The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 has the SKIRTS reassembling to take on the arms dealers looking for vengeance. New on Blu-ray from 88 Films!
The Film
Talk about jumping the shark. The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is a hobbled-together string of gags till the climactic action scene. One expects a shark by the end of this film that wears all goodwill out of the series.
The fourth entry does have some connections with the third, which has the gang of arms dealers rescuing their leader and exacting some revenge. This leads to the SKIRTS having to be reformed after separating in the months or years after the events of the third film. This leads to Madame Yang (Cynthia Kahn) bringing former SKIRTS Amy (Sandra Ng) and May (Kara Hui) to train a new generation of trainees in order to combat the arms dealers.
Writer/Director Wellson Ching’s film is a series of questionable gags that lead to a third-act action finale that’s both questionable and effectively stylish. The action is surprisingly effective and impactfully violent (earning its R-rating). The questionable portion is the use of children and toilet training which would have been questionable even in 1992.
The cast is effectively fun. Sandra Ng deserves a lifetime achievement for the level of abuse and jokes at her expense over four films the series has put her through. Even here as a single mother they always go with the cheap and crass jokes at her expense. Kahn also seems to try to elevate the material with some respectability.
In the end, The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is entertaining as long as you can get through the first sixty minutes of repetitive jokes and sight gags (most of which have been done in the first three films).
The Transfer
The all-new 2K Restoration in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio from the original negatives is another stunner from 88 Films and consistent with the first two releases of the series. The work done here is simply jaw-dropping. The film literally looks like it was filmed yesterday. The transfer is sharp, and clean without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative. The color reproduction and contrast levels are as good as Blu-ray can possibly be in the standard dynamic range. I never tire of saying that 88 Films has got another winner on their hands with this excellent transfer. They treat these Asian Genre titles with the respect they deserve.
The Extras
They include the following;
Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng
Hong Kong Trailer
Stills Gallery
The all-new Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng begins with his credentials and discussion about the official and alternate titles this final entry into the series went by. Some of the details include the releases and the box office failure of the film – mostly because of the rise of stardom of Stephen Chow who had all top 5 box office films for the year; the various returning actors to the series; the song that features prominently in opening as the SKIRTS perform – where it came from; the changeover in production/producers in this and the third series form Jackie Chan to his brother Billy Chan; the fact that this film is much more action heavy than the third film; a discussion of the fact that the film was shot silently; a larger discussion through out of the various dub actors that voiced different roles; a discussion of Action Director Alan Choi – including his personal history and filmography; the Police Story references that play throughout; a discussion of the action and comedy balance throughout – including the various stunt performers and coordinators on the film; a discussion of the various comedy cultural bits that may be loss on westerns; a larger discussion on HK view of the HK Police Department at the time and how this has changed; a discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors and their work here and throughout their career – keep your notes app open you’ll want to write some of the films down because Frank goes fast with the various titles the different actors had been in and were famous; and much more. Djeng delivers another well-researched and informative commentary track that’s the perfect companion piece to his track from the first two entries of the series.
Hong Kong Trailer (4:39) – in Cantonese with English Subtitles.
Stills Gallery (2:41) – this still gallery consists of 19 production stills that run automatically with the score from the film playing. Note that one can navigate the gallery by using the next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote.
The Final Thought
Regardless of the quality of the film, 88 Films continues to produce great editions of Asian Genre films, this edition of The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is no different. Recommended.
The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 has the SKIRTS reassembling to take on the arms dealers looking for vengeance. New on Blu-ray from 88 Films!
The Film
Talk about jumping the shark. The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is a hobbled-together string of gags till the climactic action scene. One expects a shark by the end of this film that wears all goodwill out of the series.
The fourth entry does have some connections with the third, which has the gang of arms dealers rescuing their leader and exacting some revenge. This leads to the SKIRTS having to be reformed after separating in the months or years after the events of the third film. This leads to Madame Yang (Cynthia Kahn) bringing former SKIRTS Amy (Sandra Ng) and May (Kara Hui) to train a new generation of trainees in order to combat the arms dealers.
Writer/Director Wellson Ching’s film is a series of questionable gags that lead to a third-act action finale that’s both questionable and effectively stylish. The action is surprisingly effective and impactfully violent (earning its R-rating). The questionable portion is the use of children and toilet training which would have been questionable even in 1992.
The cast is effectively fun. Sandra Ng deserves a lifetime achievement for the level of abuse and jokes at her expense over four films the series has put her through. Even here as a single mother they always go with the cheap and crass jokes at her expense. Kahn also seems to try to elevate the material with some respectability.
In the end, The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is entertaining as long as you can get through the first sixty minutes of repetitive jokes and sight gags (most of which have been done in the first three films).
The Transfer
The all-new 2K Restoration in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio from the original negatives is another stunner from 88 Films and consistent with the first two releases of the series. The work done here is simply jaw-dropping. The film literally looks like it was filmed yesterday. The transfer is sharp, and clean without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative. The color reproduction and contrast levels are as good as Blu-ray can possibly be in the standard dynamic range. I never tire of saying that 88 Films has got another winner on their hands with this excellent transfer. They treat these Asian Genre titles with the respect they deserve.
The Extras
They include the following;
The all-new Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng begins with his credentials and discussion about the official and alternate titles this final entry into the series went by. Some of the details include the releases and the box office failure of the film – mostly because of the rise of stardom of Stephen Chow who had all top 5 box office films for the year; the various returning actors to the series; the song that features prominently in opening as the SKIRTS perform – where it came from; the changeover in production/producers in this and the third series form Jackie Chan to his brother Billy Chan; the fact that this film is much more action heavy than the third film; a discussion of the fact that the film was shot silently; a larger discussion through out of the various dub actors that voiced different roles; a discussion of Action Director Alan Choi – including his personal history and filmography; the Police Story references that play throughout; a discussion of the action and comedy balance throughout – including the various stunt performers and coordinators on the film; a discussion of the various comedy cultural bits that may be loss on westerns; a larger discussion on HK view of the HK Police Department at the time and how this has changed; a discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors and their work here and throughout their career – keep your notes app open you’ll want to write some of the films down because Frank goes fast with the various titles the different actors had been in and were famous; and much more. Djeng delivers another well-researched and informative commentary track that’s the perfect companion piece to his track from the first two entries of the series.
Hong Kong Trailer (4:39) – in Cantonese with English Subtitles.
Stills Gallery (2:41) – this still gallery consists of 19 production stills that run automatically with the score from the film playing. Note that one can navigate the gallery by using the next and back chapter stop buttons on your remote.
The Final Thought
Regardless of the quality of the film, 88 Films continues to produce great editions of Asian Genre films, this edition of The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is no different. Recommended.
88 Films Blu-Ray edition of The Inspector Wears Skirts 4 is out July 9th
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