Magnificent Warriors

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Darren D "Magnificent Warriors" from director David Chung, is a fun energetic Hong Kong action adventure, packed with the usual fantastic stuntwork & glorious action set pieces. Michelle Yeoh doing what she does best, being a wonderful lead & ass kicking her way to victory. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/24 Full Review Matthew D Magnificent Warriors is basically if Michelle Yeoh was Indiana Jones! Director David Chung's Hong Kong martial arts action-adventure Magnificent Warriors (1987) is a sheer pleasure to watch. Chung's direction never lets up as we go from action to comedy scenes, then right back to the action. Editor Cheung Kwok-Kuen cuts so quickly so we're never bored without a joke or a fight. Outstanding kung fu combat alongside constant slapstick jokes and witty dialogue. It's as exciting as Raiders of the Lost Ark with even better action choreography. It's clearly inspired by Spielberg's legendary adventure picture down to Michelle Yeoh's whip and motorcycle gags. Magnificent Warriors is a triumph of incredibly fast martial arts with fast paced humor and endearing characters. The executive producer was even Michelle Yeoh's future husband Dickson Poon Dik-Sang. Writer Tsang Kan-cheong's script is hilarious! From the conman tricking people with endless semantics and illogical arguments during a dice gambling game. I loved the scene of the heroes about to be executed and they tell each others' backstories for a lark. The story is basically just Michelle Yeoh is a pilot and spy sent to save informants and officials from the cruel hands of the occupying Japanese General Toga. Cinematographers Yun-Cheng Lo and Ma Chun-Wah have a striking style for close-ups and really dynamic perspectives for the combat. The camera shoots in long takes wide shots to show off that it's really Michelle Yeoh doing all these crazy stunts. Michelle Yeoh is amazingly fierce, pretty, and playful as the action heroine Fok Ming-ming. Her lightning fast reflexes, punches, kicks, flips, and jumps are jaw-dropping. I was impressed by her crazy whip and rope attacks besides all her other skills. I wonder if she also rode the horses and flew the planes too? Her dramatic acting is charming with Yeoh's usual endearing personality. She can be cool, funny, romantic, playful, and tough with changes at a moment's notice. Michelle Yeoh has always been impressive even when she was so young here in Magnificent Warriors. Derek Yee Tung-Sing is quite the cool and charming action hero as the spy Secret Agent #001. His crossbow and sense of justice are very fun. Richard Ng Yiu-hon is absolutely hilarious as Drifter Conman. His funny scams and clever verbal wit are a riot. Lowell Lo Koon-Ting is funny as the wormy Youda. Cindy Lau Chin-Dai is adorable, hilarious, and a skilled fighter as the cute Chin-chin. Matsui Tetsuya is cruel and evil as the Japanese General Toga. Hwang Jang Lee, also known as Thunderleg from Drunken Master, is astonishing as General Toga's Henchman #1. His high kicks go up as far as Michelle Yeoh's. It's super cool to see such a talented martial artist again. Meng Lo is also powerful and skillful as the fearsome General Toga's Henchman #2. Production designer Oliver Wong made a cool palace and tons of huts for the towns. All the pots and fish everywhere were nice touches. Oliver Wong's art direction makes Hong Kong's outskirts look like WWII era China. Composers Joseph Chan Wing-Leung and Renato Piccioni create a genuinely wonderful main theme that repeats throughout Magnificent Warriors. I loved hearing their upbeat 80's orchestral music. The older traditional Chinese instruments are always fun to hear alongside symphonic music. In short, Magnificent Warriors is a real old masterpiece of martial arts prowess from the ultra talented cast. It's only 92 minutes long and feels like 20 to me. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/15/23 Full Review DanTheMan 2 Magnificent Warriors has the usual high production values, humour and brilliant action choreography I've come to expect from this period of Hong Kong cinema. But what makes this one stand out is seeing a fresh-faced Michelle Yeoh (in her fifth film, aged 24) channelling her inner Harrison Ford as Chinese secret agent Fok Ming-ming, in a brilliantly directed and absolute joy of a film that really wears its inspiration on its sleeve. Backed by some great supporting characters played by Richard Ng and Derek Yee, Magnificent Warriors doesn't skimp on what it promises of an Indiana Jones-esque adventure. The small-scale fights are an absolute treat to watch as Yeoh flexes her skills in brutal fashion, even using a whip in some fights to pay further homage to the movie's roots, but the film does admittedly get a bit lost when it tries to pull the camera back and showcase the big army clashes which I would normally love but feel wrong in a movie like this. Regardless of what I can fault this movie on, it delivers set-piece after set-piece of Hong Kong goodness in which Michelle Yeoh wears a leather jacket, aviators and flies a crop duster all the while she gleefully and manically fires a machine gun, uses a bullwhip and kicks arse. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Good action and fighting from Michelle Yeoh. She's really pretty and tough lady fighter. Michelle help a man deliver firearms to a village. The chief kill the man. Michelle want to get payment from him and he play tricks. She show them her kung fu, wielding a bullwhip at them, get her money and escape. Derek Yee run away from 2 Japanese soldiers in Mongolia. He find local village lord Lowell Lo who is helping him. The Japanese army general Tetsuya Matsui strike a deal with Lowell to build poison gas factory. Some thugs question Ku Feng and Michelle came to save her grandpa. It is just a test to show the army general how good she is. They need her to fly Lowell to Canton because he have information about Japanese. She is to meet the secret agent Derek. The messenger pigeon is frighten off by his pursuer. Richard Ng caught it and roast it and wear the watch to identify. Michelle is chase by a Japanese plane and she is force to land after killing the enemy. Richard is wanted by some gangsters and Cindy Lau save him. She got confuse as to who's right and wrong and give up. Michelle saw the watch on Richard and thought he is the agent and save him from the thugs. The 2 Japanese pretend to be agent as well and bring the duo to the enemy camp. Derek came and together they beat them up. He identify himself and Richard left. Tetsuya test the poison gas on a intruder. The injured Japanese came to warn Tetsuya and Derek kill him. Michelle save Lowell and Cindy want to follow him. Richard is caught and Derek fight the baddies. He break open the poison gas cannister and they escape. They go to the Japanese camp to steal fuel for Michelle plane. Tetsuya ambush them and Derek want to die together with him. Michelle kick his lighter away and all escape. She distract the baddies and the others crash out of the camp. They go back to save her but the jeep is blow up by Tetsuya. All of them are sentence to death for going against Japanese. Lowell bluff Cindy they are freed. Tetsuya want Lowell to read out a decree and sentence them to death. He did the opposite. The minister oppose and have him sentence to death as well. Cindy try to stop and also caught. Her father is killed. The villagers chat Lowell name and free them. They defend their village against Tetsuya army. Michelle and Cindy kill the traitor minister. Tetsuya found the place where the old hide and hold them hostage. Those old people rather fight than surrender. Lowell fire the machine gun and kill many. Michelle let Tetsuya go. He tell his superior the people rather burn the city than surrender and they left. They all survive and have to rebuild the city. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Not bad action flick. Well chosen Fortune Star. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Fun Raiders of the Lost Ark-meets-kung-fu concept. Has at least one career highlight reel-type action sequence featuring Michelle Yeoh, who also looks pretty cute in a leather pilot's jacket. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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