''Aces Go Places 3'' (), also known under the titles ''Aces Go Places 3 - Our Man from Bond Street'' and ''Mad Mission III'', is a 1984 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by

Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...

as the third installment in the ''

Aces Go Places ''Aces Go Places'', (), also known in the United States as ''Diamondfinger'' or ''Mad Mission'', is a 1982 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Eric Tsang, and starring Samuel Hui and Karl Maka. It is the first installment in the ''Ac ...

'' film series. The film starts in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where King Kong (

Sam Hui Samuel Hui Koon-kit (born 6 September 1948), usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Cantone ...

) is recruited by Queen Elizabeth and a

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

-like character to retrieve one of the Crown Jewels which has been stolen and is located in a Hong Kong Police Headquarters vault.

Richard Kiel Richard Dawson Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014) was an American actor. Standing tall, he was known for portraying Jaws in '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) and '' Moonraker'' (1979). Kiel's next-most-recognized role is the t ...

spoofs his role as "

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

" from the ''

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

. ''Aces Go Places 3'' was the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong on its release in 1984 and was the highest-grossing film in the

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

. The film was released in an English-language dub titled ''Mad Mission 3'' which had scenes cut and altered from the original film. Tsui had previously appeared in the first two films in cameos.

Cast

as King Kong *

Karl Maka Karl Maka (born 29 February 1944) is a Hong Kong film producer, director, actor and presenter. Early life On 29 February 1944, Maka was born as Mak Kar-sheung in Taishan, China. In 1958, at age 14, Maka moved to Hong Kong. Education In 196 ...

as Albert Au *

Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang (born 21 July 1953) is a Taiwanese actress, writer, singer, producer and director. In 1992, she was a member of the jury at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2018, she was one of the jury members of the main competition ...

as Nancy Ho *

Ricky Hui Ricky Hui Kwun-ying (3 August 1946 – 8 November 2011) was a Hong Kong actor and singer. He along with his brothers, Michael and Sam, made several comedy blockbusters in the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Ricky Hui Kun-ying was born 3 August ...

as Puffer Fish *

Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series '' Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 to 1973 (original) and from 1988 to ...

as agent Tom Collins *

John Shum John Sham Kin-Fun (born 1952) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. His English name is sometimes written as John Shum. Whilst known primarily for his comedic acting roles in Hong Kong cinema, he also spent time as a political activist. Biogra ...

as Police chief * Jean Mersant as Mr. Bond *

as Big G *

Tsuneharu Sugiyama was a Japanese amateur and professional wrestler. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight at the 1964 Summer Olympics. After his competitive career, he worked in International Wrestling Enterprise, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Ne ...

as Oddjob * Huguette Funfrock as Queen of England

Production

''Aces Go Places 3'' riffs off the plots of the

James Bond series James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...

and features cameos from actors in various English-language spy features. These include

from the '' Mission: Impossible'' television series and

who played

in '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' and '' Moonraker''. The film also features a character resembling

Oddjob Oddjob (often written as "Odd Job") is a fictional character in the espionage novels and films featuring James Bond. He is a henchman to the villain Auric Goldfinger in the 1959 James Bond novel '' Goldfinger'' and its 1964 film adaptation, mak ...

. Several sources erroneously report that the character of "Mr Bond", the James Bond-like British secret agent, was played by

Neil Connery Neil Niren Connery (16 December 1938 – 9 May 2021) was a Scottish actor and the younger brother of actor Sean Connery. Personal Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 16 December 1938. The Connery family is of partial Irish origin. His ...

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

's younger brother. The character was actually played by Jean Mersant, a French Sean Connery impersonator.''Asiaweek'' Volume 10, 1984, Page 47

Release

''Aces Go Places 3'' was released on 26 January 1984. The film was a success with audiences, becoming the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong in the year end box office and was the highest-grossing film in the ''Aces Go Places'' series.Morton, 2009. p. 141 An English-dubbed version of the film was released under the title ''Mad Mission 3''. This version removes about 20 minutes of footage including scenes from the original film with

's Albert, the baby and a maid and scenes with

's character, Ho, in the hospital. This version includes additional comedy scenes with

' character.

Reception

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

'' gave the film three stars out of five, noting that the plot for ''Aces Go Places 3'' was "stronger than usual for the series" and "that film's juvenile sense of humor might put off viewers in search of more sophisticated fare, but many others are likely to find the movie too colorful and exciting to be denied." John Charles, author ''Hong Kong Filmography 1977-1997'' awarded the film a six out of ten rating finding the scenes involving

and

were "tiresome and consist almost exclusively of situations from old sitcoms". In his book ''Horror and Science Fiction Film IV'', Donald C Willis referred to the film as a "lively, routine action comedy."

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* * {{Tsui Hark 1984 films 1980s action comedy films 1984 martial arts films Hong Kong action comedy films Hong Kong martial arts comedy films Hong Kong sequel films 1980s crime comedy films 1980s spy comedy films 1980s Cantonese-language films Films directed by Tsui Hark Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris Hong Kong detective films Parody films based on James Bond films 1980s Hong Kong films