Regular Mad Mission stars Karl Maka, Sam Hui and Sylvia Chang are joined by Sally Yeh in You Only Die Twice, the fourth film in the popular (in Hong Kong, at least) series.
Once again, the movie is scripted by Karl Maka and is a mixture of silly comedy and crazy stunts, but director Ringo Lam (who would later give us the fantastic full Contact and impressive Burning Paradise) reins in the sillier aspects of the mayhem somewhat. This means that fans of the series thus far might be a bit disappointed by this offering, but I personally welcomed the change in style, having found the first three films unfunny and far too random for my liking.
Mad Mission 4 might never be considered a classic of 80s Hong Kong action/comedy, but by adding more excitement, introducing tougher fight scenes and gun battles (complete with squibs and bone crunching falls), and taking care over the cinematography, Lam makes this one just about worth watching.
This time around, the bad guy is played by none other than Ronald Lacey, the slimy Nazi with the scarred hand from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Looking identical to his character in the Spielberg classic, Ron hams it up as a villainous scumbag out to steal a prism that has the power to imbue a person with super-powers. When the crystal falls into the hands of bumbling cop Albert (Karl Maka), the leather trench-coat wearing baddie kidnaps the poor guy's wife and son.
Once again, Albert teams up with his happy-go-lucky jewel thief pal King Kong (Hui), and, with the assistance of a professor's daughter (Yeh), they attempt to pull off a daring rescue mission.
Highlights of the film include a tense scene in which Albert's son ends up dangling over the edge of a tower block, a helicopter in high-speed pursuit of Sam Hui in a speedboat, a fun locker-room fight scene, and a stunt-filled car chase.
