Michelle Yeoh is a badass. This is evident to anyone who has seen Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, her Oscar-nominated turn in Everything Everywhere All At Once, and even the misfortune that is The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. What western audiences are perhaps less aware of is that Yeoh has been kicking ass and taking names since the mid-1980s in Asian cinema, and an early demonstration of her utter supremacy is Corey Yuen’s Yes, Madam! (also known as Police Assassins), originally released in Hong Kong in 1985 and now treated to a Blu-ray special edition from Eureka Entertainment.
Yeoh plays Inspector Ng, a dedicated and much-respected officer in the Hong Kong police. Her colleagues constantly salute her and acknowledge her skills and talents, and the viewer is plunged straight into the midst of this world in an explosive opening that includes indecent exposure, book-inflicted genital injury, a major shootout and a direct reference to Dirty Harry. The fashion choices would look at home in Miami Vice and the 80s excess is also apparent in the ample bullets and blood that get thrown around.
After this introduction to our first protagonist, the film moves into its actual plot, as a Three Stooges-esque trio of petty thieves named – honestly – Strepsil (John Sham), Aspirin (Hoi Mang), and Panadol (well-known director Hark Tsui) cross paths with gang lord Tin Wai-Keung (James Tien) and his ruthless henchman Dick (Dick Wei). A McGuffin is introduced and passed around, agencies have rivalries, there is evil moustache-twirling and a LOT of martial arts action, much of it featuring Ng and the London detective who arrives to assist her, Inspector Carrie Morris (Cynthia Rothrock). Thus, we are treated to a cop movie where the only smart detectives are these two mismatched officers, and what are the odds they come to respect each other? A lot of damage will be needed to answer that question.
As a demonstration of Hong Kong action excess, with ample amounts of martial arts and a fair bit of shooting, Yes Madam! is a prime example. The stunts and wirework are impressive, aided in no small part by multiple martial arts expert Rothrock in her film debut. There is much to admire as limbs swirl, feet, fists and elbows meet faces, midriffs and shoulders, while performers run up walls and deliver spinning kicks, superman punches and more. However, while the choreography is impressive it is at odds with the visual style, which is often garish with jarring angles and discordant editing. The acting style is equally loud, both in terms of the way characters talk (dubbed in post-production) and the way they move, with lots of overt gestures and sometimes outright gurning. There is also intrusive music, including, bizarrely, overt lifts from the score of John Carpenter’s Halloween. The film is therefore consistent in its aesthetic, as the camera, story and characters are all over the place.
It also feels cheap and shonky, featuring wobbly (and by necessity, flexible) sets as well as moments of undisguised green screen, and has a complete lack of subtlety: many characters are crude and misogynistic, and literally receive kicks in the face for their prejudice; a snooker scam backfires when the scammers encounter a professional player; police always have moral authority if not actual competence; at times the film has the vibe of a group of children playing more than anything else. Not that it is unenjoyable: the comedic trio are genuinely funny and the twists and turns of the plot are quite fun. Furthermore, the combat, which is the main selling point of the film, is thrilling, especially in the finale. That said, much of the drama is offset by a lack of emotional depth and a very abrupt ending that makes little sense. Overall, the film is an interesting demonstration of a particular genre and stylistic approach, but offers little beyond its exuberance.
We are treated to a cop movie where the only smart detectives are these two mismatched officers, and what are the odds they come to respect each other? A lot of damage will be needed to answer that question.
This Blu-ray release is a 1080p HD presentation of the original theatrical cut from a brand new 2K restoration. The transfer is unfortunately rather grainy, and the backgrounds are often fuzzy. This is likely a consequence of the original filming, which rather indicates that sometimes HD transfers are not the best thing. There are several cuts of the film with different sound mixes, including the theatrical cut with original Cantonese mono audio, the theatrical cut with optional English 5.1 dubbed audio, and the export cut with Original ‘classic’ English mono.
Extras include a new feature-length audio commentary by Asian film experts Frank Djeng from the New York Asian Film Festival & Michael Worth, who provide a close analysis of the performances, especially in relation to performers being dubbed by other actors, hence we do not hear the voices of the actors on screen. There is also a lively and well-informed audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, who give attentive insights into the onscreen action as well as much background information. A select-scene commentary with Cynthia Rothrock allows viewers to gain a further understanding of the processes involved in martial artistry on film.
Rothrock appears again in a new interview, where she discusses her history with Hong Kong cinema and how her martial arts background led to her film work. Anecdotes about her time in Hong Kong are charming and amusing, especially the nocturnal Hong Kong lifestyle (which sounds amazing if exhausting. Rothrock is an engaging interviewee who provides a detailed and interesting history, such as she and the other actors speaking with the same number of syllables to aid the dubbing, and her fond memories of the Yes Madam! the finale which she describes as her favourite action sequence from her career.
In another interview, Hoi Mang explains that his background in martial arts led him to opera and then into films and his transition from child star to kung-fu stuntman to Martial Arts Director. The great Sammo Hung is mentioned several times, with the interesting reveal that Hung would have directed Yes Madam! had he not had another film to make, thus Corey Yuen took over. Mang gives insight into the practice of martial arts action choreography, noting that there was little improvisation and most of the comedy came from the script. His discussion of the ending feels a bit simplistic, however, and may not leave the viewer entirely satisfied.
Further extras are an archival interview with Michelle Yeoh, which covers her history and commercial success, before Yes Madam! became her first action movie. Yeoh is (and remains) a lively and engaging presence, providing intriguing insights into the practices of acting and stunts. This earlier interview includes Yeoh describing herself as an ‘action actress’ and predicting her legacy, as well as the importance of feminist films and the difference between Hong Kong and Hollywood, mainly budget and insurance. For fans of this performer, this is a great piece of history.
The extras are rounded out by trailers and a short featurette called Battling Babes about women who train in martial arts. Once you get past the eye-rolling title, there are fun comments from British, American, and Japanese artists and the information that Hong Kong (at the time) offered artists considerable support in developing their craft for film work. Rothrock appears to talk about the differences between Hong Kong and Hollywood, and it is genuinely tiring to watch these physical exploits, and the viewer may indeed marvel at those who do this work, despite the injuries many of them encounter.
Yes Madam! is out now on Eureka Blu-Ray
Vincent’s Archive – Yes Madam! (1985)
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