She Shoots Straight – Eureka Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1990
Director: Corey Yuen
Writers: Barry Wong, Corey Yuen, Kai-Chi Yuen
Cast: Joyce Godenzi, Carina Lau, Sammo Hung Kam-bo, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Yuen Wah

Release Date: September 18th, 2023
Approximate running time: 92 Minutes 28 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Cantonese, DTS-HD Surround Sound English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: £17.99 (UK)

"Inspector Mina is a career-focused officer who has just married her supervisor (Tony Leung Ka-fai), who himself comes from a family of dedicated police officers. Her new sisters-in-law (including Carina Lau – Ashes of Time, Days of Being Wild) are a little jealous that Mina outranks them, but when a gang of violent Vietnamese criminals (led by the always excellent Yuen Wah – Eastern Condors, Kung Fu Hustle) target the family, the sisters unite into a lethal force of vengeance.." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "a brand new 2K restoration."

She Shoots Straight comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray. 

Disc Size: 33.3 GB

Feature: 27.5 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Flesh tones and colors look correct; image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid; and the image looks organic.

Audio: 4.5/5 (LPCM Mono Cantonese), 4/5 (DTS-HD Surround Sound English)

This release comes with two audio options, an LPCM mono mix in Cantonese and a DTS-HD surround sound mix in English. Both audio tracks sound clear and balanced. That said, dialog and sound effects sound more robust on the Cantonese language track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Cantonese-language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 38 seconds, LPCM mono Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles), English language opening/closing credits under the title Lethal Lady (2 minutes 24 seconds, LPCM mono), a then and now locations featurette titled Shooting Locations (12 minutes 19 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with filmmaker Valerie Soe (7 minutes 19 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival), an audio commentary with action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, reversible cover art, an O-card slipcase (limited to 2,000 copies), and a booklet (limited to 2,000 copies) with cast & crew information, an essay written by James Oliver, and information about the transfer titled Notes on Viewing.

Summary:

Directed by Corey Yuen, whose notable films include Yes, Madam!, Righting Wrongs, and The Transporter.

The narrative revolves around a Vietnamese gang that targets the police officers responsible for killing members of their gang during a nightclub robbery.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Hong Kong cinema was at the forefront of strong female characters in action cinema. And arguably the premier director making these types of films known as Girls with Guns was Corey Yuen. Besides directing films, he also had an extensive background working as an action director, and when it came to working with women in action sequences, his choreography was second to none.

The thing that immediately grabbed me when watching She Shoots Straight is that it is not your typical Hong Kong action film. Where action often tends to be the focus, in She Shoots Straight, the relationships of its characters are the focus, notably when it comes to the protagonist, her husband, and his family. Instead of jumping right into the action, the opening sequence is a wedding, and it is about nine minutes before any action occurs.

She Shoots Straight has an amazing cast who are all very good in their roles, especially Joyce Godenzi (Eastern Condors) in the role of Inspector Mina Kao and Carina Lau (Project A2) in the role of Huang Chia-Ling, who is also a police officer and is Mina’s sister-in-law. The interactions between these two actresses' characters are the heart and soul of She Shoots Straight. Other performances of note are Sammo Hung Kam-bo (The Magnificent Butcher), whose character provides some comic relief, and Yuen Wah (Dragons Forever) in the role of the main villain.

Though the characters are the focal point of She Shoots Straight, that is not to say that the action sequences do not deliver and then some. The stunts in the action sequences are impressive, and some of the action sequences are graphic when it comes to on-screen violence. That said, the narrative does a great job balancing melodrama and action. Ultimately, She Shoots Straight is a must-see film if you're a fan of girl with guns films.

She Shoots Straight gets a first-rate release from Eureka Video that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras, highly recommended.

 Written by Michael Den Boer