Nornen has in his possession a piece of microfilm that proves that a land development contract made up in favor of wealthy Henry Tin (The Big Boss' James Tien) was a forgery and he plans to profit off of it. Unfortunately, Tin has not sent Mr. Dik (The Seventh Curse's Dick Wei) to negotiate with him but to rub him out; unfortunately, thief-disguised-as-bellboy Aspirin (Ninja in the Dragon's Den's Mang Hoi) and his partner Strepsil (Painted Faces' John Sham) have inadvertently made off with the hidden microfilm when they swipe the "sleeping" man's wallet and passport, and Ng arrives soon after and goes after the two thieves before Dik can.  Only after Aspirin and Stepsil sell the passport to passport/ID forger partner Panadol (The Butterfly Murders director Tsui Hark) do they discover that Nornen was murdered and realize they could be implicated. They leave an anonymous tip to the police and Ng ends up apprehending a bail-jumping criminal ('s Eddie Maher) with the help of Scottish agent Carrie Morris (China O'Brien' Cynthia Rothrock) who impresses the local officers with her martial arts but not with her more direct methods of interrogation. Morris' police brutality, however, gives Ng the opportunity to engineer the crook's escape during a trip to the hospital in order for them to track him in his mission to butcher Panadol who he believes betrayed him. Panadol reluctantly sells out his partners, but Aspirin and Strepsil themselves come to the conclusion that they are safer in police custody when Mr. Dik and Vietnam wacko Mad Dog (Encounters of the Spooky Kind's Chung Fat) set out to eliminate them and find the microfilm. Although shot and released before Royal Warriors, Yes, Madam! is regarded as the first of the "girls and guns" offshoot of Hong Kong's eighties crime film boom. Apart from the bookstore flasher bit – completely replaced with a different sequence in the export version – the first third of the film plays like a straight-faced crime thriller, with the acrobatics of Yeoh (Rothrock does not appear until roughly a half-hour in) punctuated by gun play and bloodshed more brutal than your average Jackie Chan vehicle; however, the film shifts away from the investigation for long stretches and the antics of Aspirin, Strepsil, and Panadol take the film into action-comedy territory – the highlight being Hark Tsui evading Maher in his surprisingly "modular" apartment – and it appears that Yeoh and Rothrock are expected to shoulder all of the exposition and serious drama. The third act, however, balances things out once the thieves realize just how much hot water they are in and the sexism underlying the treatment of Ng and Morris by most of the men becomes outright sexism as Tin and his chauvinist thugs believe that the pair are no real obstacle to getting what they want, leading to a climactic battle of kicks, knives, swords, and lots of slow motion broken glass that earns chuckles while never letting the viewer forget the characters' peril. Perhaps more so than the fourth film in the series, the thin McGuffin plot works well in facilitating the action and comedy setpieces. Only the third directorial effort of actor Corey Yuen (fourth if you count his uncredited direction on Game of Death II), Yes, Madam! sports some exciting editorial and visual flourishes that keep the pace from flagging in between the action sequences (staged jointly by Mang Hoi and Cory Yuen), which feature that complex arrangement of action choreography and usage of the environment fans have come to expect from the most exciting entrees in the genre. Tai Bo (Police Story) and Ka Lee (Eastern Condors) have supporting roles as junior officers; however, they have less to do than Billy Lau (Mr. Vampire) and filmmaker Wu Ma (The Dead and the Deadly) who have an altercation over parking ticket quotas or even the "special appearances" of Sammo Hung, Richard Ng, and David Chiang as Aspirin's and Strepsil's old folks home-dwelling former Sifu and his buddies who spend their days breaking their dietary restrictions and molesting nurses (including busty Shirley Kwan). It may or may not be a wasted opportunity that Ng's superior Melvin Wong is more ambiguously chauvinist than suspicious given his turns as corrupt officials in other films of the genre. Yeoh – who previously appeared in a featured "eye candy" bit in Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars – would appear in the follow-up but her she would step away from the camera after she married the film's producer Dickson Poon but she would return to the screen following their divorce with the Jackie Chan vehicle Supercop. Rothrock made her feature debut here and would follow it up with a smaller role in Sammo Hung's epic Millionaires' Express but her similar role in Righting Wrongs would be her next prominent Hong Kong role. The film is not to be confused with the 1995 Taiwanese action film of the same name which starred Cynthia Kahn (which was released on video in Hong Kong as "Yes, Madam 5").  In the Line of Duty III: When a heist at the Tokyo exhibition of jewelry designer Yamamoto (Come Drink With Me's Yueh Hua) becomes a bloodbath with multiple casualties including his own partner Ken (Police Story's Chris Lee Kin-Sang), Japanese cop Hiroshi Fujioka (Ghost Warrior's Hiroshi Fujioka) swears vengeance and is willing to hand in his badge in order to track down the murderous thieves Nakamura Genji (Die Another Day's Stuart Ong) and Michiko Nishiwaki (My Lucky Stars' Michiko Nishiwaki) who are heading to Hong Kong to sell the loot in order to buy weapons for the Japanese Red Army. Serious Crimes Section Captain Chuen (Peking Opera Blues' Paul Chun Pui) would rather hand Hiroshi over to the police political unit and instructs his team – including his niece Madam Yeung Lai-Ching (Madam City Hunter's Cynthia Khan) newly-assigned to the unit against his wishes after the very public apprehension of bank robbers – to babysit Hiroshi while he is in Hong Kong. As soon as he arrives, Hiroshi gets on the wrong side of the Hong Kong police force when he accosts visiting Yamamoto who he suspects was in on the heist (especially after he spots the pair of thieves among the arriving passengers). Madam Yeung yearns not just for excitement but to help Hiroshi on his mission, but she is caught between her loyalty to her uncle and her strict adherence to the law which Hiroshi continually violates by carrying illegal weapons and attacking suspects without probable cause. What Hiroshi does not realize is that Nakamura and Michiko are actually after Yamamoto as well for switching his jewelry with fakes while collecting the insurance money; and the clock is ticking since Nakamura is dying of cancer and is risking what little time he has left in the service of his cause. When Hiroshi and Madam Yeung and Nakamura and both men are gravely-injured in an attempt by Michiko and colleague Kikamura to bust him out, both Madam Yeung and Michiko swear vengeance upon each other and anyone who comes in between them is fair game. While Yes, Madam capably balanced violent action and a strain of comedy that was all but absent from its sequel Royal Warriors, In the Line of Duty III still feels like a sharp departure from the earlier films, not only in the replacement of retired Michelle Yeoh – who married producer Dickson Poon but would resume her career after their divorce five years later with Supercop – with Taiwanese actress Yang Li-Ching (whose screen name "Cynthia Khan" was a combination of Yeoh who was still billed as "Michelle Khan" and co-star Cynthia Rothrock), but also with a tonal approach that is simultaneously ruthlessly violent and utterly generic, particularly with the film not really bothering to foster any kind of friendship between the heros. Helmed by cinematographer Arthur Wong (Armour of God) and stunt coordinator Brandy Yuen – brother of Yuen Wo-Ping who directed Jackie Chan's star-making duo Drunken Master and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow – the film is punctuated by action sequences blatantly patterned after the "heroic bloodshed" films of John Woo but feel more "robotic" than "balletic" with such casual dispatching of featured characters and tons of extras who might as well just be rag dolls. However brutal the slaying of his partner, the viewer may care no more for Hiroshi's vendetta than the fatalistic and sadomasochistic relationship between the thieves or Yeung's motivation for vengeance in the tonally-inconsistent violence upon her captain uncle. While some other Hong Kong cop films before the 1997 handcover depicted the Hong Kong police force as corrupt, In the Line of Duty III depicts them as worthy as not just tools of the corrupt but dupes worthy of ridicule apart in contrast to Hiroshi, with Yeung adapting the attitude towards "justice" of not just Hiroshi but also Michiko (both Yeung and Michiko separately refer to each other as "that bitch"). The climactic battle delivers the goods in martial arts action, gun play, and explosions, but it is drawn out beyond grueling to exhausting and the viewer may no longer care who wins in the end just so long as it does end. Yes, Madam's Melvin Wong has a supporting comic relief role as Yamamoto's local security – all the more interesting because his character is named "Michael Wong" which is the name of the character played by actor Michael Wong in the previous entry Royal Warriors and the next film In the Line of Duty IV: Witness – but seasoned viewers may find even more confusing the comic cameos by "Lucky Stars" Richard Ng and Eric Tsang.  In the Line of Duty IV: Witness: In Seattle working with the local police on a drug sting, Hong Kong Serious Crimes Unit cop Madam Yeung (Cynthia Khan again) narrowly evades having her cover blown by landing in the arms of Chinese immigrant dock worker Luk Wan-Ting (Dreadnaught's Simon Yuen) who is trying to make an honest living in the states in spite of the propensity of his buddy Ming (Infernal Affairs II's Liu Kai-Chi) for getting into trouble with loan sharks. Unfortunately, Madam Yeung is recognized by the Hong Kong drug dealer (Iron Monkey's Sunny Yuen) who manages to get away. Things get worse for Luk when Yeung's dying partner tries to pass to him the negative of a photograph he shot of a rogue CIA agent who shot him during a drug bust. American Captain Donnie Yen (Ip Man's Donnie Yen) is ready to throw the book at Luk in spite of Yeung attesting to his character; however, Luk escapes when he is attacked by a corrupt cop (Operation Condor's Dan Mintz) trying to get the negative from him. After Ming is killed by assassins trailing Luk, he only manages to escape being apprehended by Yen through the intervention of Yeung. Yen's superior takes him off the case and appoints Captain Michael Wong (Michael Wong again) who, nevertheless, keeps Yen and Yeung on his team as they head to Hong Kong to apprehend Luk. In Hong Kong, however, Luk, Yeung, Yen, and Wong become entangled in a web of intrigue involving Hong Kong drug dealers, secret American paramilitary organizations, corrupt cops, and Luk's hapless mother (One-Armed Swordsman's Lisa Chiao Chiao). A big step up from the tonally-jarring and monotonous In the Line of Duty III, In the Line of Duty IV: Witness – helmed by seasoned action choreographer/director Yuen Wo-Ping (Drunken Master) is narratively-incoherent but consistently thrilling with the string of action set-pieces making up for the lack of clarity in the plot mechanics. Characterization is so thin that one only really cares for Luk and his mother because they are the only truly innocent characters while Yeung is rather ineffectual in arguing her beliefs to American or Hong Kong colleagues, Yen the character so narrow-minded that fans of Yen the actor may be disappointed if expecting the film as a vehicle for him, and Wong in one of a string of smarmy characters who are either a villian or just a bureaucratic obstacle for the heroes. The martial arts action is divided between Khan, Yen, and Yuen – brother of director Wo-Ping and actor Sunny – and this leads to more dynamic staging than the drawn-out singular fight scenes in the previous film, with a climactic showdown in the American embassy in which camera and audience eyes dart back and forth between three different fights that usually intersect painfully. While the previous film was co-directed by cinematographer Arthur Wong (Armour of God), the photography here by Yuen regular Ma Koon-Wah (The Magnificent Butcher) and Au Gaam-Hung (Top Squad) is functional and director Yuen avoids the "heroic bloodshed" slow motion digressions of the previous film, coming across as "lean and mean" even though the film is ten minutes longer. Along with the Yes, Madam and Royal Warriors, the third and fourth film form part of a quartet, but five more films with Khan followed in the nineties with the banner (but only three of them came from original producer D & B Films Co. Ltd.). 
Video
Unreleased theatrically in the United States, Royal Warriors was most accessible stateside as a Hong Kong laserdisc from a print with bilingual English subtitles until Tai Seng put out an American laserdisc in 1998 with both burnt-in English subtitles and Cantonese dialogue on the digital tracks and the English dub on the analog tracks. Their subsequent DVD was a direct port of the non-anamorphic Universe Hong Kong DVD edition which dropped the English track in favor of Cantonese and Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and optional subtitles. That edition was subsequently supplanted through Twentieth-Century-Fox's deal with Fortune Star with an anamorphic DVD featuring Cantonese audio (in DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1) and the English dub. We do not know whether the 2011 Hong Kong Blu-ray or the 2022 English-friendly German Blu-ray are some of Fortune Star's notorious early HD upscapes but a 2K restoration was utilized earlier this year for Eureka's British Blu-ray and has also been used for 88 Films' 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray under review here. We were not able to review the UK edition, but 88's edition is not really a stunner. It is clean, and fine detail is good for the most part – apart from some cutways and inserts during the action as well as a few exteriors of the plane in the air that are entirely missing from the negative – but the grading is not as bright as the earlier transfers (perhaps realistically so) and the more saturated colors pop and look natural for the most part but skin tones seem to vary in different scenes (and not just under the neons of the nightclub scene) from slightly rosy to various shades of gray and light brown.  Unreleased theatrically in the United States and only available as a Hong Kong laserdisc and VHS tape with bilingual subtitles, Yes, Madam! was easier to see in the UK where it was released theatrically in 1986 and then on video as "Police Assassins" with Royal Warriors retitled as a sequel to that. Stateside, Tai Seng imported the non-anamorphic Hong Kong Universe DVD for their 1998 DVD while Hong Kong Legends took advantage of the Fortune Star remaster for their anamorphic 2002 special edition DVD. The film made its Blu-ray bow in 2011 in Hong Kong – no word on whether that is one of the infamous upscales of Fortune Star SD masters or not – followed earlier this year by a German mediabook with English subtitles but lossy audio, and then Eureka's UK edition late last year from a new 2K restoration. 88 Films' 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray comes from the aforementioned restoration and looks clean and sharp apart from the expected increase in grain during some in-camera and optical slow motion shots during the action scenes. The disc also includes the film's full English export version (87:36 versus 93:53) which replaces the adult bookstore bust with footage from Where's Officer Tuba? with Chiang in an entirely different role from the one he plays later in the film. This also purports to come from a new 2K restoration, although it is not clear whether it is a transfer of a separate element or a composite of the Hong Kong version transfer with a new transfer of footage specific to the export cut (either from the materials for the export version or newly transferred from the materials for Where's Officer Tuba?).  Unreleased theatrically in the United States or Britain, the first English-friendly version of In the Line of Duty III fans could find was the Hong Kong Universe Laser Co. laserdisc which came from a print with burnt-in English and Chinese subtitles. Universe's 1998 DVD featured a non-anamorphic letterboxed transfer with Cantonese and Mandarin dubs as well as optional Chinese and English subtitles, and this edition was directly ported for Tai Seng's U.S. DVD the following year. While the film got an anamorphic remaster by Fortune Star with an English-friendly Hong Kong DVD in 2009, the newer transfer did not hit either territory from Fox or Hong Kong Legends. An English-friendly German Blu-ray debuted last year, but the audio tracks were lossy and extras consisted only a trailer and photo gallery. We do not know the source of that master, but Eureka's British Blu-ray from earlier this year came from the same 2K restoration as 88 Films' 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfer that strips the noise and murk off of the picture, restoring the slick sheen and saturation to the opening jewelry exhibition and the inky blacks of the night scenes. While there is some rough and ready Hong Kong location shooting, the color scheme does seem more considered in the Japanese scenes.  Although an English export version was prepared, In the Line of Duty IV: Witness was unreleased in the US and the UK and was accessible in English-friendly form only as a cropped Hong Kong laserdisc with burnt-in English and Chinese subtitles. A Hong Kong DVD in 1998 sported a letterboxed transfer with optional English subtitles and was directly ported stateside by Tai Seng featuring a non-anamorphic transfer. This was subsequently upgraded in 2003 by Twentieth Century Fox in an anamorphic transfer of the Hong Kong version which also turned up in the U.K. as part of the Hong Kong Legends line. Presumably the 2011 Hong Kong Blu-ray was an upscale of the Fortune Star master, but Eureka's British Blu-ray – released concurrently with their edition of In the Line of Duty III – came from a new 2K restoration. 88 Films' 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray also includes the same 2K restorations of both the Hong Kong version (95:24) and the English export version (95:38) with the only difference consisting of a brief pre-credits sequence in which Yen's superior assigns Yeung as his partner. The film has a less-considered color scheme than the previous film, and it is hard to tell if the grading or just ugly environments are responsible for some dull-looking colors since blues and greens tend to be well-saturated and blacks are deep while skin tones are mostly pale but lean towards pink in some of the dark interiors. The grading of these newer Hong Kong remasters has always been a subject of debate, but it gets the job done for the casual viewer. 
Audio
Royal Warriors Blu-ray can be viewed with a choice of four soundtracks: the original Cantonese mono dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, an alternate Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono home video mix with some effects and music alterations, the original export English dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, as well as Fortune Star's DVD-era English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Either of the original mono dubs are recommended given that all three of the leads are dubbed – Yeoh at the time only spoke Mandarin, Wong only spoke English, and Sanada Japanese – while the foley effects occasionally have a more presence than the synth score which recycles cues from the first film and would be heard again is subsequent entries (sometimes is more the cutting than the impacts that excite the viewer). The 5.1 track gives the score and original effects track a bit of breathing room while the sort of added overlaid effects heard in some 5.1 "remixes' is not as apparent here. Optional English subtitles are available for the Cantonese track while a second track translating text only is enabled with the English dubs.  Yes, Madam's features the original Cantonese mono dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 as well as a home video mix in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and the Fortune Star DVD-era English dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 – since only that version was remastered at the time – while the export version includes only the classic English dub in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 (unlike the UK edition which featured the track in LPCM), all of which feature relatively clear post-dubbed dialogue and retain the cues lifted from John Carpenter's Halloween. Optional English subtitles are available for the Hong Kong version and a second track is enabled for text when the English tracks are played.  In the case of In the Line of Duty III, there is presumably little to no difference between the Hong Kong and export versions, so both Cantonese and English original mono tracks are offered on the same transfer in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Quality is rather similar, but the Cantonese track is recommended in the case of this film if only because it makes some of the characters more tolerable than they come across in English. Optional English subtitles are provided along with a second track enabled with the English track for onscreen text.  The Hong Kong version In the Line of Duty IV is viewable with either Cantonese or English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono tracks and optional English subtitles – an optional English subtitle track is enabled with the English track for onscreen Chinese text – while the export version only includes the English Dolby Digital 2.0 track and no subtitles. Both tracks are dubbed, but the Cantonese track is preferable if only because the performances sound more impassioned. Apart from the more emotive moments, the line readings are a bit stilted on the English dub. 
Extras
The U.K. edition of Royal Warriors featured commentary tracks by the former Tai Seng employee/current Hong Kong Film Festival programmer Frank Djeng and action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, while the 88 release features a new audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng – the disagreement over which film is first reflected in a passing remark about him already recording a new track for Yes Madam first – in which he notes that the film was a hit but that its local box office performance did not make back its budget (that was done by foreign sales), the limited actual Japanese location shooting, the brutal tone of the film, Yeoh and her co-stars as well as several of the TVB cameos, reveals the input of then little-known Johnnie To (Election) as second unit director and actor Philip Chan (Hard Boiled) on third unit, Cantonese and Japanese word play in the script, actor/stuntman Mang Hoi (who would have a principal role in Yes Madam) behind the film's choreography, and an onscreen appearance by car stunt arranger Blackie Ko (Armour of God). The Atlas International export English In the Line of Duty Title Sequence (2:57) is included along with the END card and exit music, as well as the Missing Airplane Scene Inserts (0:29) in extremely poor upscaled standard definition – the actually detract by how obvious they are as stock footage – and the Hong Kong theatrical trailer (4:38) and English theatrical trailer (3:49).  Yes Madam also features a newly-recorded audio commentary by Hong Kong film expert Frank Djeng in which he discusses the discovery of Yeoh, her buildup as a D&B star (including her English billing as "Cynthia Khan" on some early films), her rushed martial arts training, the trio of Sham, Hark, and Hoi, the introduction of Rothrock who did not figure into any of the local promotional materials for the film – as well as Melvin Wong who was a pharmicist before he was an actor and has since become a lawyer – the mix of practical sets and studio locations, and the plot McGuffin which would also be reused in the fourth film. Like the UK release, the disc features both select scene commentary by actress Cynthia Rothrock and Frank Djeng on the airport scene (4:30) and select scene commentary by actress Cynthia Rothrock and Frank Djeng on the final fight scene (8:27), but they appear to have recorded them separately from the UK ones. The film is preceded by a start-up introduction by actress Cynthia Rothrock (0:09) who also appears in the new interview "A Team Player" (17:50) discussing her training as a teenager, going to an audition in California where Hong Kong filmmakers were looking for the next Bruce Lee and choosing her instead, getting a contract that went nowhere until original director Sammo Hung noticed her on an American television news story, coming to Hong Kong expecting to do a period piece, not seeing a script and having to say something for post-dubbing, and working with Yeoh. Also new is "Ladies First" (13:46) in which actor Mang Hoi discusses the particulars of Sammo Hung's involvement as the original director when the shooting schedule conflicted with his other directorial effort The Owl vs Bumbo and Hoi recommended Corey Yuen (Righting Wrongs), and Dick Wai accidentally rupturing Rothrock's ear during a fight. Ported from the Hong Kong Legends DVD are "Battling Babes" (10:23) as well as an interview with actress Michelle Yeoh (15:05) discussing her ballet training and her love of Hong Kong cinema developed while schooling in London, the injury that stopped her dance career, her TV commercial with Jackie Chan, and the training she underwent for Yes Madam. The disc closes with the film's Hong Kong theatrical trailer (4:22).  In the Line of Duty III is accompanied by a new audio commentary by Asian film experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth who discuss the replacement of Yeoh with Khan – who is nevertheless dubbed on the Cantonese track by the Yeoh's dubbing actress – her earlier work on Taiwanese television, her martial arts training, her work into the nineties, her retirement, and becoming a licensed Yoga instructor, the surprise of seeing acquaintance Nishiwaki in a kinky sex scene, Ong's respectable appearances in Western films and his Category III Hong Kong work, Fujioka's Kamen Rider fame, and revealing that actor Chris Lee was the actor who was injured during the bus stunt in Police Story where the inexperienced bus driver was not confident about stopping right in front of Chan standing in the road and braked early sending Lee hurtling through the window. Also new to the set is the wonderful "The Golden 80s" (25:41), an interview with actor John Sham who started out as a journalist and became interested in film, meeting Hark and Hoi – and their oddball futuristic producing/starring effort Roboforce – forming D&B, and discovering Yeoh, as well as his preference as a producer for working with New Wave-influenced directors like Patrick Tam (My Heart is That Eternal Rose). The disc also includes the English credit sequence (2:20), Hong Kong theatrical trailer (3:12), as well as a pair of English theatrical trailers (3:10 and 3:37).  Like the U.K. release, 88 Films' disc of In the Line of Duty IV ports over the audio commentary by Hong Kong expert Stefan Hammond and lead actor Michael Wong recorded in 2001 – in which the actor recalls coming to Hong Kong via Cinema City but being signed with D&B for Royal Warriors, not speaking Cantonese at the time, training with Mintz and Woods, not looking forward to his fight scene with Yen, and the various periods of his acting career in which he was typecast as good guys, villains, and then good guys again – while there is also newly-recorded audio commentary by Asian film experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth in which they discuss mixing Seattle and Vancouver locations and some anonymous Hong Kong streets for the first act – bringing in Yen from Wo-Ping Yuen's earlier Tiger Cage – a number of the Western fighters trained with Yen's mother – Wong playing a different Michael Wong from the character who died in Royal Warriors, the attempt to make Simon Yuen into a leading man (this would be his last onscreen role), the themes of immigration and emigration that cropped up in Hong Kong cinema nearing the 1997 handover, and the film's balance of tone compared to the previous film. Ported from the older DVD is an archival interview with actor Donnie Yen (20:29) in which he opines that Hong Kong action cinema is more dangerous than Hollywood action because they are always trying to top themselves, discusses the progression of action genres in Hong Kong from martial arts to action comedy to heroic bloodshed, Yuen Wo-Ping working in Hong Kong and Hollywood, and developing his own fighting style to compete with the more elaborate competition from Sammo Hung's productions of the period. The disc closes with the Hong Kong theatrical trailer (4:26) and an English theatrical trailer (5:30). 
Packaging
All four films are packaged in separate keep cases with reversible covers and housed in a slipcase with a double-sided foldout poster and a 100-page book featuring an interview with Royal Warriors assistant director Shan Tam and her husband Michael Parker who worked on the Canadian Crew of In the Line of Duty IV, an interview with In the Line of Duty III and In the Line of Duty IV henchman Stephen Berwick, and an interview with In the Line of Duty's Michael Woods along with credits and archival imagery for all four films.
Overall
Housed in one boxed set, In the Line of Duty I-IV showcases not only four of the principal "Girls and Guns" sub-genre of films and two of its biggest stars.
|
|||||
|