I can't say that I was harboring much of any grand expectations to the 1989 action movie "Shi Jie Da Shai" (aka "Lady Reporter" or "Female Reporter"), as I stumbled upon it by random chance here in 2023. I had, in fact, never actually heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it. But then again, I never been a fan of Cynthia Rothrock.
Writers Sai-Shing Shum and Michael Swift put together a very stereotypical late 1980s action script. But hey, if you enjoy that kind of cheese, then you're in for a treat, because "Shi Jie Da Shai" is full of 1980s cheese, for better or worse. I found the movie to be semi-watchable, but it was not an outstanding movie experience. Nor is is a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time.
And something I don't understand about the 1980s movie's that were made in Hong Kong and then released worldwide got such terrible dubbing work done, every single time. And "Shi Jie Da Shai" was no different. The dubbing in the movie was just toe-curling bad.
There were some fair enough action and martial arts scenes throughout the course of the 90 minutes that the movie ran for. But it was overshadowed by a rather inferior script, and the movie was ultimately suffering from that fact.
I am sure that there is a fan base out there for a movie such as "Shi Jie Da Shai", especially if you enjoy the work of Cynthia Rothrock. I just happen not to be a part of that particular club.
My rating of director Hoi Mang's 1989 movie lands on a four out of ten stars.
