General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Righting Wrongs (执法先锋)

Righting Wrongs (执法先锋, also released as Above the Law) is a 1986 Hong Kong action film directed by Corey Yuen (元奎) and starring Yuen Biao (元彪) as a prosecutor who takes the law into his own hands after a witness and the witness's family are murdered. It was released in Hong Kong on 27 November 1986.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Original title	執法先鋒 (Zhi fa xian feng); English titles Righting Wrongs and Above the Law¹
Director and writers	Corey Yuen; screenplay by Barry Wong (黃炳耀) and Szeto Cheuk-Hon (司徒卓漢)²
Principal cast	Yuen Biao, Cynthia Rothrock, Melvin Wong, Roy Chiao, Wu Ma, Louis Fan²
Hong Kong release	27 November 1986¹
Hong Kong box office	HK$10,751,259 by 11 December 1986, ranked 21st for the year by one account and 24th by another¹^•³
Running times	Different cuts run from 85 to 102 minutes⁴^•³
Awards	Nominated for Best Action Choreography and Best Supporting Actor (Wu Ma) at the 6th Hong Kong Film Awards¹

Spoilers

Plot

Prosecutor Jason Ha (夏令正, played by Yuen Biao) fails to convict a major drug trafficker after his witness is killed, and he executes the trafficker outside the law while evading pursuit by the police officer Sandy (Cynthia Rothrock). The two eventually join forces against a corrupt senior police figure, Director Wong (黃錦燊, Melvin Wong).⁵ A fuller synopsis describes the prosecutor killing one drug lord in his home, a police detective gradually suspecting him, a thief who witnesses the real killer being silenced, and a closing trial in which the detective, summoned to testify, has already boarded a plane home.⁴

The film is known for its dark tone. The reviewer Kozo of lovehkfilm.com describes a story in which the blood of innocents and all pretense of actual justice are thrown out the window, with the film killing off important characters without compunction.² According to the British Board of Film Classification, the film centers on a lawyer who pursues personal justice after a witness and the witness's family are killed, and the board flags strong violent scenes in which characters are hit with axes, shot, hanged by the neck, and stabbed.⁶

Production

In 1986 Yuen Biao and Corey Yuen followed other Golden Harvest stars by founding their own satellite production company, Tai Ho Film Production Co. Ltd. (泰禾電影製作有限公司), with Righting Wrongs as its debut film. According to a Sina Entertainment history of Golden Harvest, the company's box office was stable, with Righting Wrongs among the films earning more than ten million Hong Kong dollars, though Yuen Biao's local drawing power did not match that of his seniors and his profit split with Golden Harvest was not equal.⁷ The film was produced by Golden Harvest with Bo Ho Film, and Baidu Baike states it was originally intended to star Jackie Chan, who withdrew after an injury, with Yuen Biao taking the role.¹

Cynthia Rothrock, an American martial artist who had starred in Corey Yuen's Yes, Madam (1985) the year before, returned as the sole female lead in this film, paired with Yuen Biao.⁸ Far East Films reports that she turned down a part opposite Jackie Chan in Armour of God to take the larger role here.⁹

Action and stunts

The action direction was credited to Corey Yuen, Yuen Biao, Mang Hoi, and Hsu Hsia, with the Sammo Hung stunt team also listed.²^•⁹ Baidu Baike records that Yuen Biao leapt from an 83-meter building, that a wire break during a five-story fall nearly caused serious injury, and that a plane-jump sequence filmed in New Zealand was completed in three segments: a stunt double's skydive, a wire-assisted fall, and the actor entering the sea.¹ A Sohu Entertainment review cited by Baidu describes the prosecutor, after killing the drug lord, leaping from a 250-foot building at a speed so fast the scene is startling.¹

Film scholar David Bordwell, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, cites the film's mahjong-parlor fight, in which Rothrock's character subdues several attackers, as a set-piece that exudes offhand mastery, an example of how the best Hong Kong filmmakers understood that movie action is not a scattershot cataclysm.¹⁰

Versions

The film circulated in substantially different cuts. Reference sources list running times of 85 minutes,⁴ 92 minutes (the BBFC-classified UK cut),⁶ 95 minutes,¹ and 102 minutes for the Japanese release.³ The BBFC record also shows that a 1990 UK video release received cuts as part of classification.⁶ In 2022 Vinegar Syndrome issued a three-disc Blu-ray containing three different cuts, with runtimes of 96, 100, and 92 minutes, including both the darker ending and the more audience-friendly ending, with Cantonese, Mandarin, and English audio.¹¹ Movie-Censorship.com notes a 2022 Blu-ray release in the US and UK and describes an "Ultimate Cut" offering four ending options covering the different fates of the two main characters.¹²

Reception

The film earned HK$10,751,259 in Hong Kong by 11 December 1986; Baidu Baike places it 21st on the 1986 Hong Kong box office chart, while the Japanese site Kungfu Tube lists it at 24th for the year.¹^•³ It received nominations for Best Action Choreography and, for Wu Ma, Best Supporting Actor at the 6th Hong Kong Film Awards.¹

Later assessments have been favorable. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 84% Tomatometer from two reviews, with critics calling the fight scenes among the best ever filmed.¹³ Douban users rate it 7.0 out of 10 from 1,822 ratings as of September 2024.¹ Kozo's review calls it a minor masterpiece whose exceptional action outweighs cheesy dialogue and heavy-handed symbolism.²

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

Notice something wrong?