The Heroic Trio (1993)
"Dung fong saam hap" (original title)

The all-female Heroic Trio are Tung (Wonder Woman), Chat (Thief Catcher), a mercenary, and Ching (Invisible Woman). Initially, they're on opposing sides - the invisible Ching is kidnapping ... See full summary »

Director:

Johnnie To

Writers:

Sandy Shaw, Jack Maeby (English version)

Stars:

Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Maggie Cheung	...	Chat / Thief Catcher / Mercy
Michelle Yeoh	...	Ching / Invisible Woman / Number 3 (as Michelle Khan)
Anita Mui	...	Tung / Wonder Woman / Shadow Fox
Damian Lau	...	Insp. Lau
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Kau (as Anthony Wong)
Paul Chun	...	Chief of Police (as Pei Chun)
James Pax	...	Inventor (as James Pak)
Shi-Kwan Yen	...	Evil Master (as Yee Kwan Yan)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cheuk Yan Chan
Patrick Keung
Siu-Kei Lee	...	Leader of robbers at chemical factory (as Zhaoji Li)
Zhaoxiang Ruan
Yat-fei Wong	...	Car thief (as Yifei Huang)
Tao Xu
Ruisheng Zheng

Storyline

The all-female Heroic Trio are Tung (Wonder Woman), Chat (Thief Catcher), a mercenary, and Ching (Invisible Woman). Initially, they're on opposing sides - the invisible Ching is kidnapping newborn male babies for her evil master, Tung is trying to solve the crime (rather more effectively than her policeman husband, who is unaware of her secret identity), and Chat, who was formerly employed by Ching's evil master, is trying to sell her services and inside knowledge to the police. But all three have something in common buried deep in their past...

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Plot Keywords:

gunfight | martial arts | invisibility | levitation | reverse footage | 

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English

Release Date:

12 February 1993 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

The Heroic Trio

Company Credits

Production Co:

China Entertainment Films Production, Paka Hill Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 86 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Tung: So you're a woman.
Chat: So you're a bitch.

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Connections

References The Flying Guillotine (1975)

User Reviews

A visual delight, but nothing more

This movie has widely been regarded as one of the best fantasies to come out of Hong Kong. That's quite an honor, keeping in mind many of the other well-known fantasy films that came out of HK. The movie indeed is style over substance, and there are many great moments...visual moments that will leave the inexperienced HK viewer in sheer awe. However, in spite of the many great moments, this movie is not necessarily what it has been made out to be.

The main problems exist with the action scenes. They are choreographed by Ching Siu Tung, whose credits include the Swordsman series, A Chinese Ghost Story, and Dr. Wai, to name a few. The action scenes are much too short and the sword fights look like exhibitions, there's no intensity in them. Also, there is little real martial arts in the whole film. Michelle Yeoh's talents are essentially wasted (except in a quick fight w/ Anthony Wong at the beginning).

There are some great moments in this film. Anita Mui running across the telephone wires, the flying motorcycle in the train station, and such. The wire work and cinematography is very good and almost awe-inspiring at times. The special FX are pretty good as well.

This movie is a lot like Swordsman II. There's a lot of awesome visions and visual delights, but the action lacks any intensity and the talents of the leads are wasted (both Jet Li in Swordsman II and Michelle Yeoh in this). In the end, the film is entertaining but is essentially overrated for what it is.