Righting Wrongs (1986)
Righting Wrongs (It is Also known as – Above the Law ) is a 1986 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Corey Yuen, and also produced by and starring Yuen Biao, both of whom also serve as the film’s action directors. The film also co-stars Cynthia Rothrock, Melvin Wong, Wu Ma, Roy Chiao and director Yuen himself. Righting Wrongs is the one of Yuen Biao’s better known films that he made without film industry compatriots Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan. Film Earned 10.75 million HKD ($1.373.810)Plot
Jason Ha Ling-ching is a dedicated, by the books prosecutor who has tried to maintain patience and tolerance under the somewhat flimsy laws of the court. However, when his mentor is publicly gunned down in New Zealand and the key witness of Ha’s latest case and his entire family is wiped out overnight, Ha can no longer go by the book. Ha’s initial plan is to take the law into his own hands and kill the two men he believes called for his witness’ murder. He is successful in killing the first, which causes the Hong KongRELATED:
Eastern Condors (1987) Biography, Box office, Plot, Production, Home media, Scene.
Police Department to wake up and take action to regain order. Enter Senior Inspector Cindy Si, who is put on the case to find the killer under her superior, Superintendent Wong Ching-wai. However, when Ha goes to kill the second defendant, Chow Ting-kwong, he is already dead. Unbeknownst to them, both of the defendants were working under an even higher power, known only as “Crown”.
Production
According to Rothrock, Golden Harvest originally signed her to play the villain opposite of Jackie Chan in Armour of God, but when production halted due to Chan’s near-fatal filming accident, the studio reassigned Rothrock to Righting Wrongs with Biao. While practicing her moves for the film, she injured her right ACL; rather than take time off to undergo surgery, she proceeded to shoot her scenes using her left leg for her kicks. Filming lasted five-and-a-half months.
During filming, Biao sustained a back injury while filming the scene where his character jumped off the second story of a house, despite landing feet-first on some padding dressed up as grass.
When the studio needed another female martial artist for the film, Rothrock recommended Karen Sheperd. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, Sheperd demanded that her character should not die, as it would ruin her reputation. In addition, she refused to kill a boy, as written on the screenplay.
Home media
Righting Wrongs was released on DVD in the U.S. by Dragon Dynasty on 29 May 2007 under the title Above the Law. The film was released on Blu-ray in the U.S. by Vinegar Syndrome on 30 August 2022. The three-disc set includes the original 96-minute Hong Kong cut, the 100-minute international Mandarin cut, and the 92-minute English Above the Law cut, plus the 1990 documentary The Best of the Martial Arts Films. Righting Wrongs was released on Blu-ray in the UK by 88 Films on 24 October 2022.RELATED:
Spiritual Kung Fu (1978) Biography, Plot, Box office, Trailer
Cast:
- Yuen Biao as Jason Ha Ling-Ching
- Cynthia Rothrock as Senior Inspector Cindy Si
- Roy Chiao as Magistrate Judge
- Melvin Wong as Wong Ching-Wai
- Louis Fan as Sammy Yu Chi-Man
- Corey Yuen as “Bad Egg”
- Sandy Chan as Jason Ha’s Girlfriend
- Chung Fat as Red Porsche Policeman
- Wu Ma as Uncle Tsai
- Peter Cunningham as Black Assassin
- Lau Sing-ming as Sammy’s Grandfather
- Karen Sheperd as Karen
- Tai Po as Yellow Shirt Cop
- James Tien – Chow Ting-Kwong
- Hsu Hsia as Mr. Leung (protected witness)
- Lau Chau-sang as Cop