Gli angeli della morte

i'd have given this movie a higher rating, but i prefer subtitles to dubbing. that said, the action scenes were aces and the subplots were, as usual for HK flicks, cringe-inducing enough that you were ecstatic when they got back to the martial arts. a neat trick with concrete stands out.

also, i found myself mooning for moon lee - don't want to mess with that angel. the set-up did seem like a take-off on that old fave charlie's angels, but with a co-ed cast. it was nice to see that the women could handle themselves as well or better than the men.

IRON ANGELS is Hong Kong's answer to CHARLIE'S ANGELS, as a pair of fighting women go up against a sinister drug smuggling organisation in a bid to take down the kingpin in charge - who just happens to be a woman. The film is chock full of outstanding action sequences in the form of car chases, shoot-outs and of course martial arts bouts, and it's fair to say that this is top stuff. Certainly there's rarely a dull moment here amid all the death, violence, and suspense.

The delectable Moon Lee wins all of the attention as the lovely-looking crime fighter who turns out to be a deadly combatant in the fight stakes too. She needs to be: the villain of the piece is none other than Yukari Oshima, who invests her role with a real deadliness. Support comes from the welcome likes of David Chiang and in particular Hwang Jang Lee, who gets something more developed than the usual stock bad guy role, which I was very happy with. Inevitably the story is dominated by kick-ass fight choreography and a wowzer powerhouse fight climax that has to be seen to be believed.

Yeung's poppy fields are torched by a law enforcement task force, she retaliates by ordering police officials assassinated. The Angels break into Yeung's corporate offices, eventually tracing her headquarters. After Alex Fong's character is captured and held by Yeung, the Angels mount an assault to rescue him. A complex sub-plot involving an armored car bullion robbery eventually leads the Angels to a final showdown with Yeung and her men.

This film tends to get some respect, and though it has some explosive action, much of the plot is taken up by a lot of buildup, characters appearing, talking and some spying - to be honest, it was just about watchable for the first 45 mins before going up a gear, where some of the finest fights and stunts are performed. This is quite violent film, containing some sadistic scenes of torture, courtesy of Cynthia Luster. She steals every scene she is in. She's so nasty that you just can't wait until Moon Lee and co. Give her a good send-off. Not as good as the sequel, but it's ok with an intense last thirty minutes.

In the mid '80s quality of Hong Kong movies started to skyrocket, and many above B movie were produced such as this one. This movie is bit of a crossover between the old school and the new direction Hong Kong cinema was starting to take.

Hideki Saijo who's a Japanese singer, and Yukari Oshima who's a Japanese karate champion stars with other Hong Kong luminaries.

I like the HK movies from this era, because it has opulence that gets more intense for the next 10 years. Actresses are beautiful, modern looking, and they can move.

I'm not a fan of HK cinema anymore, but I wouldn't mind dating any one of the actresses from this era especially Chow Wai Man.

But anyways, I think you get the drift. HK movies from this era are treat to watch. This one wouldn't disappoint either, it's a great action flick from British ruled Hong Kong.

Very exciting, high octane actioner with a fair dose of blood and guts. But somewhat of a disjointed mess with scenes following each other seemingly at random. For example, the angels sitt at a table in a nightclub, cuts to one of the angles inline for the bathroom as a random guy comes out, cuts to a male angel working out in a gym, cuts to a random police officer walking down a corridor in a police station... as the action intensifies the continuity does improve somewhat and boy does it turn the dial to eleven towards the end. Moon and Yukari shines throughout with the final fight being one of the most epic battles of Hong Kong cinema.