4 Star

Martial Arts Legends Team Up.

Director Woo-Ping Yuen (Drunken Master, Tiger Cage) brings us the fourth instalment of the ‘Girls With Guns’ series of explosive Martial Arts and guns, lots of guns. This time, Cynthia Khan (In the Line of Duty III, Madam City Hunter) teams up with male Martial Arts master Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey, Raging Fire, Chasing the Dragon) to bring us a full Martial Arts treat, as fists and feet fly, so do the bullets. Never mind the death defying stunts. Adrenalin Fuelled Action.

The film starts in Seattle, USA, by the port as police Officer Peter Woods (Blaine Lamoureux, Quarantine, Cold Front), Officer Donny Yan (Yen) and partner Insp. Yeung Lai-Ching (Khan) watch and tail and drugs deal going down. It takes a while, and it soon goes dark as the shipment is loaded onto a truck. Yeung sneaks onto the back of the truck but is spotted by Luk Wan-Ting (Yat Chor Yuen, Dreadnaught, Tiger Cage).

Yeung claims to be an illegal immigrant, and Luk takes pity on her, as he has been in the same boat years previously. He takes her to his home where he gives her some money, telling her that it has taken him seven years to get his legal ID cards for him and his brother Ming (Kai-Chi Liu, Infernal Affairs II, New Police Story). Who suddenly come crashing through the skylight followed by six masked debt collectors. Miss Yeung now shows off her formidable talent in Martial Arts.

The next day, Donnie is following one of the cocaine dealers, to a restaurant where he is spotted by one of his friends, Captain Michael Wong (Michael Wong, City Hunter, Seven Swords) who comes and chats, thus blocking Yen’s view of his quarry. Meanwhile, Yeung realizes that she is being followed by one of the drug dealers. They fight, and she is winning until her criminal takes drastic measures to escape.

Peter has followed his truck to an empty warehouse, where he takes a photo of the Caucasian drug buyer and his goons. This guy is CIA which the Chinese didn’t know, The leader of the CIA shoots Peter with a shotgun, but he manages to get away, he bumps into Luk, and hand him his negative roll with the incriminating evidence in it. Luk is now a marked man, as the CIA don’t want it known that they are buying large amounts of cocaine, and the police want to know why he is stood over Peter dead body holding a gun.

What follows is nothing like you would expect, as these people have definitely thought out of the box when it comes to the fights and the stunts, wait until you see what they do with a couple of motorcycles. Also showing off their talents are Michael Woods (Cheetah on Fire, Ballistic Kiss), Stephan Berwick (Tiger Cage, In the Line of Duty III), and John Salvitti (Crystal Hunt, Iceman)

In the Line of Duty 4 is an out-and-out thrill fest, that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A must for Martial Arts fans, Action fans and Stunt fans. A great addition to the franchise.

In the Line of Duty IV is available UK debuts on Blu-ray from brand new 2K restorations. 20th March 2023

In the Line of Duty IV

 

SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES*:

 

Limited Edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling [First Print Run of 2000 copies] | 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray of the original theatrical cut from a brand new 2K restoration | 1080p HD presentation of the original export version from a brand new 2K restoration | Cantonese and English audio options (both in their original mono presentations) | Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release | Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) | Brand new feature length audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema | Archival commentary by Hong Kong expert Stefan Hammond and lead actor Michael Wong | Archival interview with Donnie Yen | New interviews with cast and crew | Archival “Donnie Yen Action” featurette | Trailers | Reversible sleeve design | PLUS: A Limited Edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver and extracts from A Different Brilliance – The D & B Story [First Print Run of 2000 copies] | *All extras subject to change