Warrior Women (1981) Poster

(1981)

User Reviews

Review this title
5 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
5/10
Ladies and Gentlemen, how come we can't just get along?
lost-in-limbo20 April 2007
Female warriors populate an island, which men are not allowed to tread on and if they do they are locked up and have to wear chastity belts. If any trouble occurs they're either castrated or fed to the sharks. The island is rocked by on-going attacks by Pirates, bumbling treasure hunters and warriors from the Island of the Men. The men warriors want them to overthrow their law of throwing their male babies into the sea, as they themselves are actual survivors of this act and to hopefully live as one at their birthplace, but the female warriors have pride in their tradition to change. However a romance blossoms between the queen's sister and one of the male warriors.

Amazon women with a Taiwanese touch is way best to describe Yin-Ping Chu's simply odd and persistently hectic "Island Warriors". It's as cheap as you can get and the material is laughably (more often when it's unintentional) tacky kung fu trash with a very overwrought message to boot. It's far from being a bottom-of-the-barrel romp, because this tatty cheese-fest has gusto and a fast moving pace, which makes sure it never truly slides into any long dull patches and random flourishes of swiftly tailored combat is actually held together exceptionally well. I don't know if this is suppose to be exploitation, but what was lacking, was flesh. Although it did tease, but it never really fell into any warp sense of fulfilment. Also it's not particularly graphic with its cruelty and violence, but it still has some flinching moments… that's if you're a man! The story works in the conventional ingredients with the token forbidden love and screwball antics of a couple comic characters. Corn-filled dialogues are pretty junky and the performances range from hollow too overly ripe, but never distracting from the fun created. Yeung Wai-San is sternly fine as the Queen of the beauties island. Chu's direction might be unstructured, but its brusquely nature is fitting. The robustly spunky soundtrack can stick in some harmonious cues within the score, but it's always there in the background when not overpowering the scene. Also I could've sworn there was an Ennio Morricone musical piece ( I think it was the main theme for "Once Upon A Time In The West") inserted in there too. The film's photography is crafted in a mixture of brash close-ups too smoothly scope-like. A moderately fun, hokey and no-nonsense foray in the 'Land of the Beauties', where men should fear to trespass.
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Great bad old CHEESY Martial Arts Fun!
moonspry9923 August 2005
I actually really enjoyed this movie quite a lot (probably because I was expecting AWFUL, so was happily surprised. I really do enjoy bad old crappy movies, though. But if it's actually bad, I'll say it. This one was great cheesy-good bad. I found it to be a delight of bad acting, interesting story lines, and fun old style martial arts. There was also more back personal storyline than what I expected for this movie, and humorous moments that weren't meant to be funny (best kind!). I didn't think there were too many dull moments. The story kept going forward at a pace (even if it had 70's lull moments), and plenty of fighting and action heating up the end. Oh gloriously haughty and stubborn Amazon women. When will you learn that you NEED men?
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
"Island Warriors", is a weird movie, but sadly but not enough to sustain interest throughout the entirety of its running time.
tarbosh2200014 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
"Island Warriors", is a weird movie, but sadly but not enough to sustain interest throughout the entirety of its running time.

On the downside, it is basically, at its core, one of those generically "chop-socky" films with loud, ear-piercing dubbing, degrading film stock, and blaring, repetitive music. If this was the original Chinese release, it might be a different experience. On the upside, it has some unique touches. For examples, read on.

As you might imagine, the action takes place on an island. It is a magical land populated only by women. They pass the time doing musical numbers, gymnastics, and a human jump rope. (Which is two people swinging a person around while another person jumps over them.) All the women live inside, you guessed it, a giant female statue, that shoots cannons out of its eyes.

The balance of life is disrupted when three pirates arrive on the island. After the initial shock, it is determined by the queen that they should wear chastity belts. When one of the pirates removes his, he is castrated and becomes a flaming gay stereotype. After some more hilarity, the men realize that male babies are cast into the ocean and when they see a baby boy in a bucket, they rescue it and that brings them into conflict with the "island warriors".

The movie is surreal at times, as evidenced by how the island uses "pull-string" technology, where everything they want they get by pulling strings and there are some crazy, off-the-wall special effects and lights at the climax of the film.

Interestingly, the box art for the "Best Film and Video Co." VHS (the version reviewed here) features a generic photo of two men locked in kung-fu combat (See picture on the top of the page.) This has nothing to do with the film at hand and must have been taken by the company that released it. This is especially odd because the idea about an island of women has good potential for cool artwork. They do wear some great outfits in the film.

Die-hard martial arts fans might want to check it out, but for others, it might be a bit too ridiculous, as the so-called "comic relief" gets grating at times. Don't be afraid to get stranded on this "Island" tonight!

Comeuppance Review by: Ty & Brett

For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Planet of Women...Oh yeah! (It's driving me insane)
vegie18th5 October 2002
Nuts, completely nuts. This mixture of kung-fu, exploitation, and yes, feminist film (well, kinda) is great fun for those who can appreciate the bizarre. Admittedly not as kinky as more recent HK offerings, but this film actually reminded me of the ZZ Top song 'Planet of Women', you can sure as hell tell that a guy directed this one.
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed