by Jacob Walker
Eureka has released the last of Michelle Yeoh’s D&B films before she married one of the company’s founders, Dickson Poon. Magnificent Warriors is the silliest of the bunch but again showcases phenomenal action, the majority of which Michelle performs herself – is there nothing this woman can’t do?
If any film needed a title card, it’s Magnificent Warriors, as it’s hard to know the exact location and time period. Therefore, it’s useful to have Frank Djeng’s commentary to keep us in line and add some context. If you are watching closely, you can discern that we are in Bhutan sometime during the second Sino-Japanese war. Secret agent and pilot Fok Ming-ming (Yeoh, channelling Indiana Jones and Steve Trevor) is tasked with helping fellow freedom fighter, Derek Yee, stop the Japanese from building a poisonous gas factory.
Despite commanding a high budget, we are stuck in a barren desert and one set for much of the runtime, with Richard Ng providing his own brand of tomfoolery as a drifter to pad out the runtime. Clearly, the money was spent on the bone-crunching action, with Michelle wielding a whip and rope dart with gusto, as stuntmen are continuously pulled through burning wood and slammed into buildings. As our heroes defend a city from the Japanese army, explosions and vehicle chases are the order of the day with some of the finest stunt work of this golden period.
The disc features an archival interview with Michelle (who describes how difficult the shoot was) and choreographer Tung Wai, as well as the Guy Laroche advert Michelle appeared in with Jackie Chan, gloriously ‘80s. As ever, you are left thinking that with a few tweaks, this film could have been amazing. In terms of the action on display, the old adage is as true as ever – they don’t make them like this anymore.
MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS is out now on Blu-ray.
