Film

Peking Opera Blues

Name: Peking Opera Blues
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama
Released: 1986
Cast: Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia, Sally Yeh Chian-Wen, Cherie Chung Cho-Hung, Mark Cheng Ho-nam, Cheung Kwok-Keung

Action

A 1986 Hong Kong action-comedy that braids three women's stories—a revolutionary in hiding, a jewel thief, an opera performer—through 1913 Beijing's chaos. It's exuberant, formally inventive, and genuinely funny, treating its female characters as the architects of the action rather than its ornament. Wildly watchable.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy farce and swordplay stitched together so tightly that a heroine's disguise, a stage performance and a gunfight can share one scene, and you find that chaos joyful rather than tiring.

Skip it if you want a tidy, linear plot, since the intrigue doubles back on itself and the comedy can tip into noise when the bustle gets thick.

What it asks of you: Expect a brisk hour and three-quarters with a crowded plot and shifting loyalties, so keep your attention sharp and your tolerance for noise high.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Police Story1985

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But The plot is thin and the dubbing (in most versions) is terrible. It's a vehicle, not a character study.

The Heroic Trio1993

Three women in superhero costumes battling a conspiracy: same era, same DNA, same director (Johnnie To). If you loved the vibe here, this is its blood relative.

But It's weirder and darker, with a plot that genuinely does not cohere. You're signing up for style and mood, not narrative clarity.

Dragons Forever1988

Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao in an action-comedy that treats its joke setups like fight choreography. Endlessly inventive, genuinely hilarious, absurdly entertaining.

But It's loose and silly when you want structure. The stakes never feel real, and not everyone finds that liberating.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Peking Opera Blues

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Singin' in the Rain1952

Same architecture: a story told through performance, where the elaborate set pieces ARE the drama. Both understand that spectacle and character live in the same space. Both are gleeful about their own artificiality.

Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor in MGM's musical apotheosis: a story about performance, reinvention, and the ruthlessness beneath old Hollywood glamour. The dancing is transcendent, the comedy is perfect, the energy is nuclear.

But It's a 1952 American musical. If that sentence made you groan, this isn't your film. The romantic plot is gossamer-thin.

Come Drink with Me1966

King Hu's wuxia masterpiece: a woman swordmaster, political intrigue, ravishing choreography, and a visual language that made everything after it possible. Essential.

But It moves slowly. The combat is balletic rather than visceral, and the dialogue is heavy with history you may not know.

Wheels on Meals1984

Sammo, Jackie, and Yuen Biao as bumbling caterers drawn into a kidnapping. Peak Hong Kong ingenuity: the action is math, the jokes land like punches, the warmth is real.

But The gender politics are creaky by modern standards. Also, if you need a coherent plot, keep walking.

The Inspector Wears Skirts1988

Female police trainees crack wise and throw hands in this Hong Kong comedy-action hybrid. Joyful, loose, full of capable women doing ridiculous things.

But It's broad slapstick bordering on silly. If you're looking for sophistication, you won't find it here.

Royal Warriors1986

Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock in a cop-action-thriller with a twitchy energy and real chemistry. Modern in its willingness to let women carry the film.

But The third act stumbles. It's best in its chaotic first half, and it knows it.

A Better Tomorrow1986

John Woo's elegiac crime film: the birth of heroic bloodshed, slow-motion gun poetry, brotherhood forged in gunfire. Stylish, moving, endlessly imitated.

But It's genuinely sad, even if the action is beautiful. The pacing is deliberate, and the body count is high.

Dead Poets Society1989

Robin Williams as an English teacher who kindles rebellion in his students through poetry and nonconformity. Moving, funny, about the power of people who dare you to be alive.

But It's sentimental and occasionally heavy-handed. The ending is manipulative, and the film knows exactly which buttons to push.

Raise the Red Lantern1991

Both are set in early 20th century China grappling with what women can and cannot do. Both use costume, ritual, and space as language. Both know that resistance and survival sometimes look the same from the outside.

Zhang Yimou's devastatingly beautiful film about a woman trapped in a patriarchal household where ritual and appearance are weapons. Sumptuous, controlled, and quietly murderous.

But It's slow, formal, and deeply sad. There's no action in the way you understand it. The beauty can feel cold if you're not in the mood to surrender to its spell.