COMMANDO FURY is one of dozens of Asian Z-grade flicks that director Godfrey Ho put his name to in the 1980s; this one's a women-in-prison thriller rather than a ninja movie. However, being an IFD movie it shares similar production values with Ho's cheesy action output, and is generally a low rent and inferior production. The story mixes the usual prison stereotypes with some spy-style mayhem involving a hidden microfilm. The second half of the production is where this picks up, with a jailbreak followed by some jungle adventure including a somewhat incongruous scene involving a man-eating tree. A number of shoot-outs keep this watchable, although there's none of the sleaze or nudity the genre is known for. The bloody beach climax is worth the wait too.
2 Reviews
Tedious and mildly bizarre "Women in Prison" potboiler
violentstruggle8630 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Slow-going and un-involving "women behind" flick apparently originating from Hong Kong, though like so many allegedly Godfrey Ho-related exploits (see Thunder of Gigantic Serpent), I've never seen any evidence to suggest that this was ever released in its native country.
Though the IMDb for some reason lists this as a direct remake of the infinitely superior "Golden Queens Commando", aside from a few vague conceptual similarities, the two share absolutely nothing. Interestingly however, the opening "IDF Films and Arts Limited" credit is displayed over a shot of Teresa Tsui taken directly from "Pink Force Commando" (as if to mimic the iconic Columbia Pictures "Torch Lady" logo), and the lead villain bares more than a passing resemblance to the unrelated 'Pink Commander' character from that same film which I find hard to consider to be coincidental.
Also unlike the wonderfully tight and well-paced "Golden Queens Commando", the otherwise-unknown Chester Yang's "Commando Fury" ambles about seemingly aimlessly for the most part of its 85-minute running time, without really bothering to define or establish any noteworthy characters or situations. I had no idea who anyone was or what their motivations were for the vast majority of the film; there's something about a coveted microfilm, and characters keep making vague statements like "We've made a deal with Mister Wu" and "We must act sooner", but none of it seems to mean much of anything as the movie is more concerned with showing us scenes of the women prisoners being tortured and humiliated in various ways. It isn't until the sixty-minute mark that seven characters finally escape the prison, and the movie seems to attempt to save all its explanations for the final act, but by then, I didn't especially care anymore.
Once the women have finally escaped, the film kicks into a high gear of sorts with various shoot-outs, double-crosses, and even an utterly illogical attack by evil man-eating trees. Of particular note is the section where one of the women is shot in the backside during a gunfight, culminating with the graphic campfire-side removal of the bullet with a hunting knife by her comrades. (Before you get excited, no, there is no nudity whatsoever and yes, it really is quite discomforting to watch.) The showdown on the beach, which (SPOILERS) kicks off with yet another double-cross and ultimately leaves every character in the film bar one dead, is unquestionably the highlight, but by the time it finally arrives you'd likely find yourself wondering whether it was really worth the time getting there. At the very least, the huge bloody explosion which wraps things up is memorable, and the sight of several characters getting suddenly shot or stabbed, only to get up and continue fighting, is fairly amusing.
Exploitation-wise, there are some appropriately bloody gunshots, and several catfights in the prison, but the action choreography is below par, the dialogue is mostly flat, and there is no nudity to speak of (one attempted rape scene early in the film appears to have been censored).
Ultimately, this film probably isn't worth the hassle to track down Ð and even if you can find it, your only option is apparently a dreary, dubbed, pan-and-scanned VHS copy from the late 80s. Besides, even if the things described above sound titillating, they are badly handled, and the film as a whole is lethargic and unmemorable. See it only if "women in prison" flicks are your thing and you've exhausted every other possible opportunity.
Though the IMDb for some reason lists this as a direct remake of the infinitely superior "Golden Queens Commando", aside from a few vague conceptual similarities, the two share absolutely nothing. Interestingly however, the opening "IDF Films and Arts Limited" credit is displayed over a shot of Teresa Tsui taken directly from "Pink Force Commando" (as if to mimic the iconic Columbia Pictures "Torch Lady" logo), and the lead villain bares more than a passing resemblance to the unrelated 'Pink Commander' character from that same film which I find hard to consider to be coincidental.
Also unlike the wonderfully tight and well-paced "Golden Queens Commando", the otherwise-unknown Chester Yang's "Commando Fury" ambles about seemingly aimlessly for the most part of its 85-minute running time, without really bothering to define or establish any noteworthy characters or situations. I had no idea who anyone was or what their motivations were for the vast majority of the film; there's something about a coveted microfilm, and characters keep making vague statements like "We've made a deal with Mister Wu" and "We must act sooner", but none of it seems to mean much of anything as the movie is more concerned with showing us scenes of the women prisoners being tortured and humiliated in various ways. It isn't until the sixty-minute mark that seven characters finally escape the prison, and the movie seems to attempt to save all its explanations for the final act, but by then, I didn't especially care anymore.
Once the women have finally escaped, the film kicks into a high gear of sorts with various shoot-outs, double-crosses, and even an utterly illogical attack by evil man-eating trees. Of particular note is the section where one of the women is shot in the backside during a gunfight, culminating with the graphic campfire-side removal of the bullet with a hunting knife by her comrades. (Before you get excited, no, there is no nudity whatsoever and yes, it really is quite discomforting to watch.) The showdown on the beach, which (SPOILERS) kicks off with yet another double-cross and ultimately leaves every character in the film bar one dead, is unquestionably the highlight, but by the time it finally arrives you'd likely find yourself wondering whether it was really worth the time getting there. At the very least, the huge bloody explosion which wraps things up is memorable, and the sight of several characters getting suddenly shot or stabbed, only to get up and continue fighting, is fairly amusing.
Exploitation-wise, there are some appropriately bloody gunshots, and several catfights in the prison, but the action choreography is below par, the dialogue is mostly flat, and there is no nudity to speak of (one attempted rape scene early in the film appears to have been censored).
Ultimately, this film probably isn't worth the hassle to track down Ð and even if you can find it, your only option is apparently a dreary, dubbed, pan-and-scanned VHS copy from the late 80s. Besides, even if the things described above sound titillating, they are badly handled, and the film as a whole is lethargic and unmemorable. See it only if "women in prison" flicks are your thing and you've exhausted every other possible opportunity.
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