Moon Lee is THE ONLY saving grace this film has.She does good acting,has good fighting skills-but against poor filming,and cardboard characters-it doesn't hold water. Despite the film dates, it seems like an early seventies film and not a good one. If you're looking for HK femme fatale fighting-Heroic Trio,Executioners,Wing Chun,or even Zero Woman (Japanese-but fits the genre). "I must avenge my brothers death"-hmmm,never heard that line before....
Low budget but good fights
No one is going to confuse this film with Titanic in terms of budget expences, but it does have another duel between Moon Lee and my personal favorite, Yukari Oshima. Essentially a revenge story, it boils down to a final confrontation between a crime boss and Moon Lee and friends, kicked off (no pun intended) between a brief but brutal fight between Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima. And unlike a lot of other female Hong Kong stars, Yukari Oshima is not a former dancer who translated her physical skills into on screen martial arts. Her martial arts skills come from real martial arts (Goju Ryu karate) which she started studying when she was 14. And while the skills of such greats as Michelle Yeoh, Moon Lee, and more recently Zhang Ziyi are impressive, you can see the difference of having had actual martial arts training when Oshima lets loose. She generates a combative force that just jumps out of the screen and even though she can't weigh more than 110 lbs soaking wet, theres no mistaking that she's a real fighter. Her fight scenes are always a pleasure to watch, not to mention a little scary (if you're skeptical, watch what she does to Richard Norton with a samurai sword in Millionaires Express, and see if you don't feel a little traumatized). If there was ever an elimination match between all of the women of H.K. cinema, I'd bet money that Yukari Oshima would be the last one standing, with the possible exception of Cynthia Rothrock. See Yukari Oshima in Midnight Angel and Top Fighters II as well.
Great action flick but only tolerable dubbing and image...
I really liked this film as Moon Lee shows some great fighting action throughout the movie. When she stretches during one training scene, you gotta pay attention. The bad part of this dvd is that the master used was already in bad shape. It really just looks like an old vhs copy that's been degrading over the years. And the dubbing...as usual, is quite bad. Can't anyone ever make a decent voice dub over?
Beauty Investigator is a classic film in the genre of martial arts skilled girls with guns. The stars of this film are Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima. Hong Kong film fans should be familiar with both of them. For the uninitiated, Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima are two of the best female HK action film actresses who ever did HK films. They are both very good at martial arts, and they can handle their fight scenes very well. Moon Lee was a dancer who was trained by HK film stunt men in the ways of martial arts film fighting, and she is excellent. She uses good form and technique in all of her movements. Yukari Oshima is classically trained in Karate, and she is also extremely good, utilizing good form and technique as well. And in this film, the two square off for some very satisfying fight... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Hsia Hsu DVD Release Date: Released the 06 February 2001 Special Order
List Price: $9.95 Your Price: $9.95YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
Some exciting action set pieces help weak story of a female Interpol agent who is trying to find a supermodel/thief who is on the run from her own problems. Padded, with dopey Filipino cab driver sidekicks, but good enough action to recommend. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Phillip Ko DVD Release Date: Released the 06 February 2001 Special Order
List Price: $9.95 Your Price: $9.95YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
MIDDLE MAN (1990) is the fifth and arguably weakest entry in the famed IN THE LINE OF DUTY series of Hong Kong films about hard-kicking, gun-toting HK policewomen, although it does offer a lot of action scenes featuring star Cynthia Khan. The barely comprehensible storyline has to do with U.S. military secrets being sold to foreign buyers using a multinational gang based in Korea. Cynthia plays a Hong Kong cop whose cousin, an American serviceman (David Wu), turns to her for help when he's implicated in the plot. This slim peg is the excuse for a steady stream of scenes of Cynthia shooting, kung fu fighting, leaping, running, chasing, and performing all kinds of pretty dangerous stunts on location in both Hong Kong and Korea. The pace never flags and Cynthia delivers the goods. However,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Chris Lee (IV) DVD Release Date: Released the 06 March 2001 Special Order
List Price: $19.95 Your Price: $17.96YOU SAVE $1.99!
Buy it
Policewoman Mina (Joyce Godenzi) marries into a family of cops and has to gain acceptance from them AND battle a Vietnamese gang. This is a very good action movie (not great) with plenty of gun play and martial arts. Joyce Godenzi is a personal favorite of mine and I was disappointed when she retired from film making, after marrying Sammo Hung. She doesn't have the martial arts skills of Moon Lee or Michelle Yeoh, but she does have a certain amount of screen presence and an exotic appearance that sets her apart. Let me also praise the villainess portrayed by the buff Agnes Aurelio. Ms. Aurelio made far too few movie appearances and I've always wondered what became of her? This is the type of movie where you just sit back and enjoy, and try not to ask many questions. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Corey Yuen DVD Release Date: Released the 23 May 2000 Special Order
List Price: $29.95 Your Price: $26.96YOU SAVE $2.99!
Buy it
