Magnificent Warriors

Magnificent Warriors (Zhong Hua Zhan Shi)  (1987)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: David Chung

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Richard Ng, Tung-Shing Ye, Lowell Lo, Chindy Lau

From: D&B Films Co. Ltd.

A movie starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh I actually like. To clarify, I typically do enjoy what she’s in (well, the older films anyhow); I sure as hell did not enjoy the motion picture she just won an Oscar for. Late Sunday night perhaps at least one or two people were wondering what my reaction would be to that picture I dare not name winning all the awards on Sunday night. This would be because in June I wrote a rather passionate review where I explained in detail why I HATED the motion picture that almost everyone else in the world loved.

I don’t want to simply copy and pate that review here but to be brief, the “humor” was a massive turn-off as was the cacophony of noise and messiness that was the plot—and the story just dragged on for what seemed like countless hours. Me rejecting a popular modern film isn’t a first by any means, but even more now than before, why the general public love a movie full of gross vulgarities and juvenile crap or why the critics feel the same is just so incredibly baffling; it’s like I’m stuck in another universe where such things are suddenly normal now.

That existential crisis stated, Magnificent Warriors is MUCH better and much more entertaining for me. There are no butt-plugs, dildos, basic Hallmark sentiments that kill a gnat with a sledgehammer, black bagels, stupid references to Pixar movies or hot dog fingers. Instead, this is an adventure full of fun which was partially inspired by Indiana Jones. After all, Yeoh dresses like him in the first act and even is a master with a whip. After that though, this does its own thing and there are actually some stirring moments and this is actually about Yeoh trying to rescue someone who is being held captive by the Japanese where Japan was occupying China during the late 1930’s. It’s not quite so simple… not only does a petty thief-a real scoundrel-get involved, those oppressed Chinese rise up against the oppression.

There is a lull or two and also more than one moment I thought was pretty dumb; even with that noted, Magnificent Warriors was a lot of fun for me. There are rousing scenes where we see underdogs rise up and fight although most important to genre fans are the action scenes… and there are plenty here, almost all of which deliver in spades. The plentiful martial arts are the highlight although the rest is also delightful. To reiterate, this is a fun adventure that ends with a bang.