Major Hollywood studios had a serious issue at letting a woman be an action star in the ’60s and ’70s. Yet in Hong Kong, there were quite a few women playing leads in action films including Come Drink with Me with Cheng Pei-pei and Angela Mao in Hapkido and numerous films. In the ’80s, Michelle Yao was added to the pantheon of lethal ladies when she cast as a police inspector for the newly established D & B Films. Her two films with a badge are part of In The Line Of Duty I-IV along with the first two films of Cynthia Khan who would take over the role.
Royal Warriors (1986 – 96 minutes) opens in Japan where Madam Michelle Yip (Yeoh) is wanting to have a holiday. Except while taking pictures of dancing kids at a street festival, she gets drawn into a violent scene. She puts an end to it. This doesn’t put an end to unexpected crime. On her flight back to Hong Kong, a man being transported back to the country by the police is almost sprung by terrorists posing as passengers. What they didn’t count on was besides Yip, there is also Michel Wong (Tiger Cage 3) and ex-cop Henry Sanada (John Wick: Chapter 4). The trio become heroes as they stop the hostage release in dramatic fashion during the flight. What they don’t count on is more terrorists will be coming after them. There’s a nightclub shoot up that will rattle your speakers. Director David Chung (Dynamite Fighters) packs the screen with explosions and destruction. While Royal Warriors is listed as In The Line of Duty I, but it wasn’t originally in Hong Kong. The series element was tacked on for different markets. This was a smart move so all the VHS tapes could be displayed together. This is still a bit of confusion for Royal Warriors wasn’t the first movie released in the series. This was the second film starring Michelle Yeoh as a Police Inspector although she’s not the same character as in Yes, Madam! They do have the same job. But since there’s no real carry over between the films and Yeoh’s character has a different name and rank, it doesn’t matter which one you see first.
Yes, Madam! (1985 – 94 minutes) doubles the action when Senior Inspector Ng (Yeoh) has to team up with Senior Inspector Carrie Morris (China O’Brien‘s Cynthia Rothrock) to solve the murder of a member of Scotland Yard. The case is a bit confusing since after he was killed in his Hong Kong hotel room, Asprin (Heart of Dragon‘s Mang Hoi) and Strepsil (Winners and Sinners‘ John Shum) robbed his room unaware of the homicide. The thieves deal with a counterfeiter played by Hark Tsui (director of Once Upon A Time in China). Ng and Morris eventually find the trail leads to a mobster (Hand of Death‘s James Tein). The only way they can close the case is to risk their careers. This is a solid action film with exciting battles involving Yeoh and Rothrock. There are a lot of people going through glass during fights. Director Corey Yuen (The Transporter) goes full force with his cast. The massive final fight destroys everything in the house.
Are you wondering why Michelle Yeoh isn’t in all four movies? Turns out she married Dickson Poon, one of the heads of the studio and decided to retire from acting. This made good sense at the time seeing how she was taking a beating in these films. She didn’t stay retired or married for that long. But during their marriage, Dickson wanted to make more film starring a female police investigator, so D&P Films did a massive talent search and found Cynthia Khan in Tawain. She’d become the new Madam in the third installment.
In The Line of Duty III (1988 – 84 minutes) has Rachel Yeung (Khan) get promoted to the rank of Madam in the Serious Crimes Section. Her first major case involves a bloody jewelry heist performed by Michiko (Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Michiko Nishiwaki) and Nakamura (Die Another Day‘s Stuart Ong) of the Japanese Red Army faction. While it would seem the duo would skip off to Tokyo forever, they discover their brilliant robbery wasn’t so glittery. They need to come back to Hong Kong for revenge. Madam Yeung won’t let them get away with it a second time. Directors Arthur Wong (mostly known as a cinematographer including Millionaire’s Express) and Brandy Yuen (best know as Martial Arts consultant on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film) double up to deliver a film that lives up to the previous two entries with Michelle Yeoh. Khan is given two badass rivals that look rather stylish in their violence. When they about to get screwed over on a boat by mobsters, the couple get diabolical as they turn the tables. Also appearing in the film is the recently departed Richard Ng (Winners and Sinners) as a Ninja who swears he’s invisible.
In The Line of Duty IV (1989 – 95 minutes) brings the series to Seattle. Madam Rachel Yeung Lai-ching (Khan) is working in the Emerald City on a case of cocaine distribution involving Hong Kong underworld figures. She works on a stakeout with Captain Donnie Yan (John Wick: Chapter Four‘s Donnie Yen) to figure out who is involved in this major operation. Her bosses don’t like it when she uncovers a more nefarious figure at the head of the drug smuggling. Michael Wong returns to the series even though his character didn’t seem lined up for a sequel at the end of Royal Warriors. While they did exterior shots around Seattle and Vancouver, it’s hard to tell how much of the film was really shot in Hong Kong. The investigation returns to Hong Kong when a suspect sneaks back. Part IV was directed by Yuen Woo-ping who did the fight choreography for the Kill Bill and Matrix movies. There’s plenty of great action between the usual police work scenes. There’s a fantastic fight on top of a moving ambulance featuring Khan. In a stairwell, Khan has a nasty battle with Fairlie Ruth Kordick that has the two women clinging onto anything as they punch and kick away. Donnie Yen has a scenic rooftop battle against Michael Woods with the airport in the distance. In the end,Khan once more closes the case even if the suspects are black and blue or all blue.
In the Line of Duty I-IV is tied together by having both Yeoh and Khan playing female cops that get as rough and nasty as anyone on the screen. The action in all four films is top notch with stunts and fights that keep ramping up. The directors that were brought on to make the films kept the action a priority. This boxset represents the start of Michelle Yeoh’s career that recently won her The Oscar for Everything Everywhere At Once. I do wish she’d done another movie with Cynthia Rothrock since they are perfect partners in Yes, Madam! Cynthia Khan’s proves worthy of the physical nature of the role in her two films. In The Line of Duty I-IV is action packed no matter who is flashing the badge.
The Video is 1.85:1 for all four films. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 Cantonese Mono Theatrical Mix on all four films. Royal Warriors also has a 2.0 Cantonese Alternate Mix, 2.0 Classic English Dub and 5.1 New English Dub. Yes, Madam! has Cantonese (Home Video Mix) Mono Original Effects and 5.1 New English Dub. In The Line of Duty III has an English 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix. In The Line of Duty VI has an 2.0 English Mono DTS-HD MA. All four films have English subtitles.
ROYAL WARRIORS – SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert Frank Djeng has him explain that Yes, Madame was made before Royal Warriors. All four films aren’t really connected except in the sense that they were police action with female leads.
Missing Aeroplane Inserts (0:29) shows a plane that looks like was made from a kit. Not being in the film helped.
Cantonese Trailer (4:38) has Michelle Yeoh immediately showing off her fighting skills.
English Trailer (3:49) opens with a car bomb going off. The focus is on the cops risking their lives.
English In the Line of Duty Titles (2:57) has them start with the series title.
YES, MADAM!
Export Version with classic English Dub (87:36) is the version you might have found on VHS at a cool rental store. This doesn’t open with Yeoh with the bookstore flasher scene.
Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng (HK Version) has him talk about D&B Films. They were the third largest studio behind Golden Harvest. He explains how the numbering of the film in the “franchise” was swapped.
A Team Player (17:50) is an interview with Cynthia Rothrock. She talks about starting marital arts when she was 13. She got so good that she was beating black belts at competition when she was still an orange belt. She got into watching Hong Kong movies by seeing them in New York City’s Chinatown cinemas. Corey Yuen was looking for men but decided Rothrock had too much talent to deny her a role. She had no idea about acting or filmmaking. Luckily she didn’t have to remember her lines since there was no audio being recorded. She just had to make sure her lips were moving.
Select Scene Commentary with Cynthia Rothrock and Frank Djeng are done on the airport scene and the final fight.
Ladies First (13:46) is an interview with Mang Hoi. He talks about being in the Peking Opera Northern style as a youth. He started in films when he was seven. Film directors were always scouting the Peking Operas for child actors. He mentions Sammo Hung was supposed to direct Yes, Madam! but he had scheduling conflicts.
Archive Interview with Michelle Yeoh (15:05) has her talk about learning Chinese since she was from Maylasia and growing up in London. She did enjoy Shaw Brothers films. She gets into her love of sports and ballet. She talks about her first encounter with Jackie Chan. She gets into training for Yes, Madame and her approach to the stunts. Yeoh recounters a stunt that went wrong.
Archive Battling Babes Featurette (10:23) has Cynthia Rothrock talk about the difference between fighting in Hong Kong and US movies. Other women talk about their martial arts skills and stunt work.
Hong Kong Trailer (4:22) lets us know we’re getting a double dose of female cops that won’t back down.
IN THE LINE OF DUTY III
Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and Michael Worth get deep into the third installment of the series and the arrival of actress Cynthia Khan from Tawain. He addresses how the first two films were only known as In the Line of Duty for the English language markets, but this new film was given the name in Hong Kong. He points out Khan had done 3 films in Tawain before coming to Hong Kong. She got the gig because Yeoh was retiring from acting to marry producer Dickson Poon.
Interview with John Sham (25:41) was conducted by Frederic Ambroisine. Sham has had a haircut since you might have seen him in Yes, Madam! and Winners and Sinners. After a long career, he’s been producing films and building movie theaters in China. He was a journalist in the ’70s and became an editor of a magazine in 1978. He began hanging out with directors and found himself acting. He started D&B Films with Sammo Hung and Dickson Poon the mid-80s. He discovered her in a Singapore commercial. They have a clip with her ad with Jackie Chan. He talks about getting her into action films and getting her showbiz name. He talks about Brandon Lee and Legacy of Rage. Another fine interview from Frederic Ambroisine.
Hong Kong Trailer (3:12) has a lot of firepower. We also learn how many people Cynthia Khan beat out for the role.
English Trailers (3:10) and (3:37) show off the underworld violence and the police officer that will put an end to it.
English Credits (2:20) has it listed as In The Line of Duty III.
IN THE LINE OF DUTY IV
Export Version of the film (96 minutes) featuring the Classic English Dub. This has a opening scene of how Khan gets brought onto the case.
Audio Commentary by Stefan Hammond and Michael Wong, the actor who played Captain Michael Wong. He hadn’t seen the film in quite a while, but has plenty of tales to tell. He talks about the intensity of Donnie Yen. He liked how Cynthia Khan was up for anything.
Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto (HK Cut) has the duo back from a sushi dinner and ready to talk about the final entry. The film did well in Hong Kong. They talk about the series changing location to Seattle for about a third of the film. Frank points out that there are 9 films considered part of the series. The final five also starred Khan.
Archive Interview with Donnie Yen (20:29) has him get into the dangers of action filmed in Hong Kong. The stuntmen want to go beyond the simple stunts. They want to show the nearly impossible on the screen. Yen is currently in John Wick: Chapter 4.
Hong Kong Trailer (4:26) promises a lot of bullets and fists in Seattle.
English Trailer (5:30) opens with clips from Yes, Madam! and then takes us to Seattle with Cynthia Khan. There’s a great fight on the moving ambulance.
Book has interviews and photos from the films.
Two posters with original and new artwork for Yes, Madam! and Royal Warriors.
88 Films Present The Line of Duty I-IV. Directed by David Chung, Corey Yuen, Brandy Yuen, Arthur Wong and Yuen Woo-ping. Starring Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Khan, Henry Sanada, Michael Wong, Cythnia Rothrock & Donnie Yen. Boxset Contents: 4 movies on 4 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 16, 2023.
