When Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip stepped off their jet in Hong Kong, I bet they had no idea their royal jewels would end up in a star-studded Golden Harvest film. She was visiting the city while it was still a British colony in May of 1975. A few of the cameras pointed at her during her rides and attendance at events were not there to capture images for the news. They were putting her in a movie where she would be the co-starring with a former James Bond. A Queen’s Ransom placed her in serious jeopardy during this visit that her security detail never realized until the film came out a year later.
Something is brewing in Hong Kong on the eve of Queen Elizabeth’s royal visit to Hong Kong. A group of foreign bad guys have smuggled themselves into the colony for a simple plot. They want to kill the Queen. The main culprit is the Irish terrorist Morgan (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service‘s George Lazenby) from Northern Ireland. His gang consists of Shark (One-Armed Boxer‘s Jimmy Wang Yu), Ram (Enter the Dragon‘s Bolo Yeung), Black Rose (The Big Doll House’s Judith Brown) and Miyamoto (The Double Crossers‘ Chan Pei Shan). Their initial plan is to commit their act while the Queen is inside a tunnel. Things get exposed a bit when the Filipino sniper Mango (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin‘s Lung Chan) gets drunk and passes out at the apartment of Jenny, a nightclub escort (Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold‘s Tien Lie). While going through his wallet she finds plans that hint the Queen might be a target. She reports this to police. Detective Chaing (The Black Mask’s Charles Heung) is up to his ears between the Queen security and an influx of refugees from the fall of South Vietnam and a few other Southeast Asian countries. He decides to follow Jenny’s tip and figure out the true identity of mango. This means he doesn’t get word of a group of refugees from Burma (according to the subtitles) or Cambodia (as told in the English dub). The group is not slumming it on arrival. They rent a remote house and use a helicopter to bring in mysterious crates. Among the soldiers is their Royal Princess or Queen (Enter The Dragon‘s Angela Mao). They have brought the valuable part of their country’s treasury in the crates. The relative of the property’s owner (Drunken Master‘s Dean Shek) gets close with the Princess and takes her to see Queen Elizabeth at a stadium. This is where the cops, the assassins, the Princess and the Queen all cross paths and the full plot is exposed.
Strange to think that after playing James Bond, here’s Lazenby plotting to kill the Queen. Talk about a cinematic rogue twist worthy of a Mission: Impossible film. You can’t completely judge George Lazenby’s performance because his voice on the English track is dubbed by another actor doing the Irish accent. He has a great presence while working with the cutthroat cast. This was the third film Lazenby made for Golden Harvest. He was originally hired to be part of Bruce Lee’s upcoming film that also was going to feature Sonny Chiba. The movie became Stoner after Lee’s death with Angela Mao taking over Lee’s role in the rewritten script. Not to give away too much, but Lazenby has a vicious fight with Angela Mao in A Queen’s Ransom.
The film is more of a thriller than constant marital arts fights. There are numerous fights, but they aren’t 10-minute marathons. Characters get their kicks in with a purpose. The last part of the movie is full of action featuring fists, feet and bullets. The main part of the film exposes the terrorists’ plot through police detective work. A Queen’s Ransom keeps up the tension with the fear that royalty will be snuffed out whether it be Queen Elizabeth II or Angela Mao’s characters.
What gets me when Queen Elizabeth II passed away in 2022, there was no mention of her appearance in A Queen’s Ransom. She proved she could work with an international all-star cast.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer looks so much better than the DVD release from a decade ago. The footage of the Queen looks as good as the dramatic action. The Audio is Mandarin LPCM 2.0 mono and also an English dub for the Hong Kong Theatrical Version. The Export version only has the English dub.
Audio Commentary on the Hong Kong Version has Frank Djeng & Michael Worth. Djeng rightly considered George Lazenby one of the best Bonds since his one film is Top 3 in the series. Djeng gives us background on the locations from the Queen’s visit footage. There’s background on Taiwanese director Ting Shan-hsi. He wrote the script for the legendary Come Drink With Me. We get a few stories about the star-studded cast. Turns out the house the terrorists are using was Bruce Lee’s old place (Golden Harvest’s Raymond Chow owned the property). Djeng and Worth were producers on Enter the Clones of Bruce Lee.
Audio Commentary on the Export Version has Mike Leeder & Arne Venma. The duo gives the context about how the mid-70s were a time of peak terrorism, so the plot isn’t too far-fetched. They talk about how Golden Harvest was doing its best to recover from the death of Bruce Lee. Golden Harvest gathered together all their biggest stars into one film. The film didn’t do too great at the box office at the time.
Furious George (15;43) has Michael Worth discuss the time he trained George Lazenby in the mid-’90s (long after he had made A Queen’s Ransom). Worth realized Lazenby had “street experience” who had fought outside a dojo. He had natural instincts of a fighter. Between training sessions, Worth talked with Lazenby. They talked about how Lazenby was waiting to have dinner with Bruce Lee when the martial arts star had died. He shared an amazing story about Bruce’s office chalkboard. We also get how Lazenby reacted to working with Sammo Hung and Angela Mao.
Trailer (4:48) opens with the fall of Indo-China and the refugees arriving in Hong Kong. We also get footage of Queen Elizabeth II’s visit. This is set up as a torn from today’s headline dramatic action. “It’s a Kind-sized film about a plot against the Queen?”
Eureka! Entertainment present A Queen’s Ransom. Directed by Ting Shan-hsi. Screenplay by Ting Shan-hsi. Starring Jimmy Wang Yu, Angela Mao, George Lazenby, Ko Chun-hsiung, Charles Heung, Dean Shek, Tien Lie, Chan Pei-shan, Judith Brown, Bolo Yeung, Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth II. Running Time: 98 minutes for Hong Kong Version and 92 minutes for Export Version. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 28, 2024.
