In the midst of her Oscar campaign, and with a lot of people consequently discovering or rediscovering her earlier work, there’s not a whole lot left to say about Michelle Yeoh. However, Eureka’s perfectly timed releases of her early classics are definitely the best way to newly appreciate Yeoh, prior to the almost regal bearing she now brings to her projects.
Magnificent Warriors was the penultimate film of Yeoh’s short early run (in which she was credited by other names, here Michelle Kheng), before she took a break from the screen during her marriage to producer Dickson Poon, making a post-divorce comeback in Police Story 3. This early run is exceptional, also including starring roles in Yes Madam and its sequel Royal Warriors (also released by Eureka, review forthcoming), but Magnificent Warriors may be the best of them, and one of her finest films full stop.
Drawing some inspiration from Indiana Jones (the character rather than specifics of either film that had been released by 1987), Magnificent Warriors is set in 1930s Japanese occupied China. Yeoh is Fok Ming-ming, we first meet her breaking up a weapon smuggling operation, but she is soon recruited by her Grandfather (the insanely prolific Ku Feng) to aid a secret agent (Derek Yee, perhaps better known now as a director) in rescuing Yu Dat (Lowell Lo), the ‘mayor’ of a small city who has pretended to collaborate with the Japanese, but wants to had over information on the poison gas plant they plan to build. Also caught up in the action are a conman (Richard Ng) and Yu Dat’s lover Chin-chin (Chindy Lau).
Magnificent Warriors had a spectacular team behind the camera. Credited director David Chung had just made Royal Warriors with Yeoh, but backing him up were three additional units headed by Johnnie To, John Shum and Derek Yee. The film is remarkably cohesive for having so many hands on deck (as well as action choreographers Stephen Tung-wai, Benz Kong To-Hoi and Fung Hak-on, who also appears as one of the second string bad guys).
The action is where the film hits its high points, but where a lot of martial arts films of the classic era can fall down is in their humour, which can be very localised and difficult to translate. Magnificent Warriors is something of an exception here. Richard Ng’s role is expanded from his usual job of playing the stooge/comic relief. He has some genuinely heroic moments late in the film, helping the residents of the city fight back against the Japanese occupiers, but these are combined well with visual gags.
There are also some funny moments for Chindy Lau, especially an extended verbal gag as she trying to work out whether she should be helping out Ng. The structure – at least when translated – is a little ‘Who’s on first?’, but Lau is talking to herself throughout. The performance itself is funny, and well written subtitles let the gag play.
The performances overall are strong. Yee is a stoic hero figure, while Ng and Lo both allow their initially cowardly characters to make credible strides towards heroism. It’s disappointing that Chindy Lau only made a handful of films, because she’s a real shot of energy here; funny, and delivering the goods in the action scenes, especially her introduction to the film (she’s well doubled, but also visibly does a fair amount herself). Yeoh, as ever, is effortlessly charismatic. Whether she’s wielding a whip more effectively than Harrison Ford could ever have hoped to, kicking down a burning awning on to a bad guy, or simply grinning like a Cheshire cat as she fires a machine gun, she’s just a joy to watch.
The action is fantastic, and seldom lets up. The opening set piece is where the film feels most like an Indiana Jones movie, in that it could be the end of an earlier story that we simply haven’t been privy to, purely by way of introducing us to Ming-ming and how badass she is. It’s also in this sequence and in the next set piece, where she has to rescue her grandpa, that she uses the whip to such fine effect. Sadly, that goes away in much of the rest of the film, but Yeoh’s hand to hand fighting continues to be spectacular.
Another standout moment comes in a dogfight scene, shot for real in the US. It may not be Top Gun Maverick, but it’s still an exciting sequence, and different for a martial arts movie. Derek Yee acquits himself well in the action, especially when he’s fighting Fung Hak-on, but if anyone (on the good guys side) it’s Lau who gives Yeoh the closest run for her money. I don’t know whether she had martial arts training or simply learned to mimic motion the way Yeoh does, but either way she impresses with her physicality.
Magnificent Warriors should, and apart from Yeoh’s break from the screen, probably could have led to a series of sequels. I’d love to have seen Ming-ming and her crew aid other villages and cities in rising up against the occupying forces, but perhaps it’s okay that it never happened, because that way there is nothing to water down the incredible fun of this brilliant and, in the West, still somewhat underseen movie. For my money, it’s a classic, deserving of being ranked with its star’s, and its genre’s, best.
★★★★★
The Disc
I could almost copy and paste this section, so consistent are Eureka’s restorations of their martial arts releases. The print used here is pristine, and an excellent transfer shows off both the action and the colourful cinematography and expansive sets. There is a choice of Cantonese and English dubs, both available in the original mono. If you’re not a hardcore originalist, it is perhaps disappointing that there isn’t a 5.1 remix for the Cantonese track, but the Mono is well balanced.
The Extras
A slightly slimmer selection than usual, but there are some interesting things here. Perhaps chief among them is Michelle Yeoh’s very first onscreen appearance, in a watch advert opposite Jackie Chan. It’s not hard to see why she turned Dickson Poon’s head and got a contract on the back of just these 30 seconds. In the archival extras we also have interviews with Yeoh (engaging as ever, and it’s great to see clips from her feature debut, The Owl Vs Bumbo) and action director Tung Wai.
As always with Eureka’s releases, we get a pair of new commentaries, and the dynamic is the same as ever. Frank Djeng imparts endless information, but perhaps needs the ability to be listened to at 75% speed. Mike Leeder and Arne Venema are like two knowledgable mates having a chat with you as you all watch the movie (they also agree with me that we should have got more movies with Chindy Lau, so maybe they win the battle of the commentaries this time).
