Stoner (4 Stars)

"Stoner" has one of those stories behind it that's almost as interesting as the film itself. It was originally planned as Bruce Lee's next film after "Game of Death", with Lee and George Lazenby as the two leading stars. Lazenby was going to play the villain, while Bruce Lee would have played the character eventually played by Angela Mao. You read that correctly: Bruce Lee was supposed to play Angela Mao's part.

In July 1973, Bruce Lee died and the whole project had to be reworked. Lazenby's character was changed from villain to hero and Mao was brought in as his co-star. Lazenby was fresh from playing James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and "Stoner" was clearly designed to cash in on that. The trailer mentions James Bond at least half a dozen times, so there's no danger of missing the connection. Lazenby gets the smart suits, the women and the international action, although "Stoner" eventually becomes a very different sort of film.

Lazenby plays Australian police officer John Stoner, who becomes involved in an investigation into a new drug that is spreading through Hong Kong. Angela Mao plays another police officer from Taiwan investigating the same organisation, and the two eventually join forces against the criminals behind it. It's a fairly straightforward police thriller, although the story becomes increasingly bizarre as drugs, sexual exploitation and a mysterious cult enter the picture.

Lazenby is perfectly adequate in the lead, although he looks more like James Bond than Stoner for much of the film. It doesn't help that he's sporting an absolutely dreadful moustache for the first half of the film. Thankfully, he shaves it off and looks considerably better. Sammo Hung also makes an appearance, although I found it hard to concentrate on anything he was doing because of the enormous mole on his nose, complete with a single hair growing out of it. Once you've noticed it, you can't stop looking at it.

For most of the film I was hovering between three and three and a half stars, but Stoner saves its best for last. Angela Mao's final fight with Hwang In-shik is terrific. It's easily the highlight of the film, with Mao and In-shik throwing themselves into a spectacular martial-arts battle that finally delivers the sort of action I was hoping for. Angela Mao is excellent throughout, but this is where she gets to show what she can really do.

That final fight pushed Stoner up to four stars.