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Poon, who Yeoh married in 1988, had formed D&B Films with Hung, and the studio gave Yeoh her first movie role.

‘This is it’: the 90s film set on which Michelle Yeoh was seriously injured

Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars (1985)

Yeoh, a confessed thrill-seeker, had trained as a dancer in the UK, and felt she was agile enough for action, stunts and martial arts.

She suggested to D&B that they try her in an action role, and she debuted with a short appearance as a judo instructor in this lowbrow mix of comedy and martial arts.

Yeoh has all the moves down pat, but the scene is marred by crude sexual innuendo.

Yes, Madam! (1985)

The contemporary police actioner saw Yeoh diving straight into martial arts, gunplay, and stunts, and her dance training shows in the fluidity of her action sequences.

“It was stressed to me right from the beginning that I would have to do all my own stunts to make them believable. Unless I gave the public something special, I would not have been accepted,” she told the Post in 1997.

Royal Warriors (1986)

Another contemporary police actioner, this features some of Yeoh’s best combat scenes – the opening, in which she even uses a few kendo moves, is riveting.

“Not only do the individual action sequences excel, but Royal Warriors also achieves a degree of poignancy seldom seen in local action films,” said the Post in 1986.

Magnificent Warriors (1987)

One of the most entertaining Hong Kong movies ever made, this Indiana Jones-influenced romp is action – and explosions – all the way.

Yeoh plays an adventurer who, together with Richard Ng Yiu-hon and Derek Yee Tung-sing, must stop some Japanese soldiers building a poison gas factory in a small village.

Easy Money (1987)

Yeoh reunited with George Lam for this average crime caper in which she plays a rich woman who decides to rob the Jockey Club for fun.

“With a weak script allowing the actors practically no chance to develop their acting, even exotic location shots in Paris, Switzerland, Greece and London and an overabundance of hi-tech are not enough to save this movie,” said the Post in 1987.

This was Yeoh’s last film before a four-year break from the industry because of her marriage to Dickson Poon.

Police Story 3 – Supercop (1992)

“The two stars make a good team, displaying an easy give-and-take, infused with a shared sense of humour,” wrote Post critic Paul Fonoroff in 1992.

‘I’m versatile’: how Michelle Yeoh became a martial arts movie star

A difficult jump from a moving vehicle onto a car driven by Chan went dangerously wrong when Yeoh accidentally landed on the bonnet, and she credits Chan’s cool-headed response for saving her life.

Butterfly and Sword (1993)

Yeoh’s entry into the fantasy martial arts revival is a violent period piece which features a love triangle between Yeoh, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Joey Wong Cho-yin.

“With its glossy sheen and first-rate cast, Butterfly and Sword probably ranks as one of the better examples of the genre,” said the Post.

The Heroic Trio (1993)

Yeoh plays a villain who comes over to the good side in Johnnie To Kei-fung’s muddled fantasy superhero film.

“It has the same tired clichés that have already been seen in dozens of cartoonlike films, with fast action and flashy special effects substituting for a fascinating fantasy world,” noted the Post.

The film’s sequel, Executioners, was even worse.

Holy Weapon (1993)

This Wong Jing costume farce brings together Yeoh, Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Carol ‘Dodo’ Cheng Yu-ling to spoof the martial arts heroines of the 1960s.

“The filmmakers fail to follow through on these elements of nostalgic satire, turning the film into a grab bag of styles and jokes that has little to do with teen idols or Cantonese classics,” said the Post.

Project S (1993)

Stanley Tong Kwai-lai developed this as a spin-off for Yeoh after the success of Police Story 3, and she plays the same mainland Chinese police officer, Jessica Yang, who this time comes to Hong Kong to assist the police there.

Yeoh is typically adept in her action sequences, but there are too few of them among the talky scenes. Jackie Chan appears in drag in an unwarranted two-minute cameo.

The Tai Chi Master (1993)

Wing Chun (1994)

Yeoh’s second film for Yuen Woo-ping is very much old school kung fu – it looks like it was made in the late 1970s.

Unusually for a Yeoh film, the martial arts are soft and highly choreographed, featuring northern-style kung fu tumbles and acrobatics. The film doesn’t tell the promised story of the female inventor of the wing chun fighting style, but it’s still an enjoyable low-key watch.

“Wing Chun is packed with action, action, and more action,” said the Post.

Wonder 7 (aka Phantom 7) (1994)

This little-seen contemporary fantasy, directed by the period-film choreographer Tony Ching, features some amazing motorcycle stunts.

The story revolves around a group of seven motorcycle vigilantes – Yeoh herself plays a female killer – and Ching really lets his imagination roam free, even staging a kind of spiritual motorcycle funeral.

Yeoh does her usual high-class stunt and martial arts work, and “is photographed better than in many of her recent films”, said the Post.

Ah Kam (aka The Stunt Woman) (1996)

“The audience appreciates the actors, who do work very hard and go through a lot of pain, but the stunt people and the coordinators who make it all happen are the unsung heroes,” she told the Post’s Winnie Chung.

Yeoh was seriously injured when a stunt fall from a bridge went wrong during the shoot. “I thought, ‘this is it’,” she told the Post.

In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser known aspects of the industry.

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