Chinese Girls with Guns (Urban Female Kung Fu Movies)
A (yet complete) list of Chinese kung fu movies with a female lead and an either urban or contemporary setting. Usually, this means flying through glass windows, car chases and guns on top of kung fu fighting.
I also decided to include a few modern kung fu movies that don't have anything to do with urban action movies until I find the time to do a separate list for them.
"Yes, Madam" and "Angel" are known as the two movies that kickstarted the GWG genre while there were some that predated them (like "Golden Queen's Commando".) As you might see if you check this list by release date, GWG movies peaked from 1989 until 1993. This is known as the classic era. Key actresses were Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Khan, Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima and Sibelle Hu, while key directors were Corey Yuen and Tony Liu.
I also decided to include a few modern kung fu movies that don't have anything to do with urban action movies until I find the time to do a separate list for them.
"Yes, Madam" and "Angel" are known as the two movies that kickstarted the GWG genre while there were some that predated them (like "Golden Queen's Commando".) As you might see if you check this list by release date, GWG movies peaked from 1989 until 1993. This is known as the classic era. Key actresses were Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Khan, Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima and Sibelle Hu, while key directors were Corey Yuen and Tony Liu.
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- DirectorCorey YuenStarsMichelle YeohCynthia RothrockJohn ShamTwo unlucky thieves break into a just murdered man's hotel room and steal his passport with a hidden microfilm wanted by a triad boss. Two hard kicking women cops from HK and UK get the case.Yes, Madam
- DirectorDavid ChungStarsMichelle YeohHiroyuki SanadaMichael WongMichelle Yip of the Hong Kong police is a mild-mannered Kung Fu expert; Michael Wong, from air security, is happy-go-lucky, stuck on himself, constantly talking, and smitten by her; Yamamoto is quiet, hard-boiled, leaving the Tokyo police to spend time with his wife and daughter. They form an alliance when they foil a hijacking on a plane flying a mob prisoner from Tokyo to Hong Kong. The mobster and his would-be rescuer die, and this sets off two avengers who were their blood brothers. Our three cops become the targets. A high-speed chase, a car bomb, the destruction of a nightclub, a spectacular suicide, dead bystanders, and a flying coffin litter the landscape by the end.
- DirectorTeresa WooStarsHideki SaijôAlex FongMoon LeeA crimefighting organization called the Angels goes up against a drug-smuggling ring headed by a female kung-fu killer.Iron Angel
- DirectorArthur WongBrandy YuenStarsCynthia KhanHiroshi FujiokaStuart OngGenji Nakamura and his soul-mate and partner Michiko Nishiwaki are thieves for the notorious Red Army terrorist organization in Japan. After pulling off the jewelry heist of the century (in which dozens of people get killed including a Tokyo detective), they are now planning to use the jewelry they've snatched to buy an arms cache from gun smugglers in Hong Kong for their movement. But when the duo learns the jewelry is fake and that their co-conspirator has set them up, they are determined to get what is owed to them even if they have to tear Hong Kong inside out. But lovely Hong Kong inspector Rachel Yeung is on the scene and she's not having any kind of bloodbath on her watch. After recently being promoted to 'Madam' for the S.C.S. (Serious Crimes Section), Rachel is determined to bust Michiko and Nakamura anyway she can when their violence results in too many casualties. But Rachel finds herself at odds with her bumbling uncle Cameron Chung, the head inspector for the S.C.S., as he feels this case is too dangerous for her and assigns Rachel to be a police escort for Officer Fujioka, a quiet but determined Tokyo police officer who is in town for his own personal reasons...reasons which could spell trouble for Rachel when she learns that he has a personal vendetta against Michiko and Nakamura. As the action hits overdrive filled with chases, gun fights and some serious hand-to-hand combat from both sides, it leads to a brutal but nasty showdown pitting cop against criminal...and only those with something to lose may be the ones to walk away from this encounter alive.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsCynthia KhanDonnie YenMichael WongA Hong Kong cop and two American cops are onto a suspected harbor worker and are forced to team up when they discover that the suspect is a witness on the run from CIA agents and their schemers; two corrupt cops.
- DirectorLau ChanChun-Ku LuStarsSibelle HuMoon LeeYukari ÔshimaWhen teens help a friend who's been forced into prostitution they upset some very dangerous people. With the help of a renegade cop a bloody war ensues with tragic consequences.
- DirectorLieh WeiStarsCarrie NgKara WaiDick WeiIt's the year 1990 and the beautiful city of Hong Kong is under siege as the crime world goes 'turbo'. Triad leaders vie for power on the streets, drug trafficking is getting out of hand and the thin blue line that separates justice from anarchy is being erased. Within a few months time, the Triads will control every major crime activity in the Pacific Rim and no law enforcement agency in the world will be powerful enough to stop them. But all of that changes when the 'Angel Terminators' arrive, a new police force led by Detectives Ida and Hon, two close friends who are like sisters and watch each other's back in the line of duty. Ida and Hon are the best there is and they take on some of the toughest cases that ordinary law enforcement won't go near and take on criminal figures that no cop would dare go after. Excelling at gun fighting and hand to hand combat techniques, Ida and Hon are given authorization by their superiors to use any means necessary to stop the crime wave and that includes the use of excessive force if need be. Together as one, they're fighting crime their own way...but now, these two beauties find themselves squaring off against old nemesis, Ken Zhang, a deposed crime lord who is forced into exile after his men first clashed with the Angel Terminators. Now he's back with his loyal bodyguards, led by Miss Nishiwaki and ready to reclaim the spoils of his near-fallen empire. After his return, Ken tries to reconcile with Carrie, his former mistress and Hon's cousin, who is not happy to see him and has given up her old life to marry a young detective who works with Ida and Hon. However, tragedy strikes the group in more ways than one when Hon's family gets in the way of Ken's business and murder starts hitting too close to home. After Ida is framed for the death of a fellow officer who was 'on the take', the battle to bring Ken down gets personal and for the Angel Terminators, 'martial law' will be the only law that counts!
- DirectorClarence FokStarsJulian CheungShu QiKelly LinCat (Shu Qui) works as secretary on a big software company, but she remember her past, stealing precious stones on a high class disco, in company of the martial angels, a half dozen ladies team, all they skilled in martial arts, as well in pistols uses. And making passionate love with Zi Yhang, (Julian Cheung), the male jewels thief that falls in love with Cat. All that fever of love and richness, suddenly returns after years, when Cat receives news from ZiYhang,Her love calls a dramatic SOS, being prisoner of the russian maffia. So Cat calls Octopus, Monkey, Goldfish, and the rest of the old team of the olds times and action starts again. Lets rescue Zi.
- DirectorCorey YuenStarsShu QiWei ZhaoKaren MokA conflict of interest between two high-kicking assassin sisters is complicated as they're pursued by the criminals who hired them and an equally high-kicking female cop.
- DirectorSiu-Tung ChingStarsAnyaMarit ThoresenMaggie QMadame M, kidnaps forty pre-teen girls to train them as the most deadly assassins. CIA operative follows the case for 6 years with no leads, but when a series of assassinations begin to occur, he suspects that Madame M is back in business.
- DirectorMarco MakStarsJennifer TseSammo Kam-Bo HungAnkie BeilkeA gorgeous lethal killer, brainwashed by the villain, makes a startling discovery in a mission to eliminate a person she can in no way imagine.
- DirectorWai-Man YipStarsSandra Kwan Yue NgKristy YeungAlex FongFollowing Sister Thirteen, from her teenage years, her bisexual love life, to her eventual rise to power as a Triad kingpin within the Hung Hing Society.
- DirectorKwok-Wai LauStarsTeresa MakPinky CheungNatalie Ng
- DirectorJingle MaStarsMichelle YeohKôichi IwakiBrandon ChangLulu Wong lives a double life - part urban social butterfly, part vigilante superhero. Armed with ancient fighting techniques and high tech hardware, Lulu is a beautiful masked millionaire battling to defeat a greedy tyrant.
- DirectorDavid ChungStarsMichelle YeohRichard NgTung-Shing YeeAction film about Chinese resistance after Japanese invasion in 1930's.
- DirectorStephen ShinStarsGeorge LamMichelle YeohKent ChengMichelle Yeung Ling is ultra-wealthy heiress that has grown bored with the everyday humdrum. To break the monotony, she plans elaborate heists and hires crew from all over the world to accomplish the job.
- DirectorClarence FokStarsChingmy YauSimon YamCarrie NgA young woman is trained by a martial arts specialist to become a professional assassin.
- DirectorCorey YuenStarsSammo Kam-Bo HungJoyce GodenziTony Ka Fai LeungWorking in a police precinct full of her in-laws, inspector Mina Kao and her colleagues are assigned a dangerous case involving Vietnamese criminal refugees, right after getting married to her fellow inspector Huang.
- DirectorBilly ChanStarsJoyce GodenziBiao YuenRichard NgTwo sisters who are burglars find themselves at risk when one of them falls in love with the nephew of the police detective assigned to arrest them.
- DirectorCorey YuenStarsBiao YuenCynthia RothrockMelvin WongYuen Biao plays Jason Chan, a lawyer angry at the way the law seems to protect the bad guys. He decides to take the law into his own hands when a key witness and his entire family are murdered. But Cindy Si is soon on his case and it all spirals into a situation only a few will survive.
- DirectorStephen ShinStarsJade LeungSimon YamThomas LamCatherine, a troubled woman, is recruited by the government for assassin training under the code name "Black Cat". Proficient in her role, she struggles with her newfound love interest and commitment to the agency.
- DirectorKan-Cheung TsangStarsMoses ChanYiu-Cheung LaiMan-Wai WongA mainland Chinese girl is, with her husband, a wanted criminal and they have to get to Hong Kong in order to stay alive and be free.
- DirectorCorey YuenStarsShannon LeeMichael WongAnita YuenProfessional thief Martin is assigned to steal the largest diamond in the Czech Repbulic, the Czar's Prism for $3M. Needing extra help, Martin brings in his former partner Mandy, an excellent sharpshooter with lethal martial arts skills. Together with two young pickpockets, the group sets out in an adventure of espionage, double-crossing, and explosive action.
- DirectorAlan MakStarsKathy ChowKwan-Ho TseTat-Ming CheungJoyce, a homicide detective finds herself in a new case: a woman is raped and murdered, her hands tied and her tongue cut off. Shocking as that is, the exact same thing happened to Joyce's mother twenty years ago.
- DirectorStanley TongStarsJackie ChanMichelle YeohMaggie CheungA Hong Kong detective teams up with his female Red Chinese counterpart to stop a Chinese drug czar.