Martial Arts movies are often viewed as the domain of men. The videostores had Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Jet Li VHS tapes filling the shelves. Turns out that there were a few ladies who did more than play helpless princesses and the hero’s nagging mom. Angela Mao Ying (a.k.a. Angela Mao) was the queen of Golden Harvest films when the small Hong Kong studio became a worldwide sensation with the cinema of Bruce Lee. She quickly proved to be as athletic and dynamic as her male co-stars in numerous features during the ’70s. The Taiwanese actress studied hapkido, wushu, taekwondo. She was nicknamed “Lady Whirlwind” after an early film and her ability to just take on an army of enemies with blinding moves. While she had already had a lead role in a few films, her international status soared in the small role of Bruce Lee’s sister in Enter the Dragon. This summer Angela is getting a retrospective of her better Golden Harvest titles coming out on DVD from Shout! Factory. The Angela Mao Ying Collection gathers together six features from her mid-’70s primes.
When Taekwondo Strikes (1973 – 96 minutes) takes the action to Korea when Japan occupied the country. Angela along with Sammo Hung (Icon) do their best to get information to China. This is a bit of a sequel to her hit Hapkido which also co-starred Sammo. Both films had her kicking Japanese men on Korean soil. You can check out her early films on Martial Arts Double Feature: Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido. The Himalayan (1976 – 112 minutes) has a bit of a documentary as the camera takes us into the mountain region to explore their rare form of martial arts. But this this quickly turns into a movie about what a man will do for love or at least under orders from his half brother. He must fight in a tournament so he can marry into a powerful family. Will buttkicking or heartbreaking rule the final result? The Tournament (1974 – 94 minutes) is also about a tourney although this time two men fight for redemption.
Stoner (1974 – 110 minutes) is the must see of the batch mostly for what it was supposed to be. The movie was being developed as Bruce Lee’s follow up to Game of Death. It would not only star Bruce, but have him teaming up with Sonny Chiba and George Lazenby (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). Imagine how packed cinemas would be to see Bruce join forces with The Street Fighter and James Bond. Warner Brothers was going to back the project with an astronomical $10 million budget which was a record for a Hong Kong based production. It was all going to be huge until Bruce died. Chiba backed out of the project along with Warner Brothers. Golden Harvest stayed loyal to the script although it slashed the budget to less than a million. Most of that money went to Lazenby. They’d still have Bond kicking butts on the screen. Who could replace Bruce? Instead of bringing in a soundalike clone such as Bryce Lei, Golden Harvest gave the role to Angela. Turns out there’s a new drug on the market that gets people messed up and in a romantic mood. Think of it as an early version of Ecstasy. A lot of kids are getting messed up on the stuff and an Australian cop named Stoner (Lazenby) wants to nip it in the love bud. He flies to Hong Kong with his amazing mustache to shake down a drug syndicate that might be hiding itself as a religious cult. Also along on the mission is a mysterious woman (Angela) doing her best to infiltrate the mob. It’s rather good for a hard nosed cop drama. Lazenby looks good dishing out the martial beatdowns to the henchmen. Sammo has a bit role as a tough guy. It is hard to watch without imagining how the action would look with Bruce, Sonny and the other nine million dollars on the screen.
A Queen’s Ransom (1976 – 93 minutes) is the second of a trio of films Lazenby made for Golden Harvest. This one takes place in 1975 when the Hong Kong police were at wits end. The fall of Vietnam brought not merely an influx of refugees, but a rush of wealth. The violence between Hong Kong’s triads was rising. To make this worse, the Queen of England decides to pop over for a state visit. An elite group of villains have arrived in Hong Kong eager to take advantage of this moment. Strange to see the man who was James Bond plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth. Among his crack crew is Bolo Yueng, the muscles of the operation and Angela. There’s a gritty thriller feel to the flick. They use real footage of Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Hong Kong so it’s not Helen Mirren in a wig. This is the best appearance of the Queen of England since her cameo in The Real Cannibal Holocaust. Broken Oath (1977 – 97 minutes) is a family-style revenge flick. A husband is murdered by four goons yet his widow ends up behind bars. Even worse is that she’s pregnant. She swears her “free” daughter will get back at the really guilty parties.
The Angela Mao Ying Collection shines a bright light on the woman who became a major star for Golden Harvest in the 1970s. She had the unique ability to make audiences feel her pain and fear her wrath. There was little delicate about her kicks and chops. Between this collection, Martial Arts Double Feature: Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido and The Association on Martial Arts Movie Marathon, Angela’s getting a fine DVD retrospective this summer.
The video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The transfer show a bit of age, but most of the time things look better than the usual kung fu prints. The audio features both the Mandarin Chinese dub and the English dub. Most Hong Kong films are made without live sound so neither soundtrack was truly recorded on location. There’s English subtitles for those wanting to hear the action in Chinese.
Trailers are provided for The Tournament, A Queen’s Ransom, Broken Oath and When Taekwondo Strikes.
The Angela Mao Ying Collection continues the DVD releases of Golden Harvest’s first female superstar. Martial Arts cinema wasn’t exclusively a men’s genre even at the height of Bruce Lee. Angela is an amazing force on the screen. It’s also fun to see where George Lazenby went after quitting James Bond after a single film.
Shout! Factory presents The Angela Mao Ying Collection. Starring: Angela Mao Ying, Sammo Hung and George Lazenby. Boxset Contents: 6 movies on 3 DVDs. Released: June 17, 2014.
