User Reviews

Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and Anita Mui, three of the loveliest leading ladies to grace Hong Kong cinema in the 90s, team up for this classic slice of comic-book style fantasy action that compensates for a confusing and cloyingly over-sentimental story by delivering impressive visuals and seriously insane action the likes of which could only come from the Far East.

Directed by Johnny To and featuring stunning choreography by Siu-Tung Ching, the film concentrates on delivering scene after crazy-ass scene of totally insane action, all set against impressive, billowing backdrops created through the use of strong coloured lighting, plenty of smoke, and a wind machine. Among the film's many over-the-top set-pieces: a locomotive crashing into a crowded station; Anita Mui leaping across telephone wires to catch a falling child; two of the movie's heroines spinning wildly through the air on a motorbike; Maggie Cheung blasting herself into battle astride a dynamite powered oil drum; and a Terminator-style finale that sees the bad-guy's charred skeletal remains seizing control of Maggie Cheung's body (and who can really blame him?).

On top of all this inspired lunacy, viewers are also treated to another unforgettable turn from Anthony Wong as crazy killer Kau (who is a dab-hand with the flying guillotine), some surprisingly nasty violence (including a baby dying after falling onto a nail, several decapitations, and flesh-eating children who wee themselves before being blown to smithereens by dynamite), and last, but by no means least, plenty of opportunities to ogle stars Cheung, Yeoh and Mui, who all look scrummy in their super-sexy outfits.

For westerners this movie is quite strange. The mixture of fantasy, action and eastern setting creates a dream like scenery in which everything is possible. Take "Tiger and Dragon" and mix in more fantastic scenery and you have a rough idea of this movie. Great stuff that will bring you a totally new viewing experience.

This is the movie that actually opened my eyes to the Asian cinema. Of course I had watched other Asian movies, but never been super interested because of the language (of course, I was familiar with early Jackie Chan movies).

And at the same time, this is also the movie that opened up my eyes to the talent of Cheung Man Yuk (Maggie).

This movie is quite cool. It has lots of action and an alright story line, though a bit cheesy at times. But you live with it, because the movie is in fast pace from start till end.

The characters in the movie are well played, particularly the 3 heroines portrayed by Maggie Cheung, Anita Muy and Michelle Yeoh. The bad guys and supporting roles were nice as well.

"Heroic Trio" is a nice movie to come out of Asian film market. If you like Asian movies and action movies, then definitely pick up this one. You will not be disappointed.

Is this really as bad as Teen Wolf or Highlander 3, as one reviewer here has suggested? No. In fact, if you're attuned to the kind of crazy stuff that was surgin forth from Hong Kong's movie factories in the early 90s, this will already be a key component of your cult viewing repertoire. The three leads are all stunning and elegant adn everything else is secondary. The plot is maudlin and at times really cloyingly sentimental, but this is just HK cinema for you, and it always displays extreme emotions in a deliberately heightened manner. Its ultimately a really enjoyable film, but you have to see it with some kind of cultural/historical context in mind to help you avoid those nagging Teen Wolf comparisons...

"The Heroic Trio" is a ridiculously over-the-top, magnificent living comic book that marks China's biggest foray into the martial arts-superhero genre by giving birth to three originals - super-heroines, who definitely know how to kick a** and seem to be riffs on iconic American super-heroines (the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four and DC Comics' Wonder Woman come to mind) - and assembling three top Chinese actresses (Michelle Yeoh, the late Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung) to play the leads. The director in charge of this flawed, albeit spectacularly entertaining flick is Johnny To. True to most Asian martial arts cinema, To keeps the action fast, furious, and completely unbelievable. For example, in one sequence, are heroes are battling an evil henchman who has taken hostages at a subway station. The train is in for a head-on collision. The henchman, who's packing the dreaded flying guillotine, has already offed several hostages. In crashes our heroines, riding full-throttle on a motorcycle, and they somehow ride up on the wall and jump off - spiraling - toward the henchman. The day you see a flying motorcycle in an American martial arts movie (or any other movie) is the day pigs fly (and CGI can make it happen, unless you stuff a hog in a cannon). But the story of "The Heroic Trio" is that the three rival super-heroines Invisible Woman (Yeoh), Wonder Woman (Mui), and Thief Catcher (Cheung) must band together if they are to find out who is responsible for several baby-nappings in Hong Kong. All possess great powers and abilities, and their mission will take them from the streets and back-alleys of the city to the demonic underworld. The three leads are pretty and tough, and handled themselves accordingly. The shoddy script gets in the way of To's over-direction, and never quite lives up to the potential that I think it was truly capable of. A flawed, though hyper-active and entertaining entry in the Chinese superhero genre.

7/10

A fine action film with three sexy fighter-heroes and a ridiculous super-villain. I love it when the villain appears to be completely invulnerable and is defeated anyways. This arch-villain doesn't even need the usual corporeal organs and exterior skin ! Over-the-top action scenes may be tame by today's standards, but are great fun. I love that scene at the train station !

Ching Siu Tung, the master of wire work, and Johnnie To, the director of incredible The Big Heat, directed Heroic Trio in 1992. It stars three incredible beauties Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh. The story is very confusing, but these ladies play Thief Catcher (Cheung), Wonder Woman (Mui) and Invisible Girl (Yeoh) somewhere in future, where evil demon is kidnapping little babies in town, and it is soon revealed that he wants to train one of them to become the future king of China. The Demon has a helper played by very talented actor Anthony Wong (The Untold Story, Hard Boiled, Full Contact etc.) who can fight and keep intruders away from the demon master and babies. These three fighting ladies are on the trail of that baby stealing demon, and they start their fight for justice as the babies must get back safe. The story has some twists and turns, so it may seem a little confusing at first viewing, but the main merits of the film are not in the plot but in the outrageous and unbelievable action scenes, from which director Ching Siu Tung is best known. His most important films include Duel to the Death (the debut), Witch From Nepal and Swordsman films among many others. He is known also as "the wire master" and it is easy to tell why.

Heroic Trio is fantastic fantasy film, and will blow the viewer away, if one is not familiar with these kind of Orient wonders. These films have no equivalent in Western cinema. In Heroic Trio there hardly are any slow moments and only little of the usual stupid slapstick humor, that ruins little otherwise great films like Savior of the Soul and Ching Siu Tung's Terra Cotta Warrior. Heroic Trio is pure action and visuality, and it is easy to love, because there are practically no negative points in the film, considering this is pretty harmless fantasy genre.

The photography and atmosphere is stunning! The streets of Hong Kong are very misty and the greatest scenes are in the underworld in which the demon lives. It is hard to describe with words how this film looks like. The camera twists and flows smoothly and there seems not to be limits for visuality in these films. The fight scenes are great as usual, as wires are used and people fly high and camera shoots every detail in every possible angle. Ching Siu Tung is also action director and choreographer, and he has served in these roles in films like Tsui Hark's Zu: Warriors From the Magic Mountain and John Woo's The Killer and A Better Tomorrow 2. Films in which Ching Siu Tung are involved are usually totally over-the-top magic fests, and thus very unique even in Hong Kong cinema.

There is no any particular content in Heroic Trio and it is kind of empty, but if one can tolerate that and enjoy the visual perfection of this action film, then Heroic Trio is among the greatest Asian fantasy films. The sequel is far more serious as the atmosphere is very dark and holocaust like, and it is easy to see symbols about Hong Kong's future in 1997..

Heroic Trio has also very memorable music soundtrack and the film won even some prize for its theme song in Hong Kong movie awards or some other movie contest. The music is especially brilliant and sort of ominous in the underworld scenes with the sleeping and waking evil demon. The atmosphere is so brilliant, and the feel is just like one would feel in demon's cave! The soundtrack is great throughout, but those particular "demon scenes" are definitely worth a mentioning.

Heroic Trio is not too serious film, it is just action fantasy almost as fantastic as they come, but if there had been some theme or message in the film, it probably would've been even greater as a whole. A Chinese Ghost Story (also Ching Siu Tung's film) is perfect example of this: both visually unbeatable and still spiritually noteworthy. I like Heroic Trio still very much, because the look of the film is so unique, and this was actually the first of these Orient fantasy films I ever saw, and thus I was very amazed when I first saw this. Now after second viewing the magic's still there and the movie has not lost its impact on me.

Heroic Trio is 9/10 film, and is among the greatest (if not the cleverest) Hong Kong fantasies ever made. There are many many others, too, but Heroic Trio is proudly among them.

THE HEROIC TRIO is one of those outlandish fantasy movies churned out by Hong Kong film producers in the 1990s; you know, the ones that are jam-packed with crazy effects, more wirework than in a sieve factory, larger-than-life characters and a distinct disregard for realism. It's entertaining enough, if no classic, winning on the strength of its cast and anything-goes style plotting alone.

The storyline is a bizarre mix of invisible baby-snatchers, masked crime-fighting heroines, an evil religious cult, and a young and lithe Anthony Wong playing a bad guy. The narrative ebbs and flows, sometimes stretching the patience but often rewarding the viewer with a typically silly stunt or crazed fight scene involving all manner of weird shenanigans. The ending, which borrows a certain sequence from THE TERMINATOR, is a particularly engaging piece of action which has to be seen to be believed.

The cast help to make this one worthwhile, with Anita Mui contributing one of her more likable performances while Michelle Yeoh has fun with a multi-layered role. Maggie Cheung is the weakest link, as ever, but the rest of the participants are good so it's easy to forgive her less-than-stellar and ultimately cheesy performance. The most surprising thing is that Johnnie To directed; to me, he's best known as the director of a series of hard-knuckle police and gangster thrillers, not this kind of lightweight nonsense.

Well, I am not a fan of HK cinema even though I watch some of these movies from time to time. There is a lot of hype around this movie, most because of its female cast. But that is not the best on this movie. The best is the cinematography, mood and music. Makers of this movie did a great job of setting the atmosphere of weirdness, that was totally different of what we are used to see in Hollywood made movies of this type. What I do not like are the action scenes, which are staged, and poor. HK movies are well known for good action, but this is certainly not one of them.

This movie has widely been regarded as one of the best fantasies to come out of Hong Kong. That's quite an honor, keeping in mind many of the other well-known fantasy films that came out of HK. The movie indeed is style over substance, and there are many great moments...visual moments that will leave the inexperienced HK viewer in sheer awe. However, in spite of the many great moments, this movie is not necessarily what it has been made out to be.

The main problems exist with the action scenes. They are choreographed by Ching Siu Tung, whose credits include the Swordsman series, A Chinese Ghost Story, and Dr. Wai, to name a few. The action scenes are much too short and the sword fights look like exhibitions, there's no intensity in them. Also, there is little real martial arts in the whole film. Michelle Yeoh's talents are essentially wasted (except in a quick fight w/ Anthony Wong at the beginning).

There are some great moments in this film. Anita Mui running across the telephone wires, the flying motorcycle in the train station, and such. The wire work and cinematography is very good and almost awe-inspiring at times. The special FX are pretty good as well.

This movie is a lot like Swordsman II. There's a lot of awesome visions and visual delights, but the action lacks any intensity and the talents of the leads are wasted (both Jet Li in Swordsman II and Michelle Yeoh in this). In the end, the film is entertaining but is essentially overrated for what it is.

Good films are good films no matter where they come from. Bad films are bad films no matter where they come from. Just because this movie is a product of the HK cinema scene doesn't make this a good film. Do I have poor taste? Nobody can judge me on that. Am I just not open to filmmaking from any sources outside of Hollywood? I'd like to think so. But no amount of open-mindedness can give me the kind of taste to recommend a movie with lame stunts, very poor character development, weak humor and tedious mood music. The girls look good, but I'd rather spend 104 minutes looking at still photos of these ladies before spending another 104 minutes with this overrated waste of celluloid. Only for genre lovers.

This film is superhero comics fare, nothing more. In said genre, character depth and acting weighs lightly.(As long as the principals are beautiful) With that in mind I have to say that HEROIC TRIO ROCKS! The first thing that stands out in the movie is the overall look of it. The production value is excellent and the atmospheric cinematography is done as deftly as any Tony Scott film. The action choreography with heavy usage of Hong Kong style wire effects is the finest I've ever seen and the fights(especially the one in hell against a demon who kidnaps children and turns them into cannibals-remember it's a live action comic book!)are frenetic kung fu masterpieces. I realize that this type of film may not appeal to all(I enjoy subtlety as much as the next guy)but I would ask you to give this one a chance because it really is much more interesting than the average Hollywood action pic.

It is nice to see women in leading roles saving the day. This time, the men have to be saved. If you expect serious stuff, this film will not be for you! This film contains over the top action with the use of special effects only Hong Kong moviemakers can pull off. The story is ridiculous. The acting is average. But overall it is fun! Heroic Trio can be seen as a parody of other superheroes. The only difference is that the women do take their jobs seriously. I know that it is required of them, but it looks very silly. Still, everything is enjoyable and not frustrating as some of these type of movies can be. Maggie Cheung was offered a role in X2 but declined because she had pride and could not face the 1.6 billion Chinese people if she did. I don't know what she was talking about. X2 is a far superior to Heroic Trio. So how could it be shameful to be part of it!. My guess is she forgot that she ever made Heroic Trio and was referring to her serious work that she made after Heroic Trio. Also, if she had taken the role, she could have shown what Chinese people are capable of in the acting department worldwide. There is no shame in that. Heroic Trio is mindless fun and great action!

Let me give you three reasons to watch this film right off the bat: Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui and Michelle Yeoh. They all look sexy and amazing in this film. The story is about the kidnapping of male infants for the purpose of choosing the next emperor in an underground world. The plot is a bit convoluted. You really can't follow this film perfectly. Although you know who the kidnapper is, its hard to distinguish a few of the roles here. Then again, checking your brain at the door to watch this visually stunning film is worth it alone. The effects are pretty good, and I'll say it again: These three look terrific. Thats what a lot of this film is about. This is not Charlie's Angels, a few of these ladies are bad. I watched this on Cablevision HD in dubbed English, but you should opt for the subtitled version. A sequel, "Executioners" (it was inevitable) came from this. Mindless fun, so enjoy.

The Heroic Trio is at its best when it's also at its craziest, with the action sequences delivering some amazing moments of absolute insanity. It all made me wish the action was allowed to go on a bit longer, because while the action is frequent, most of the set pieces themselves are pretty brief. I guess that's part of the movie overall being fast-paced, whipping between three main characters all within a runtime of under 90 minutes, but it's a little sad how quickly some action scenes end. I might've also liked this a little more had it been more comedic outside its action (I wouldn't really call it a comedy, but some might), but that also feels a bit nitpicky. Most of this is a good time, I liked the leads, and it delivers fun action/thrills in a gloriously over-the-top way.

This is the movie that wowed Rene Vidal in "Irma Vep"? Now I KNOW he was slipping into madness! This movie is full of action, silly plot turns, and enough gore to please any "Army of Darkness" fan (with a slight bow to Ray Harryhausen @ the climax). I've seen this film in a few versions & most enjoyed the import CD-V/Laserdisc with the Mandarin soundtrack (Cantonese is more toned down) & the not-quite-English subtitles... it's fun in any version, but the import is totally over-the-top.. which seems to be the point all along!

My father bought the VCD when I was a child, so I saw it several times.In the movie, Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung have their own charm, but the male characters are the foil.

I think a lot of people just love badly plotted Hong Kong films with cheesy, unconvincing action. The ecstatic reviews here for this movie are proof of that. But I don't just like cheesy movies simply because they are cheesy, and need a basic level of competence to enjoy something.

The story, which is a mishmash of loosely strung together ideas that don't make any particular sense, involves three women with martial arts skills. One is in thrall to an evil weirdo, one helps the cops out, and the most interesting, played by Maggie Cheung, is a brassy mercenary. They fight, they team up, they make speeches, and it's all just terrible.

A lot of the user reviews say that, whatever the lack of merit in the story, the film is redeemed by its great action scenes. To which I reply, huh?

The action is terrible. That scene people seem to love where "wonder woman" runs along telephone wires? It's completely unconvincing; poor wire-fu that is unconvincing even without that discipline. Using slow-mo and quick shots, there's little indication that anyone has any martial arts experience (except Cheung, who looks pretty good), and you could easily cast grade-school children in the roles and get the same effect.

If movies like Hero represent how amazing wire-fu action can be, The Heroic Trio just as ably represents how poorly it can be done.

The one ingenious moment in the film, the final fight, is undone by some of the most terrible special effects I have ever seen in the history of motion pictures. Seriously, I've seen better special effects in films by high school students.

The three actresses are pretty and probably can act (I saw a reasonably competently dubbed version, which means I can't really judge the acting), but the script and the action make this a complete waste of time. Unless you just want to see something really, really cheesy, in which case this is definitely the movie for you.

In Hollywood today there are plenty of female starred action movies and comic book movies. This 90's Hong Kong classic is ahead of its time and blows away most action movies of recent memory. The Heroic Trio has a stunning cast of talented actresses who delivers on both acting and butt kicking. Anti Mui and Maggie Chung have proven themselves as very capable actresses in all types of genres and Michelle Yeoh, while very talented as well was a top action star in Hong Kong. Throw in a crazy plot about a evil demon that kidnaps baby's with none other than Anthony Wong as a guillotine welding heavy, The Heroic Trio holds up as highly original, supercharged entertainment. With a budget that won't even covering catering costs on a Marvel Comics Universe production, it has action sequences that Hollywood would dream about and poorly imitate in the past 30 years. The film is a mix of comic book film with wuxia and more contemporary action. As insane as the movie is, Johnny To keeps this very cohesive. The all star Hong Kong diva cast is in top form here and The Heroic Trio is an action classic.that has few equals.

I can't help it but love this film; it's great cheesy fun!:) Forget Batman, this is the way a Superhero movie should be done. Incredible imagery (some shots will take your breath away) prevails in a film genre that traditionally should not look as good as this does. There is also a plot (underground demon lord stealing babies to find an heir) and Anita Mui sings, too...what more could you want? A warning though: the film is gritty and violent, and contains a scene with an infant that may be disturbing to sensitive viewers. It's not graphic, but extremely suggestive of graphic violence.

For the first 45 minutes, I was debating whether or not to turn The Heroic Trio off. I came to the film via Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and, wary that many purists have called CTHD diluted Hong Kong wire-fu, I thought that a real one might be quite interesting. It was, but it wasn't entirely successful. It isn't nearly as good as CTHD. Go ahead and accuse me of being a Westerner. I know I am.

The main problem with THT is the editing. I assume these films are made fast and that they are quickly edited. And I'm sure fans care less about the story than the action. The editing here is so choppy that I was always racing to catch up with the film. It took me a long time to figure out the relationships between characters, and a lot of things still didn't make much sense to me.

Even if the action scenes are supposed to be where the filmmakers invest all their interest, most of the action scenes are just as poorly edited as the rest. In the old dancing musicals of Astaire and Rogers, the directors made it their point to show the entire scene, so you could see the dancers and what they are doing. The same ought to go for these types of movies. That's certainly what they were thinking in CTHD: there may be cuts, but there are long periods where you watch the actors do their stuff. In THT, they cut almost every time someone draws a weapon or kicks. One of the most effective shots in CTHD was when Jade Fox tossed that round blade at the old man's forehead. We see it travel from Fox's hand straight into the man's forehead without a cut. I heard the audience shout "OUCH!!!" You'll find nothing that good here. At least the action sequences get better in this respect as the film progresses. The final battle scene is a lot of fun and very exciting. 6/10