Did you ever hear about the time James Bond and The One Armed Swordsman started in a film together? No? Would it surprise you more to know that they did two movies in the mid 70s, both made under the banner of Golden Harvest? One of which sees release this week with a Queens Ransom, from – you guessed it – Eureka.
By the time 1976 rolled around, Jimmy Wang Yu found himself in an odd position of not being the box office draw he once was. Whether it be the inconsistency of his movie output or the rampant rumours of his behaviour on set, he was a far cry from being one of the top stars at Shaw Brothers, a position he had held just 6 years earlier. The same could also have been said for the once 007 George Lazenby. The model turned actor (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was his motion picture debut), by 1976 his career had somewhat stalled since his single outing as the spy with a license to kill, which had occurred just two years after Jimmy Wang Yu’s breakout performance in The One Armed Swordsman.
Two stars that has once shined so bright now find themselves in the hands of a brash new studio looking to make quick and dirty pictures as they took on the might of the Shaw Brothers factory.
Just a year prior to this the two men had starred together in Brian Trenchard-Smith’s The Man From Hong Kong (1975), a rip roaring adventure that has to be seen to be believed and is often categorised as “So Bad It’s Good”, not an opinion I subscribe to, but to each their own. With this film having made over HK$1,000,000, putting these two stars back together as quickly as possible seemed like a no brainer, and so work on A Queen’s Ransom began with a hope of emulating the same result.
A Queen’s Ransom is a great snapshot of Hong Kong cinema in 1976 that didn’t come under the Shaw Brothers banner.
The world was a grittier, meaner place in 1976, well, at least the films were. Martin Scorsese was about to release one of the all time greats in Taxi Driver, John Cassavetes was about to drive a nightclub owner to the edge in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Nicolas Roeg was about to give the world David Bowie’s best onscreen performance in The Man Who Fell To Earth (although, I can hear all the Labyrinth fans sharpening their knives). With this in mind, A Queen’s Ransom leans into its dirtier, sleazier side, with its murderous plot and exploitive nature.
Starting with an overheard conversation about a group that plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her upcoming visit to Hong Kong, A Queen’s Ransom doesn’t hang about in getting to the point, with all the main players being introduced within the first quarter of an hour.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the first hour verges on the ridiculous, with schemes and plots being hatched and foiled on a regular basis (to the point where the words “… a change of plan” could become its own drinking game), but then something really odd happens, because with 37 minutes to go A Queen’s Ransom reveals its hand and the film gets… good…. really good in fact. All the twists and turns that once felt silly suddenly start to pay off as we run towards a thrilling and explosive conclusion.
Both George Lazenby and Jimmy Wang Yu shine brighter than they had in years, but with a supporting cast that will leave any Hong Kong cinema fan pointing at the screen and saying “that’s thingy from that film”, with appearances from Angela Mao Ying, Dean Shek and Bolo Yeung (who looks absolutely ripped in this film) to name but three, A Queen’s Ransom is a great snapshot of Hong Kong cinema in 1976 that didn’t come under the Shaw Brothers banner.
Eureka Entertainment have once again spoilt us with a plethora of great extras including commentaries, a short feature on training with Michael Worth, two cuts of the movie itself (both the Hong Kong and International versions) along with the original audio and an always amazing Axis International dub (just like the ones sampled by The Wu-Tang Clan).
A Queen’s Ransom is a tough movie to recommend due to the time it takes to really get going, but when it does it’s a thrill a minute in that very sleazy yet exciting way that only movies from the 1970s could pull off.
A Queens Ransom is out now on Eureka Blu-Ray
