Product Description

Michelle Yeoh, the explosive action heroine of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Tomorrow Never Dies" stars in Magnificent Warriors. Set in 1938 against a backdrop of brewing conflict between Japan and China, Yeoh plays daring aviatrix and mercenary soldier Fok Ming-ming who comes to the rescue of a Chinese spy sent to gather intelligence about Japanese Army plans as they infiltrateof ruthless Japanese generals harbor plans to manufacture poison gas in a remote mountain village. After a forced landing, Fok Ming-ming enters the township to locate the agent but soon becomes embroiled in the conflict where spectacularly choreographed fighting scenes demonstrate Yeoh's martial arts mastery and culminate in a hard-hitting, action-packed battle to oust the Japanese forces.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39472 in DVD
• Brand: YEOH,MICHELLE
• Released on: 2003-07-22
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Chinese
• Subtitled in: English, Chinese
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.com
Action heroine Michelle Yeoh burst onto the Hollywood scene in the James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies. Her new fans should pursue her Hong Kong movies for a fuller dose of the beautiful, dynamic Yeoh--and Magnificent Warriors, one of her earliest movies, is a good place to start. The very young Yeoh plays an independent adventuress with a bright yellow biplane who gets hired by the Chinese government to rescue the kindly but spineless ruler of a city in Mongolia that's been overrun by the invading Japanese. Yeoh swings a mean whip against rogue villagers and Japanese agents, culminating in the entire city battling the gun-wielding Japanese army with spears and stones. Not a great movie, but even mediocre Hong Kong movies feature stunts and fights that put Hollywood to shame; Magnificent Warriors is no exception. Yeoh's background as a dancer lends an elegance to her high-kicking combat. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Mrs. Indiana Jones
Possibly no female action heroine has come closer to achieving Bruce Lee status than Michelle Yeoh. And this is inronic, since she never had any martial arts training until she began her movie career. Almost nobody trained in martial arts specifically for one movie goes on to make more, much less achieve the status of martial arts star, but Michelle Yeoh is a pioneer in that respect. This 1987 World War II adventure makes Michelle into a female Indiana Jones (complete with the whip) who, unlike Indiana Jones himself, is blessed with cute-as-a-button-ness
The baby-faced Michelle plays Fok Ming-Ming, a Chinese pilot/mercenary. She is recruited by the Chinese to head to Northern China to locate Agent 001 (Derek Yee). She must transport the humorous Youda (Lowell Lo), the ruler of Kaal, back to Sourthen China. The Japanese army led by General Toga (Matsui Tesuya), are trying to softne up Youda to Imperealist Japan, hiding the fact that they intend to use Kaal as a site for a new poison gas factory. Ming and Agent 001 agree to help fight off the Japanese invaders, leading to many black-eyes, both Chinese and Japanese.

It's nice to see a Hong Kong movie without much wire-work that still manages to impress with the choreography, and the incredible inpact of landing blows. In her interview on the DVD, Michelle describes the experience of making MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS as having been "possibly the one time when I said I would never do another action film." No surprising, considering that the original three-week shooting schedule in Taiwan extended to three months, and the filmmakers also had to endure a huge earthquake while working. Michelle remembers MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS not as a fun movie experience, but "very challenging."

But what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and Michelee has made one hell of a kung fu/World War II movie that helped pave the way for her many subsequent roles. And having Tae Kwon Do legend Hwang jang-lee in with you is always a major plus, but his fight with Michelle is probebly the best one he's put out since battling Jackie Chan in DRUNKEN MASTER.

There are many magnificent wariors in the Hong Kong movie industry, and MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS proved Michelle, even in her youth and rookie-ness in martial arts movies, to be one of them.

A MAGNIFICENT FILM!!!
One of Michelle Yeoh's early efforts finds her as a bush pilot flying a bi-plane in 1930's China, running guns to the villages opposing Japanese occupation. Yeoh's character is brave and resourceful... and can she ever kick butt!Very well directed, with awesome martial arts fights, but also with a great plot and great characters. GET THIS MOVIE!!!

For action fans only
Michelle Yeoh stars in this 1980s-style Hong Kong action flick. If you are looking for a great story, I would just rent it if I were you. But, if you like great kick-ass action and lots of stunts, I would recommend buying this movie. Trust me, I bought it myself. I thought I would be disappointed, but fortunately it wasn't bad at all. "Magnificent Warriors" includes great choreographed action, awesome stunts, and most importantly, Michelle Yeoh...man, she can whoop some ass. This movie, as well as "Yes, Madam" is what started the great Hong Kong female-fatale era.

To keep this review short, if you like to watch 1980s Hong Kong movies with well-choreographed fighting design, get this movie right away. Warning: if you're looking for a Michelle Yeoh action movie with great story, ignore it, and get "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" instead