Tian shi te jing (1991) User Reviews (4)

Not One Of Moon's Best, But Not Her Fault!!

[Movie-Misfit · 5/10 · 9 April 2020]

Not to be confused with Moon Lee films, Mission Of Justice, Mission Of Condor or anything else, Angel Force was just one of 15 titles starring the amazing Miss Lee over a 3 year period in the early 90's...

Director Hua Shan delivers a modest attempt at cashing in on the Angels franchise with this average action flick from the early 90's, with superstar Moon Lee sporting a new haircut (for the first 20 minutes) that makes her look like a 14 year old boy! Shan spent many years as a director for the mighty Shaw Brothers delivering great titles such as Super Inframan, Flying Guillotine 2, and Little Dragon maiden with Leslie Cheung. He is joined by Tony Liu Jun Guk, director of Holy Virgin Versus The Evil Dead, Devil Hunters, and Dreaming The Reality as well as a number of other Moon Lee projects.

While the film opens in Hong Kong and gets straight into the action, it does take a while for Angel Force to start getting interesting. Up to then, the fights seem bland, and actors look bored. Thankfully, around 30 minutes in, cops Lee and Yam head off to Burma and things start picking up...

Hong Kong movie veteran and Peking Opera School classmate to the Three Dragons, the often-forgotten Yuen Bun looks after the action and fight choreography. While not as exciting or powerful as that in the Iron Angels series, Bun still manages to keep things moving between motorbike chases, gun-play, and plenty of martial arts action. Once in Burma, it doesn't take long for Wilson Lam to get shot, thankfully putting him out of the picture while he heals. I'm not a huge fan of his acting, and once gone, the show is all Moon's which is all for the better, letting Moon Lee do what she does best - and kick some ass!

Even though it tries to combine the best from all of the original Iron Angels between its office blocks and cityscape, to the jungles of Burma, and has an extra big baddie in he shape of Wang Lung Wei, Angel Force is bland in comparison in many departments. The action is pretty much non-stop from before the half-way line, with the most of it being gun-play and explosions, so when a bit of hand-to-hand comes about, it makes a bit of an impact (but just a bit)...

The big finale takes place back in Hong Kong, with some nice choreography, stunt work and moves as Moon and Wilson take on Shing Fui On and Jimmy Lee in a fight to the death!

Overall: Worth a watch for Moon Lee, Angel Force is entertaining enough, but there's much better out there...

Angel Force

[coltras35 · 5/10 · 1 January 2023]

A police officer (Hong Kong action star Moon Lee) goes on a rescue mission to Thailand, but unexpectedly finds that the villain behind the crime is someone she thought she could trust.

From concrete jungle to the real jungle, this HK actioner features the usual well-staged fights, gun battles and some twist and turns. A girl-on-girl battle between Moon Lee and assassin Fujimi Nadeki is a highlight. Fight wise, Moon Lee is at her kinetic best, however the story is a bit confusing and flat, plus I didn't like the fact that Benny, the loose cannon, whom Lee and her partner (Wilson Lam) recruit for their special op attempts to rape a captive and later saves Moon life by killing her is a bit morally dubious as he's now seen as a chivalrous hero. It could have done well without this trashy segment. A protagonist can have grey shades and be ruthless, but there's a line he shouldn't cross, and this character did just that.

One of Moon Lee's best

[gridoon2024 · 7/10 · 7 September 2008]

Wilson Lam and Moon Lee are the heads of a rescue mission to Burma. When Wilson is shot and almost killed in an ambush, Moon and the rest of the team must complete the mission on their own - and find a possible traitor within the police force.

"Angel Force" opens with a bang (there is shooting and fighting even before the credits), and pretty much stays that way to the end. The setting changes from urban to jungle and back again, but the action rarely lets up and the plot and humor are kept to a minimum. Moon Lee, sporting a slightly boyish haircut, tones down her cuteness (as much as possible; after all, she is cute by default), and plays it serious and mean; in one fantastic moment, she points her gun to a bad guy's head and you expect her to knock him out or start questioning him. But no, she just blows his brains out without mercy! And then she proceeds to have a great (if short) fight with the ice-cold killer Fujimi Nadeki. The fights in "Angel Force" are not overly fancy - mostly just brutal kickboxing. And there are quite a few of them. Definitely one of her best films, as well as one of her easiest to find, there's no reason not to add it in your Moon Lee collection. (***)

A well crafted, guilty pleasure from the Girls with Guns Genre...

[rudeboy8080 · 6 May 2003]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** WARNING: This review may contain potential spoilers. 'Angel Force' a.k.a. 'Tian shi te jing' was the first Moon Lee actioner that I saw years ago(not knowing who she was then, but still impressed by her screen presence) on programming broadcasted in the San Francisco area. This film is unrated, but would probably receive an R-rating in the U.S. due to its chaotic fun; bless those censors for protecting us from reality. BA,HA,HA,HA,HA,HA...! Moon Lee Choi-fung portrays Ah Mun(May in an English dubbed version), a Hong Kong police officer(chai yahn) who travels with her male partner(Wilson Lam) from Hong Kong to Thailand to rescue a gwailo beaureaucrat who's been taken captive by a drug lord(Wong Lung-wei,a Shaw Brothers-era bad-a** and legendary HK cinema baddie). Ah Mun and her partner have a Riggs and Murtaugh-esque partnership; when Ah Mun is having dinner with her partner, his wife and his son, stock music from 'Lethal Weapon' plays on the soundtrack. 'Angel Force' suffers from the usual flaws in the girls-with-guns genre: a lack of story depth and texture, high production values, original music(some exceptions for some films), a lack of cohesiveness, hammy acting, and other factors. This film was made on the heels of successful films such as 'Yes Madam' and the 'Angel' flicks(also starring Lee) and may account for the films derivativness. 'Angel Force' goes from a cop movie to a campy jungle warfare flick and back again. As for its redeeming values, 'Angel Force' delivers the goods. The fight scenes(staged by Yuen Bun) are well crafted and the gunplay is hokey, yet energetic. I love the triple take in the prolouge where Moon Lee locks a lackey's head with her right arm and hits his face by kicking her left leg backward. As for the supporting cast, Hugo Ng portrays a mercanary who is good and bad: he doesn't follow orders too well, he tries to rape a female POW(until Ah Mun intervenes and stops him), he's somewhat chivalrous, and he's deadly. Shing Fui On portrays the kind of triad heavy that he's been typecast as(his character may be in cahoots with the drug lord and Ah Mun's superior!) 'Angel Force is nothing great and it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's more entertaining than most modern HK "popcorn" films and action junkies may enjoy it.