MADE IN HONG KONG | Offscreen
B-movie cinema is infamous for its copying of successful movies: the champion imitators were the Italians and the Turks, and tonight… the Hongkongers! The films we will be presenting have little in common with the ‘cheap’ Mediterranean productions but carry the stamp of a master: Tsui Hark. For “Gunman”, he acts as a producer; Kirk Wong (“The Big Hit”) directs. This triad-update of De Palma’s “The Untouchables” pushes the imitation so far that even Ennio Morricone’s music was reused.
Like the title suggests, “Mad Mission 3: Our Man From Bond Street’ is a copy of James Bond movies. It even features Richard Kiel, the mythical “Jaws” from “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Moonraker”. Director Tsui Hark has not yet reached the level of his later craziness, but he delivers nevertheless a diabolically efficient action film.
MAD MISSION 3: OUR MAN FROM BOND STREET
A Chinese tourist is on holiday in Paris, and James Bond approaches him to ask for help: the queen’s gems have been stolen in Hong Kong and must be taken back to England.