Hollywood in the ’80s marked the rise of action heroes. Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis dominated the screen. The major studios rarely gave actresses a true leading action role. The studio executives couldn’t imagine people buying tickets to see a woman who could hang with the men. Even an actress made for action such as Grace Jones was given supporting role to Arnold in Conan the Destroyer. Sigourney Weaver was allowed to fight aliens, but she didn’t bust no ghosts. Actresses were mainly restricted to final girls in horror films which mostly required running and screaming. In Hong Kong, there was no problem letting a woman take the lead in an action film. Yes, Madam! had two women as the top cops in an action film with them kicking the butts of the bad guys in 1985.
Senior Inspector Ng (Everything Everwhere All At Once‘s Michelle Yeoh) has a career making day. She busts a flasher at a bookstore when she secures the criminal evidence in a novel way. Outside the store, she and her unit foil an armored truck robbery. She returns to Hong Kong police headquarters a hero. Making the day even better is the arrival of her mentor from her training days at Scotland Yard. His trip is very short since an unexpected guest arrives to put an end to why the lawman is visiting the British Colony. Before the killer can get the item he came for, a thief disguised as room service opens the door swipes a few items and slips out without realizing they’re in a murder site. Asprin (Heart of Dragon‘s Mang Hoi) and Strepsil (Winners and Sinners‘ John Shum) take their loot to a counterfeiter (Hark Tsui (director of Once Upon A Time in China) who doesn’t quite know what he’s dealing. After the body is found, Senior Inspector Carrie Morris (China O’Brien‘s Cynthia Rothrock) of Scotland Yard arrives to assist in the case. While you’d imagine a proper police investigation, Morris has no problem beating a confession out of a suspect. She’s super violent. Ng and Morris eventually find the trail leads to a Triad mobster (Fist of Fury‘s James Tein). The only way the policewomen can close the case is to risk their careers and lives.
Yes, Madam! is a solid action film with exciting battles involving Yeoh and Rothrock. These two women aren’t demur and delicate in their homicide investigation. Rothrock knows how to beat up a guy. Yeoh kicks a guy in the painful places. Nothing is toned down for them. The massive final fight destroys everything in the ’80s decor dream house. There are a lot of people going through glass in what is pure mayhem. A stunt guy falls off a balcony and somehow doesn’t have his head crack open when he hits the floor below. There’s no real padding at the end of his drop. Director Corey Yuen (The Transporter) and producer Sammo Hung (also with a cameo in the film) go full force with this cast.
It’s a shame that Yeoh and Rothrock didn’t make more movies after Yes, Madam! They are a perfect tandem on screen with Rothrock playing the cop that doesn’t mind breaking the rules and Yeoh sticking a little closer to the rules. Why weren’t buddy copped up a second time? Turns out that Michelle Yeoh had retired from acting for a few years during her brief marriage to Dickson-Poon, the D in D&B Films (the studio behind this movie). Yes, Madam! showed that women could carry an action film.
Last year, Yes, Madam! was released as part of the In the Line of Duty I-IV Blu-ray boxset. Both this and Royal Warriors are being released as solo Blu-rays for those who only want the Michelle Yeoh entries in the film series.
The Video is 1.85:1. The 2K restoration looks sharp in 1080p. You’ll see all the colorful ’80s fashions clearly. The Audio is the DTS-HD MA 2.0 Cantonese Mono Theatrical Mix. There is also the Cantonese (Home Video Mix) Mono Original Effects and 5.1 New English Dub. The Export Version has the original English dub mix. The movie has English subtitles.
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.
88 Films Present Yes, Madam!: Special Edition. Directed by Corey Yuen. Screenplay by Barry Wong. Starring Michelle Yeoh (as Michelle Khan), Mang Hoi, Cynthia Rothrock, Tsui Hark, Sammo Hung, Richard Ng, David Chiang, Wu Ma, Billy Lau, Dick Wei, John Shum & James Tien. Running Time: 94 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: June 11, 2024.
