Reviewed by: Hyomil Date: 04/07/2011 Reviewer Score: 1

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 02/04/2010 One scene in Women on the Run features an obviously fake dog being punted by a group of street thugs, which is followed by an uneasily graphic rape scene, and then capped off by some naked kung fu. If you're new to Hong Kong cinema, then welcome to the wild and wooly world of Category III pictures. Those more expericened viewers looking for tons of boobs and blood might end up a bit disappointed, but Corey Yuen's involvement in this production makes it still worth checking out, at least if you have a strong stomach for the rough stuff. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 12/16/2006 Summary: a compelling exploitation action movie Here is a nice film that you could put under the heading of "They don't make them like this anymore" or "One, for the money; Two, for the money". Corey Yuen Kwai and David Lai Dai-Wai first worked together as producers on Wu Ma's Picture of a Nymph (1988). Their collaborations garnered huge box office success with hit films like Saviour of the Soul (1991) and Lee Rock (1991). Looking for a bigger piece of the action with Women on the Run, they co-produce, co-direct, and also cast themselves in major speaking roles, all for the money if you know what I mean. They get their pal from several projects including the Saviour films and Operation Scorpio, Yuen Tak, to handle the action direction. The screenplay by Poon Yuen-Leung relates the sad story of martial arts champion Li Siu-Yin and her misadventures after she lives her country village for life in the big city. It is not pretty. She develops a relationship with Inspector Hung who comes from the Yes, Madam school of tough lady police officers. Hung has her own set of troubling personal character issues. Like I said, they don't make them like this anymore. Farini Cheung Yui-Ling plays Hung and Tamara Guo plays Siu-Lin. Both are appearing in starring roles in a film for the first time and both give "no holds barred" performances. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: dandan Date: 03/08/2006 Summary: unexpected catIII fare from mr yuen... a martial arts champion is lured from the country to the city by her boyfriend, who then introduces her to heroin and makes her prostitute herself. she kills him and sets off for hong kong, only to be caught by the police. she is then offered a chance to earn a pardon by assisting the police in an undercover drugs sting; she accepts, but all may not be as it seems... part gritty hong kong cop film, part buddy movie and part exploitation flick. there's some naked kung-fu, some slapstick heroin abuse, an obviously fake dog being beaten and a rather nasty sexual assault, but this sits next to some quality martial arts, a solid and engaging plot, some genuine drama and an obviously fake dog being beaten. overall, i have to say that, i found it to be a pretty entertaining watch when it was making the effort. as for the ending just a touch abrupt...

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 07/17/2005 Summary: Overlooked minor-classic WOMEN ON THE RUN is an overlooked classic of Hong Kong's action golden age, when films were cheap and stunts were insane and women did kung fu in the nude. Not as often as we might have liked, in the latter case, but Women On The Run does its best to make up for it! Coming out in 1993 the film was perhaps a little too late for its style, which is closer to the 80's "girls with guns" films, with extra exploitation. The story is a nice old-fashioned melodrama of betrayal, revenge and female bonding instigated by betrayal and revenge. The film scores "only in Hong Kong points" for having the female protaganists get violently gang-raped as a catalyst for bonding - subtly not being one of director Yuen Kwai's most notable assets. The film's two main claims to classicdom are cast members Tamara Guo (in her debut) and Kim Won Jun (Korean kicker par-excellence). Kim Won Jun is always awesome, at least in the few films where he's been given the chance to prove it, so no more needs to be said about him - except it's a shame he didn't get more screen time. Tamara Guo is a much more enigmatic case - meaning I don't know anything about her except that she was in this film and then seemed to disappear. This is sad, and surprising, as she shows a lot of talent and potential here. Her acting may not be award-winning calibre, but it more than suffices for a film of this nature and she has undeniable screen presence. She also shows some impressive martial arts skills, which is probably of more interest to the viewer of films like this. Her fight scenes are great, whether naked or not, and it would certainly have been nice to have seen her in more films - the few she has appeared in since seem to have been minor roles and/or zero-budget crap. One can't help but suspect that it was a mistake for her to appear quite so naked in her first film, because history has generally not been full of examples of women who have great careers in HK cinema after getting naked in their debut. Amy Yip apparently observed that the key to success was to leave the audience wanting more, and once you'd shown them everything there was nothing left to keep them coming back next time. Sad, but probably true. Still, at least we have one good, trashy action film to remember Tamara by (naked or otherwise). There's not a lot else to be said - this isn't a complicated film. Women On The Run, fighting people, including Kim Won Jun. What more do you need to know? Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 05/30/2005 Reasons to like "Women on the Run": 1) Kim Won Jin (Jung Yuen) the Korean kicking machine. He is the real action star of the the film. As the villian--or at least the most villianous--his character has plenty of energy and his action scenes are amazing. They include landing both feet to the head of an opponent while spinning in mid-air. He dominates the screen whenever he is on it. 2)Tamara Guo who is quite a kicker herself. She lands three roundhouse kicks and knocks a guy through a closed door, taking the door with him, while naked. 3) The bonds that are portrayed as developing between the characters played by Tamara Guo and Farini Cheung are well developed and believable, even though one is a police officer and the other a drug addicted prostitute. Maybe is is really a chick flick. Reasons not to like "Women on the Run": 1) It ricochets from mainland China to Hong Kong to Vancouver and back to Hong Kong too easily and quickly. 2) As a revenge drama the revenge that the two female leads take on the crooked cop who set them up isn't equal to the evil he has done to them. 3) Both female leads get gang raped. 4)During the big fight at the end of the movie when one set of bad guys run out of bullets they throw spears. And who ever runs out of bullets in a Hong Kong action movie? 5) The title could have been "Kung Fu Hookers" without changing scene or one line of dialog. **********Partial Spoiler********** 6) Like many HK action movies, "Women on the Run" ends abruptly and inconclusively. Our heroines drive away as the credits roll after realizing that they still have to be on the run... A set-up for a sequel but since the character King Kong, played by Jung Yuen is killed there isn't much reason for a sequel. Unless he comes back has his twin brother, of course. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: stuntpeople Date: 11/21/2002 Summary: Good showcase for Kim Won Jin Kim has the upper hand in the entire movie. Everything else in this is sub-par garbage. Watch for when Kim kicks the hell out of everyone in a field, doing some amazing double legged moves. And then the finale, I think he uses his hands twice. Everything else is either a unique arial kick or some intense chain kicking. Recommend for a Kim Won Jin fan.

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 04/19/2002 Summary: BAD Cheap poor quality film, has little to offer. Some of the action is okay, but with a terrible plot and no story there is nothing to keep you watching. Avoid it like the plague! Rating: 1/5

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 03/07/2002 Summary: Ok-ish i remember this did deserve it's Cat 3 rating because it had a little of everything, violence and sex!! But the overall movie was lacking in every department, action was ok, plot was ok and sex was quickly done, mainly nudity. You won't get too much out of this movie. 4/10

Reviewed by: baoshikang Date: 06/12/2001 Summary: Return of Sonny the Scorpion This is a pretty mixed-up movie and ultimately unsatisfying, but it does give one the rare opportunity to see the amazing martial artist Yuen Jung, who appeared in Operation Scorpio. He performs one two-legs-at-a-time kick that looks to be impossible, without, I think, the assistance of wires. Incredible. Also, I believe all movies with naked kung fu should be supported.

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 03/11/2000 Two carefully-posed nude beauties with fists up. A car screeching away. The poster promises much : nudity, sex, action. It substantially under-delivers. True, there's plenty of violence and gore (this is what earns it the Cat III rating). But for such an in-ya-face movie, the nudity is mostly discreet. The only full frontal is when the younger girl gives someone a well-deserved roundhouse kick to the head just after he screwed her. Scintillating dialogue : The young girl, when she was just a junior martial arts champion, commenting on her male schoolmates' reaction to her skills : "They were jealousing me". Same girl, as the bikie gang in Vancouver rip off Hung's clothes : "Come and rape ME. I'm a hooker". Nude/sex scenes : Except for the roundhouse kick in slo-mo (which you'll still need to be quick to see), all other nudity is handled with a discretion which is completely incongruous to the style. Hung clearly enjoyed her brief sex scene with David near the beginning. The other sex scenes are gory and brutal. Looks : The actresses are lovely. Farini, in particular, is given the full star wardrobe and treatment. She goes through a number of costume and hairstyle changes. This film could well have been a star vehicle for her. Problems : Although there's lots of stop-start slam-bang action, it's hard to empathize with the women. Put simply, the filmmakers clearly could not decide whether to make them into classic tough HK gals or weak victims, so they have the women randomly changing between the two. They are tough when there is really no necessity, and they crumble when they should and need to be tough. And considering the hell David has put them through, the punishment they mete out to him, though scary, is very inadequate. Also, the up-in-the-air ending, cleary meant to feed into a sequel, is unsatisfying. This is far from an el cheapo, if only for the fact that half of it was filmed on location in Canada. But if they'd spent less time and money on this aspect and more on better characterization and more nudity, this so-so gore epic would have been a lot better. Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/21/1999 A bad girl teams up with a female cop to smash and kick their wayto final justice! [Reviewed by Tai Seng Catalog]