Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street

Trailer—Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street

The third Mad Mission movie - a very high paced slapstick parody of the James Bond and other spy movies with some Asian influences - is probably my favourite one of the entire series. Some silly toys of the first two movies have disappeared, the pace is much higher in this movie because of extremely interesting action scenes like on the Eiffel Tower and the jokes are even funnier than before and add a hilarious slapstick style to the movie for example when Samuel Hui plays Tic Tac Toe with cheats in a high secured area or when Carl Maka gets seduced and cheated in the most ridiculous way possible by his friend and a beautiful woman in a restaurant. A very special gem in this movie are the exotic locations for example in Paris and the appearances of some actors of the James Bond movies like Richard Kiel. Only the later Mission:Impossible star Peter Graves is awful and boring in this very entertaining flick filled with action and absurd humour. One can also see that the budget was higher than in the first two movies and most of the action scenes are really well executed. The only negative point is that the quality of the special effects is very low. You can for example easily see strings when Samuel Hui uses his flight machine to escape after a robbery or when he is fighting in the submarine. You can also see that plastic models of ships or planes are used instead of real material. Another negative fact is that the dubbed versions are really awful. But those details and this lack of professionalism doesn't change anything concerning the fact that this movie is still very entertaining over twenty-five years after its creation even if some effects, ideas and the story line are very old fashioned but at least in a charming and nostalgic way. I have seen this movie at least four times now and it is still entertaining and memorable in my opinion. So, if you are looking for a very funny and high paced parody of the James Bond and other spy movies with some charming characters, this movie is the perfect choice for you and it is also a good introduction to the whole Mad Mission universe in my opinion. That's why I can highly recommend this movie to anyone that likes action or comedy movies.

Oddly enough, then "Mad Mission 3: Our Man From Bond Street" (aka "Zui jia pai dang 3: Nu huang mi ling") was actually a lot more entertaining that I had initially anticipated it to be. I mean, the title of the movie wasn't really all that great. But for an action comedy that spoofs on other movies - thought mostly on the "James Bond" movies - then it actually fared quite well. Needless to say that "Mad Mission 3: Our Man From Bond Street" is a blatant cash-in on the "James Bond" franchise, or perhaps even an homage. But director Hark Tsui actually managed to mix in a good amount of traditional late 1980s Hong Kong comedy to make it an interesting movie to say the least. And there is also a good amount of action, much akin to the Jackie Chan movies. Now, I must say that I was impressed with the cast that they had managed to get together for this movie, especially with the likes of the non-Asian cast that made appearances in the movie. While "Mad Mission 3: Our Man From Bond Street" was by no means a groundbreaking movie, it definitely provided for some adequate entertainment. And my rating of this 1984 movie is a six out of ten stars. However, keep in mind that the movie is much like a spoof in a way, so you shouldn't expect it to be a full-blown serious movie.

I watched the Mad Missions in order 1, 2, 3 (4 will be next). The first confused me so much that I stopped the viewing and restarted the next day. The second stunned me so much that I re-watched it the same evening. And now this one.. It is different, with another director, and a much higher budget, it appears. It is still silly, but seems to have grown up and dropped most of the boys' toys the first two featured. But I also noticed how with experience one sees a film differently. Had I watched it without context, I might have thought, "that hairy-beardy police chief is very unconvincing". But what I thought was, "Hey, there's Tsui Hark again, the FBI loonie from #2". And soon to find out he's also the director of this piece. With experience, one starts to feel as part of the family of Sam Hul, Carl Maka, Sylvia Chang (why, I even was at their wedding) ... Again there were cute details that made me laugh out loud. Consider a high security access system that plays Tic-Tac-Toe (and can be cheated with extra hardware). There's a glimpse of that old boy's humor again. The German CinePlus DVD has the English soundtrack for which I'm very grateful (the German dub added excess silliness). And, if you care to spend another half-hour, a very rich set of cut scenes (some adding new content to the plot, some just out-takes). Silent (just with the title music), but ample proof how much hard work goes into making such a film - innumerable retries of the fight at the Seine, or just the scene in Bond Street which starts at street level and then pans up to a window. I must say I have now acquired the Zuijia Paidang taste, and look forward for #4 now :)

For the most part, this is pretty entertaining.But it has one delightfully visually inventive robbery sequence featuring among other things santa claus's on jet packs, and motorcycles flying through the air. If only for that sequence alone, the movie is worth watching.

Whether you call this Aces Go Places 3 - Our Man from Bond Street or Mad Mission III, this sequel to Aces Go Places brings back Sam Hui as King Kong, Karl Maka as Albert Au and Sylvia Chang as Nancy Ho. King Kong is in Paris when he sees a gorgeous woman in 80s movie punk glasses about to blow up the Eiffel Tower. He chases her up into that romantic building and finds himself battling Big G (Richard Kiel, obviously playing a copyright free Jaws!) and Oddjob (Japanese pro wrestler Thunder Sugiyama, who was also in Message from Space), who in addition to his bowler hat now has the same steel hand as Dr. No. King Kong loses the trail of the henchmen after they all parachute off the tower. As he dives after Jaws - fighting him in mid-air! - he lands in the Seien River below where he's picked up by a shark submarine and meets Queen Elizabeth (Huguette Funfrock) and James Bond (French Sean Connery lookalike Jean Mersant). They want King Kong to steal one of the crown jewels called the Star of Fortune from a Hong Kong police vault. There's one rule: his partner Detective Albert "Baldy" Au (Maka) and his wife Supt. Nancy Ho (Chang) can't find out. Of course, this isn't the real Bond. He's an imposter and working with Big G, Jaws and that bazooka-carrying assassin Jade East, as well as having a fake Queen Elizabeth who emerges from paintings in their little villain army. The real spy is Tom Collins, who is played by Peter Graves and he is 100% playing Jim Phelps from Mission Impossible, as his tape recorder gives him a mission and then explodes. That explosion takes him out of the movie until the close, but until then, we have post-apocalyptic movie punks on dune buggies, Santa Claus motorcycle stunt teams, a sub that can flip over and turn into a cruise ship, a one man jet ala Octopussy and a closing cameo by a fake Ronald Reagan. Somehow, this movie got followed by a fourth installent with Ronald Lacey (Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark) as the main bad guy and a fifth episode with Conan Lee as Chinese Rambo. Obviously, I loved every minute. This movie never takes itself seriously and has repeated fake arm gags. Director Tsui Hark (Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain, Black Mask, Iron Monkey) and writer Raymond Wong Pak-ming have made a movie that will delight spy film and martial arts movie fans while keeping things moving as fast as humanly possible. As for the English dubbed version, it has some footage cut and extra footage with Peter Graves. The dialogue was written by Larry Dolgin, who did the same job on Deported Women of the SS Special Section and whose voice can be heard in so many dubbed films, including Street Law, Nightmare City, Pieces, Blastfighter, Cannon's Aladdin and so many more. He was also the voice of Lucio Fulci in the English dub of Cat In the Brain. He also acted in Caligula: The Untold Story, Ghoulies II and Robot Jox and before all that, he was a singer in The Cables, a vocal and instrumental group that released the songs "Choo-Choo" and "Midnight Roses" on the RCA Victor label. According to dubbing actor/director Ted Rusoff - the husband of Carolyn De Fonseca - Dolgin recieved a large inheritance in the 1990s and retired to a villa in Sardinia.

Our Man From Bond Street, the third in the Mad Mission series, sees Tsui Hark taking over directorial duties from Eric Tsang, but fans of the films needn't worry, 'cos pretty much everything else stays the same: Sam Hui, Karl Maka and Sylvia Chang all return for more daft comedy/action and spy-spoofery; there are tons of crazy stunts and silly gadgets; and the whole effort has a chaotic, shambolic feel to it that makes one suspect that they made everything up as they went along. Part 3 sees Sam Hui's affable thief duped (by a faux British secret agent, his beautiful partner and a Queen Elizabeth II lookalike) into stealing the Crown Jewels. When he is made aware of his mistake, he is convinced by a real British agent (played by Peter Graves, star of 60s TV series Mission Impossible) to team up with his Hong Kong police buddies and get the valuables back. As much as I like daft films with shonky effects (there are dodgy models, bad mattes and visible wires from start to finish), I do find the Mad Mission movies leaving me distinctly unimpressed thus far. There's only so much awful slapstick comedy that I can take (and that theme tune is also starting to grate). However, with totally whacked-out action featuring such jaw-dropping sights as a gang of jet-pack wearing Santas staging a heist, a huge shark-shaped submarine (complete with teeth!), and a crazy fight atop an Eiffel tower elevator (between Sam Hui, and genuine Bond villains Richard 'Jaws' Kiel and Harold 'Oddjob' Sakata), those who have enjoyed the previous installments will no doubt also find this one enjoyable.

The third entry in the "Mad Mission" / "Aces Go Places" series sets its sights on being a James Bond - flavored spy comedy, by including a British secret agent that looks like an 80's version of Sean Connery ("I think you know the number"), an Oddjob-like henchman complete with killer hat, and a Jaws-like henchman (minus the steel teeth) played by Richard Kiel himself! There are also international locations (Paris), submarines, daring heists, wild chases, multiple gadgets....and there, I think, lies the problem with this film: it relies too much on the gadgets and the gimmicks and not enough on the characters. Along with those people I mentioned above, Peter Graves from the "Mission: Impossible" series also appears, but all these names ultimately add little to the film beyond....well, name value. Much like in the second part of the series, a lot of things happen here not because they make sense or hang together, but because the people who made the film thought they would look cool (the chase scene with the "Mad Max 2" outcasts, for example). The second film somehow worked; this one falls curiously flat. (**) PS: The actress who plays the bad-girl-turned-good is g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s.

In this third outing of the series, King Kong is hired by some people who say they work for the Queen of England. They claim that some jewelry from the crown has been stolen, and they want King Kong to steal it back. But things are not quite what they seem, and King Kong and Baldy are in trouble again. Compared to the first two movies in the series this is the worst, it's not quite as action-packed as the others, but relies more on humour, which gets kind of stupid after a while. Maka, who plays Baldy, sets new records in overacting, and the Bond-inspired characters are quite lame. Skip this one, and proceed directly to the next, which is better (Ringo Lam is the king).

Whether you call this Aces Go Places 3 - Our Man from Bond Street or Mad Mission III, this sequel to Aces Go Places brings back Sam Hui as King Kong, Karl Maka as Albert Au and Sylvia Chang as Nancy Ho. King Kong is in Paris when he sees a gorgeous woman in 80s movie punk glasses about to blow up the Eiffel Tower. He chases her up into that romantic building and finds himself battling Big G (Richard Kiel, obviously playing a copyright free Jaws!) and Oddjob (Japanese pro wrestler Thunder Sugiyama, who was also in Message from Space), who in addition to his bowler hat now has the same steel hand as Dr. No. King Kong loses the trail of the henchmen after they all parachute off the tower. As he dives after Jaws - fighting him in mid-air! - he lands in the Seien River below where he's picked up by a shark submarine and meets Queen Elizabeth (Huguette Funfrock) and James Bond (French Sean Connery lookalike Jean Mersant). They want King Kong to steal one of the crown jewels called the Star of Fortune from a Hong Kong police vault. There's one rule: his partner Detective Albert "Baldy" Au (Maka) and his wife Supt. Nancy Ho (Chang) can't find out. Of course, this isn't the real Bond. He's an imposter and working with Big G, Jaws and that bazooka-carrying assassin Jade East, as well as having a fake Queen Elizabeth who emerges from paintings in their little villain army. The real spy is Tom Collins, who is played by Peter Graves and he is 100% playing Jim Phelps from Mission Impossible, as his tape recorder gives him a mission and then explodes. That explosion takes him out of the movie until the close, but until then, we have post-apocalyptic movie punks on dune buggies, Santa Claus motorcycle stunt teams, a sub that can flip over and turn into a cruise ship, a one man jet ala Octopussy and a closing cameo by a fake Ronald Reagan. Somehow, this movie got followed by a fourth installent with Ronald Lacey (Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark) as the main bad guy and a fifth episode with Conan Lee as Chinese Rambo. Obviously, I loved every minute. This movie never takes itself seriously and has repeated fake arm gags. Director Tsui Hark (Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain, Black Mask, Iron Monkey) and writer Raymond Wong Pak-ming have made a movie that will delight spy film and martial arts movie fans while keeping things moving as fast as humanly possible. As for the English dubbed version, it has some footage cut and extra footage with Peter Graves. The dialogue was written by Larry Dolgin, who did the same job on Deported Women of the SS Special Section and whose voice can be heard in so many dubbed films, including Street Law, Nightmare City, Pieces, Blastfighter, Cannon's Aladdin and so many more. He was also the voice of Lucio Fulci in the English dub of Cat In the Brain. He also acted in Caligula: The Untold Story, Ghoulies II and Robot Jox and before all that, he was a singer in The Cables, a vocal and instrumental group that released the songs "Choo-Choo" and "Midnight Roses" on the RCA Victor label. According to dubbing actor/director Ted Rusoff - the husband of Carolyn De Fonseca - Dolgin recieved a large inheritance in the 1990s and retired to a villa in Sardinia.