fertilecelluloid From the mid 80's to the early 90's, D & B Films produced some spectacular features. This is one of them. Everything here is big and loud and brutal. Michael Yeoh, credited as Michelle Kahn, plays a policewoman who prevents a major incident on a airliner, ably assisted by secret agent Henry Sanada. Kahn and Sanada's actions infuriate the mob and revenge comes quickly in the form of an explosion that kills the Japanese agent's wife and daughter. Michael Wong, another cop, assists the Chinese-Japanese duo in their quest for justice, but he only gets in the way, as does his bad acting.This has car stunts, explosions, rafts of grievous bodily harm and lots of woman-to-woman, man-on-man and man-on-woman fighting. John Chung, who directed the excellent "Web of Deception" and the delightful "I Love Maria", stages his action with tremendous energy and works hard to make us feel the pain the characters are feeling.The film has an expansive feel and, though it guns for some comedy relief now and then, never gets sidetracked by it. Kahn's character was replaced in "In the Line of Duty 3" by the aptly named Cynthia Khan, another tough cookie (but not as tough as Michelle).

dbborroughs It maybe Michelle Khan in the credits but it Michelle Yeoh.(Chinese Stars often have numerous names by which they are known.)This is the first in a series of films about a group of police officers who end up on various action packed exploits. I have not watched them all, but I'm told that they are all pretty good with this one being the best.This has a great deal of action and humor and if you like action films this is a good one to see whether you're a fan of Hong Kong Cinema or not since it all movies along nicely.The films only real flaw is the fact that its dated some what. What was current back in 1986 when this was made now seems very of a period and almost annoying. Thankfully the stuff going on on screen makes you forget that and sucks you into the action.7 out of 10

moribana Fine follow up to Yes Madam. Not nearly as witty, but heavier on action (most of the scenes are very exciting with extremely tough baddies).The last baddy is particularly good, with a silly mocking smile and grin. I loved the scene where he shoots the TV set.The plot is by turns clever and cliched, and the "music" makes the whole thing feel much more cheesy than it otherwise would. Really, in some of these 80's Hong Kong films the DVD's should have an option of removable soundtracks. Alot of the films such as this would come across much stronger now without a synthesizer in the background banging away. Of course this would remove the campy bad guy forte chord which I know many viewers are endeared to.Those who enjoy hard-edged action over wit might even prefer this to Yes Madam as the best of Michelle Yeoh's early action films.

iaido SPOILER ALERT The plot centers on cops Michelle Khan (Yeoh), Hiroyuki "Henry" Sanada, and Michael Wong being pursued by revenge minded military men. After the obligatory opening showcasing Michelle kicking some butt, it all starts on a plane when two men kill a criminal being transported and highjack the plane. Luckily, also on the plane are Hong Kong cops Michelle and Michael, and Japanese ex-cop Yamamoto (Sanada), who thwart the highjacking and kill the bad guys. They land heroes, gloryhound Michael eating up the spotlight and turning on the charm towards Michelle, while Yamamoto is more concerned with patching up his marriage, reuniting with his wife and young daughter. It ends up that the two highjackers were part of a group of four military buddies who made a pact to always stay together and avenge one another if one should fall. One of the remaining men, `Bull', plants a bomb in Yamamoto's car and blows his wife and child up right in front of him. Yamamoto then uses Michelle and Michael as bait to lure the killer out and there is a huge shoot-out, kung fu battle in a restaurant in witch not only is Bull taken out, but many innocent bystanders are killed as well. Now, the last military psycho enters the picture, taking Michael hostage, intending to call out the hiding Yamamoto and Michelle, but Michael sacrifices himself. Despite this, or because of it, the killer comes up with an especially inventive and cruel bit to get Yamamoto and Michelle out into the open for the film's finale.The action is all top notch, with some terrific fight work by Michelle and Sanada. Michael Wong sticks to mainly serving as happy-go-lucky relief until his sacrifice, and does fine, with his coy smiles and jokey demeanor. A curious part is the use of sympathetic flashbacks to show the bond between the military men, an interesting diversion from the regular one-dimensional villains. The only faltering point is a very lame use of a cheesy tank car in the finale (I call it Herbie: The Armored Assault Bug), witch is thankfully brief and made up for by Michelle's duel with the remaining baddie. This is modern Hong Kong classic, action packed from beginning to end, with a good story, and the launching point for a great film series.