Very much in the line of hard-hitting late '80s Hong Kong cop flicks like POLICE ASSASSINS and POLICE STORY 2 comes IN THE LINE OF DUTY, actually the fourth in a series of films but retitled for the purpose of simplicity for UK release. It's the film that propelled Donnie Yen into stardom and is probably the most action-packed of all kung fu flicks that I've watched so far. Director Yuen Woo-ping knows what the audience wants and he gives it to them, offering one superlative action sequence after another, building up to a fight-filled climax that will please any martial arts fan.

Of course, in the face of so much action, something has to suffer and, as is so often the case, here it's the plot. This time around there's something about a stolen negative (a perennial favourite in the '80s - see it also POLICE ASSASSINS) which quickly turns into a good-guys-versus-bad-guys kick-ass action fest. Really, this film is all about the action and it's top-notch. Free of obvious wire work and packed with stunts, car chases (an ambulance in this instance),motorbike duels, shoot-outs, and, of course, kung fu, IN THE LINE OF DUTY is an action lover's dream that is rarely surpassed. The two heroes of the film are equally good, with Cynthia Khan playing the Michelle Yeoh-type role of indestructible female cop, and Donnie Yen as her hot headed partner, who gets into trouble with his unorthodox methods but who nevertheless proves unbeatable when it comes to tackling the bad guys.

And what villains! This film has plenty - from the computer-game style street thugs (headed by muscle man Michael Woods) to the slimy corrupt "friend", this time played by the suave Michael Wong. On top of that there are motorbike assassins, huge muscle guys, a guy who I swore was the deaf baddie from POLICE STORY 2 (except it's not, he was played by Benny Lai and this guy isn't him),street gangs, and a female Caucasian who fights Khan in a lift shaft in one of the best bits. Okay, so the Chinese version of Seattle is hardly convincing, and the routine set gags (this time, a handcuffed guy trying to hide his cuffs from his mother) pass the time without being appealing. But in the face of the action, who cares? There's a guy with a lethal needle sticking out of his boot and a battle in an office with an electric fence. There's a rooftop duel between Yen and Woods, the latter proving to be near-unbeatable himself, and there's a fun motorbike chase through some back alleys. Lethal violence and hard-hitting kicks and punches are what this film is all about, and action fans will not be disappointed. It's a classic, pure and simple, up there as one of my favourite Hong Kong flicks of the late '80s.

"In The Line Of Duty 4" is one of the best kung fu movies ever made. I will simply list the reasons:

1) An astounding Cynthia Khan. She looks great, she fights great, and when she's required to, she can also act!

2) An incredible, young, full of I-want-to-show-the-world-what-I-can-do energy Donnie Yen.

3) Fight choreography that cannot be topped (and virtually wire-free, too).

4) Great, skillful, ruthless villains. Guys (and one woman) that make you wonder: can they be defeated?

5) Awesome, death-defying stunts.

6) A take-no-prisoners, anything-goes attitude that is unique to Hong Kong action cinema.

7) A simple and functional plot, that still manages to touch such subjects as friendship, betrayal and the emotional involvement of law enforcers.

Don't miss this film. Rating it within its genre, I give it a full **** out of 4 stars.

Between 1984 and 1991, after the demise of the traditional kung fu film, and before things really started going downhill with excessive wire-work, Hong Kong action movies moved through a kick-boxing phase which introduced more pragmatic fighting but retained some old-school sensibilities. Of all the films produced in these five/six years "Witness: ITLOD 4" is hands down the best. Here's my reasons why:

• the pacing is superb. You watch action films for action - and Yuan Ho-Ping,as is his wont, keeps the movie going at a breathless pace with a fight or chase almost every five minutes.

• Yuan Ho-Ping uses his strict rhythmic parameters so the action is clear and we can enjoy every movement. Some classical moves are dropped in just to make the action a little prettier. Long shots and close ups are used when appropriate and to give variety - all typical Yuan Ho-Ping trademarks and this is what sets him apart from inferior filmmakers in the genre. He also introduces some great novelty fighters - the female foreign fighter who looks like an English teacher with a heroin habit, the crazy eyed foreigner in the alley with the eccentric fighting style and of course Michael Woods.

• The syncronisation of the action and sound effects is SO crisp here and the sound effects have never sounded better - deep body blows and crisp "pak" sounds - music to my ears!

• The soundtrack music is superb! A little bit like the repeated theme of "Halloween" - it's icy and sinister - a delicious backdrop for the brutal and surgically precise action. There's a way that the theme anticipates the action in the way that a repeated theme introduces particularly nasty sequences in a Lucio Fulci film.

• Silence accompanying action. I love the way that characters roll over, across in and out of cars and buildings in silence. It may not have been a deliberate device - but the fact that HK films are shot silent and then dubbed later sometimes results in some very interesting dynamics.

• You enter into a world of claustrophobic and relentless brutality - which slips in and out of a cartoon universe where people take beatings with tire-irons and walk away intact one minute, and end up bleeding and lifeless in lift shafts in another. Yet in this icy universe of remorseless violence there are moments of compassion - for example when the "witness" is allowed to visit his mother - but this touching scene is, once again, abruptly terminated and violence resumes.