In the Line of Duty III (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Jan 03, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Arthur Wong/Brandy YuenRelease Date(s)
1988 (August 13, 2024)Studio(s)
D&B Films (88 Films)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: C
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
Some franchises are born; others are made. Still others are... well, made up out of whole cloth. That’s especially true of international productions, where dubbing, new titles, and creative editing can connect dots that were never intended to be connected in the first place. The most notorious example of that might be the American Robotech saga, which awkwardly stitched together three completely unrelated Japanese series: Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA. The same thing has happened in the world of Hong Kong filmmaking, where dubbed export versions have been tied together retroactively. Further complicating matters, the feedback loop of the import/export process has resulted in that kind of revisionism working its way back to Hong Kong, resulting in plenty of entertainment value for fans, but confusion for anyone who tries to create a straightforward catalogue of all the films. Such is the case with the In the Line of Duty franchise.
Turning In the Line of Duty into a series was an afterthought from the original production company D&B Films, so the confusion is exacerbated by the fact that the franchise doesn’t actually start at the beginning. The first film in the series, Royal Warriors (aka Wong ga jin si), had been moderately successful when it was exported as In the Line of Duty. D&B wanted to cash in on that success quickly, so they took a completely different film that had been released the previous year, Yes, Madam! (aka Huang jia shi jie), and retitled it In the Line of Duty II (or some variant thereof) for other markets. That was followed by two films that openly used the same naming system in Hong Kong as well: In the Line of Duty III (aka Huang jia shi jie zhi III: Ci xiong da dao) and In the Line of Duty IV (aka Wong ga si je IV: Jik gik jing yan). Yet even that moderate level of consistency was quickly discarded, with the next three films once again carrying their own titles in Hong Kong while still being exported as In the Line of Duty films in some other markets.
However confusing all of that may be, one thing is perfectly clear: most of these films have little or nothing to do with each other. Royal Warriors and Yes, Madam! both star Michelle Yeoh, but playing completely different characters. Cynthia Khan did end up playing the same character for the rest of the franchise, but that’s the only real connection between any of the films. The true unifying factor is that they’re all “girls with guns” cop thrillers, most of them on a slightly more serious level than rival studio Golden Harvest’s The Inspector Wears Skirts franchise. These women kick major ass regardless of the titles, and that’s all that really matters in the end.
In the Line of Duty III might come as something of a surprise to anyone who starts with either of the two previous installments, no matter what order that you choose to watch them. It opens with a particularly bloody heist staged by Genji Nakamura (Stuart Ong) and Michiko Nishiwaki (played by actor Michiko Nishiwaki). Genji and Michiko are a pair of thieves working for the Red Army terrorist group, and they’re partners both personally and professionally. Their ensuing escape leads to the death of a Japanese police detective, and worse, the whole heist ends up having been a double-cross. The carnage results in Inspector Rachel Yeung (Cynthia Khan) from the Serious Crimes Section of the Royal Hong Kong Police being assigned to the case, against the wishes of her superior office Cameron Cheun (Paul Chun), who happens to be her uncle and he just wants to keep her safe. Yet when Yeung ends up being partnered with the Japanese detective Hiroshi Fujioka (played by Hiroshi Fujioka, naturally), Fujioka’s personal connections to the case and the ruthlessness of their intended quarry means that pretty much no one in Hong Kong will be safe for long.
That’s not much of an exaggeration, either. If Yes, Madam! is the comic odd man out in the In the Line of Duty franchise, then In the Line of Duty III serves as its polar opposite. Collateral damage is the rule of the day, with a massive body count that easily trumps anything else in the entire series. The opening heist is an open bloodbath, with Genji and Michiko displaying a complete lack of regard for anyone or anything that gets in their path. As with Royal Warriors, that sparks a cycle of revenge that in this case results in the digging of countless graves. Directors Arthur Wong and Brandy Yuen stage the carnage competently enough, and they really lean into showing the aftermath of the action, including the gruesome results of a car colliding with one of the villains (in a moment that would have made Paul Verhoeven proud). Between all of that and a fairly graphic sex scene that comes out of left field (no pun intended), In the Line of Duty III skirts the edge of a Category III classification, and the fact that the Triads aren’t involved may have been the only thing that prevented it from being given the more restrictive rating. The whole thing might seem tonally inconsistent with the rest of the franchise, but since it never really was a franchise in the first place, that’s probably a feature, not a bug.
Cinematographers Kam-Hung Au and Bo-Man Wong shot In the Line of Duty III on 35mm film using spherical lenses, framed at 1.85:1 for its theatrical release. 88 Films describes this version as a “2K remaster from the original camera negative,” with no other information available. The results are sharp, detailed, and clear, with the encode doing a fine job of handling not just the film grain, but also abundant steam and smoke during the final fight. (Although as an aside, just where the hell did that dynamite come from?) The colors look natural if a bit brownish, but that’s consistent with the rest of the series, and the contrast range is quite good. Overall, compared to Royal Warriors and Yes, Madam!, this master is a definite step up in terms of image quality.
Audio is offered in Cantonese and English dubbed 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, with optional English subtitles. The Cantonese dialogue has an unpleasantly harsh edge to it, almost cutting at times, and there’s some nasty distortion in the score by Fei-Lit Chan. It almost sounds like a blown speaker driver, with actual buzzing at peak levels. The video may have taken one step forward, but the audio took a giant leap backwards in this case.
The 88 Films Blu-ray release of Royal Warriors features a reversible insert with new artwork by Sean Longmore on one side, and the original theatrical poster artwork on the other. The following extras are included:
- Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and Michael Worth
- Interview with John Sham (HD – 25:41)
- Hong Kong Trailer (HD – 3:12)
- English Trailer One (HD – 3:10)
- English Trailer Two (Upscaled SD – 3:37)
- English Credits (HD – 2:20)
The commentary features programmer and former Tai Seng Entertainment marketing manager Frank Djeng, paired with filmmaker and martial artist Michael Worth. Djeng always gonna Djeng, so he naturally dominates the proceedings, offering a wealth of information about the production and release of In the Line of Duty III. (Worth clearly knows his stuff, but no one can keep up with the rapid-fire Djeng.) They offer the usual breakdown of the cast, crew, and locations, and they don’t shy away from extreme levels of violence and sexuality in the film. (Note that this is a completely different track than the solo commentary that Djeng recorded for the 2023 Region B Blu-ray release from Eureka! in the U.K.)
The rest of the extras are pretty thin: aside from a collection of trailers, there’s just the English-language title sequence and an interview with actor/producer John Sham, who describes himself as “an old timer” before offering an overview of his four-decade long career, including his role in founding D&B Films. Missing from the Eureka! version is the alternate solo Djeng commentary and a second commentary with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. You’ll want to hold onto that disc if you already own it, but for those who aren’t multi-region capable, this 88 Films version offers a good Region A-friendly alternative. In the Line of Duty III is a rather nasty little film, but it’s still an important one in the development of the franchise.
- Stephen Bjork
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