In The Line Of Duty 3 (1988) - A Review

 

Cynthia Khan busts onto the Hong Kong movie scene with In The Line Of Duty 3.

In The Line Of Duty 3 (also known as Yes Madam 2, Force Of The Dragon, and  In the Line of Duty - Part 3) is a martial arts crime comedy movie released in Hong Kong in 1988 and stars Cynthia Khan, Fujioka Hiroshi, Nishiwaki Michiko, Stuart Ong, Paul Chun Pui, Dick Wei, Sandra Ng Kwun-Yu, Benny Law Ching-Ho, and Yueh Hua. Brandy Yuen and Arthur Wong directed the movie, with martial arts directed by Chris Lee Kin-Sang, Tony Leung Siu-Hung, Brandy Yuen, Yuen Cheung-Yan, and Yuen Yat-Choh. In The Line Of Duty 3 was Cynthia Khan's debut film.

Fujioka Hiroshi (left) as Hiroshi Fujioka and Cynthia Khan as Madam Yeung, our two heroes.

In In The Line Of Duty 3, Cynthia Khan plays Yeung Lai-Ching, a young cop who has been promoted to her uncle Insp. Cameron Chuen's (played by Paul Chun Pui) squad in the Hong Kong police force. Being her uncle, Insp. Chuen doesn't want Madam Yeung to get involved in dangerous police cases. Eventually, a major case comes in, and Madam Yeung gets thrust into the action.

The case they are working on involves two Red Army terrorists (played by Nishiwaki Michiko and Stuart Ong) who steal jewels at a fashion show in Japan, and brutally kill people in the process. Interpol agent Hiroshi Fujioka (played by Fujioka Hiroshi, yes, the first Kamen Rider) and his young partner are there and chase the terrorists. Unfortunately, the terrorists kill Fujioka's partner and get away. Fujioka vows to find the terrorists and kill them in revenge for his partner. The terrorists go to Hong Kong to sell the jewels to get money for a cache of weapons. After finding out the jewels are fake, the terrorists go on a search for the fashion designer they stole the jewels from to kill him. Fujioka follows them to Hong Kong, and Madam Yeung is assigned to keep him out of trouble. As you can imagine, Fujioka cannot be stopped in his quest for vengeance, and Madam Yeung gets thrust into the middle of this conflict. Things go from bad to worse, and Madam Yeung has to deal with the terrorists on her own terms...

Nishiwaki Michiko (left) and Stuart Ong as the Red Army terrorists. Yes, things get kinky during this scene...

After Michelle Khan (Michelle Yeoh) got married and retired from acting, D&B films wanted to continue the successful In The Line Of Duty franchise with a new actress. They chose Cynthia Khan (real name Yang Li-tsing, her name is a combination of Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Khan's, two of the most successful female action stars at that time) to star in In The Line Of Duty 3, and they really did everything they could to make her a credible action star. Their efforts were successful, as Cynthia Khan showed she can live up to her namesakes, and bring something all her own to the role.

As Madam Yeung, Cynthia is shown as being very smart, strong, brave, and physically capable and skilled to take on any violent crime. Throughout the movie, the stakes are raised higher and higher, and Cynthia rises to the occasion every time. She is determined to catch the bad guys no matter what. On the other hand, Nishiwaki Michiko (you may remember her as the muscular woman in My Lucky Stars, 1985) who plays one of the terrorists, is absolutely ruthless! She is relentless in her vengeance, and is a very tough foe for Cynthia. Her character is very... sensual in a way (you have to see the movie to see what I'm talking about). Similarly,  Fujioka Hiroshi, the Japanese Interpol agent, is driven by revenge as well. His role is actually similar to Hiroyuki Sanada's role in Royal Warriors (1986). He does everything he can to avenge the death of his partner, but it causes more problems for Cynthia and the Hong Kong police force.

The tone of the movie is mixed; it is mostly a comedy, but things get violent and gritty as well. On the comedy side, we have a few cameos from the My Lucky Stars cast. Richard Ng and Eric Tsang seem  straight up to be playing their characters from My Lucky Stars. The relationship between Madam Yeung, her uncle the Inspector, and his squad is comical. On the other hand, the terrorists are violent and vicious. There are violent shoot-outs, massive explosions, and gritty fights. There is nothing funny going on involving them. Hey, it's an 80s Hong Kong action movie! This is to be expected, and I would not have it any other way!

Cynthia Khan kicks major butt in this movie!

The action in In The Line Of Duty 3 is hard-hitting. Cynthia Khan shows off her fighting skills well in this, and she gets put through the wringer. Not only does she have to fight Nishiwaki Michiko, but she has to fight the ferocious Dick Wei at the same time! This is a great fight, and shows Madam Yeung's intelligence as well. She has to use her wits as well as her brawn to defeat them and survive. Fujioka Hiroshi and Stuart Ong have a gritty fight to the death that isn't so much about martial arts skill, but about doing any thing they can to maim and kill each other. It's an amazing fight that will have you on the edge of you seat! The choreography is very good; it's fast, fluid, and impactful. 

In conclusion, I highly recommend watching In The Line Of Duty 3! It may not be as good as its predecessors, Yes, Madam! or Royal Warriors, but it is good in its own way. It has comedy, cameos, emotion, and awesome action. Really, the action is the main reason to watch this, as is Cynthia Khan, who makes her film debut in smashing fashion. Cynthia has gone on to star in more action classics through the years, and she should get the respect she deserves as an action star.

Here is the original export trailer:

Reviewed by David Williams

Honor And Glory (1992) - A Review

 

Classic cover to a not so classic movie.

Honor And Glory is a martial arts action movie released in the United States in 1992 and stars Cynthia Rothrock, Donna Jason, Chuck Jeffreys, Robin Shou, John Miller, Yip Kim Hing, Richard Yuen, Gerald Klein, and Tai Yim. It was directed by Godfrey Ho (credited in this movie as Godfrey Hall), with fight choreography by Tai Yim.

Cynthia Rothrock (left, as Tracey Pride) and Donna Jason (right, as Joyce Pride) play sisters who kick butt!

In Honor And Glory, Cynthia Rothrock plays Tracey Pride, an FBI agent on the trail of a stolen nuclear warhead detonator with her partner Dragon Lee (played by Robin Shou). Her mission brings her back to America, where she meets up with her sister Joyce Pride (played by Donna Jason). Joyce is a TV news reporter investigating the illegal dealings of the super wealthy banker and businessman, Jason Slade (played by John Miller). Since Jason is being hounded by Joyce and assassins, he has a security group protecting him, lead by Jake Armstrong (played by Chuck Jeffreys), the top bodyguard in the game.

Joyce shows her news report to Tracey, and Jason Slade gets on Tracey's radar. Though Tracey and Joyce get along, Joyce does not get along with her father, CIA agent John Pride (played by Leo Rocca). Jason Slade ends up with the nuclear warhead detonator, and wants to sell it to the highest bidder. Joyce's fellow kung fu school classmate Mickey (played by Yip Yim Hing) investigates strange goings on at a warehouse and gets video evidence of Jason Slade's illegal activities. Jake Armstrong starts questioning whether Jason Slade is a criminal or not and begins to help Joyce in her investigation. Things boil to a head when Jason Slade kidnaps the Pride sisters' father, and Tracey, Joyce, Dragon, and Jake team up to finally stop him...

John Miller, as Jason Slade, plays one of the biggest jerks you've ever seen in a movie!

Honor And Glory is one of those movies I watched only once on TV (cable channel TNT) late at night in the 90s, and never saw it again after that. I thought this movie was amazing back then! I had been searching for it for years (though my local video rental place had it; I didn't realize it was the same movie until after it closed down). I finally found it again on the free streaming sites Tubi and Pluto TV, and I finally watched it again recently! Was this movie as great as I remembered it?

Unfortunately, it is not! With Cynthia Rothrock, Chuck Jeffreys, Robin Shou, Donna Jason, and John Miller starring, you expect this to be filled with awesome fight scenes. The fight scenes are not that great or plentiful. Most of the focus is on the Pride sisters' and their pursuit of Jason Slade, and on their relationship. Basically, this is a very American martial arts movie. At least the fight scenes are Hong Kong style, but as said before, there aren't that many fights and they're short.   

The acting is not good. The best actors are Donna Jason and Chuck Jeffreys, and they really have good chemistry in their scenes. Cynthia Rothrock is okay in her scenes, but the things she says are so unnatural (as in, no real person would say what she says). Though this movie is billed as a Cynthia Rothrock movie, she is actually not in it that much. It is more of an ensemble movie (and Donna Jason's Joyce Pride seems to be the main character). John Miller as Jason Slade is one evil bastard! He is way over the top, and it makes you wonder why anybody would work for him with how terribly he treats his employees/co-workers.

Honor And Glory has some decent fight scenes.

What you're most probably interested in is, is how are the fight scenes in Honor And Glory? They are...okay. Though this movie was made in America in the early 90s, the fight scenes were choreographed in the Hong Kong style. Unfortunately, there are not that many fight scenes; and the fight scenes there are, are slow and short. Every character gets to show off their skill in a fight scene, including the main bad guy. Donna Jason is an excellent fighter as well, it's too bad she wasn't in more martial arts movies back then. We get all this build up to the final showdown, and it ends so disappointingly. Every character is in a fight at the same time, but instead of focusing on one fight at a time, the movie cuts between every fight every few minutes. We at least get to see Cynthia Rothrock do her patented scorpion kick. We see Robin Shou and Chuck Jeffreys do some cool stuff as well. The way Jason Slade is defeated is quite the disappointment. It could've been awesome, but they went with a totally American movie type of way to "defeat" him. Every martial artist is capable in this movie, but the choreography and editing let them down.

So, should you watch Honor And Glory? I would have to say no. If you want to watch a "cheesy" American action movie from the 90s, or need to watch every Cynthia Rothrock movie, then go ahead; you may like it! The director of this movie, Godfrey Ho, is infamous for making terrible movies (usually involving ninjas or kickboxers), so I shouldn't be surprised at its mediocrity. If you can believe it, Honor And Glory is considered one of his better movies. Cynthia Rothrock deserved so much better in America.

Reviewed by David Williams