ACF 1118: Happy Birthday wishes for Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh in Reign of Assassins

Actress Michelle Yeoh was born in Malaysia on August 6, 1942. She grew up speaking Malay and English before Chinese. Having started studied ballet when very young, she later went to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dance, but an injury ended her potential career as a ballerina. After returning to Asia, she won the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983 at age 21. Soon after she began appearing in commercials, then in films. I believe her first real starring role was as police inspector Ng in Yes, Madam (1985), which also starred Cynthia Rothrock. In some of those early appearances, such as In the Line of Duty in 1985, she was credited as Michelle Khan. She "retired" from films while married to producer Dickson Poon from February, 1988 until their divorce in 1992, at which time she returned to the movies with a vengeance.



Ms Yeoh gained fame as an action film actress, one who could and did do her own incredible stunts. She proved herself in the same league as Jackie Chan when she costarred with him in Police Story 3: Super Cop. Ms Yeoh became widely known to general western audiences when she starred opposite Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Now I like Brosnan's Bond films, but it was soooo totally clear that she could kick his Bond butt. And I must say that to refer to her as a "Bond girl" -- as some have -- is a travesty and totally disrespectful.



Other notable films she has starred in that are well-known in the West include Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha, and Danny Boyle's Sunshine. In John Woo and Su Chao-Pin's Reign of Assassins (China, 2010), she stars as Zeng Jing, who is tasked with returning the remains of a holy Buddhist monk to its rightful resting place. In the course of attempting this, she encounters a group of assassins who seek the remains because they are believed to possess an ancient power-wielding secret. The film recently screened at the 10th Annual New York Asian Film Festival and was the fourth most popular film in the audience award polling.



So, best AsianCineFest wishes for a most happy and wonderful birthday, Michelle Yeoh, and for many healthy, happy, and cinematically productive years to come.

ACF 650: Happy Birthday, Michelle Yeoh!

Michelle Yeoh in the upcoming Reign of Assassins

Actress Michelle Yeoh was born in Malaysia on August 6, 1942. She grew up speaking Malay and English before Chinese. Having started studied ballet when very young, she later went to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dance, but an injury ended her potential career as a ballerina. After returning to Asia, she won the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983 at age 21. Soon after she began appearing in commercials, then in films. I believe her first real starring role was as police inspector Ng in Yes, Madam (1985), which also starred Cynthia Rothrock. In some of those early appearances, such as In the Line of Duty in 1985, she was credited as Michelle Khan. She "retired" from films while married to producer Dickson Poon from February, 1988 until their divorce in 1992, at which time she returned to the movies with a vengeance.

Ms Yeoh gained fame as an action film actress, one who could and did do her own incredible stunts. She proved herself in the same league as Jackie Chan when she costarred with him in Police Story 3: Super Cop. Ms Yeoh became widely known to general western audiences when she starred opposite Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Now I like Brosnan's Bond films, but it was soooo totally clear that she could kick his Bond butt. And I must say that to refer to her as a "Bond girl" -- as some have -- is a travesty and totally disrespectful.

Other notable films she has starred in that are well-known in the West include Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha, and Danny Boyle's Sunshine. In John Woo and Su Chao-Pin's Reign of Assassins (China, 2010), set to be shown, albeit out-of-competition, at the 67th Venice Film Festival, she stars as Zeng Jing, who is tasked with returning the remains of a holy Buddhist monk to its rightful resting place and encounters a group of assassins who try to get the remains because they are believed to possess "an ancient power-wielding secret." (Plot summary from IMDb.) The Weinstein Company has acquired the North and South American rights to the film, so I'm hoping for a theatrical release later this year or early in 2011. Worst-case scenario would be a Region 1 DVD/Blu-Ray release only.

So, best AsianCineFest wishes for a most happy and wonderful birthday, Michelle Yeoh, and for many healthy, happy, and cinematically productive years to come.

ACF 203: Supercop 2-disc DVD release from Dragon Dynasty

Supercop / Ging chaat goo si 3: Chiu kap ging chaat

Directed by Stanley Tong

Starring Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh

Hong Kong 1992, 91 min

(Note: the original Hong Kong release ran 95 min)

Tomorrow. Tuesday, January 13th, 2008, Supercop, a.k.a. Police Story 3 (in Britain) and Police Story 3: Supercop (the Hong Kong English title), will be released as a "Two-Disc Ultimate Edition" from Dragon Dynasty. The M.S.R.P. will be $24.95. (See ACF 200 and ACF 201 for reviews of the DD releases of Police Story and Police Story 2, respectively.)

This time around, Jackie reliquished directing duties to Stanley Tong, who would subsequently direct him again in Rumble in the Bronx and in Jackie Chan's First Strike. The script is by Edward Tang, Fibe Ma, and Lee Wai Yee. The story kind of takes a page from the James Bond films in that it travels to several locations: from Hong Kong to Mainland China and eventually Malaysia. There are plenty of fight scenes, great stunts, and big explosions to keep things lively.

Jackie's character, Inspector Chan Ka Kui, is assigned to go undercover in Mainland China, help a gangster escape from a Chinese Prison (no easy matter, that!), all in order to ultimately bring down a large drug smuggling operation. His mainland contact is Inspector Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh, here billed as Michelle Khan).

Supercop was Michelle's return to film after a four year hiatus due to her marriage to producer Dickson Poon, which lasted from 1988-1992. And an incredible return it is, as she easily holds her own up against Jackie, who was still at the top of his game at the time.

As far as extras go, there's the feature commentary that we've come to expect from Bey Logan on Disc 1. The other extras consist of four interviews on Disc 2. And while I admit that I expected more on a "Two-Disc Ultimate Edition" release from Dragon Dynasty (who maybe have spoiled me with their other double disc DVD releases), these interviews ain't shabby at all.

The one with Jackie was especially interesting. He talks about the film being a number of firsts. It was the first film on which he really worked with Michelle Yeoh, although her first on-camera work was a 1984 commercial that featured Jackie. It was his first film with synchronized sound. The audio on his prior films were dubbed in post-production, which was standard practice in the Hong Kong film industry. It was also the first film he'd shot, at least partially, in mainland (i.e., Commie) China.

But the most interesting thing is Jackie talking about how they worked so hard to make the best film they could. While acknowledging that he understands why an in-joke for the Hong Kong audience would be cut from the U.S. release, he expresses displeasure with many of the changes in film editing and soundtrack substition that can be found on some U.S. releases of his films, including some on this disc. The U.S. version, for example, features urban/hip hop music, including the legendary song "King Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas.

There's also a fascinating interview with Michelle Yeoh. Most amazingly, she performed an incredible motorcycle stunt without actually knowing how to ride a bike! She could only steer and give it gas. In fact, her legs were too short to touch the ground when she sat on it, so stuntmen had to hold it up for her until she started driving.

The other two interviews are with director Stanley Tong and with Jackie Chan bodyguard, training partner, and stunt crew member/actor Ken Lo.

Supercop is another fantastic Jackie Chan film, one that's elevated to a whole other level by the presence of Michelle Yeoh.

The film gets a 4 out of 4 star rating, outstanding. It's an absolute "must see," and a "you really, really, really ought to own it" flick.

The extras are good, even if not as plentiful as I've come to expect from a DD double disc release: 3 out of 4 stars for the extras.

ACF 193: Supercop coming out January 13th!

I just recieved some P.R. info about Supercop (a.k.a. Police Story 3) coming out early next year in a 2-disc ultimate edition from Dragon Dynasty. This is a fantastic film, easily the best in the outstanding series (outstanding, that is, aside from the much later New Police Story). And the extras on Dragon Dynasty's 2-disc ultimate editions are always terrific.

So I'm passing on the info right away and hope to have my review copy in the near future. Even though it's the holiday season, I'll be getting my review of this up really fast, and may even be able to also put up some thoughts on Police Story 1 and 2.

Also check-out Grady Hendrix's Kaiju Shakedown article about the Supercop release. This was where I first learned that it was coming out, but there wasn't much information about it at that time.

Here's the Press Release info from Dragon Dynasty:

The Dragon Dynasty label releases yet another high-flying action packed adventure, SUPERCOP. One of Jackie Chan’s most beloved films, SUPERCOP flies onto DVD shelves in a two disc ultimate edition on January 13th from The Weinstein Company and Genius Products.

SUPERCOP tells the adrenaline-fueled story of a Hong Kong police officer who teams with a beautiful but “by the book” agent in order to bring down the region’s most notorious and merciless drug cartel. Going undercover as siblings, the unlikely duo must utilize use their explosive kung fu skills and resourcefulness to dissolve the infamous syndicate.

SUPERCOP features the legendary kung fu master, Jackie Chan (The Forbidden Kingdom, Rush Hour) and Michelle Yeoh (The Mummy 3, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), and co-stars Maggie Cheung (Jet Li’s Hero). Directed by Stanley Tong (Mr. Magoo), this martial arts masterpiece led the way for a new era of kung fu stars in America and is sure to find success once again.

Synopsis:
Kevin Chan (Chan), a Hong Kong Police officer, teams up with beautiful but dangerous Chinese agent Jessica Yang (Yeoh) who poses as his sister as they go undercover to bring down the region’s predominate drug cartel.

Special Features:
· Flying High: An Exclusive Interview With Star Jackie Chan
· Dancing With Death: An Interview With Leading Lady Michelle Yeoh
· The Stuntmaster General: An Exclusive Interview With Director Stanley Tong
· The Fall Guy: An Exclusive Interview With Co-Star And Jackie Chan Bodyguard And Training Partner Ken Lo
· Commentary By Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan

Basics:
Price: $24.95
Street Date: January 13, 2009
Catalog Number: 81700
Rating: NR
Run Time: 91 minutes
Languages: English Dolby 5.1, English DTS, Cantonese Mono
Subtitles: English and Spanish
Closed Captioned