The Movie
From directors Siu-Tung Ching (Chinese Ghost Story) and Johnny To (Running Out of Time) comes an unusual and interesting film starring Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Anita Mui (Rumble in the Bronx) and Maggie Cheung (Supercop) in this action thriller of comic book style called "The Heroic Trio" (1992).

A rash of baby nappings in Hong Kong have the local police baffled. And well they should be as the culprit is using a cloak of invisibility. Ching, The Invisible Woman played by Yeoh, is stealing these babies at the direction of her master, the Demon-Lord of the Underworld. His plan is to select one to become the next emperor under his control, with the remaining tots being transformed into #9's, an army of assassins.

A masked Wonder Woman named Tung, played by Mui, is the local crime fighting heroine that shows up to protect the remaining children and find those that are missing. She is also the wife of a local police inspector assigned to the case (her real identity unknown to him), so she has an easy time getting close to the action. Chat, a gun-toting, motorcycle-riding mercenary turned Thief Catcher played by Cheung, appears on the scene to help out the cops and make a few bucks on the side by rescuing the snatched infants for the promise of reward by the parents.

Through flashbacks and other imagery it becomes clear the three diverse women are not strangers to one another. It turns out Ching and Cheung are friends separated in their childhood thanks to the control the evil lord had over them. Ching is also Tung's long lost sister who are later reunited by their matching tatoos. Through a rekindling of this friendship, Ching is helped to break the lord's control over her and join with the others to put an end to him and his crimes.

There are a lot of things that combine into making this movie a success. There are the Hong Kong wire-fu martial arts effects that are so popular in this type of action film. Three great Asian actresses are placed into a setting that historically has been almost exclusively male. It is given a comic book feel that is full of high flying battles that race the story along. And, there is imagery and symbolisms that separate the action sequences with a very dreamy feeling. All this together makes for an interesting and enjoyable film that breaks out of the mainstream thinking for this genre evoking feelings of concern, sadness and outright hilarity.

DVD
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1, 85 minutes.
Not to be confused with the same offering from Tai Seng Studios, an earlier release, that was 1.75:1, non-anamorphic.

Video
Not a perfect transfer but it is the best so far, and certainly better than the Seng release. The colors are brighter and the contrast better with good shadows and detail. Overall a very nice presentation.

Audio
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround).
Full sounding, natural with good surround and quite acceptable. Anita Mui sings two great songs on the soundtrack.

This is quite different from the Seng release that had the options of Cantonese/Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 2.0) in which the sound was shrill and distorted and the dubbing decidedly British. The Buena Vista version is English dubbed but is far superior and easily gotten into. I would, however, have liked an additional option to select the native Cantonese version with subtitling to get a sense of the actual inflections of the actors.

Menus
Static.
Play / Scene Select / Caption toggle / Trailer.

Extras
Only the theatrical trailer of the movie.

Final Thoughts
Great cinematography, both heart wrenching and humorous content and three of the best actresses out of Hong Kong make for a satisfying and enjoyable film. Followers of this genre of martial arts films are sure to be pleased with an unforgettable experience, and for new viewers, a great entry point to see what it's all about including a really outlandish ending. Recommended!