Iron Angels

This is a stunning, epic action film with choreography and direction that is as close to perfection as anything I've ever seen.

It is a hard, mean, brutal work that also features some of the best girl-on-girl fighting ever burned to celluloid.

It's hard to know where to start praising it. Everything works. The basic plot line is a little CHARLIE'S ANGELS-like, but don't be fooled into thinking there's anything frivolous within these film cans.

The opening gun battle in Burma's Golden Triangle sets the grim, nihilistic tone. As heroin poppies burn, we are whisked to Hong Kong where our "angels" and the chief villain, Oshima Yukari, are introduced.

Directors Raymond Leung and Teresa Woo captain this project with great assuredness, style and a freshness in the staging that is staggering. The camera moves, cutting and choreography are of the highest order, as is the terrific synth score and the sharp sound design.

Oshima, a sexy, vicious villain, demonstrates a penchant for torture that contrasts with the more girlish, soft personalities of the "angels". One angel, Moon Lee, is absolutely amazing in her demanding role, coming across as both sexy and totally insane.

More noteworthy scenes: an ultra-violent fight between two "friends" in a parking garage; a raid on a country hideout; Oshima's final duel with an able male opponent.

In the Eighties they spent big bucks on material like this. What a golden age it was.

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.

"Iron Angels 1": After a lot of Thailand's opium production is destroyed, the gangsters want vengeance on the police forces, and Madam Sue (Yukari Oshima) is the most merciless at that. She loves to torture guys in a cellar and kick the s**t out of everybody who doesn't successfully follow her orders. After a lot of agents were killed, members of a special branch called the "Angels" must try and stop Madam Sue's latest plan: a gold robbery.

Highly enjoyable action flick with memorable scenes like the violent fight between Mona (Moon Lee) and Sue at the factory, the trigger-happy Helen (Elaine Lui) wearing two bullet-belts while blasting her way through the enemies' headquarters like there's no tomorrow, their fellow agent Ken trusting his meditation technique to survive being buried alive, and last not least one of the most evil performances of Yukari Oshima ever. Oh, and then it's all for the gold bunnies!

I had heard a lot of good things about "Iron Angels" and how it influenced the Hong Kong film industry so much that for years they were trying to cash in on its success by attaching the world "Angels" to a series of similar films. Having finally seen it, I must say I was a bit underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, the action scenes ARE spectacular and explosive, particularly a massive shootout (we're talking about HUNDREDS of bullets here) that ends with a very high jump from the roof of a house, and the climactic fight between Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima that gets seriously bloody and brutal. It's the film-making itself that leaves something to be desired: there are too many points where the film seems to lack a smooth flow from scene to scene, and becomes hard to follow. Obviously a must-see for Girls-With-Guns fans (Lee, Oshima - who brings a touch of perversity to her villainous role - and Elaine Lui all mean SERIOUS business in action), but not quite a classic of the genre IMO. Try to see it in the "Iron Angels" version, as the one titled simply "Angels" has been trimmed in moments of extreme violence. (**)

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.