Angel films (aka Iron Angels, Midnite Angels, etc.)

[skulldugrey]

what is the best bet for purchasing these 3 Moon Lee films? I know the 2nd one is supposed to have a letterboxed/subtitled VHS release in the UK from MIA, but what about the 1st film? there's another option to buy the 1st two films together on VHS on amazon.co.uk, also from MIA and the product description lists them as being subtitled. does anybody know if this is true and if they're letterboxed and uncut? lastly, the final film (Moon Lee with nunchakus!!) seems to only have an english-dubbed/full screen DVD release from some kind of Wu-Tang Clan collection. does anybody know if that release is uncut, or if there are any other versions of Angel III out there, preferably subtitled? thanks!

[THESHAWMAN]

Angel 3,this was out on laserdisc from ocean shores with subtiles full screen uncut as far as i know.

[silver hermit]

i think the cropped version on angel 3 is the common one in circulation. the colors are nice shame it wasn't wide.

[kingofkungfu2002]

Here's an Angel 3 avatar if anyone wants it.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/freemanuk2001/moonlee.gif

[moviegyrl]

Thanks a bunch!!!:D That fight sequence from ANGEL 3 is my favorite by Moon Lee. BTW, how do I insert the avatar into my profile?? >D

[kingofkungfu2002]

No probs :)
To insert the avatar go to 'My Control Center' on the main page, then 'Edit Profile', then where it says 'My Photo' insert the url of the image.

Hope this helps.

[moviegyrl]

Uh, I did that. Why is it mini-sized?:(

[kingofkungfu2002]

This board resizes the avatar to 60x60, it won't let you go any bigger I think.

Oh and don't forget to untick the box that says 'private' otherwise it won't show when you post.

[skulldugrey]

hey, does anybody know if this US vhs release is uncut? I'm assuming it's eng. dubbed and fullscreen, neither of which I prefer, but if it's not cut like the UK release it might be worth getting for only a few bucks, since the VCD is impossible to find.
product.half.ebay.com/Ang...1QQtgZinfo (http://product.half.ebay.com/Angel_W0QQprZ3298241QQtgZinfo)

[spannick]

it has different Scenes than the HK Print. both are a bit censored. there is no complete Version known to me yet - maybe the JP VHS was uncut.

see a nice Widescreen Trailer as a Taste how the movie should look like:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFrcFFwwRTA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFrcFFwwRTA)

[skulldugrey]

anyone have the specs for the HK vcd of Angel III (cover, distributor, aspect ratio, subtitle options??) thanks!

[spannick]

Ocean Shores, Fullscreen, Chinese & English Subs (very often cropped on the Sides, so becoming uncomprehensible).

[skulldugrey]

so Angel III isn't available anywhere with a widescreen print?? if not, that's a shame. I received a copy of the UK MIA vhs yesterday of Angel 2, and unfortunately it won't work on my player, probably because it's PAL formatted. the thing is I have a region-free DVD/VHS player which automatically converts PAL to NTSC for any dvds, so I figured it would do the dame for vhs but apparently not.. too bad cuz it was Cantonese and widescrren!@ however, I went down to Hollywood video and bought the Xenon vhs of Angel 2, and to my surprise it was also widescreen, however eng. dubbed unfortunately. for 2 bucks it was worth it!

[spannick]

ANGEL 3 was 2.35 Widescreen on German VHS; but horribly cut. maybe the JP VHS was widescreen, too, can't say.

[bruce holecheck]

I had the Japanese prerecords of the series:

Angel -- English dubbed and 2.35:1, with its framing raised so the foreign subtitles didn't intrude.

Angel II -- Cantonese language and 2.35:1, with its framing raised so the foreign subtitles didn't intrude, though they would still occasionally creep in. The HK print I have (which I assume came from LD) contained burned-in subtitles and was cropped fullframe.

Iron Angels III -- English dubbed and cropped 1.33:1 with Japanese subtitles on the print.

-- bruce holecheck

[spannick]

Thanks, then the source was wrong. no need to keep looking for the JP VHS of Part 3 then. so only the chopped German VHS is in 2.35... what a waste :(

[Markgway]

Spannick: What was cut from the HK print of ANGEL (I know the UK hack job was censored by about 2.5 mins).

[spannick]

HK for Part 1 is uncut. only Part 3 is cut in HK.

[Markgway]

Sorry, misunderstood.

[bruce holecheck]

The runtime for the Japanese IRON ANGELS III tape (not including distributor logos) is 91m01s.

[spannick]

hard to compare as no uncut Version is available to me.
i have HK Laserdisc, German VHS, US Bootleg and Singapore Version - all cut differently!

[gfanikf]

hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2...ei-ah.html (http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/09/wow-damn-nice-job-mei-ah.html)

[skulldugrey]

great news, how come they don't appear to be available to pre-order anywhere yet though?

[Bidou Laloge]

dddhouse have them

[Markgway]

Great news from Mei Ah.

[skulldugrey]

yeah, I found them at DDDhouse and placed an order for 2 of them. I've never used this site before though, does anybody know how long it generally takes therm to ship to the US? also while we are on the subject, does anyone have a list of what other films Mei Ah has the rights to release? possibly Angel II and III, and Queen's High???

[kungfusamurai]

I found a german DVD set of Iron Angels 1 & 2 paired with movies called Ultra Force 1 & 2. I think Ultra Force 1 might be Angel Force (it has Gordon Liu and Leung Kar Yan as bad guys) and Ultra Force 2 might be Devil Hunters (I think Ken Lo is in that one).

Two films per disc (2 disc set), and they're all in 1.85:1 ratio. The colors look good, but they're german audio. But there's a catch - Iron Angels has at least one cut! :( I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't watched the final fight scene on youtube first. When Moon Lee's character is up against some box and then has her legs sweeped out, her top goes up exposing her breasts (she's facing away from the camera). That is missing from the German DVD! WTF? I thought the Germans were more progressive than that! :) Now I'm wondering what else is cut from the films.

I guess I'll pony up the cash and get the uncut HK disc of Iron Angels.

KFS

[Markgway]

When Moon Lee's character is up against some box and then has her legs sweeped out, her top goes up exposing her breasts (she's facing away from the camera).

I don't recall ever seeing that! Can you link to that uncut clip?

[kungfusamurai]

I don't recall ever seeing that! Can you link to that uncut clip?


It's at 1:48 of the clip. I think they also edited out the part before that moment when Oshima is swinging around that wood with the nails. She nailed Moonie with her wood. LOL.

I was hoping to see if it really was Moon Lee or if she was really topless or just a skin colored bra, but it's not on the clearer DVD. Is this on the Mei Ah DVD? Anyone know?

9fTZ73AU9tU

KFS

[Markgway]

I thought we were talking a clear shot of tits. Like the earlier scene (snipped from the DVD) when Oshima's double flashes Alex Fong. I suspect that was a double and not Moon.

[LeRolls]

I still haven't gotten around to watching the DVD of Iron Angels even though it looked like a lot of violent fun. Gotta make time!

[xiongya]

It's at 1:48 of the clip. I think they also edited out the part before that moment when Oshima is swinging around that wood with the nails. She nailed Moonie with her wood. LOL.

I was hoping to see if it really was Moon Lee or if she was really topless or just a skin colored bra, but it's not on the clearer DVD. Is this on the Mei Ah DVD? Anyone know?

9fTZ73AU9tU

KFS

It's clear on the DVD-she's wearing a bra.

[spannick]

in Czech Country for f*ck's sake - please!

it's Cantonese and Czech with no English Subs.
2.35 anamorphic and the longest Version available!!! HOLY COW ON EARTH.

this cries for a fan dub/sub!!!!

http://www.vapet.cz/film/akcni/zelezni-andele-3

FINALLY A WATCHABLE PRINT!!!! THANK YOU HEAVENS!

for the tech geeks: it's an interlaced NTSC-PAL Transfer.. if THAT will hold a REAL fan from watching it somehow some day.

remastered & restored also! *drools*

http://thumbnails32.imagebam.com/9012/3dcff690119210.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/3dcff690119210) http://thumbnails30.imagebam.com/9012/66c9de90119228.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/66c9de90119228) http://thumbnails28.imagebam.com/9012/46a98490119244.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/46a98490119244) http://thumbnails29.imagebam.com/9012/55fb3190119259.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/55fb3190119259)
http://thumbnails26.imagebam.com/9012/6e492a90119276.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/6e492a90119276) http://thumbnails27.imagebam.com/9012/6401cd90119289.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/6401cd90119289)

Action Clip from that Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c_qgxCIR3o

[Markgway]

Longest version? Interesting. Is it still missing some footage? I know that every previous version was missing something.

[ekisha]

Lucky me i speak czech, but watching them in non cantonese language is a pain. I'm sure there will be fan made dvds soon.

[jrcma]

All 3 Iron Angels are available remastered in the Czech Rep & are sold for the equivalent of £1.65/£2.50.
Angels is missing Yukari breast flash but 2 & 3 are uncut.

[spannick]

i have a Czech DVD for Part 2 and it's the same Version as the crappy German DVD: cut, wrong Aspect Ratio, not anamorphic and no chinese Audio. is yours really different?

[jrcma]

i have a Czech DVD for Part 2 and it's the same Version as the crappy German DVD: cut, wrong Aspect Ratio, not anamorphic and no chinese Audio. is yours really different?

I don't own nor have seen any off the films but I go my information of the FLK forum pollypolly on there is who you should speak to.

[Manozen]

http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=92&pictureid=2979http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=92&pictureid=2977http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=92&pictureid=2978

i have a Czech DVD for Part 2... wrong Aspect Ratio, not anamorphic and no chinese Audio...

Angel part 1 & 2 have also been released on Czech based DVD, wicked & wide, with a Cantonese track.

Manozen

[spannick]

that looks like the German DVD, not anamorphic and the colours are the same. runtime? mine's approx 84 mins (cut).

not that i could be bothered to endure the long print - it's horrible with thai location and folklore dancing footage going on forever.

and i SURELY won't ever go to a Flashlegs Forum.

[Manozen]

Without the Mei Ah logo, the Czech DVD release = 01:23:16,...

Manozen

[spannick]

okay, it's the cut Version then. uncut runs approx 91 PAL.that is the Atlas Export Edit (which was done in English) , why they should re-edit the Canto Audio to this Version is beyond me...

[One Armed Boxer]

Another movie I can cross off my "classics I should have watched a long time ago but haven't" list, I got through watching 'Angel / Iron Angels / Midnight Angels' (how many titles does this movie have!?) yesterday.

As an 80's girls with guns flick, it's a pretty solid movie. The first half hour actually plays like a HK based episode of 'Charlie's Angels', all be it with one of the angels being Japanese actor Saijo Hideki, & Charlie himself being David Chiang, with most of the action centering around stuff like breaking into buildings undetected and taking photos of top secret documents.

But in the second half of the movie action comes first and foremost, one of the highlight scenes being the three angels breaking into Yukari Oshima's mansion to try and rescue Alex Fong. While there's no martial arts involved in the scene, it's one of those great action scenes where there's hardly a second which isn't filled with the sound of gun shots and stunt men throwing themselves out of windows. Even Saijo Hideki arrives on the scene hanging off the rope ladder attached to a helicopter, being piloted by David Chiang, while firing a machine gun at the same time!

While Hwang Jang Lee is in the movie, he doesn't really get to show his skills off to the fullest. There is a brief, as in barely 2 seconds, skirmish with Oshima early on in the movie, then his other 2 fights are both with Hideki. The first he gets thoroughly beaten, before the two of them have a manly bonding moment, then later they fight again before the police intervene, at which point they share yet another manly bonding moment as they walk to the police car with their arms around each other! Yes Hawng really gets to show his softer side in this one, there is even a scene where he tells his daughter off in a restaurant for saying she wants to go to the toilet too loudly!

While Hwang is showing his softer side, Oshima gets to do all the dirty work. She plays the villain of the movie, and is suitably nasty throughout. I'm actually glad somebody mentions earlier in this thread that there is a boob flash edited out of the DVD, because I thought I was going crazy when I saw that scene! She is confronting Alex Fong, then suddenly unzips her top, then it cuts away and suddenly she is beating him up! My slow brain was unable to process the fact that there was probably some nudity cut out, although for what reason who knows.

The final face-off of the movie is of course Moon Lee vs Oshima, and it doesn't let down. While Lee doesn't have much to do in the rest of the movie, with the exception of mowing down countless bad guys with a machine gun in the mansion raid scene, and staring doey eyed at Hideki after nearly drowning together, she makes up for it in what is a pretty brutal and hard hitting final fight in a warehouse, definitely up there with Cynthia Khan versus Michiko Nishiwaki at the end of 'In the Line of Duty 3'. All in all, this is definitely worth checking out for the fans of the girls with guns genre!

[blue_skies]

going off Topic slightly can someone remind me which the different "in the line of duty" movies are? The first two star Michelle Yeoh, the 4th was with Donnie Yen. I'm fairly sure I've seen the 3rd and the 5th.

OAB, which DVD of Iron Angels did you watch?

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

1- Yes, Madam... Yeoh & Rothrock
2- Royal Warriors... Yeoh & Sanada
3- Force Of The Dragon... Khan & Nishiwaki
4- Witness.... Khan & The Don
5- Middle Man... Khan & David Wu
6- Forbidden Arsenal... Khan & Waise Lee
7- Sea Wolves... Khan, Simon Yam, Gary Chang

[One Armed Boxer]

OAB, which DVD of Iron Angels did you watch?

blue_skies, I watched this one, which I believe to be the most recently released Mei Ah version -

http://72.167.116.147/img/16764.jpg

It seems to be one of those strange DVD's that contantly goes in and out of "Out of Print" status on the websites that stock it, but I picked mine up for a very reasonable price from yesasia, and as of now it's still currently in stock there -

http://www.yesasia.com/global/iron-angels-dvd-hong-kong-version/1005042743-0-0-0-en/info.html

1- Yes, Madam... Yeoh & Rothrock
2- Royal Warriors... Yeoh & Sanada
3- Force Of The Dragon... Khan & Nishiwaki
4- Witness.... Khan & The Don
5- Middle Man... Khan & David Wu
6- Forbidden Arsenal... Khan & Waise Lee
7- Sea Wolves... Khan, Simon Yam, Gary Chang

TWC....I've seen and own 1 to 4, what are your opinions on 5 to 7? I know they're all available pretty cheaply on the Joy Sales Legendary Collection, which has been the source of an awful lot of what I've been watching lately, are they worth picking up, and how is the action in them compared to the first 4, which I rate quite highly?

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

You can easily skip 5-7 IMO! 1-4 are the only ones I would deem as classics and musthaves!

A lot of people like part 5, Middle Man, and it has its moments, but is not a very good, nor very entertaining film, compared to its predecessors. I found part 6 to be almost unwatchable, but again, some people like it. Part 7 I would barely regard as part of the series. Khan is not in it that much, and it's both sloppy and visibly low budget. It has some decent action, but not much else.

[One Armed Boxer]

You can easily skip 5-7 IMO! 1-4 are the only ones I would deem as classics and musthaves!

Thanks for the advice...I'll move them way onto the backburner for now then.

Back onto topic, how are 'Angel 2' and 'Angel 3'? I know 'Angel 3' is easily available as part of the 'Wu Tang Clan Iron Flag Collection', all be it in the worst possible quality judging by the comments made in this thread, but how is the movie itself?

& what about 'Angel 2'? I noticed Moon Lee, Elaine Lui, & Alex Fong all return from the first movie, & it seems considerably more action packed than the first going off the trailer. I haven't done any research on DVD availablility though, it's times like this when I really miss hkflix, such a great search engine, and of course TWC's many reviews!

bM-K_xOvsFc

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Thank you kindly....

I love part 2! Good ole' 80's jungle action with kickass fights! The Moon Lee VS Yuen Tak fight is awesome!

Part 3 I could have done without. It looks, feels and smells cheap. Though there are some decent fight scenes.

[Phoenix]

I would agree that In The Line of Duty 5 is not very good. It has no real standout action moments compared to, say, part 4.


I really need to see the Moon Lee and Yukari films haven't already. I wish their films were more readily available with good releases.

Also, the Czech versions of Angel 2 and 3 really do need a custom dub and sub added to them.

[One Armed Boxer]

I love part 2! Good ole' 80's jungle action with kickass fights! The Moon Lee VS Yuen Tak fight is awesome!

Sounds good to me! I'll have to have a dig around for it sometime soon.

I'm probably wrong, but I remember there was a movie called 'Angel Force' that I almost purchased a few times back when hkflix was still up and running, is that an alias for 'Angel 2'? I distinctly remember there is a picture of Moon Lee on the cover in what looks like very similar army gear that she's wearing in the trailer I posted, and I think it also starred Johnny Wang & Yuen Bun...but I know you said Yuen Tak...same movie, or a cheap cash-in?

[Phoenix]

Angel Force is a different film, I think I have an unsubbed version.

[blue_skies]

I also didn't think much of "the middle man" but then I did watch it on VCD which was pretty awful quality which certainly didn't help.

I personally didn't think much of ITLOD Part 3 to be perfectly honest and sold my copy. Definitely no where near as good as Parts 1,2 and 4 in my honest opinion.

OAB, I have noticed that "Iron Angels" always seems to be available when I can't afford it and out of print when I can. :frown:

I also have to agree with TWC with his comments for Midnight Angels 3. It's an awful quality DVD that didn't help my enjoyment of the film in the slightest. film was passable at best.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Hey guys, I used to watch these ANGEL movies all in a row when I'd get in the mood for them, so they kind of all run together for me. Which one has the scene where Moon Lee is in a mansion and uses white nunchaku to wipe out over a dozen guys? I love that scene. :smile: Is it part 2?

BTW, there's a fan-made uncut version of the first film over at ADC. The quality is outstanding. :nerd:

[mark187]

Kung Fu Bob, that's part 3. I agree with you man, that fight was definitely one of the best in the series. Mei Ah put a nice DVD out of part 1, I wish that they would put out part 2 and 3!

[Phoenix]

Does Moon Lee appear in a bra or bikini in any of the Angel sequels? I remember an online review that had a screenshot with that picture but I don't recall it from actually watching the films.

[WuxiaFan]

Hey guys, I used to watch these ANGEL movies all in a row when I'd get in the mood for them, so they kind of all run together for me. Which one has the scene where Moon Lee is in a mansion and uses white nunchaku to wipe out over a dozen guys? I love that scene. :smile: Is it part 2?

:yociexp105:
That would be part 3. I bought the Ground Zero disc just for THAT scene - one of my all time favorites!

:smile: