« Previous Post | Main | Next Post »

Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

Even though it wasn't my intention, last week's mystery movie was almost a total stumper-- it even took our reigning, never-miss champion two whole days to figure it out!

I was surprised because I thought The Heroic Trio had become fairly well-known in the decade since its release (a few years ago, it was shown frequently on TNT, and even my little neighborhood video store had a copy that was constantly rented for months). It was my first introduction to the world of Hong Kong action cinema and has remained my personal benchmark for those films. It's also a big favorite with fans of '60s superhero comics, especially Marvel; in fact, the first shot of Anita Mui as Wonder Woman is a Jim Steranko panel come to life.

Besides the ravishing Anita, the two other stars of the film-- Maggie Cheung as Thief-Catcher and Michelle Yeoh as Invisible Girl-- are equally lovely and amazing to watch. (Even non-HK action fans know Yeoh, from the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.) All three approach their roles with no campiness whatsoever, and the earnestness of the performances gives the film a genuine '60s comic book feel that no art direction or special effects can match.

Of course, the special effects and stunt work are fantastic, the latter being all the more so because it's real-- it may not be Anita Mui running from pole to pole across wobbly power cables, but someone actually did it, just like the rocket-ride another stunt woman took during the scene when Thief-Catcher strides a barrel full of explosives and then throws in a lit stick of TNT. (Don't discount how much stunt work each star really did, especially Yeoh, who has actually held her own on screen with Jackie Chan.) By the last 20 minutes, the picture is almost non-stop action set pieces, one after the other, and the story turns more horror comic than superhero, made all the better by an appearance by HK's #1 scary guy, Anthony Wong. (When he loses a finger in a fight with Yeoh, he picks it up, sniffs it suspiciously, and then pops it in his mouth.)

If you've never seen any action movies from the heyday of Hong Kong cinema, The Heroic Trio is the perfect place to start-- great music, lots of plot (hardly the rule for this kind of picture), explosions, blue gel lighting and girl fights, plus one of the best superhero origin stories ever.

And let's hear it for our own heroic trio, the only three people who won this quiz: Hank Parmer (good guesses count, too), Wayne A. Palmer (still champ, and extra points this week for effort) and Paul Murphy (a man of few words who knows his movies). Especially nice work this time, men-- thanks for helping to keep the quiz and yours truly from laying a big fat egg last week!

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 17, 2003 5:31 PM

« The Frederic Wertham Memorial Cover Gallery | Main | The Monday Movie Quiz #28 »