Hong Kong action films of the Eighties were so bloody tough and so beautifully made, especially films that had budgets (like this one).
Against the bland, CGI-driven Hollywood action flicks of the Noughties, a film like IN THE LINE OF DUTY 3 looks like an artifact from another planet.
Everything you see was done for real. Every sequence was staged by stunties who risked their lives.
There is an amazing relationship between two Japanese lovers (Michiko Nishiwaki and Stuart Ong) in this mind-blowing film. Ong is dying of leukeamia, and in one scene, they make love while Ong's hair comes off in Nishiwaki's hand. Later, after Ong is killed, Nishiwaki vows a brutal revenge that we clearly understand because we've been intimate with them.
It is this kind of attention to nuance that lifts this Arthur Wong-Brandy Yuen-directed pic to classic status.
Cynthia Khan, debuting as D & B Films' replacement for Michaelle Khan, does a terrific job as a cop assaulted at ever juncture by the murderous villains.
A sequence involving a jewellery heist is one of the best of its kind and possesses a kineticism rarely seen in any films these days.
Ditto an incredibly violent and realistic fight sequence between genre stalwart Dick Wei and Hiroshi Fujioka's hardcore cop.
Relentless, operatic and explosive.
6.4Plot summary
Genji Nakamura and his soul-mate and partner Michiko Nishiwaki are thieves for the notorious Red Army terrorist organization in Japan. After pulling off the jewelry heist of the century (in which dozens of people get killed including a Tokyo detective),they are now planning to use the jewelry they've snatched to buy an arms cache from gun smugglers in Hong Kong for their movement. But when the duo learns the jewelry is fake and that their co-conspirator has set them up, they are determined to get what is owed to them even if they have to tear Hong Kong inside out. But lovely Hong Kong inspector Rachel Yeung is on the scene and she's not having any kind of bloodbath on her watch. After recently being promoted to 'Madam' for the S.C.S. (Serious Crimes Section),Rachel is determined to bust Michiko and Nakamura anyway she can when their violence results in too many casualties. But Rachel finds herself at odds with her bumbling uncle Cameron Chung, the head inspector for the S.C.S., as he feels this case is too dangerous for her and assigns Rachel to be a police escort for Officer Fujioka, a quiet but determined Tokyo police officer who is in town for his own personal reasons...reasons which could spell trouble for Rachel when she learns that he has a personal vendetta against Michiko and Nakamura. As the action hits overdrive filled with chases, gun fights and some serious hand-to-hand combat from both sides, it leads to a brutal but nasty showdown pitting cop against criminal...and only those with something to lose may be the ones to walk away from this encounter alive.
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More Golden Age magic
Hong Kong action at its absolute finest!
This is the first and only Cynthia Khan movie I have seen so far, and all I have to say is "WOW!". She is amazing - more flexible than rubber. If she ever got in a fight with Jackie Chan, he could conceivably beat her, but I wouldn't bet my money on it! Plus, she is MUCH cuter than Michelle Yeoh. And if she is not enough, there is an extra bonus for action-girl fans: one of the villains is a real tough bi*ch who definitely won't go down without a fight. But the men don't get short-changed, either: there is a Japanese cop and two male villains, and all three are VERY determined and VERY good at fighting - the cop and one of the bad guys engage in one of the most brutal, vicious fights that have ever been committed to film. The rest of the action scenes (car crashes, explosions, shootouts) are also supreme. The film never stops to take a breath - there is little of the comedy that usually bogs down Hong Kong productions (there ARE cameos by some of the "Lucky Stars", but they only last a few seconds). As a result, there is more room for action, action and more action. And if action is what you want, "In The Line Of Duty 3" is as good as it gets. (***1/2)
Superb action from a top-notch film series
IN THE LINE OF DUTY III: FORCE OF THE DRAGON is the third of an excellent series of Hong Kong action films about female cops kicking backside in the city. The first two had Michelle Yeoh as lead actress, but for this instalment she was replaced by the great Cynthia Khan, who would stay on for the rest of the series. Khan is very much Yeoh's equal in the high-kicking action stakes, and she's a fine actress too.
FORCE OF THE DRAGON is a high point in a series packed full of them. In fact, the first four films of this series are simply great, and this one has more intense action scenes than in many a rival Hollywood flick from the time. Khan and her allies (including Hiroshi Fujioka as an imported Sonny Chiba-alike, complete with '70s hair do) go after a couple of Japanese jewel thieves who have nefarious plans to smuggle arms to Japan's Red Army.
It's pretty much wall to wall action here from beginning to end, and it's expertly choreographed by Brandy Yuen, one of Yuen Woo-ping's brothers. Although the action is near non-stop, none of it ever feels tiresome or repetitive, and instead it remains electrifying throughout. The fights are incredibly hard-hitting and the use of wirework to show characters being tossed around like rag dolls is very effective.
Fans of Hong Kong cinema will spot plenty of familiar faces here, including Melvin Wong and cameos from three of the LUCKY STARS performers, but best of the lot is Dick Wei in another villain performance. Wei is the most intense and violent I've seen him yet in the fighting stakes, leading to an incredible climax that has to be seen to be believed. Michiko Nishiwaki makes a real impact too in her toughest screen role.