Yes, Madam! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Yes, Madam! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 27, 2023

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of 88 Films' In the Line of Duty: I - IV set.

In some of his typically information packed mile a minute commentaries included as supplements in 88 Films' set of In the Line of Duty films, Frank Djeng kind of hilariously gets into how this supposed "series" really isn't by any objective standard, and that in fact due to the vagaries of production and release dates and almost comically variable titles, the "order" of the films in the franchise is even up for debate. That somewhat chaotic situation leads to an almost farcical state of affairs where the ostensible first film in the series may in fact not be, and where any number of alternate titles can either link or uncouple various entries in the "series" in a virtually random fashion (it's perhaps salient to note that In the Line of Duty didn't even crop up in any original title until the third film). Whether or not Royal Warriors or Yes Madam is defined as the "first" film, and whether or not all four are indeed a traditional "series", the first two outings star Michelle Yeoh in what was arguably her first big leap toward international superstardom, while the subsequent two films feature Cynthia Khan. If there's a "through line" tethering the films together, it may be nothing other than the fact that these are so-called "girls with guns" outings, where the focal character is kinda sorta a Hong Kong equivalent of Police Woman, albeit with a facility for martial arts that Pepper Anderson never had.

The fact that 88 Films has consigned this title to the secondary position in this collection despite the fact that it was inarguably released if not shot before Royal Warriors is just one indication of how convoluted the order of this series is, at least with regard to the first two films. (The additional fact that among its many alternate titles Yes, Madam is also known as In the Line of Duty II no doubt contributes to this kind of patently ridiculous situation.) One way or the other, Yes, Madam may be the best place to start with the series, since it offers two women in butt kicking police force mode, Michelle Yeoh (still billed as Michelle Khan), this time as Hong Kong CID Inspector Ng, whose martial arts skills are suddenly challenged by an upstart arrival from Scotland Yard named Carrie Morris (Cynthia Rothrock).

This and Royal Warriors helped catapult at least Michelle Yeoh to superstar status, and this film in particular helped Cynthia Rothrock attain a certain status, at least among genre aficionados, but what's kind of comically evident is how frequently director Corey Yuen relies on wordless moments of Yeoh and Rothrock reacting almost hilariously abruptly in terms of sudden head shifts toward a certain direction. It's also fun in a meta sense to listen to the varying soundtracks offered on this release, since the dubbing is at times fanciful at best (Rothrock perhaps understandably given Hong Kong's history becomes a Brit in the vintage English dub). The widely differing translations of dialogue are also an interesting exercise in varying degrees of coherence and expertise (a whole bit with Rothrock and two dufus policemen and then Rothrock and Yeoh in an airport has a completely different meaning in the Cantonese and English versions, to cite just one example).

There is some astounding stunt work on hand in this outing, and in fact I might give the edge in that regard to Rothrock, who is just a force of nature in some of her big action scenes. The story, which involves a so-called McGuffin of microfiche no less kind of ping pongs between almost Three Stooges (or perhaps more appropriately given its milieu Keystone Kops) levels of physical schtick and near idiotic behaviors, and a much more violent aspect that unfolds interstitially and has some fairly graphic moments of mayhem.

Yes, Madam received a relatively recent Region B Blu-ray release by Eureka Entertainment, and that link will take you to Svet Atanasov's review which provides more plot information as well as a chance to look at screenshots and see how supplements between the releases stack up.

Yes, Madam! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Yes, Madam! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. There's no real technical information imparted in the insert booklet included with this set, and only a passing generic "new 2K restoration" on the back cover. Judging solely by screenshots, which has some inherent limitations obviously, this sure looks mightily similar and I'd say darn near identical to the Eureka release reviewed by Svet. This offers a generally secure palette, one decidedly more vibrant and refreshed looking than the one in Royal Warriors, though on passing occasion this one can also dip a bit into the brown territory I noted in my review of Royal Warriors. Detail levels are generally quite pleasing, at least when things are still enough in the frame to be able to take in things like patterns on costumes. There are some passing variabilities in color temperatures and densities. Grain resolves naturally throughout.

Yes, Madam! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with Royal Warriors, our audio specs don't make instantly clear that there are actually two Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks, one labeled Original Theatrical Mix and one labeled Home Video Mix Mono Original Effects. There are clear differences in amplitude if you toggle between the two Cantonese tracks, with the Original Theatrical Mix giving a more energetic and full bodied representation of things overall, and perhaps especially with regard to the synth laden music. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is, again like Royal Warriors, arguably overly reverberant and phasey sounding, with music and effects in particular kind of sounding like they're emanating from a cavern, though with some added spaciousness in action sequences in particular. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Yes, Madam! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Export Version with Classic English Dub (HD; 1:27:36) features Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio.


• Cynthia Rothrock Introduction (HD; 00:09) is a blink and you'll miss it feature that plays at disc boot up.


• Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert Frank Djeng


• A Team Player - Cynthia Rothrock on Yes, Madam! (HD; 17:50) is an appealing interview with the film's co-star.


• Select Scene Commentary with Cynthia Rothrock and Frank Djeng (HD; 4:30) is for the great airport sequence.


• Select Scene Commentary with Cynthia Rothrock and Frank Djeng (HD; 8:27) is for the exciting final fight.


• Ladies First - Mang Hoi on Yes, Madam! (HD; 13:46) is subtitled in English.


• An Interview with Michelle Yeoh (HD; 15:05)


• Battling Babes (HD; 10:23) offers some female body builders and martial artists, including Cynthia Rothrock.


• Hong Kong Trailer (HD; 4:22)

Yes, Madam! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm evidently a bit more of a fan of this film than Svet is, and I have to say if I had my druthers, the entire supposed series might have done better to stick more to some of this film's more blatant comedic aspects than the rampant violence, blood and guts that tend to suffuse the other three films in this set. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.