2 years after the first Mad Mission movie and a year after the first sequel, Mad Mission 3 : Our Man From Bond Street (in the dubbed English release; the Cantonese language version was called Aces Go Places 3). This time the movie was directed by Tsui Hark and co-produced by Karl Maka, Dean Shek & Raymond Wong Bak-Ming. Samuel Hui once again stars with Maka and Slyvia Chang with a supporting role by Peter Graves (Mission Impossible tv series) & Peter Kiel (Jaws from two James Bond movies). Sam’s love interest in this movie is played by Naomi Otsubo. This time the prime target of the satire is the James Bond series. Jade East

Sam (Sam Hui) is in Paris when he is sightseeing as a tourist. As he scans the area with a telescopic sight, a black leather clad babe sets up a rocket launcher behind him. As he swings around, the girl fires the rocket. He leaps out of the way at the last second, and then chases the girl on foot. As he is about to interogate her, a motorboat approaches them on the river and an Oddjob (from the James Bond movie Goldfinger) lookalike attacks him with a steel rimmed hat. Sam runs into the elevator leading to the top of the Effiel tower and finds Jaws awaiting him. Sam manages to evade both Oddjob & Jaws and jumps into the river but is captured by a submarine that looks like a shark. As he looks around he finds that he has been kidnapped by a British agent called James Seal (Jean Marchent) who wants to recover one of the stolen crown jewels, the Star of Fortune. James claims that he is sent by the Queen, who also shows up (a look alike, unknown to Sam) and further incentive is give to Sam in the shape of Jade East, a lovely assistant. Sam agrees meekly.

For some reason, the jewel is hidden at the headquarters of the Hong Kong police, meaning that Sam will have to steal the jewel without the knowledge of his best friend, Cody Jack. So Sam setups a dinner with him & Cody Jack and when Jade East shows up, Sam tells Cody to stall her for an hour or so while he hides behind a newspaper. Even though he and his wife, the fiery Superintendent Hot Tongue, have a new baby in their house, their tempestuous relationship produces as many fireworks as ever, with Cody ready to walk out. Fancing himself to be a Lothario, Cody sits with Jade, while Sam sets up decoy arms to hold the newspaper and goes and completes the heist – with some awesome moves. Initially, suspicions fall on Sam but Cody offers a solid alibi and the cops looks elsewhere. But Cody finds out by pure chance as to how Sam fooled him so he & Hot Tongue sets a new kind of lie detector test for Sam but he turns the tables on Cody by talking about how Cody was fawning all over Jade. Knowing what Sam says was true, Jade storms out and leaves Cody with the baby in their apartment for the night.

A second jewel is on display at a hall which is guarded heavily due to the other one being stolen. Hot Tongue is in charge of security and the cops are on the look out for Sam. Jade sends in several kids from a playschool as a distraction and suddenly several men in Santa Claus outfits also join the hall. Sam is among them and they stage the next heist using the kids as a distraction and steal the jewel. The thieves escape on bikes but Sam is caught by Cody Jack, who was late to his job and who fakes a breathing issue so Sam would approach him in concern. Sam is brought to a meeting with the heads of the police & military, along with Cody Jack & Hot Tongue and are introduced to Agent Tom Collins (Graves) who tells him about James Seal & the fake Queen. Sam & his friends join hands to get the jewels back by infiltrating the submarine and with cops taking the place of an Arab sheikh and his people who want to purchase the jewels from James. With help from Jade and the fake Queen, who has a change of heart, the 3 friends are successful. However James escapes and at an event to felicitate the 3 heroes, he kidnaps Cody’s & Hot Tongue’s baby and demands the return of the jewels of he will drop the baby from a high tower. After some tussling, James is defeated and the baby is saved by our heroes.

1986 saw the release of Mad Mission 4 : You Never Die Twice (Aces Go Places 4 in Hong Kong) directed by Ringo Lam, and starring Sam Hui and Karl Maka with Sylvia Chang (who looks much hotter here with longer hair) and Sally Yeh as the new love interest for Sam in his every changing list of leading ladies. This time the main setting is in New Zealand, where Sam is meeting a professor at a pub. However on the way, the professor is shot by suited men in cars. Sam manages to chase them out and call an ambulance but the professor dies in his arms. Later Sam goes to the research facility where the professor wanted him to go to. At the center Sam is the subject undergoing an experiment, using a special prism that, when stimulated by lasers, turns human beings into supermen. But before the experiment can be completed, the laboratory is attacked by the same men in suits, only with a lot more backup and a helicopter. The professor dies (of a bullet wound to his leg apparently) and our bumbling thief ends up with the glass pyramid in hand and escapes with the scientist’s clumsy daughter, Sally, in tow.

A superb chase follows with Sam on a speedboat and the helicopter in the air which gets destroyed when it crashes against a mountain. Sally had left and promised to meet Sam in Hong Kong. Once back in Hong Kong, Sam joins Codyjack in an ice hockey game, pitting the Hong Kong police vs Interpol (dressed like the away jerseys of the Boston Bruins & the Detroit Redwings respectively). Sam & Coy are ejected from the game after they help even the score but get into a big fight on the ice. As they are in the locker room, Sally joins them and right behind are the men in suits led  by the big bald guy. A huge fight ensues and Cody leaves with the prism but gets no help from his chief. Back in his apartment, his son Junior & Hot Tongue are attacked by the men in suits and she is taken captive and they tell Cody that he is to bring the prism to their boss, a Chinese tycoon, at his hideout in New Zealand if he wants to see his wife alive again. With Sam & Junior in tow Cody heads to Hong Kong where they are greeted at the airport by Sally, who has fallen in love with Sam. After a brief altercation with Cody (where Sally proceeds to slam him against the floor), they go out to get to Sally’s car but dumb lothario wannabe Cody gets enticed by two Kiwi women to get into their car – surprise they are members of the tycoons gang. The ladies take Cody & Junior to the hideout while Sam & Sally chase.

Getting some weapons and a plane Sam & Sally make their way to the hideout only to be captured on the spot by the big bald guy. In the lab Cody is experimented upon and the lasers activate the prism and he is hit with the emissions, giving him superhuman strength. He awakens and smashes the lab, with no recollection of who he is or who his friends are. He even hits out at Sam & Hot Tongue but Sally trips him and he gets electrocuted & falls down seemingly dead. In grief Sam goes on a killing spree and tries to get the ladies & Junior to safety but Hot Tongue refuses to leave Cody’s corpse behind. As Sam tries to drag the body, it catches fire from the lab and Cody is shocked awake – and he is himself again! No super strength but the same bumbling baldy! With a happy reunion, the 3 friends take Junior & Sally with them and leave in the plane as the tycoon’s lab lays wasted and he himself is dead.

The series takes a turn for the worse after the 3rd movie and the fourth one isn’t as fun & exciting as the other 3. I’d give the 3rd movie a 7.5 outta 10 and the 4th movie just a 6 outta 10!