Miao tan shuang long (1989) User Reviews

An average HK Rothrock vehicle.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 2 February 2007]

I am a huge fan of late 80s/early 90s HK martial arts movies; some of the greatest fight flicks of all time came from this period. Unfortunately, City Cops is not one of them.

With its overly simplistic plot (an FBI agent seeks a runaway informant, who is also being hunted by nasty gangsters) and some dreadful attempts at humour (check out the truly unfunny 'sex-pest' and 'AIDS' scenes), the movie drags terribly until the final fight scene, which is admittedly great, but a very long time in coming.

Cynthia Rothrock (once again playing a character named Cindy) isn't given enough opportunity to show off her amazing martial arts skills, with too much of the film's running time spent on the lame comedy rather than delivering impressive fight scenes. Likewise, the physically impressive Michiko Nishiwaki is also underused, only getting to shine briefly towards the end, when she gets to go one-on-one with Ms. Rothrock.

The finale also features some frenetic gun-play, during which many white-overall-ed henchmen get sprayed with bullets (blood squibs look so much more impressive against white, don't you think?).

Still preferable to most of Cynthia Rothrock's US output, but nowhere near as good as the classic Police Assassins, City Cops is average at best.

A longer fight

[focond · 6/10 · 27 September 2000]

This movie is not that bad,but it'd have been better,if the final fight between Cynthia Rothrock and Michiko Nishiwaki had lasted longer,since both these actresses are greatly skilled in martial arts and therefore they should have displayed their fighting abilities more than they did.Instead of wanting to be funny, ironic at any cost,something which happens in almost any Hong Kong movie,it would have been far more interesting to see the differences between the two styles of fighting(Rothrock and Nishiwaki 's ). The acting of the whole cast is however unluckily blameworthy,anyway,as I said at the beginning of my review,it's not such a bad movie and I even think,it needs even a sequel;after all,if you have seen this movie, you'll know that Cynthia's opponent hasn't taken her revenge yet.

Lesser girls 'n' guns Hong Kong actioner

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 8 March 2017]

CITY COPS is a standard Hong Kong action vehicle for US star Cynthia Rothrock, made just before she returned to the States for the rest of her career. It's a low budget effort that's far below the likes of POLICE ASSASSINS in terms of quality, although it's not without merit for those who are fans of this girls-and-guns genre. The film was directed by Lau Kar-Wing, himself a noted martial artist and sometime actor.

This film's bog-standard plotting is the worst thing about it. It sees a trio of cops, including Rothrock's character, going after the Triads who have connections with Western and Japanese gangsters. There's something about the hunt for a stolen microfilm but for the most part this is content to amble along with some very dated comedy scenes which aren't a patch on those found in the more popular Hong Kong comedies.

Rothrock is an asset here but she's off screen for too long, especially in the middle section. However, I did enjoy seeing stock bad guy actor Shing Fui-On getting to play a heroic cop for a change, as he's very good at it too and a shame he was so typecast because of his face. Japanese actress Michiko Nishiwaki appears too, but only at the action climax. Speaking of which, there are some brief fights dotted throughout, but it's only at the violent warehouse climax that this film offers the kind of intense action that this genre is known for, with bullets spraying everywhere and participants squaring off for one-on-one bouts. It's good, but a little too little, too late.

Nothing to see here, citizen, move along

[ckormos1 · 2/10 · 11 May 2017]

This is one of those reviews where I find myself asking "Isn't there anything good you can say about this movie?" Answer = no. The plot is random scene or setting where the actors have a random misunderstanding. There are many attempts at humor and they not only fail but become insufferable. It is hard to believe that AIDS was once comedy material. "You got AIDS!" and everyone laughs.

The end final fight was a warehouse set and Cynthia and Michiko were primed to have at it. It was too little and too late.

I watched it once to write this review and I will never watch it again.

Underrated Hong Kong Action Comedy!!

[Movie-Misfit · 7/10 · 22 June 2020]

Kicking off in the US, with Ken Tong Chun Yip being captured and tortured by some gangsters in a beautifully lit, abandoned warehouse at night, we get straight to the action with FBI investigator Cynthia Rothrock, busting in to save him. After a brief, but fun fight, Tong escapes and heads back to Hong Kong. Once in there, Tong falls under the protection of 2 bumbling cops in the shape of the hilarious Shing Fui On, and charming Michael Mui. This happens after they arrest him during a groping incident while Tong was in drag, and soon leads to some very non-PC, crazy comedy scenes, full of gay innuendo's, AIDS jokes, and flirting as Tong keeps up the gay man act. It isn't long though, before he escapes their company and disappears. Rothrock soon arrives on the scene and joins the cops in their search for him and the much-wanted micro-film, he happens to have!

Of course, things aren't so simple with Japanese gangsters getting involved which leads to some fantastic action scenes, plenty of hilarity, and a great finale between Rothrock and the wonderful Michiko Nishiwaki...

Released in the UK as Beyond The Law, to feed off the success of her earlier hits Above The Law (Righting Wrongs) and Above The Law 2 (The Blonde Fury), Hong Kong action-comedy City Cops is, to me, such an underrated Hong Kong film that I highly enjoy. Packed with some great comedy sequences, and a number of fun fight scenes, Beyond The Law is a lot of fun, and probably ignored by a lot of Rothrock fans, and those who love the femme-fatale sub-genre of HK cinema. I love the pairing of Mui and On as the awkward cops, the love relationship between Shing and Rothrock, and think this is probably the coolest Cynthia has ever looked in a Hong Kong film, with costumes actually complimenting for once, and her hair only changing a couple of times.

When it comes to the fight scenes of course, Cynthia does not disappoint. Director and star in his own right, the great Lau Kar Wing, leads the team with Ridley Tsui supporting as choreographer, and the likes of Hung Yan Yan and Dion Lam behind them on stunts. And while its not bursting with action every 5 minutes, there's still plenty going on, with some great choreography and moves on show. The cast is pretty sweet too with the aforementioned stars joined by a host of gwailo baddies such as Mark Houghton from any number of Girls-With-Guns flicks, John Ladalski from Armour Of God and Ninja The Protector, Wayne Archer also from Armour, and Ken Goodman from the Catman movies. Hong Kong regular Wu Fung stars as the commanding officer to the cops, with Shikamura Yasuyoshi from God Of Gamblers and Killers Romance as the gangster boss, and the great Michiko Nishiwaki as his main weapon. Its definitely not a boring cast.

As with most Hong Kong films of this period, Beyond The Law certainly has its flaws, but totally entertains in many respects. The classic English dub does add to this I have to admit, with some cracker lines that have me howling every time. From its comedy to fight scenes, stunt-work to memorable theme tune, this was a film I loved to watch over and over again when I first got it in my early teens. Its also great to see the late, great Shing Fui On in a good guy role rather than the extreme, angry gangster he usually plays. His relationship with Rothrock is also hilarious!

The only downside for me is that Nishiwaki only appears for the last 20 minutes or so, but in doing so, allows for a fantastic end battle with Rothrock in a warehouse, which does the job and highly entertains, with some of her more acrobatic moves artfully doubled by Hong Kong's finest. Its a fight from the genre that is often overlooked, unfortunately, and while shorter than expected, should be seen more as one of Cindy's great Hong Kong finales...

Overall: It'll never go down as one of the best, but Beyond The Law is a lot of fun with some great fights and plenty of laughs!

Good Hong Kong Action Movie

[ebiros2 · 7/10 · 14 September 2012]

Three detectives, two from Hong Kong (Kiu-Wai Miu, Fui-On Shing), and one from FBI (Cynthia Rothrock) goes after a diamond smuggler (Ken Tong) in Hong Kong. They capture the Japanese ring leader who's buying the diamonds, but his sister (Michiko NIshiwaki) comes in to take revenge on the smuggler who sold her brother to the police.

The movie is well made. Each of the scenes are shot with beautiful background, and lighting. Hong Kong movie really had their act together by the late '80s. They had good actors, and quality production.

The movie has good humor, and action. It's funny and exciting at the same time.

The highlight are the fight scenes where Rothrock kicks her way through the bad guys. This is one of the best movie she's starred in. If you're a fan of Cynthia Rothrock, or Michiko Nishiwaki, you wouldn't want to miss this movie.

Awesome fight scenes

[gridoon · 7/10 · 3 September 2006]

Cynthia Rothrock is the American FBI agent who goes to Hong Kong to capture a man who has evidence against a bigger criminal. There she has to team up with two local cops and face an army of killers who are also after her target. I've seen about 10 Cynthia Rothrock films so far, and "City Cops" has perhaps some of her best fight scenes ever. She is in GREAT form here, intense and aggressive, and at the end she gets to face (for the only time in her career) the elastic Japanese goddess Michiko Nishiwaki. She also looks quite pretty in this one, and her target's sister is a real cutie as well. Of course the movie has its flaws (there is too much bantering between the two HK cops, and too much time is spent on their romantic complications), but I'm still giving it a high rating (*** out of 4) just for the fights. Any Cynthia fan should definitely see this.

An instant classic

[leonardconstantin61 · 8/10 · 1 November 2015]

I didn't have high expectations about this movie but i was really surprised. This film impressed me with its fight scenes, some good jokes(most of them were lame)and with the cast involved: Cynthia Rothrock, Michiko Nishiwaki & Mark Houghton. The final fight between Cynthia and Michiko didn't disappoint but i wanted to be a lil' bit longer. Ms.Rothrock had the same role that she had in films like: Yes Madam&Righting Wrongs. She plays convincingly her role and not like she was playing in one of her US movies. I like a lot her Chinese movies, are so much better than her US movies. Even Prince of the Sun (the last movie she had done in China) was better than China O'Brien for example. All in all this movie remains until this day a classic, believe or not, and Cynthia Rothrock's fans should not miss this one.

Great action-thriller fun - with a regrettably important asterisk

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 2 May 2022]

I'm a big fan of Richard Lo's score, which often sounds like a slightly more diverse, sophisticated take on the music we got in the 1987 'Teenage mutant ninja turtles' cartoon, or the live-action movies from the early 90s. I'm less of a fan of the English dubbing in the version of 'City cops' ('Miao tan shuang long') I was able to watch, inauthentic and questionably synced - I far prefer subtitles, any day - but so it goes. I like how the feature launches us quickly into an opening scene of action, and as is broadly true with most of star Cynthia Rothrock's films (at least those from the 80s and 90s), the fight choreography and sequencing is very well done. On the other hand, that the scene is so fast-pace, and defined by low lighting, makes one stop and rewind to get a better sense of who these characters are as we glimpsed them so quickly. From there the picture is characterized by light humor and levity as the plot gradually develops, which I've come to learn is not atypical for Hong Kong action flicks. How successful that attempted flavor is will vary wildly from one viewer to the next, and I say this in no small part because within minutes after that reasonably strong opening scene, we're greeted with prominent transphobia, homophobia, sexism, and - incredibly - infuriating, brazen serophobic remarks. How much the blame lies with prolific screenwriter Barry Wong for these ugly, unnecessary flourishes, versus how much can be chalked up to imperfect or deliberately rough translation in dubbing, is up for debate, but the viewing experience is immediately put on thin ice.

The broad strokes of the narrative are quite fine, and when they're not marred by unseemly prejudices, there's some sharp cleverness in the dialogue and scene writing - though also some tropes and action flick convention. Characters are mostly unremarkable, but serve their purpose well. I think the writing would have greatly benefited from a more trim, tight approach; the precise course of events isn't always entirely clear, especially in the more dramatic moments, and some small inclusions feel arbitrary. Still, more so than not - unwelcome indelicacies aside - I think Wong's contribution is capable.

Acting is at most a secondary concern in a film where martial arts action takes precedence, but the performances are suitable for the tenor here. And with that - again, importantly, the fight scenes are very well done, the one aspect we can dependably rely on. Some instances carry tones more playful or dire, and there's enough variety in the scene writing and orchestration of action sequences that they never feel overdone or repetitive. This component of 'City cops' is consistently exciting and entertaining, not least of all at the climax, to the point that it's unquestionably the film's top highlight.

From a technical standpoint I think the feature's construction is competent, comparable to like titles from the same timeframe. In general I think the picture is a good bit of fun. I simply wish more care were put into the writing; it is what lays the foundation for all that is well done, but also bears enough flaws and shortcomings as to dampen the entertainment. The first twenty minutes or so needed to be rebuilt from scratch, excising tawdry, inappropriate dialogue, and just a tad more mindfulness and succinct clarity would have gone a long way towards strengthening the plot and its development. Ultimately I like 'City cops,' and I think it's fairly solid - but it could and should have been better than it is, and its completely extraneous faults sadly detract from delicious, ripe action.

Anyone who has difficulties with the more jocular nature of 80s Hong Kong martial arts won't find anything to change their mind, but those who appreciate the style should feel right at home. Once more, emphatically, the fight choreography is terrific, and all by itself constitutes value that makes 'City cops' worth a look. That the title is brought low by imperfect writing, and specifically by seedy garnishes early on, is deeply unfortunate. If you have a chance to watch this, I do think it's deserving, with the forewarning that it pointlessly and pointedly crosses a line almost right out of the gate.

Sigh.

City Cops

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 18 December 2022]

FBI agent Cynthia Rothrock travels to the Far East to investigate the disappearance of a key witness withholding incriminating evidence against the Japanese mafia and its hoard of gweilo minions. A couple of crass CID officers (played by Kirk Miu and Shing Fui-on) get involved and end up dominating the film, tagging the informant's sister to gather more evidence.

This Hong Kong actioner leans more towards comedy, some of it can be coarse and in bad taste, like it is in some Hong Kong productions, however I found the comic CID duo and their interactions quite amusing. Cynthia Rothrock has less screen time, and mainly here when there's time for some high-kicking action. The fight choreography here is quite good here- nice samurai sword play against Cynthia's double swords. A showdown with a Japanese babe at the finale. Not on the par with Yes,madam or Righting Wrongs, but still an entertaining and fun slice of comedy and kung fu.