This Taiwanese-Hong Kong co-production is often called the worst Jackie Chan movie ever. It’s certainly the weirdest-ever Chan vehicle, a 1983 action comedy he appeared in strictly as a favor to director Yen-Ping Chu.
FANTASY MISSION FORCE (1983) Trailer
FANTASY MISSION FORCE (Mi nit e gong dui; 1983) followed the Chu directed GOLDEN QUEENS COMMANDO (Hong fen bing tuan; 1982) and PINK FORCE COMMANDO (Hong fen you xia; 1982), upon which Chu was credited as “Planner.” All three films offered warped comedic variants on THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), and featured the Taiwanese starlet Brigitte Lin, who back then was in the process of transitioning to the Hong Kong film industry.
Brigitte Line
Lin is the heroine of the film, which occurs during WWII (not that you’d be to tell that from the art direction, which combines time periods quite recklessly). The Japanese capture four allied generals (one of them named “Abraham Lincoln”) and a multi-national consortium meets to figure out how best to mount a rescue mission. Several potential rescuers are considered, including James Bond, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK’s Snake Pliskin and Rocky Balboa, but the ultimate choice is Don Wen (Wang Yu), a military veteran tasked with forming a commando group.
Wen ends up with a group of five goofballs who are only interested in the money being offered, with the sole competent fighter being Lily (Lin). She’s first seen engaged in a RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK inspired drinking contest, in which a scantily clad woman is pinned to a wall and has a knife thrown at her every time someone drinks.
As for Jackie (or as he’s credited here, “Jacky”) Chan, he has an extended cameo as a fugitive who initially tries to rob our heroes, but ends up periodically thrown in with them—and eventually saves the day. Before that can occur the Fantasy Mission Force has to fight off a band of scantily clad female warriors, survive an overnight stay in a haunted house packed with card playing zombies (with very long arms) and disembodied hands that proffer toilet paper in the bathroom, and confront car riding “Nazis” who closely resemble the bad guys from THE ROAD WARRIOR (1982).
Appropriately, the most readily available home video version of FANTASY MISSION FORCE contains thoroughly inept English language dubbing, which heightens the ridiculousness of a film that can be viewed as a “cockeyed vision of the world (that) remains unparalleled in Hong Kong cinema” (so claimed ASIAN CULT CINEMA’s Thomas Weisser) or an unbelievable mass of cinematic ineptitude. Storytelling certainly wasn’t among director Yen-Ping Chu’s talents, as the narrative is choppy and only semi-coherent. Chu fares better in the copious fight sequences, which are competently pulled off but far from spectacular; there’s an overreliance on multiple set-ups and elaborate editing (as opposed to the single take mastery of the best Hong Kong movie fights), and R-rated brutality that’s directly at odds with the lighthearted tone.
Jackie Chan
The main performers, despite their high profiles, fail to elevate the silliness. Brigitte Lin delivers a charisma-free rendition of the fierceness that’s become her cinematic trademark, while Mr. Chan is given several fight scenes that only hint at the acrobatic grace for which he’s known.
Vital Statistics
FANTASY MISSION FORCE (Mi nit te going di)
Cheung Ming Film
Director: Yen-Ping Chu
Producer: Hsiao-Yin Shen
Screenplay: Hsin Wei
Cinematography: Ching-Sung Liao
Editing: Huang-Hsiung Chiang
Cast: “Jacky” Chan, Brigitte Lin, Adam Cheng, Wang Yu, Shiu Bu Lia, Fang Jung, Sun Yueh, Tao Da Way, Gou Ling Fung, Chang Ling, Ji Tung