Aces Go Places 3 (Chinese: 最佳拍檔之女皇密令), also known under the titles Aces Go Places 3 - Our Man from Bond Street and Mad Mission III, is a 1984 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Tsui Hark as the third installment in the Aces Go Places film series.
| Aces Go Places 3 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Tsui Hark[1] |
| Written by | Raymond Wong[1] |
| Produced by | Raymond Wong[1] |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography |
|
| Edited by | Tony Chow |
| Music by |
|
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Cinema City |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Box office | HK$29,286,077[1] |
Aces Go Places 3 was the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong on its release in 1984 and was the highest-grossing film in the series. The film was released in an English-language dub titled Mad Mission 3 which had scenes cut and altered from the original film. Tsui had previously appeared in the first two films in cameos.
Plot
editThe film starts in Paris, where King Kong (Sam Hui) is recruited by Elizabeth II and a James Bond-like character to retrieve one of the Crown Jewels which has been stolen and is located in a Hong Kong Police Headquarters vault. Richard Kiel spoofs his role as "Jaws" from the James Bond film series.
Cast
edit- Sam Hui as King Kong
- Karl Maka as Albert Au
- Sylvia Chang as Nancy Ho
- Cyrus Wong as Baldy Junior
- Ricky Hui as Puffer Fish
- Peter Graves as agent Tom Collins
- John Shum as Police chief
- Jean Mersant as Mr. Bond
- Richard Kiel as Big G
- Tsuneharu Sugiyama as Oddjob
- Huguette Funfrock as Queen of England
- Jay Koch as Ronald Reagan
Production
editAces Go Places 3 riffs off the plots of the James Bond series and features cameos from actors in various English-language spy features.[2][3] These include Peter Graves from the Mission: Impossible television series and Richard Kiel who played Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.[2] The film also features a character resembling Oddjob.[2] Several sources erroneously report that the character of "Mr Bond", the James Bond-like British secret agent, was played by Neil Connery, Sean Connery's younger brother.[4][5] The character was actually played by Jean Mersant, a French Sean Connery impersonator.[6][7]
Release
editAces Go Places 3 was released on 26 January 1984.[1] The film was a success with audiences, becoming the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong in the year end box office and was the highest-grossing film in the Aces Go Places series.[8][2] An English-dubbed version of the film was released under the title Mad Mission 3.[8] This version removes about 20 minutes of footage including scenes from the original film with Karl Maka's Albert, the baby and a maid and scenes with Sylvia Chang's character, Ho, in the hospital.[8] This version includes additional comedy scenes with Peter Graves' character.[2]
Reception
editAllmovie gave the film three stars out of five, noting that the plot for Aces Go Places 3 was "stronger than usual for the series" and "that film's juvenile sense of humor might put off viewers in search of more sophisticated fare, but many others are likely to find the movie too colorful and exciting to be denied."[3] John Charles, author Hong Kong Filmography 1977-1997 awarded the film a six out of ten rating finding the scenes involving Sylvia Chang and Karl Maka were "tiresome and consist almost exclusively of situations from old sitcoms".[2] In his book Horror and Science Fiction Film IV, Donald C Willis referred to the film as a "lively, routine action comedy."[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h "Aces go places III - Our man from Bond Street". Hong Kong Film Archive. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
Search "Aces Go Places 3" under "Film Title"
- ^ a b c d e f g Charles, 2000. p. 4
- ^ a b Guarisco, Donald. "Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street". Allmovie. All Media Guide. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ^ "Aces go places 3". lovehkfilm.com. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ "Aces Go Places - Our Man from Bond Street (1984) (VCD) (Hong Kong Version)". yesasia.com. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ James Robert Parish, Michael R. Pitts, The Great Spy Pictures - Volume 2, Scarecrow Press, 1986, page 3
- ^ Asiaweek Volume 10, 1984, Page 47
- ^ a b c Morton, 2009. p. 141
- ^ Willis 1997, p. 2.
Bibliography
edit- Morton, Lisa (2009). The Cinema of Tsui Hark. McFarland. ISBN 9780786444601. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- Charles, John (2000). The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997. McFarland. ISBN 0786408421.
- Willis, Donald C. (1997). Horror and Science Fiction Films IV. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810830558.