88 Films Blu-ray Synopsis: To save the Hong Kong Police Force's Banshee Squad from becoming defunct, the struggling new squad members seek the help of former officers Amy (Sandra Ng Kwan Yue), now a divorced mom with a young kid, and May (Kara Hui),now partially mentally-unstable, to help them with their training regiment, lead by Madame Yang (Cynthia Khan). Their police skills are put to the test when they are ordered to nab a band of brutal thugs in the city. (94 Mins)

 

Deltamac Hong Kong DVD Synopsis: The Thorny Roses, a task force composed entirely of girls, is the pride of the Hong Kong Police Force. In a major operation, May suffers a broken arm, another king pin, Amy, is depressed as her boyfriend Nam deserts her. This leads the a morale problem. New trainees, on the other hand, fail to live up to expectations. There is top level talk of disbanding the task force altogether, to be substituted by the lady cops under Yang. Then there is a big fight between police and a big gang. Some gangsters escape into a school where Nam is teaching and hold Amy's son as hostage... (90 Mins)

 

Views: The fourth and final chapter of the popular action-comedy series tries its best to go back to the first film, yet at the same time, shifts its comedy up another gear making The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 one of the wildest and craziest yet. Although it has only a few of the original cast members left, the film still proves to be highly entertaining and just as action packed as the original – which is always a good thing! Opening with a bloody and comically violent action scene that challenges that of the first, the film soon cuts to a short selection of black and white cartoon slides accompanied with a narration that explains what happened to most of the original team members before introducing the newly formed and equally troublesome Skirts Squad!

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Unfortunately, the film ran for one week only on the big screen taking in just over 1 million HKD – which wasn't great at all. Ironically, The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is a hugely entertaining piece that has thankfully went onto gain a large following over the last 30 years. Produced and directed by Wellson Chin once again, the film was made under the banner of another new independent studio, Try Ease Productions alongside P. U. Productions – both of which launched with Chin's own insane Street Fighter 2-inspired madcap action-comedy, Super Lady Cop, which was made just before this. Of course, that film starred the beautiful Cynthia Khan who was then invited by the director to star here as the new squad Madam (replacing the wonderful Sibelle Hu as the leader of the all-new Skirts squad) and she does not disappoint as she kicks, punches, shoots, and flies on multiple occasions. In fact, Khan looks amazing during her fight scenes and, while artfully doubled for some of her more trickier moves, proves that she can bust a move and deliver some great kicks. Of course, before this the Taiwanese beauty had already impressed in films such as In The Line Of Duty 3: Force Of The Dragon, ITLOD 4: Witness, ITLOD 5: Middle Man, ITLOD 6: Forbidden Arsenal, and ITLOD 7: Sea Wolves, as well as hits like Tiger Cage 2, Queens High, Deadend Of Besiegers, and more.

 

Another welcome addition to the series is the delightful and incredible Moon Lee Choi Fung who already had a busy year starring in films such as Secret Police, Mission Of Justice, Kickboxer's Tears, and the equally whacky action-comedy, The Big Deal – which clearly got her warmed up for this. Here, Moon plays against type delivering a nervous young officer who hates violence, really only getting to show her martial skills in a quick scuffle while training with Cynthia, then again in the last 5 minutes when she is pushed to her limit. Interestingly, only a year after this, both Khan and Lee would star together in the much darker action-thriller A Serious Shock! Yes Madam! - also known as Death Triangle – alongside regular cohort Yukari Oshima. Of course, the three of them would appear together one last time after that in the hugely underrated Avenging Quartet later that year...

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The girls are joined by Skirt squad veterans Sandra Ng and Kara Hui, with the former now an obsessed mother whose son becomes a hostage in their final mission, and the latter having spent some time in a mental institution which leads to some wildly hilarious moments. In fact, it's been interesting seeing Hui's character progress from such a stern, serious officer in the first movie to becoming one of the main comedic elements of the last – often coming across as if she has been underused, but still getting to bust some moves when it comes to the action department. Prior to this, Hui would star with Cynthia Khan in the fun Zen Of Sword and would go onto star alongside her the following year in Madam City Hunter, delivering yet another wacky role. As usual, Sandra Ng steals most scenes that she is in, having starred in over 20 more films since Raid On Royal Casino Marine and becoming one of Hong Kong cinema's most cherished stars. Cute child actor, Cheng Pak Lam, stars as her hilarious son – returning to star for Wellson Chin since making his debut as the little Buddha in the fun Prince Of The Sun alongside Cynthia Rothrock. In between, Pak Lam would appear in films such as A Bite Of Love, The Story Of My Son, To Catch A Thief, Son On The Run, and others.

 

The hilarious Billy Lau helps see things out as the last surviving cast member of the Tiger Squad, continuing his abuse and getting abused of the women around him. Having been in the film industry a good decade by this stage, Lau had made well over half of his filmography at this point with 75 titles behind him, and many alongside his hilarious on-screen lover/hater Sandra Ng. The great Wu Fung returns as the troubled superintendent, with Teddy Yip and Paul Fonoroff starring as his superiors. Joanna Chan, who appeared in the first and second movies as a squad member, returns for a cameo as does the lovely Yip San who is now heavily pregnant and unable to join their mission. The brilliantly funny Sheila Chan, who also starred in the aforementioned Prince Of The Sun, joins the cast as Billy Lau's insanely jealous wife – a fault that drives her to ridiculous lengths which delivers a host of big laughs as Jackie Chan's legendary Police Story is lampooned a number of times throughout. Prior to this, Sheila had appeared with a number of her co-stars and crew in films such as Mortuary Blues, All For The Winner, and All's Well End's Well, going onto join Khan and Hui in Madam City Hunter soon after this.

 

Returning from the previous chapter, although in different and bigger roles respectively, is the late Peter Chan Lung and Korean actor Choe Jeong Il with the former playing the right-hand-man to the fast kicking terrorist. Having started his Hong Kong film career just a decade earlier alongside Gordon Liu in Shaolin Drunken Monk, Choe would later take on Cynthia Rothrock under Chin's direction in Prince Of The Sun and later again against Cynthia Khan in the aforementioned Super Lady Cop. Over the years, he would also star in films such as Never Say Regret, Midnight Angel, License To Steal, and Caged Beauties, later appearing again with Moon Lee in Beauty Investigators and Ms. Khan in the little seen Ultimate Revenge. It's also worth noting that the great James Tien co-stars here as his father, whose capture by the police is what drives him to take a school class hostage and force the kids to swallow miniature bombs.

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The late-great Alan Chui – star of over 130 movies including 7 Grandmasters, Broken Oath, Incredible Kung Fu Mission, Angel Terminators, Last Hero In China, and Election 2 among many others – handles the wild and frenetic action which helps the film zip along at a great pace, offering up just as much action than the first (if not more). Assisted by star Choe Jeong Il himself, each fight proves to be highly exciting allowing all involved to show off their skills, from the aforementioned opening to Kara Hui's great kung fu display, the fun sparring matches to Cynthia Khan's endless showdowns with the villains that sees his Terminator-like gun and jet boots put to good use. Of course, Chui had just directed her and Choe Jeong Il in the wild Super Lady Cop which most likely helped their relationship here, with both stars trading some amazing moves and Ms. Khan delivering one of her best physical performances of this period. A few years later, Alan and Cynthia would work together one more time in Yuen Biao's entertaining but low budget Tough Beauty & the Sloppy Slop that would see Chui both choreograph and direct.

 

While more Wong Jing in style and often wild in every aspect, The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 may not have been a big hit upon release, but it certainly hasn't lost any steam along the way either. Packed with mad comedy, satire, and hard hitting action scenes, the film proves to be a great closing chapter to a fun series and one that deserves to gain a new audience from today's fans of Hong Kong action cinema!

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Overall: Hilarious for the most part and action packed, The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is the perfect end to the series and a lot of crazy fun!

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88 Films Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng, Stills Gallery, Trailer

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Get your copy HERE

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Watch my unboxing video of this 88 Film's release HERE