Fantasy Mission Force is a 1983 Hong Kong action adventures comedy-horror crime thriller war film directed by Kevin Chu and staring Jackie Chan, Brigitte Lin, and Jimmy Wang Yu. The film is about American general in World War 2 who are kidnapped by Japanese Nazis, coursing the island Japanese forces to band to gather a bunch of loners and fighter to save them in the promise of gold and pardoned for their past war crimes. Fantasy Mission Force is an insane film, it is a one-of-a-kind trip through insanity and as a so bad its good film I absolutely love it.
The film is brilliantly ridiculous right from the start with explosions and the American generals disusing where the enemy is by planting flags all around the map before they are kidnapped by Chinese Nazis. The film is goofy throughout with them at first trying to send a team made-up of famous figures to save the generals but there all either dead or on other missions. I love the way the characters are introduced for example Jimmy Wang Yu as captain Don Wen in introduced by driving a jeep and killing all the enemy’s by shooting a machine gun one handed whilst driving a jeep. The character grease lighting is introduced with a musical number were his eating food, he then tries to get out of a situation where he has a gun on him by paying for the gun. The character of billy an escape artist turned slave, escapes by getting into a fight over a plate off rice and ends up freeing himself and escapes by diving off a massive cliff unarmed.
Jackie Chan is then introduced as Sammy a character that is barely in the film despite the film being known to feature Jackie Chan. He is introduced as a wrestler in a competition against a bigger wrestler featuring a hilarious scene where they are smoking bigger and bigger cigars as a penis joke. Jackie Chan is then unable to anything against the bigger guy witch acts as a hilarious silent comedy. Honestly despite the overall weirdness of the film the martial art in the movie is good. It then turns out the other wrestler was a guy they paid off and put laxatives in the real wrestler’s drink. However, he returns, resulting in a hilarious fight scene where Jackie can’t do anything to stop him, however Jackie does hit it with a gong to incapacitating him which is hilarious.
Emily’s introduction scene is great with an action scene in a bar. The whole scene is cool and hilarious with Emily escaping and tracking down the guards, she then holds her ex at gun point in genuinely tense moment before the film divulges yet again into wacky slapstick with the car being driven backwards in sped up footage, the whole film is just ludicrous insanity.
The gang is then ultimately assembled, and the rescue mission begins, the fact that they are instantly robbed by Jackie Chan and his female friends hilarious as these people truly are the world’s worst hero’s. The group is then kidnapped by Amazonian warrior ninja women which is another bit of brilliant insanity. The way they randomly pop up out of nowhere and tie them up with strings is funny. This whole section is just one piece of insanity after the other with the female leader wanting to jump across the water in great strides like a classic string-based kung fu film is brilliant, with a random guy leading them all witch just adds to the insanity. This weird scene it just gets weirder and weirder with Jackie Chan getting into a fight with a chicken and ends up beating up the women and rescuing everyone, including a hilarious moment where he drapes a clock over her and tie her up lek a diaper which is hilarious. This also ends is a batshit crazy way were Lily fires explosives which kills them all and blows up the facility, the whole scene is just brilliant insanity.
Another amazing scene is where the group ends up at a haunted house which is just pure inanity. The whole sequence is hilarious with ghosts hopping around and messing with them. There’s just so much insanity in this segment with a ghost on the toilet attacking him with his arms. There flesh is severed up to the group, women turning into skeletons and ghosts’ hands coming up from the table. The scene is brilliant with the gang being sacrificed by ghosts when Lily saves them by beating up the ghosts and blowing them up with a rocket launcher, the whole scene is insanity.
The climax of the film is brilliant batshit insanity with the gang facing off against the Chinese Nazis only to find them all dead as plot twist as the general as killed them off to get the money. Postapocalyptic Chinese Nazi knights then so up as the main bosses to battle with is brilliant insanity. I like the fact that they only decided to fight when they find a bunch of money and that there all motivated by greed which makes the dynamic more interesting. I love the fact that film ends in a dramatic way with almost all of them dying. This ending is so unlike this kind of wacky adventure that the subversion of exactions is great. The film ends with Jackie Chan killing them all witch is cool.
The end of the film is hilarious with a fight scene between Jackie Chan and the general where he blows up the base loads up his dead friends leaves the generals behind and drives off, with is an insane hilarious ending to the film.
The acting in the film is bad in the best way possible. Jimmy Wang Yu as captain Don Wen plays a great crazy leader and is introduced in the most badass way with him driving a jeep and killing everyone one handed with a machine gun. Frankie Kao dos a good job as Grease language, introduced eating food and grabbing a guy’s gun and gets out of it fork buying his way out of it. Jackie Chan does good job as Sammy and its funny that this minor comic relief charter somehow survives. Emily played by Ling Chang plays a great straight man to Jackie Chans funny one, a scene where they bribe of a cop is hilarious. Brigitte Lin does a good job as Lily and is easily the best charter in the show. She is introduced in the most badass way possible with her in a drinking competition with a guy and every shot they down the shoot an item of the girls’ clothing with is hilarious. This scene them ends with Emily winning the scene becoming a bar fight. She probably has the most character development with her ex-lover returning with her and her being captured escaping and blowing up her shack as symbolism to the destruction of hero’s old life.
The character of Lily gets introduced in a very badass way with her in a drinking competition with a guy and every shot they down they shoot off an item of girls clothing. The game then ends with Lily winning the place erupting into a bar fight and reuniting with her ex-lover only for her to betray her.
The writing in the film is absolute insanity, the film starts with the American generals being kidnapped by Chinese Nazis setting the tone for the insanity. A hilarious scene is when they first try and put together a team made. Up off James bond, Albert Au a fictional character from the film Aces Go Places played by actor Karl Maak, Snake Plisskin, rocky and Captain Hei-Hi but they are either dead or can’t make it which is hilarious. Jimmy Wang Yu as Captain Don Wen is a great crazy leader and introduced driving a jeep and killing all the enemy’s by shooting a machine gun one handed mounted to the jeep which is brilliant. Grease Lighting is introduced with a musical number of him eating food he then tries to grab a guy’s gun and gets him out of a situation buy paying for the gun that is pointed to him. Grease Lighting gets a very cool induction scene where he gets into a fight over a plate of rice and ends up freeing himself and survives by driving down a massive cliff unharmed.
The film as so many great insane scenes with the group getting kidnapped by Amazonian warrior ninja women, them popping out of nowhere and trying them up strings there then a female leader that jumps across the water in great strides and one guy that leads them all. Another brilliant scene is when the group ends up in a haunted house. This scene contains everything with hopping ghosts messing with them. The whole scene is hilarious. One of the funniest moments is when he finally realises there are ghosts as from that point it becomes all out insanity. Ghosts attack one of them on the toilet, flesh is severed up to them, women turn into skeletons, hands come up from the table its pure insanity. But as always Lily deals with it the coolest way by saving them when they are about to get sacrificed by ghosts by blowing them up with a rocket launcher.
The end of the film is true insanity. The gang faces of against the Chinese Nazis only for an insane twist to happen where they are no generals, and all the Nazis are dead. The true insanity then happens were postapocalyptic Chinese Nazi knights turn up to battle them. There two things I love about this scene, one I love the fact that they are all motivated by greed, two I love how dramatic the film and with them all dying with is very unlike this kind of film. Jackie Chan killing them all at end is cool. Finally, the last major twits at the end of the film are cool when everyone dies so the general gets the money. This then initiates the last major fight scene between Jackie Chan and the general and ends with Jackie bowing up the general and the base. He and his friend then load their fiends’ dead bodies onto the jeep and drive off leaving the generals stranded which is an honestly great ending for the film.
For this kind of b-movie the cinematography is honestly solid nothing great but defiantly not bad. There is cool cinematography at night with the use of the red flairs. The effects in the film are also solid, with all the explosions with miniatures and models its clear they had a budget, also the blood effects in the film are good.
Fantasy Mission Force is one of my favourites so bad is good films. It’s an insane, hilarious, terrible, brilliant film that any b-movie cognisor must watch.