Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Lady Reporter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 16, 2023

"Hoi Mang's "Lady Reporter" a.k.a. "Blonde Fury" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Cynthia Rothrock; new audio commentary by critics Mike Leeder and Arner Venema; new audio commentary by critic Frank Djeng and actor Vincent Lyn; vintage trailers; and more. In Cantonese or English, with optional English subtitles. Region-B "locked".

Cynthia Rothrock is in top form in Hoi Mang’s film Lady Reporter and several of the sequences in which she clashes with her opponents look enormously impressive. For example, in one of these sequences, Rothrock jumps off a building and at the same time spins a massive ladder while reaching another building. I thought that this was the kind of act someone like Jackie Chan would have thought of because it is very short, very quick, and extremely dangerous. I went back a couple of times to examine how Rothrock controls her body. Her precision is so flawless it leaves the impression that she could not have possibly misused the latter, but the exact opposite is true. I think there was an excellent chance that Rothrock mishandles the ladder and something bad happens. In another sequence, Rothrock again jumps off a building that has been set on fire while holding a baby and wearing high heels. It may sound odd but just the thought of Rothrock landing on a hard surface while wearing high heels, regardless of whether the baby was real or a large plastic doll, made me dizzy. Interestingly, after the sequence was shot, Rothrock did feel dizzy and visited a hospital where a doctor examined her and concluded that she had twisted some of her internal organs.

Sadly, it is impossible to praise the story that is told in Lady Reporter. Indeed, it is so simple it makes it very easy to speculate that it was finalized only after Rothrock and a few of her colleagues revealed the type of acts they wanted Lady Report to host. Two-thirds of this story is essentially filler material that prepares -- and often quite badly too -- for the fireworks where Rothrock attempts to impress. Rothrock fans will undoubtedly be very forgiving and would not consider this to be an issue, but anyone expecting Lady Reporter to be an exciting action film that also tells a good story will be underwhelmed.

In America, senior FBI leaders conclude that criminal elements are flooding the country with counterfeit dollar bills coming in from Hong Kong. Shortly after, FBI agent Cindy (Rothrock) lands in Hong Kong and, while pretending to be a newspaper reporter, begins investigating, completely unaware that a local cop (Chin Siu-Ho) pretending to be an insurance agent is working on the same case as well. While the two play their parts and collect information, Cindy’s good friend Judy (Elizabeth Lee) learns that her father (Roy Chiao), a prominent prosecutor, has been kidnapped by men working for a well-connected criminal (Ronny Yu) running the counterfeit operation.

Lady Reporter exists in two versions -- an original Hong Kong Theatrical Version and an Export Cut. I usually avoid international versions of older Hong Kong films because nine out of ten times they are either cut or badly edited. Oftentimes, but primarily on serious action films and dramas, the international versions feature very awkward English dubbing as well. I was at the half-hour mark on the Theatrical Version when I hit the stop button of my remote control and went to the Export Cut. I am glad that I did because as I expected it turned out to be very colorful and made quite a few areas of Lady Reporter a lot funnier than they were conceived to be. However, if you wish to experiment as I did, I must warn you that the funniest material does not have any filters, so if you are easily offended the Theatrical Version is definitely the one for you.

*In an exclusive new program that is included on this release, Rothrock reveals that Lady Reporter features some of the most dangerous stunts she performed during her career. Also, Rothrock discusses the sequence with the burning building and how she damaged her internal organs while doing multiple takes to get it right.

Lady Reporter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lady Reporter arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

There are two versions of the film on this release -- original Theatrical Version and Export Cut -- and both are fully restored in 2K. I viewed approximately half of the Theatrical Version and the entire Export Cut. Virtually all close-ups look very good. Early into the film, most wider panoramic footage looks good, too. However, there are different segments where grain begins to appear flattened and delineation suffers a bit. Some encoding optimizations definitely could have helped, but I think that there are some inherited surface anomalies as well. For example, what you see in screencaptures #3 and 24 would not have been fixed with encoding optimizations. On a larger screen, trained eyes will easily spot these fluctuations. Color balance is very good. All primaries and supporting nuances look very healthy. It is possible that there is room for some rebalancing work, but the color temperature and balance are convincing. Image stability is very good. I did not encounter any age-related imperfections to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Lady Reporter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese LPCM 2.0 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Cantonese track.

The Cantonese track sounds sharper and often noticeably clearer. The English dub track is frequently quite flat and anemic, which is hardly surprising considering that the dubbing was done fairly cheaply. On the other hand, on the Cantonese track, Cynthia Rothrock and a couple of other actors are still dubbed, so there is an unevenness that is shared by both tracks. During action footage, there are some significant spikes and drops in dynamic intensity, I do not think that they become distracting. I did not encounter any audio dropouts or distortions to report in our review.

Lady Reporter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Blonde Fury - in this new program, Cynthia Rothrock recalls when and how she was invited to appear in Lady Reporter and what it was like to work with first-time director Hoi Mang. There are some particularly interesting comments about the enormously challenging and often very dangerous stunts that Rothrock did during the shooting of Lady Reporter without advanced preparation. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• Director Mang Hoi on Lady Reporter - in this new program, director Mang Hoi explains where the idea for Lady Reporter emerged from, how the story that he wanted to tell in the film evolved, and what it was like to work with Cynthia Rothrock. (According to Mr. Hoi, Rothrock was "red hot at the time"). In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (9 min).

• Commentary One - in this new audio commentary, Cynthia Rothrock comments on several important action scenes from Lady Reporter. Critic Frank Djeng contributes to the commentary as well.

• Commentary Two - in this new audio commentary, critics Mike Leeder and Arner Venema. As usual, these gentlemen have a lot of interesting observations not only about the production of Lady Reporter but the exact period in which the film emerged and its aspirations in Hong Kong and abroad. Also, there are very interesting observations about Cynthia Rothrock's image in Hong Kong and the evolution of her career, the action choreography and the quality of her performance, actor/director Hoi Mang, some key locations that were used in the film, etc. It is a predictably solid commentary.

• Commentary Three - this new audio commentary was recorded by critic Frank Djeng and actor Vincent Lyn. The two gentlemen highlight the fact that Lady Reporter was one of the first Hong Kong action films to have a foreign female lead and discuss its production history. Mr. Lyn also discusses numerous interesting experiences he had while working in Hong Kong and with some of the people that made Lady Reporter.

• Trailer One - presented here is a hilarious vintage Hong Kong trailer for Lady Reporter, promoted as Blonde Fury, that links Cynthia Rothrock to Sylvester Stallone. (The latter is described as "the female Rambo Sylvester Stallone never discovered). In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is vintage international trailer for Lady Reporter. With English text. (4 min).

• Cover - reversible cover.

• Lobby Cards - several collectible lobby cards.

• Booklet - an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver and technical credits.

Lady Reporter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It won't take you long to realize that a lot of the stunts Cynthia Rothrock does in Lady Reporter are every bit as difficult and dangerous as the ones Jackie Chan did in some of his best films. These stunts are the main attraction in Lady Reporter. The rest is filler material shot by a first-time director that rolled the dice by having a foreign female actress as its star. I had a good time with Lady Reporter but only after I changed my mind and decided to see the Export Cut, which utilizes a very colorful and funny English dub track. Eureka Entertainment's release introduces a slightly uneven but good new 2K restoration of Lady Reporter, together with several very good exclusive new bonus features. RECOMMENDED.