Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78213 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-02-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese
• Subtitled in: English, Chinese
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.com
Asia's top action actress Michelle Yeoh plays martial-arts legend Yip Wing Chun (the lone female Shaolin Temple student, who created her own style of kung fu) in this farcical action comedy. In their village, Wing Chun and her Auntie Abacus (King Dan Yuen) make a formidable team. Abacus is a shrewd and sharp-tongued businesswoman while Wing Chun (who developed her martial-arts skills to be less attractive to men) is known as a topnotch fighter. When a beautiful widow named Charmy (Catherine Yan) rolls into town and is taken in by the duo, their tofu business booms with customers fighting to catch a glimpse of her. But Charmy also grabs the attention of loutish bandits, who decide they'll steal her for a wife. More of a gender comedy than an accurate historical film (Yeoh doesn't actually perform the fighting style made famous by her character), Wing Chun is a combination of sitcom-style mistaken identity antics and kung fu action sequences. It lightly turns the gender politics of the traditional patriarchal China on their ear, as the female leads are always a step ahead of the men. Yeoh gives somewhat of a straight and stoic performance in this comedy film, which might have been due to a back injury sustained on the set. But it doesn't hamper her from performing impressive stunts, including bouncing up and down on an inch-wide pole like a diving board. And her costars provide plenty of humor to even out the film. --Shannon Gee

Customer Reviews

Good movie, great fun, Michelle Yeoh, enough said.
This is a nice movie even for casual fans of martial arts movies and more serious fans should definitely grab it. It is a period piece, but i feel that it is rather far from being a costume drama. For some excellent Chinese/HK drama, go check out "Raise the Red Lantern" or even some of John Woo's earlier work like "Last Hurrah For Chivalry" (John Woo with swords!). That said, this is an EXCELLENT action flick, fast and humorous with a plot significantly stronger than most Jackie Chan movies. I love the tofu fight scene and although some of the fight scenes verge on the fantastic (i.e. "The Executioners") and are clearly enhanced with cutscenes and camera trickery, the vast majority is good old single-shot martial arts mastery. Michelle Yeoh rocks hard and is finally allowed to look cute at the end of the film (her looking like a man is a running gag most of the way through) but the actress who plays the young widow is just plain beautiful. As noted above, the subtitles are pretty strange. There are 3 soundtracks on this disc, English, Cantonese and Mandarin and while I usually avoid dubs like the plague the subtitles on this film are so horribly done that I prefer the dubs by far. There were several times that people onscreen were laughing at a joke that was just plain nonexistant in the subtitles...it's like they let Babelfish handle the sub translation. Just stick with the english dub and you'll be in for a funny, better-than-average kung-fu experience.

An action movie that women will love
For those of you who still don't know who Michelle Yeoh is, this is THE movie to be introduced to her.

For those of you who thrilled at watching Yeoh in such movies as "Tomorrow Never Dies" (with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond), "Supercop" (with Jacky Chan) and "Tai Chi Master" (with Jet Li), this is THE action movie where she is the star rather than a man's sidekick.

Having said that, WING CHUN is more than a star vehicle for this former Miss Malaysia turned Action Woman, with an ensemble who have charms of their own even if their names are not as well known; and more than just kung fu fighting.

Rather, this is a surprisingly sweet (and innocent) "gender-bending" "period piece" action-comedy out of Hong Kong. Marvel at such as "the fight over tofu" and -- of course -- the climactic showdown between Wing Chun (Yeoh) and "Flying Chimpanzee" but also delight in the camaraderie and charm evident in the scenes featuring Wing Chun, Aunty Abacus and Charmy, the Tofu Princess!

A caveat: Even though it has plenty of action, I can't help but wonder whether some men would be unimpressed by this movie (which actually has quantitatively more as well as qualitatively wittier dialogue than most movies of its ilk!). On the other hand, I think that women (even those who don't normally like Hong Kong action movies) will find plenty to LOVE about WING CHUN (the character but also the movie).

Half-a-loaf of Wingchun!
As a pure Kung Fu movie, if you enjoy the more comedic, wire-fu style, Yuen Woo-Ping (choreographer of the Matrix) delivers. Both Donnie Yen (a trained film fighter who plays Leung Bok-Cho) and Michelle Yeoh (not a trained fighter but a dancer who's consistently given great action on screen, who plays Yim Wing-Chun) personify their legendary characters with charm, grace, and ferocious martial intent.

If you're looking for a Wing Chun movie that showcases the actual Wing Chun style, however, you're better served by Sammo Hung's Prodigal Sons and Warriors Two. This movie uses the characters and style mostly in name only, with a story drawn, but far removed from, any of the traditional versions, and a style far more high flying and stunt based.

Still, I can think of no fan or exponent who wouldn't thrill just a little to see the beautiful landscapes and settings, and see the characters brought to life, and imagine what it might have been like in the days of legend.