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Righting Wrongs

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Righting Wrongs
Original film poster
Traditional Chinese執法先鋒
Simplified Chinese执法先锋
Literal meaningLaw Enforcement Pioneer
Hanyu PinyinZhí Fǎ Xiān Fēng
JyutpingZap1 Faat3 Sin1 Fung1
Directed byCorey Yuen
Written by
Produced by
  • Yuen Biao
  • Corey Yuen
Starring
CinematographyTom Lau
Edited byPeter Cheung
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byGolden Harvest
Release date
  • 27 November 1986 (1986-11-27)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeHK$10,751,259

Righting Wrongs (Chinese: 執法先鋒; Jyutping: Zap Faat Sin Fung) is a 1986 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Corey Yuen, and also produced by and starring Yuen Biao, both of whom also serve as the film's action directors. The film also co-stars Cynthia Rothrock, Melvin Wong, Wu Ma, Roy Chiao and director Yuen himself. Righting Wrongs is the one of Yuen Biao's better known films that he made without film industry compatriots Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan.

Plot

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Jason Ha Ling-ching is a dedicated, by the books prosecutor who has tried to maintain patience and tolerance under the somewhat flimsy laws of the court. However, when his mentor is publicly gunned down in New Zealand and the key witness of Ha's latest case and his entire family is wiped out overnight, Ha can no longer go by the book.

Ha's initial plan is to take the law into his own hands and kill the two men he believes called for his witness' murder. He is successful in killing the first, which causes the Hong Kong Police Department to wake up and take action to regain order. Enter Senior Inspector Cindy Si, who is put on the case to find the killer under her superior, Superintendent Wong Ching-wai. However, when Ha goes to kill the second defendant, Chow Ting-kwong, he is already dead. Unbeknownst to them, both of the defendants were working under an even higher power, known only as "Crown". However, it is soon discovered that "Crown" is none other than Superintendent Wong, who was also Chow's killer.

Once Si realizes that Wong is the true mastermind behind all of the recent murders taking place, she and Ha finally work together to bring him in to prove he is not "above the law". Si storms through an airport hangar to confront Wong, but is fatally impaled by Wong using a hand drill. Ha arrives at the scene to fight Wong in the hangar and aboard a plane. Ha kills Wong with an axe to the back of the neck and jumps off the plane before it crashes, but dies on impact after landing into the ocean and his lifeless body afloats.

Alternate ending

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In an alternate ending used in the English and Mandarin versions, both Si and Ha survive. Ha, however, is arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter (the Mandarin dub has him given a life sentence for first-degree murder).[1][2][3]

The 2022 UK Blu-ray release features two additional endings - both of which alternate on the fates of either Si or Ha. The viewer can choose between the four different endings of the "Ultimate Cut" or let the "Ending Randomiser" select the ending.[4]

An unused edit of the Hong Kong ending sees a yacht pass by Ha's lifeless body on the ocean. The women aboard want to save him, but the yacht's owner turns the ship away instead.[4]

Cast

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  • Yuen Biao as Jason Ha Ling-Ching
  • Cynthia Rothrock as Senior Inspector Cindy Si
  • Roy Chiao as Magistrate Judge
  • Melvin Wong as Superintendent Wong Ching-Wai
  • Louis Fan as Sammy Yu Chi-Man
  • Corey Yuen as "Bad Egg"
  • Sandy Chan as Jason Ha's Girlfriend
  • Chung Fat as Red Porsche Policeman
  • Wu Ma as Uncle Tsai
  • Peter Cunningham as Black Assassin
  • Lau Sing-ming as Sammy's Grandfather
  • Karen Sheperd as Karen
  • Tai Po as Yellow Shirt Cop
  • James Tien - Chow Ting-Kwong
  • Hsu Hsia as Mr. Leung (protected witness)
  • Lau Chau-sang as Cop
  • Chow Kam-kong as Station Cop
  • Stephen Chan as Hung
  • Siu Bo as Cop Guarding Mr. Leung / Hangar Thug (2 roles)
  • Yuen Miu as Cop Guarding Mr. Leung
  • King Lee as Cop
  • Paul Chang as "Four-Eyes Bill"
  • Hsiao Hou
  • Fruit Chan

Theme song

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Production

[edit]

According to Rothrock, Golden Harvest originally signed her to play the villain opposite of Jackie Chan in Armour of God, but when production halted due to Chan's near-fatal filming accident, the studio reassigned Rothrock to Righting Wrongs with Biao. While practicing her moves for the film, she injured her right ACL; rather than take time off to undergo surgery, she proceeded to shoot her scenes using her left leg for her kicks. Filming lasted five-and-a-half months.[5]

During filming, Biao sustained a back injury while filming the scene where his character jumped off the second story of a house, despite landing feet-first on some padding dressed up as grass.[5][6]

When the studio needed another female martial artist for the film, Rothrock recommended Karen Sheperd. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, Sheperd demanded that her character should not die, as it would ruin her reputation. In addition, she refused to kill a boy, as written on the screenplay. After Rothrock and Sheperd's fight scene was completed, the crew filmed a body double doing the scenes Sheperd refused to do, including her character's death.[5]

The film's original ending was met with a negative reception during its midnight screening in Hong Kong; because of this, Rothrock stopped filming China O'Brien and flew from Los Angeles to Hong Kong to reshoot the ending for the Mandarin and international versions.[5][6][1][2]

Release

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The English dub of the film was released internationally as Above the Law. In the Philippines, the film was released by First Films as Fight to Win II,[7] connecting it to the unrelated film The Magic Crystal (released as Fight to Win in the country).[8]

Home media

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Righting Wrongs was released on DVD in the U.S. by Dragon Dynasty on 29 May 2007 under the title Above the Law.[9][10]

The film was released on Blu-ray in the U.S. by Vinegar Syndrome on 30 August 2022. The three-disc set includes the original 96-minute Hong Kong cut, the 100-minute international Mandarin cut, and the 92-minute English Above the Law cut, plus the 1990 documentary The Best of the Martial Arts Films.[11][12]

Righting Wrongs was released on Blu-ray in the UK by 88 Films on 24 October 2022. The two-disc set includes all three edits and a 106-minute "Ultimate Cut" that combines both Hong Kong and international endings and adds two re-edited endings that can be randomly selected by the player.[13][14][15]

Accolades

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Accolades
Ceremony Category Recipient Outcome
6th Hong Kong Film Awards[16] Best Supporting Actor Wu Ma Nominated
Best Action Direction Corey Yuen, Yuen Biao, Mang Hoi and Tsui Hark Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b Headley, Kelan (17 April 2015). "Righting Wrongs". Eastern Kicks. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Righting Wrongs". Movie Censorship. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Righting Wrongs". Martial Arts Entertainment. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Righting Wrongs (Above the Law) (Comparison: Ending Randomizer - Ultimate Cut)". Movie Censorship. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Rothrock, Cynthia (23 April 2020). Cynthia Rothrock Behind the Scenes on Righting Wrongs. YouTube. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  6. ^ a b Rothrock, Cynthia (6 March 2022). Cynthia Rothrock's Best Fight Scenes HD. YouTube. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Grand Opening Today". The Manila Standard. 17 March 1987. p. 15.
  8. ^ "Winning Team". Manila Standard. Kagitingan Publications, Inc. 16 February 1989. p. 16. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Above the Law". DVD Talk. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Above the Law - DVD Review". Inside Pulse. 17 July 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  11. ^ Duarte, M. Enois (3 September 2022). "Righting Wrongs Blu-ray Review". Hi-Def Digest. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  12. ^ Hunter, Rob (7 October 2022). "Righting Wrongs Gets the Home Video Treatment It Deserves from Vinegar Syndrome". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Righting Wrongs - Deluxe Collector's Edition". 88 Films. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  14. ^ Bona, JJ (24 October 2022). "88 Films' Deluxe Limited Edition release of 'Righting Wrongs' – featuring the exclusive ultimate cut – now shipping!". City on Fire. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Import Corner: Righting Wrongs (88 Films) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots". The Big Movie House. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  16. ^ "List of Nominees and Awardees of The 6th Hong Kong Film Awards". Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
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