Fortune Star/Legendary Collection HK DVD Synopsis: Five young and idealistic policemen: Bravo (Mark Cheng), Macho (Anthony Tang), Superstition (Pang Kuen Sun), Wealthy (Michael Wong), and Old Bachelor (Billy Lau) are determined to join the special squad. Instructor (Dean Shek), demands discipline, efficiency and obedience. Despite the hostility and hardships, the young officers begin to realize the instructor is passionate at heart. Eventually, they all respect him for his devotion and inspiration. On a silent night, they are summoned to an emergency assignment. A dozen of innocent citizen are held as hostages. The death of Bravo in their first successful mission sadden their high spirit and celebrating mood. (94 Mins)

 

Views: Beating the the Jackie Chan produced and hugely popular Inspector Wears Skirts/Top Squad (1988) to the big screen by a few years, this Cinema City production has so much in common it could almost pass as a sequel that tells the tale of the all-male Tiger Squad. After a squad of men arrive at a police training school, they are instantly put to the test by their ruthless instructor who is determined to make solid SDU members out of the playboys, slobs, and idiots among them. Once trained and ready for action, the team are sent on their first mission which sees them put all their training to use. While not as hilarious, daft or action-packed as it's Golden Harvest counterpart, the first 45 minutes of City Hero offers plenty of laughs and silliness as we get to know each of the new recruits, while their instructor has a great time putting them through hell. A fake hostage situation sees things get a little more serious for a while, before we return to more antics at the squad's Christmas party and attempts at love. Thankfully, this is interrupted by a call to arms and their first real mission that sees out the final 20 minutes – ironically, a hostage situation that sees the squad go up against some heavily armed and deadly robbers!

 

The wonderful and late Dean Shek stars as the SDU instructor, delivering another outrageous performance that was typical of his kung fu movie days; although it's quite clear he was really enjoying this. He's not exactly the kind of guy you would imagine they'd hire to train a team of elite SDU members, but he makes it work. Of course, the main focus is on five of the new recruits played by the brilliant Mark Cheng, Michael Wong, Anthony Tang, Bennett Pang, and Billy Lau who, incidentally, went onto play a very similar character in all of the Inspector Wears Skirts movies. Lau had only been on the scene a few years prior to starring in City Hero, but it would be 1985 that really saw his popularity rise after moving to the Golden Harvest studios. Starring in no less than 12 productions that year including Chase A Fortune, Cop Busters, Those Merry Souls, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, and Mr. Vampire (which was a highlight), Lau went onto appear in many Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan productions, quickly gaining a fan base as one of Hong Kong cinema's most enjoyable comedic actors. Jacked-up actor Anthony Tang also stars (in what was only his second role) and came across as a male version of Kara Wai's feisty character from Inspector Wears Skirts, while Bennett Pang Kin San – lead guitarist of 70's Hong Kong pop group The Wynners alongside Alan Tam, Kenny Bee, Danny Yip and Anthony Chan – co-stars as the comedy sidekick of the team. While he has starred in many films over the years, fans may recognise him as one of Jackie Chan's old band members in the Armour Of God (1986) flashback, that saw them spoof the very band he was a real member of...

 

All are joined by Mark Cheng and Michael Wong, both of whom look particularly gorgeous throughout. While Mark had made appearances previously in Mr. Virgin and Double Decker in 1984, he made his debut as the leading man of Ringo Lam's Cupid One just prior to this and stars as the main man of this newly formed team of commandos. I quite enjoyed him in City Hero, and have always been a fan of his work. Aside from starring for Dennis Yu in Evil Cat (1987), Cheng fast became a favourite of Hong Kong cinema with roles in films such as Peking Opera Blues (1986), Gunmen (1988), A Killer's Blues (1987), Story Of Kennedy Town (1990), Raped By An Angel (1993), A Taste Of Killing & Romance (1994), Tai Chi 2 (1996) and would star alongside his (then) wife, Yukari Oshima, in titles like Midnight Angel (1990), Godfather's Daughter Mafia Blues (1991), The Story Of The Gun (1992), Gambling Ghost Are Ready (1992), Kickboxer's Tears (1992) and more. With over 130 productions to his name, Cheng is still going strong today and can be seen in Donnie Yen's latest blockbuster, The Prosecutor (2025). But City Hero would be the feature film debut for his co-star Wong, whose highlight (for me) was during a hilarious shower scene that sees Wong and his team hurried through their wash before being made to 'fall in' outside. After Wong appears in a towel only, they are ordered to stand at ease, which makes his towel fall to the ground – an action that causes a passing female cyclist to crash into a parked car, and I don't blame her! Of course, soon after this, Michael went onto become a major player in Hong Kong cinema following up with prominent roles in Royal Warriors (1986), Legacy Of Rage (1986), In The Line Of Duty 4: Witness (1989), City Hunter (1993) and so much more. Oddly, Michael would return to the role of an SDU officer in The Final Option (1994) – a film that proved to be pretty popular with fans all over the world, and see him cast in similar roles throughout it's many sequels and other action movies throughout his career.

 

In a nutshell, City Hero is a strange one – but overall, I liked it. While it's title makes no sense whatsoever, the film itself still entertains and will definitely appeal to fans of the aforementioned Inspector Wears Skirts series which all followed a similar pattern. While most of it is played for laughs, but for the serious closing chapter and it's heartfelt twist, City Hero keeps you glued with an entertaining cast and enough charm that was typical of Hong Kong productions from this period. The film was produced and directed by Dennis Yu Wan Kwong, the same man behind the 1981 Hong Kong horror-classic, The Imp (1981) as well as movies such as The Beasts (1980), Musical Singer (1985), and Evil Cat (1987) – his final film as director which starred the late-great Lau Kar Leung and was based on a script by the prolific Wong Jing. While he only directed 7 films over a 7 year period, Yu also served as the producer on films such as Coolie Killer (1982), Nomad (1982), Yellow Peril (1984), Vampires Breakfast (1987) and more. An finally, for as much action as there is throughout the film, prolific supporting-actor and martial-arts director Law Keung is given the job of making everyone look good. Saying that, it's only major scene is the shoot-out in the last 15 minutes that sees a cameo by super-kicker Billy Chow. It's hardly groundbreaking, but it does the job and brings the film to a close in a very different tone to how this action-comedy began!

 

*As it stands, City Hero is part of the Golden Princess catalogue that will see it get a 2026 Blu-ray release in North American by Shout Factory and the UK by Arrow Films...

 

Overall: Entertaining to some degree with a great cast and some genuinely funny moments, City Hero is hardly a must, but it is worth a watch at least once!

 

Fortune Star/Legendary Collection DVD Extras: Trailer, Gallery