Magnificent Warriors

Summary

“Pigeon, you have no wrist, why were you wearing a watch?”

Earlier this year, Michelle Yeoh won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. That film performed an impressive sweep of numerous categories at the Oscars, but no award was more deserved than the award recognizing the extremely talented Yeoh. Michelle Yeoh has been wowing audiences since the Eighties and there is arguably no better time for 88 Films to be celebrating her early Hong Kong action films. 88 Films has released numerous films starring the iconic actress on Blu-ray in the last twelve months. 

Michelle Yeoh had already proven herself as one of the most amazing female martial artists to grace the screen in the films Yes, Madam and Royal Warriors (released in 1985 and 1986.) In 1987, Yeoh reunited with director David Chung who had directed her the year prior in Royal Warriors for an Indiana Jones-style adventure film. Set in the 1930s during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the film was named Magnificent Warriors. This was in order to remind viewers of her recent success in Royal Warriors; Funny enough, in some circles the film was actually promoted as Yes, Madam III, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense given there is no connection between the films aside from featuring the lead actress. That said, Royal Warriors was also very thinly related to Yes, Madam. Magnificent Warriors is closer in tone to Yes, Madam than Royal Warriors, which was grittier than the first film in the loosely related In the Line of Duty series. The screenwriters approached the material for Magnificent Warriors with a good sense of humor and a solid sense of fun. Fans of Indiana Jones films, martial arts, and the unique onscreen talents of Michelle Yeoh should have a great time watching the film. 88 Films has just brought Magnificent Warriors stateside in a well produced Blu-ray.

A female aviator (Michelle Yeoh,) wearing a leather jacket and brandishing a whip, lands her yellow bi-plane. Fok Ming-Ming then rides with a man on a horse drawn cart. The man claims to know and be friends with everyone in the village they are approaching. They are there to deliver rifles and ammunition to the local people. When the receiver of the goods shoots the braggadocious man, Fok demands her payment for the delivery. A fight ensues where she uses her whip to handily defeat the men and retrieve her fee. On the way out of town, Fok pulls a sheet off the cart which reveals a gatling gun which she uses to fend off the newly armed militia and make her escape. Meanwhile, in Kaia City, the city’s Lord You Dat – or Youda – needs to be helped to make his escape from the Japanese. He wants to give important information to the Chinese concerning the Japanese plans to turn Youda’s village into a poison gas factory. He is helped by Wong who is also known as “Secret Agent No. 1.” Wong has been relaying messages with the Chinese while avoiding being killed by the Japanese. In a separate part of China, after proving herself by “saving” her father, Fok Ming-ming is asked to fly to Kaia City and meet with Secret Agent Number 1 to help Youda escape so they can retrieve information on the plans of the Japanese. They send a carrier pigeon wearing a watch to Wong so that she will be able to determine who he is when they meet up. Unfortunately, two of the Japanese men hunting Wong shoot at the carrier pigeon and it is scared away. A con artist gambler snatches the pigeon for dinner, and puts the watch on. Soon, the con artist, Youda, Fok Ming-Ming, and a young princess make a ragtag team to stand up to the Japanese and halt their poison gas factory plans.

Magnificent Warriors is another excellent showcase for the talents of Michelle Yeoh. While I would not rank this film above the first two films from the In the Line of Duty series, Magnificent Warriors has a lot to offer audiences and is a fun excursion into the adventure film genre. The film benefits from numerous wonderful fight scenes, which are some of the most impressive that Yeoh has ever performed. The opening fight scene which shows off Michelle Yeoh’s prowess with a whip is truly impressive, and a fight scene where she shows off her skills with a rope and hook is truly remarkable. The fight choreography by Tung Wai is extremely impressive and pushed Michelle Yeoh to new levels of martial artistry She readily admitted that the fight scenes were some of her most difficult sequences to perform in the included archival supplement. The film starts off as a fairly upbeat and enjoyable adventure film and morphs into a more traditional war film (think of the finale of Rambo III for good reference) with battle sequences taking place in the final third of the picture as the entrenched village begins to fight off their oppressors who have more advanced weaponry. These war scenes are not as impressive as the close quarter fighting sequences from earlier in the film, but they still show off a solid understanding of action direction by David Chung.

Michelle Yeoh was surrounded by solid character actors in roles for both good guys and villains. Richard Ng is enjoyable as the comedic relief con man. I also really enjoyed the dummy stand-in used for Richard in one of the more memorable fights where the dummy is literally kicked to the ceiling numerous times. Lowell Lo is similarly fun in the role of Youda. Chindy Lau shows off some impressive chops as the spunky princess Chin-chin. Hark-On Fung sticks out as one of the main villains. Last but not least, Tung-Tsing Yee is an enjoyable hero sidekick to Michell Yeoh’s hero.

The score by Wing-Leung Chan and Renato Piccioni is a little bit repetitive. Before it becomes tedious, the score works well as an Indiana Jones inspired anthem. At a few different points in the film the score plays one motif ad nauseam which will start to wane on audiences. The script by Kan-Cheung Tsang has plenty to enjoy, even if it dips in quality somewhat in the final third until the final badass fight sequence (which redeems about ten minutes too long of siege fighting.) 

Fans of Yes, Madam and Royal Warriors, will find a lot to enjoy about Magnificent Warriors. While the battle sequence in the last third of the film can not match the amazing fight sequences in the first half of the film, the film is never less than entertaining and enjoyable. The 88 Films release of the picture should be celebrated by Hong Kong action fans all over.

Video

88 Films presents Magnificent Warriors in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. The transfer looks pretty good given the age and provenance of the film. Like many Fortune Star restorations, the coloring can sometimes be a little dark at times which can drone out some detail. Color also occasionally fluctuates, but these are petty grievances given just how good this 2K transfers looks. If you remember how bad these films have looked for so long, you will probably feel the same way that I do. It is certainly an amazing time to be a collector of Hong Kong cinema.

Audio

88 Films have provided a restored LPCM Mono 2.0 track. There are some slight fluctuations in the audio occasionally, but the audio for the most part has been cleaned up well. This is a mono track which at times can sound a little muddy, but I had no issue getting wrapped up in the film. The score of the film would have certainly benefitted from a remastering to give it more depth, but I was happy overall.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng – Frank is extremely knowledgeable about Hong Kong cinema and is a true multilingual talent. He lends his expertise to this commentary with plenty of interesting facts about the promotion of the film and context of the picture. The only drawback at all is that Frank’s accent is fairly strong and can occasionally make it a little difficult to make out what he is saying. A solid commentary.
• Archive Interview with Actress Michelle Yeoh – the actress details how difficult the action packed shoot was which took months in Taiwan instead of weeks to shoot. She also discusses the thoughts that went into her character, and her start in The Owl vs. Bumbo.
• Archive Interview with Stunt Coordinator Tung Wai – the stunt coordinator details the shoot which took place in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. He wanted to highlight her flexibility as opposed to her strength..
• English Opening Credits Sequence
• Hong Kong Trailer One
• Hong Kong Trailer Two
• English Trailer
• Stills Gallery 

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4/5

Magnificent Warriors is an enjoyable adventure film showpiece for the fantastic actress Michelle Yeoh. The film shines in its first hour with some truly incredible fight sequences before morphing into a more traditional village-under-siege war film. While I prefer Yes, Madam and Royal Warriors, there is a lot to enjoy about Magnificent Warriors. The video transfer is pretty solid and the audio capably replicates the original sound design (including the somewhat repetitive score.) The special features are well appointed and enjoyable. Fans of Michelle Yeoh should not hesitate to add 88 Films’ release to their collection.