Fantasy Mission Force
Encyclopedia
Fantasy Mission Force(Min ne te gong-dui) is a 1983
Hong Kong
action
-comedy film
directed by Chu Yin-Ping and starring Jackie Chan
(who got top billing) in a supporting role, Brigitte Lin
, Jimmy Wang Yu.
Although often marketed as a Jackie Chan film, Chan only appears in a few scenes. He reportedly starred in it as a favor for Jimmy Wang Yu, who sheltered him from the Triads earlier in his career.
Despite low production values, the film has attained a small cult following
, mainly due to its strange combination of film genres, a convoluted narrative and a deliberately anachronistic mix of plot elements. The film includes elements of a comedic style common in Hong Kong films known as "Mo lei tau
." This comedic style (which is commonly, but not exclusively, associated with actor Stephen Chow
) frequently involves non sequiturs and anachronistic gags similar to those found in Fantasy Mission Force.
A number of reviews consider Fantasy Mission Force a movie that is "so bad it's good."
, the film begins with a Japanese
attack on an Allied
military camp, which a map reveals to be somewhere in Canada
. After four Allied Generals, including one who introduces himself as Abraham Lincoln
, are taken hostage by the Japanese troops, Lieutenant Don Wen (Jimmy Wang Yu) is called in to organize a rescue effort (rejected candidates for the job include Roger Moore
's James Bond
, Snake Plissken
, Rocky Balboa
and Karl Maka
from the Hong Kong film Aces Go Places
).
With promises of a huge reward, Don Wen rounds up a group of misfits for the job, which includes two kilt
-wearing soldiers, a hobo
(Old Sun), a supposed escape artist (Greased Lightning), con artist Billy, and the femme fatale
Lily (Brigitte Lin), who sports knee-high red leather boots and a bazooka
. En route to the Japanese base where the kidnapped Generals are being held (apparently located in Luxembourg
according to the film), the group encounters two small time crooks, Sammy and Emily (Jackie Chan and Ling Chang), who follow them in hope that they will lead them to a cache of money.
As they continue on, Don Wen is seemingly killed in a surprise ambush by spear-wielding tribesmen, and soon the group is captured by a tribe of cannibalistic
Amazons
led by an effeminate man in a tuxedo. After obliterating the Amazon tribe the group spends the night in a haunted house
full of hopping vampires (a traditional Chinese supernatural creature) before reaching their goal.
Once there they find the Generals held hostage gone and the base littered with the dead bodies of Japanese soldiers. Before the group can figure out what has happened they are attacked by sword and axe-brandishing Japanese Nazis riding in 1970s-era muscle cars (it is of note that the highly anachronistic cars are also painted with swastikas and Luftwaffe
-style crosses).
Here the plot takes a turn for the melodrama
tic as the group is wiped out one by one by a machine gun
(that clearly does not have an ammunition belt installed), with another killed by a sword in the buttocks
. In the end, with only Sammy and Emily left standing, Don Wen arrives and explains that he planned the whole thing from the beginning so that his rescue team and the Japanese soldiers would kill each other off, leaving him alone to collect the reward. Aiming to silence the last witnesses, Don Wen shoots Emily and Sammy is forced to fight him one-on-one.
After a long martial arts
fight scene Don Wen is defeated as Sammy detonates explosives hidden in the main building, obliterating it. The Generals soon show up and demand to know why they weren't rescued earlier, but all Sammy does is dismiss them with the line "I don't know any Generals. To me you look like clowns."
The film ends with a wounded Sammy and Emily driving off together in a jeep, the Generals chasing after them.
Hong Kong films of 1983
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 1983:.-1983:-External links:**Hong Kong films of 1983 at...
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
action
Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. It combines elements from the action film, as codified by Hollywood, with Chinese storytelling and aesthetic traditions, to create a culturally distinctive form that nevertheless has a wide transcultural...
-comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Chu Yin-Ping and starring Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
(who got top billing) in a supporting role, Brigitte Lin
Brigitte Lin
Brigitte Lin or Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia is a Taiwanese actress. She was a popular actress, regarded as an icon of Chinese cinema, who acted in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong movies...
, Jimmy Wang Yu.
Although often marketed as a Jackie Chan film, Chan only appears in a few scenes. He reportedly starred in it as a favor for Jimmy Wang Yu, who sheltered him from the Triads earlier in his career.
Despite low production values, the film has attained a small cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
, mainly due to its strange combination of film genres, a convoluted narrative and a deliberately anachronistic mix of plot elements. The film includes elements of a comedic style common in Hong Kong films known as "Mo lei tau
Mo lei tau
Mo lei tau is a name given to a type of humour originating from Hong Kong during the late 20th century. It is a phenomenon which has grown largely from its presentation in modern film media. Its humour arises from the complex interplay of cultural subtleties significant in Hong Kong...
." This comedic style (which is commonly, but not exclusively, associated with actor Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow Sing-Chi is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director and producer.- Professional career :Stephen Chow began as a temporary actor for TVB. He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films. Chow graduated from...
) frequently involves non sequiturs and anachronistic gags similar to those found in Fantasy Mission Force.
A number of reviews consider Fantasy Mission Force a movie that is "so bad it's good."
Plot
Nominally set during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the film begins with a Japanese
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
attack on an Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
military camp, which a map reveals to be somewhere in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. After four Allied Generals, including one who introduces himself as Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, are taken hostage by the Japanese troops, Lieutenant Don Wen (Jimmy Wang Yu) is called in to organize a rescue effort (rejected candidates for the job include Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
's James Bond
James Bond (character)
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
, Snake Plissken
Snake Plissken
S.D. Bob "Snake" Plissken is a fictional character in John Carpenter's films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., played by Kurt Russell. He is an ex-special forces commando/war hero in World War III turned criminal...
, Rocky Balboa
Rocky Balboa (character)
Robert "Rocky" Balboa, Sr. is a fictional character and the main protagonist portrayed by Sylvester Stallone who has appeared in the Rocky series from 1976 to 2006. During the series, he wins the Heavyweight Championship of the World twice....
and Karl Maka
Karl Maka
Karl Maka is a popular Hong Kong producer, director, actor and presenter. He was born on 29 February 1944 in Taishan, China. One of his popular movie is the Aces Go Places film series which he acted alongside Sam Hui....
from the Hong Kong film Aces Go Places
Aces Go Places
Aces Go Places, , also known in the United States as Diamondfinger or Mad Mission 1, is a 1982 Hong Kong action/comedy film directed by Eric Tsang, and starring Sam Hui and Karl Maka.-Plot:...
).
With promises of a huge reward, Don Wen rounds up a group of misfits for the job, which includes two kilt
Kilt
The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly...
-wearing soldiers, a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
(Old Sun), a supposed escape artist (Greased Lightning), con artist Billy, and the femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
Lily (Brigitte Lin), who sports knee-high red leather boots and a bazooka
Bazooka
Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon, widely fielded by the U.S. Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was amongst the first-generation of rocket propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat...
. En route to the Japanese base where the kidnapped Generals are being held (apparently located in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
according to the film), the group encounters two small time crooks, Sammy and Emily (Jackie Chan and Ling Chang), who follow them in hope that they will lead them to a cache of money.
As they continue on, Don Wen is seemingly killed in a surprise ambush by spear-wielding tribesmen, and soon the group is captured by a tribe of cannibalistic
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
led by an effeminate man in a tuxedo. After obliterating the Amazon tribe the group spends the night in a haunted house
Haunted house
A haunted house is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property...
full of hopping vampires (a traditional Chinese supernatural creature) before reaching their goal.
Once there they find the Generals held hostage gone and the base littered with the dead bodies of Japanese soldiers. Before the group can figure out what has happened they are attacked by sword and axe-brandishing Japanese Nazis riding in 1970s-era muscle cars (it is of note that the highly anachronistic cars are also painted with swastikas and Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
-style crosses).
Here the plot takes a turn for the melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
tic as the group is wiped out one by one by a machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
(that clearly does not have an ammunition belt installed), with another killed by a sword in the buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
. In the end, with only Sammy and Emily left standing, Don Wen arrives and explains that he planned the whole thing from the beginning so that his rescue team and the Japanese soldiers would kill each other off, leaving him alone to collect the reward. Aiming to silence the last witnesses, Don Wen shoots Emily and Sammy is forced to fight him one-on-one.
After a long martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
fight scene Don Wen is defeated as Sammy detonates explosives hidden in the main building, obliterating it. The Generals soon show up and demand to know why they weren't rescued earlier, but all Sammy does is dismiss them with the line "I don't know any Generals. To me you look like clowns."
The film ends with a wounded Sammy and Emily driving off together in a jeep, the Generals chasing after them.
Cast
- Jackie ChanJackie ChanJackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
- Sammy (as Jacky Chan) - Brigitte LinBrigitte LinBrigitte Lin or Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia is a Taiwanese actress. She was a popular actress, regarded as an icon of Chinese cinema, who acted in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong movies...
- Lily (as Chan Hsia Lin) - Jimmy Wang YuJimmy Wang YuJimmy Wang Yu is a Chinese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He shot to fame with the Shaw Brothers Studio's martial arts film, The One-Armed Swordsman, in 1967...
- Captain Don Wen (as Yu Wang) - Pearl Chang - Emily (as Chang Ling)
- Adam ChengAdam ChengAdam Cheng Siu-chow is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer.-Career:Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB Wuxia drama series based on the works of Louis Cha and Gu Long, such as The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and Chor Lau Heung...
- Amazon Leader (as Adam Cheng Siu-Chow) - Mary Wong - Amazon Queen
- Yuen Sun - Old Sun
- David TaoDavid TaoDavid Tao , born Tao Xuzhong , was born on 11 July 1969. He is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning singer-songwriter. He is well-known for creating a crossover genre of R&B and hard rock tunes which has now become his signature style and for having popularized R&B in the Mandopop...
- Billy (as Tao Da Way) - Hui Bat-Liu - Stone
- Fong Ching - Stone's Superior
- Frankie Gao - Grease Lightning
- Jung Fang - General
- Paul Chang - General
- Lee KwanLee KwanLee Kwan , also known as Li Kun or Li Quinn, was a Chinese actor.He joined Shaw Brothers in 1957 and acted in Mandarin films. He later played supporting roles in Bruce Lee's The Big Boss and Fist of Fury. Later he became a film and television actor in Taiwan...
- General - Dan Yang - Japanese General
- Gou Ling Feng - Grease Lightning
- Chen Ti Men - Lily's parther
- Kon Tak-Mun - Nazi Officer
- Chen Hung-Lieh - Nazi Officer
- O Yau-Man - Majhong Ghost
- Gam Ban
- Kwok Gwan
- Lam Man-Cheung (uncredited)
- John Schmitt
- Richard Hartzell
- Woo Cheung-Ping
- Tung Kei
- Choi Sui-Tak
External links
- Fantasy Mission Force at hkcinemagic.com
- Fantasy Mission Force review at Teleport City