Royal Warriors (1986) - A Review

 

Royal Warriors is one of the greatest action movies ever made.

Royal Warriors is an action/martial arts movie released in Hong Kong in 1986, and stars Michelle Yeoh (known as Michelle Khan at this time), Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Wong, Pai Ying, Michael Chan Wai-Man, Lam Wai, Kam Hing-Yin, and Kenneth Tsang Kong. This movie was directed by David Chung Chi-Man, with Mang Hoi as martial arts director. Royal Warriors is a movie in the 'Girls With Guns' and/or 'Bullet Ballet' subgenre of Hong Kong action movies, and is the second movie in the In The Line Of Duty series (after Yes, Madam!).

In Royal Warriors, Michelle Yeoh plays Michelle Yip, a Royal Hong Kong Police Force cop on vacation in Japan. Naturally, she stops some Yakuza members from murdering someone before going back to Hong Kong. On her flight, she meets Michael Wong (played by...Michael Wong), the plane's sky marshal, and Yamamoto, a Japanese cop with his wife and daughter. Also on this flight is a crime boss being extradited back to Hong Kong. The crime boss's partner frees him from police custody (by violently shooting them at point blank range) and attempts to hijack the plane. Michelle, Michael, and Yamamoto work together to stop that from happening in a thrilling fight. Both hijackers are fatally subdued, and Michelle, Michael, and Yamamoto arrive in Hong Kong to a heroes' welcome.

Michelle Yeoh is absolutely incredible in this movie!

The hijacking is all over the news, and there is a man who wants to get revenge on the hero cops. This man (played by Lam Wai) does the unthinkable, and things escalate from there. Yamamoto seeks vengeance, putting Michelle, Michael, and several innocent people in danger at a nightclub. After an incredible battle in the nightclub, vengeance is served. Yamamoto has to stay in the Japanese embassy until further notice, and Michelle is suspended. Michelle was beginning to piece together the reason why they were attacked before she was suspended. Michael (who has been trying to woo Michelle throughout the whole movie thus far) decides to solve the case himself after Michelle rejects him for not taking anything seriously after all the death that has happened. Michael finds out that there is one more man after them, but it is too late. Michelle and Yamamoto go to the final criminal's hideout to get justice for those who have died...

Hiroyuki Sanada is cool, yet filled with rage.

Royal Warriors is my favorite Michelle Yeoh movie, bar none. This movie is incredible. The action is off the charts! I feel like this movie is underrated. Not that many people talk about how great it is. The first time I heard of this movie was when my friends were telling me about it after they saw it on a local Mexican TV station across the border. They said they couldn't tell if it was an American or Hong Kong movie until they saw Hiroyuki Sanada's kicks in the airplane fight scene! I mean, American action scenes didn't have kicking (or choreography) like that back in the day! So yeah, the first time I saw this myself (which was years after my friends told me about it) was when I bought the DVD. It blew me away! The fight scenes, the action, the drama, the soundtrack; all perfection!

Michael Wong as...Michael Wong. Some find him annoying, I don't.

 In this movie, Michelle Yeoh is given center stage. She is the hero, and she rises to the occasion. She starts out smiling and happy for the most part, and as the story unfolds, her mood gets darker and darker. When she finally breaks, it is one of the best scenes in the movie. A reporter asks her what she's going to do, and she answers straight to the camera. She even reiterates her point! It's amazing to see a highly moral cop say what she says on national TV! Michelle Yeoh is incredible in this movie.

Hiroyuki Sanada (who you may know from The Last Samurai, Rush Hour 3, and Mortal Kombat 2021) is awesome as Yamamoto. His character goes through a lot! He is also a good cop who goes down a dark path. All he wanted was to take a different position at his job so he could be with his wife and daughter. There is a scene where he runs toward a car as it is about to explode. No stunt double, no special effects, real car exploding. Sanada is great in this. Michael Wong as...Michael Wong is quite the character. He is a bit too optimistic. He wants to be with Michelle so badly, that he's constantly buying her bundles of flowers. He is a bit immature, but he is a good guy. Trust me when I say, he really does love Michelle. Just to let you know, a lot of people hate not just this character, but Michael Wong himself. They say he is a bad actor. I don't know, he doesn't bother me at all in this movie.

The fight scenes in this movie are fast, intricate, and hard-hitting. The nightclub scene is a masterpiece.

The fight scenes in Royal Warriors rock! Mang Hoi absolutely killed it with the choreography in this! The first fight scene is Michelle Yeoh fighting off some Yakuza members carrying swords. Michelle uses a kendo stick at first, but eventually beats them with her bare fists and kicks! The fight scene in the airplane is next, and it is awesome! Michelle Yeoh and Hiroyuki Sanada take on Michael Chan in a thrilling fight. The choreography is so good in this one! It also has one brutal and creepy death in it! The car chase scene is great! They drive wildly through the streets of Hong Kong shooting at the escaping vehicle (who is also shooting back), ending up at a construction site. Later, Yamamoto goes to buy an illegal firearm and bullets on a ship, and a nice little fight scene occurs there. Then, there's the nightclub battle. The whole scene is set up nicely, showing the layout of the club, and the nice people there having a good time. Lam Wai shoots up the whole club with an uzi before Michelle and Yamamoto can finally fight him to the death, basically. A lot of glass is broken in this fight, with Michelle getting stabbed with a broken bottle! This fight rules, and I consider it one of the greatest action scenes ever filmed. It is intense. The final fight scene happens after Michelle shows up in a special armored vehicle that wrecks as much of the area as possible. Michelle has to fight off the final boss bare handed as he uses a chainsaw against her! We see Michelle use some powerful strikes against him, including a close up shot of her kicking the guy in the side of the head! I'm talking about full contact made, and in slow motion. Hong Kong movies in the 80s were wild, man!

Yes, I highly recommend you watch Royal Warriors. Michelle Yeoh absolutely kills it in this movie. She is just awesome in this. As said before, the story (though a bit basic), the action, the fighting, the drama, and the music are all excellent. Just because Michelle Yeoh is a woman doesn't mean that she can't believably kick butt. You will have no doubt that Michelle Yeoh is one of the greatest action stars ever after seeing this movie! I feel like this is one of the greatest action movies ever made, as well! WATCH IT!

The cover of the DVD I watched for this review. (I apologize for the quality of these pics, I can't seem to get good pics with my new phone yet.)

Back cover of the DVD.

The DVD disc. Pretty awesome!

Reviewed by David Williams