A newly married police officer and her fellow cop-sisters-in-law take down a Vietnamese cartel in the explosive action flick She Shoots Straight, out now on Blu-Ray from 88 Films.
88 Films brings us Corey Yuen’s 1990 film She Shoots Straight, another Golden Harvest flick co-produced by Sammo Hung’s Boho Productions and featuring Hung in a supporting role. It’s a blast, with furious female fighters front and center. With a thrilling story, interesting characters, and a slam-bang, amazingly violent finale, I highly recommend She Shoots Straight, written by Kai-Chi Yuen and Barry Wong.
Mina Kao, played by Joyce Godenzi, is a police officer. She’s also the new bride to Huang Tsung-Poe, as portrayed by Tony Ka Fai Leung. He’s also a police officer. So are his sisters. And his deceased dad. His mom isn’t an officer, but she’s also a certified badass. Sammo Hung plays the husband to one of the sisters (he doesn’t fight, sorry Hung fans). In a fun note, Godenzi is married to Hung, and has been since this film, and she previously played his ex in Paper Marriage! Also, she’s fantastic, bringing both the drama and action needed. Boy, can she ride a motorcycle in a really awesome sequence! Anyway… Despite all sharing the profession, the sisters are not so keen on Godenzi. They see her as a distraction to their beloved brother. She’s also newly promoted above them. Ripe for some character drama between the set pieces. The blending of the families and how they all work creates a personal, family drama within the building action.
But this is an action movie first and foremost. And it fully delivers with a variety of well-constructed sequences that build up across the film. Corey Yuen is a proven action director, stemming from a long career in stunt work, with Righting Wrongs, The Transporter (yes, the Jason Statham flick), and more. He’s also one who works quickly for great results, so many films were directed during this period. For much of the film, it’s a series of police adventures as the sisters and bride protect a princess at a fashion show, perform drug busts, and more, circling closer and closer to the Vietnamese gang, their leader, Way Yuen, most known to American audiences for Kung Fu Hustle and Shang-Chi in a wonderfully evil role, and his increasing plan. A tragic event soon joins both ends, finding a commonality among the sisters and wife and sending all of them, including the mother, into action. I love her; played by Pik-Wan Tang with a feverish dragon energy.
But I loved watching them all go at it. Yuen gathered quite an action team. It moves with a certain energy, blasting through its 89 minutes with verve, but not feeling too quick. Each of those sequences builds the whole, held up by the strong character drama. With great characters, character dynamics, fantastic action bits, and a wonderful villain, She Shoot Straight is a highly recommended Hong Kong action police flick.
The Package
88 Films releases She Shoots Straight on a single Blu-ray, housed in a clear Blu-ray case. It features a reversible sleeve, one side with a Cantonese poster and the other with new art by Sean Longmore. It is all bound in a thicker-than-normal O-ring, with the new art.
The Presentation
She Shoots Straight has a new 2k scan from the original negative. It looks amazing, with lots of action and color, big movement; nothing is lost as it flies. Sounds great too, often featuring many voices overlapping and large action, flows easily without blending. There are 4 audio choices: two in Cantonese with original mono and a new stereo; and two English dubs, a new 5.1 and a “classic” 2.0. I didn’t listen to them all to see how they differentiated in translation or overall sound. Subtitles are in English.
The Features
Eureka released a Blu-ray back in 2023. For the 88 Films release, they ported over one of the two commentaries and the English credits, but not the other commentary, an interview, and a shooting locations featurette. But do add an interview with the screenwriter.
Commentary
Another great commentary by Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng. Djeng gets into the details of the production and cast, along with the hows of the film, with his normal zip and interest. As I’ve said before, Djeng gives a great commentary.
Screenwriter Interview
A wide-reaching and fascination conversion with Kai-Chi Yuen, one of the screenwriters of the film. He has a wonderful, lengthy history in martial arts films, working with the legendary Shaw Brothers and Hark Tsai (who we just saw last week with Knock Off). I enjoyed writing to the specific actors and working with Sammo Hung. Sad to hear thoughts about the Hong Kong cinema changing as China asserted more control. (16m)
English Credits
The opening and closing credits are in English with a new title: Lethal Lady.
Image Gallery
Features posters and production stills
Trailer
Final Thoughts
She Shoots Straight is a wonderful action-drama. I had a blast watching this. Always nice to find something new to love that I missed before. 88 Films gives a great transfer, several sound options, and a good selection of features, namely another great commentary. Highly recommended.