Royal Warriors

Hot on the heels of Hong Kong action film ‘Yes, Madam’, Michelle Yeoh returns in ROYAL WARRIORS, a fast-paced action classic from 1986. This time round though, her ‘sidekick’ (no pun intended) is Sanada Hiroyuki and not Cynthia Rothrock which shifts the dynamic somewhat (but doesn’t do the end result any harm). As ever, Yeoh kicks and punches her way through the most hair-raising adventures in an attempt to ward off a gang of Vietnam veterans out for revenge.

Right from the opening shot we know that we are in 1980s territory when a group of youngsters in typical 80s attire (not to mention hairstyles) assemble in a park. Some are dancers; others are musicians or simply just wannabe trendsetters. Among the bemused spectators is CID officer Michelle Yip (M. Yeoh) – on vacation and perhaps secretly wishing to join in (Yeoh had studied ballet at London’s Royal Academy of Dance before an injury forced a career change). However, the entertaining spectacle doesn’t last long before Yip is in the thick of it when some thugs are chased across the park and duty demands she intervenes and takes on the baddies (which she does with ease and aplomb). After receiving plaudits from her office colleagues she soon finds herself on a plane from Tokyo to Hong Kong where she makes the acquaintance of air marshal Michael Wong (also his name in real life) who is meant to supervise the extradition of an extremely unsavoury and high-profile Japanese criminal… but instead starts flirting with Yip whilst bragging about what a professional air marshal he is… all the while being seemingly oblivious to the fact that the polite young lady he has just set his eyes upon is in fact a police inspector. Also on board the aircraft is Japanese cop Peter Yamamoto (Hiroyuki Sanada) who has just resigned from the force in order to save his marriage and spend more time with his young wife and little daughter. As can be expected, bloodshed and mayhem break out within minutes after two of the passengers turn out to be hijackers hell-bent on freeing the handcuffed criminal…

What follows next is a nail-biting few minutes during which one of the baddies gets sucked through an open window which, seconds earlier, had been riddled with bullets, actions which brings passengers, crew and the aircraft itself into almighty peril. No worries, our trio of superheroes (that’s Yip, Yamamoto and Wong) get the upper hand, save everyone’s ass and are celebrated in the press the following day. So far, so good. Except it isn’t! Because the bad guys who got killed on the plane were part of four friends who knew each other back from their military days in Vietnam and swore allegiance towards each other ever since. Now the remaining buddies swear to avenge their slayed ‘brothers in arms’ and with names such as Raging Bull, Mad Cockerel, Bandana and Boss Tiger, what can you expect except terrifying violence and unspeakable brutality.

Cue then for some serious no-holds barred action (there are no comedic interludes in this flick) and believe me when I tell you that hair-raising car chases, shootouts in clubs and a never-ending string of martial arts action make for some of the milder scenes… One of the most shocking scenes… well, I won’t give it away here as it really IS shocking (and utterly unexpected) and it forces Yamamoto to put his retirement from the force on hold. In between, we have Michael Wong relentlessly pursuing (some may call it pestering) Yip because his male ego won’t accept a brush-off but he too doesn’t fare well in this story, albeit for another and equally shocking reason.

ROYAL WARRIORS is pure adrenaline but it also offers plenty of opportunity for displaying human emotions – something that, more often than not, doesn’t seem to matter too much in the action genre. Our three leads also display formidable acting talent, in particular Hiroyuki Sanada.

Presented in Blu-ray from a brand-new 2K restoration, the first print run of ROYAL WARRIORS will feature a Limited Edition O-card slipcase & Collector’s booklet.
Bonus material includes optional subtitles (the original language is Cantonese), audio commentaries, interviews, locations featurette and more.