Issue #281         HOME          E-mail: mail@dighkmovies.com        BACK ISSUES     September 19th, 2005

Yes, Madam
(1985; D & B Films Co.)

Cantonese: Wong ga si je
Mandarin: Huang jia shi jie
English: Royal Hong Kong Policewoman
Alternate English Titles: Police Assassins, Police Assassins 2

 

  RATING: 6/10

  REVIEW:

Corey Yuen Kwai’s YES, MADAM is noteworthy as being both the first entry in D & B's IN THE LINE OF DUTY series and Michelle Yeoh Chu-kheng's first outing in a lead role. Following the obligatory opening reel action sequence (which features Yeoh single-handedly nabbing some armored car hijackers led by Lam Wai), the film segues into the main storyline. Triad leader Tin's accountant decides to sell him out and takes pictures of a forged business contract. The traitor is liquidated, but the hitman (Dick Wei) is unable to locate the microfilm, which has inadvertently been stolen by petty hotel thieves Asprin (sic – Mang Hoi) and Strepsil (John Sham Kin-fun). When the dead man's passport is used by a fleeing criminal (Eddie Maher), HK police Inspector Ng (Yeoh) lets the man go, as a means of tracking down Panadol (Tsui Hark), the forger who sold him the document. Teaming up with her hot-tempered, Cantonese-speaking, Scotland Yard counterpart, Inspector Carrie Morris (Cynthia Rothrock, in her first HK film), Ng sets out to get the goods on Tin (James Tien Chun). However, when legal means fail, the policewomen turn in their badges and confront Tin and his goons on their own turf.

Michelle Yeoh Chu-kheng (left), Cynthia Rothrock John Sham Kin-fun (left), Mang Hoi

Like virtually all of the D & B genre pictures that followed, the storyline is routine but the action certainly isn't. The final reel features some spectacular fighting and Michelle Yeoh performs an amazing stunt where she flips backwards over a rail and through plate glass! Unfortunately, it is a long and occasionally tiresome slog through uninspired plotting and middling comedy before we finally reach action nirvana. The English export version (which runs 87 minutes) drops much of the humor and is missing the opening scene where Yeoh literally closes the book on a library flasher. It instead begins with a sequence recycled from WHERE’S OFFICER TUBA? (featuring David Chiang Da-wei, who turns up later in YES, MADAM playing a completely different character) that has absolutely no bearing on the story presented here! This version also gives Maher third billing, though he is only in the film for a few minutes! Romeo Diaz is credited with the soundtrack, but a good portion of the music here has been lifted from HALLOWEEN. The supporting players include Wu Ma, Melvin Wong Kam-sun, Tai Po, Eddie Maher, Chung Fat, Sammo Hung Kam-po, Richard Ng Yiu-hon, Billy Lau Nam-kwong, Shum Wai, Dennis Chan Kwok-san, Chen Jing, and Fruit Chan Guo.

Tsui Hark (left), Eddie Maher L to R: Chung Fat, James Tien Chun, Dick Wei


  PRESENTATION:

The source material contains plenty of wear, and the image is a bit on the soft and dark side. These early 5.1 re-mixes always sound a bit thin, thanks to a lower than normal bit rate and less than ideal sound masters. This one is also rather distorted and some new (unnecessary) foley FX have been added. Overall, the track is pretty awful and under the circumstances, the original mono would have been preferable. There are Star’s Files for Yeoh, Sammo Hung (who also produced), and, inexplicably, David Chung Chi-man (the cover claims Chung directed YES, MADAM, but he was actually not involved with the picture), along with the theatrical trailer and trailers for MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS, ROYAL WARRIORS, and EASY MONEY. This DVD is apparently no longer being made, but as of this writing, copies are not difficult to obtain. A more elaborate PAL-formatted special edition of YES, MADAM has been released in regions 2 and 4 by Hong Kong Legends under the title POLICE ASSASSINS.

Cynthia Rothrock (left), Michelle Yeoh Chu-kheng Melvin Wong Kam-sun


This DVD is available at:

Images in this review courtesy of courtesy Universe Laser & Video. To read captions, hover mouse over image.


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Copyright © John Charles 2000 - 2005. All Rights Reserved.
E-mail: mail@dighkmovies.com


DVD
SPECIFICATIONS

- Hong Kong Release

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NTSC – Region 0

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Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. #DVD 5066

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Dolby Digital 5.1

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Post-synced Cantonese and Dubbed Mandarin Language

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Subtitles (Optional): English, Traditional or Simplified Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese

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8 Chapters

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4:3 Letterbox (1.78:1)

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93 Minutes


RATINGS AND CONSUMER INFORMATION

- Great Britain: 18

- Netherlands: 12

- Ontario: AA

- Quebec: 13+

- West Germany: 18

- Contains moderate violence and some coarse language


FILM REVIEWS RATING KEY
10 A Masterpiece
9 Excellent
8 Highly Recommended
7 Very Good
6 Recommended
5 Marginal Recommendation
4 Not Recommended
3 Poor
2 Definitely Not Recommended
1 Dreadful