Shanghai Express

Perhaps one of the more absurd Hong Kong comedies I've seen, but still an amusing watch. The story is somewhat weak, but is still able to carry the movie's runtime, it doesn't feel overly padded or seem like it's stalling for time, except perhaps for the social commentary in the start that is mainly to introduce the female protagonist cast. Luckily it doesn't stray too much into awkward romance that some of these movies tend to lean on, and the amount of second-hand embarrassment is fairly low, although it does play on quite a few tropes regarding the cheating husband trying to constantly sneak out on his wife in every situation he can think of, but it's fairly humorously played by Richard Ng. The fight scenes are some of the more intense I've seen, but only really gets to play out in a satisfying fashion towards the end. Funny slapstick and serious punching action blends quite elegantly, and the comedy is well executed. The type of comedy is reminiscent of Mel Brooks, at times juvenile but not so childish that it turns unfunny, although there are some themes that would simply not fly in movie production today, such as a few jokes about being intellectually disabled. The fight scenes are punchy, although I personally am not a huge fan of the slow motion-shots, of which there's quite a few. If you're able to overlook some shortcomings and are looking for a simple comedy, it's a movie that'll entertain you.

The Millionaires Express is a big budget Sammo Hung Hong Kong production with a all star international cast. This is a martial arts comedy that if you seen a few movies from Sammo Hung that you will be familiar with the style. However, this is a western styled film taking place in China. The costumes and sets pay homage to The American West and the sets look amazing with awesome camerawork. The stunts and the fight choreography are master class with Sammo on top of his game as director, actor and fight choreography. His brother from The Chinese Opera Yuen Biao is also here as well as Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton, Eric Tsang, Rosamond Kwan as well as lots of other familiar faces if you are familiar with HK films of this period. Millionaire's Express is action excellence and blows away much of what passes as action today. This is a fine example of how action should be done.

Starting in Russia, we meet Ching Fong-tin (Sammo Hung, who directed and wrote this), who gets caught by Russian soldiers as he steals from them. They make him strip and dance for them, but then he throws their grenades into their cabin and blows them all up real good. Ching's hometown of Hon Sui Town doesn't have the same luck that he does. Banks are being robbed and set on fire as everyone struggles to keep it together. But what if that new train that's coming through town, filled with rich politicians and merchants, and if he works to derail it, everyone will have to spend their money and keep Hon Sui Town alive. And by that, I mean that he's starting a new brothel and plans on getting rich. Yuen Biao is the fire chief, while Hwang Jang-lee, Yasuaki Kurata and Yukari Oshima are a trio of samurai with a map to the grave of the terracotta warriors and Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock show up as bandits dressed like U. S. calvary officers out to rob everyone on the train. These are just facts. The reason to watch this is that it's absolutely packed with action, like Sammo Hung found it his mission in life to entertain you and got everyone else on the same page and they were all like, "Let's make the wildest Eastern Western movie of all time." Then they called Bolo Yeung, Shih Kien from Enter the Dragon. Is that enough? Well, what if they got Jimmy Wang Yu and he was like, "Remember how awesome I was in One-Armed Boxer and Master of the Flying Guillotine and pretty much popularized unarmed combat? I'm here too!" It also has a moment where Yuen Biao jumps out of a burning building two stories to the ground below and the camera never cuts as he starts delivering dialogue despite the fact that this stunt broke his leg. This kind of entertainment is dangerous, as in one scene, Hung kicked Biao Yuen so hard in the chest that the actor couldn't breathe until he got assistance from Kar Lok Chin.

Hijinks ensue when a colorful cast of characters converge upon a newly-built train, and each has their own motives to use the train to potentially get money for themselves or their respective towns. We've always been Sammo Hung fans, and here he turns in a high-energy, upbeat and lovable movie filled with humor, stunts, action, and overall wackiness. It truly is an "Eastern Western" as Hung crafted an homage to Sergio Leone and his Spaghetti Western ilk. But he interjected his own flavor and style to it all, and the Buster Keaton influence is clearly evident as well. The whole outing is very well-shot and has a professional sheen. Everything from the costumes to the sets were done lovingly, and audiences can't help but respond positively to everything they're seeing. While fans of Hong Kong filmmaking are bound to see familiar faces in the cast, interestingly, this movie is the first team-up of Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton. So there's some trivia for you. While they also starred together in The Magic Crystal (1986) the same year as Millionaire's Express, this is credited as their first outing together. Both of their names in the movie are simply "Bandit". We would have liked more screen time from both of them, but that's how it is in these ensemble pieces. There's not enough time for everyone - though Sammo clearly recognized Rothrock's potential. Even though this is only her third-ever movie, she gets a really cool fight scene with Sammo himself. Their fight together is a movie highlight in an already enjoyable romp. While it may seem that there are certain stretches in the film where Martial Arts isn't the main focus (unless you count two brawling, pint-sized kids who use a technique called "Stealing Peaches") - just you wait until the final brawl. Sammo pulls out all the stops and it's extremely entertaining. Yet another memorable Golden Harvest production, Millionaire's Express is filled with positives and essentially no negatives. If you get a chance to see it, see it.

This kung fu epic has a simple enough storyline – it's one of those old East-meets-West stories again, as myriad characters including Japanese, bandits, bank robbers, police, prostitutes, and fugitives meet up in a border town in the early 20th century. Its strength lies in the cast, which manages to round up just about every Hong Kong star of the 1980s (with the notable exception of Jackie Chan) and throws them into a fast-moving plot that'll quickly have you head scratching. After Hung battles various villains against a snowy backdrop in the film's bravura opening sequences, the action winds down for an hour while we take in some typical Chinese comedy, in a small run-down town and on board a steam train. The laughs come thick and fast and many are of the bizarre type that we know and love from the films made by Hung, Chan, and Biao during this decade. My favourite is the "everyone hides in a room" joke that seemingly turns up in every film in this genre, most notably in PROJECT A PART II as well. The film's best bit is undoubtedly the twenty-minute finale, in which all of the fighters finally come together in a massive brawl between town folk and bandits. There's stunt work aplenty, tons of smashing scenery, and Biao performing some of his best high-flying manoeuvres. His jump from a burning building is undoubtedly impressive, but for me this is topped by his spin off the balcony at the film's climax. The cast is evenly matched with comedians like Eric Tsang (as a convict) and Richard Ng (as a Lothario) on one side and top-notch fighters like Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton (complete with "Painful?" catchphrase) on the other. Biao goes hand to hand with super villain Dick Wei in one bone-smashing encounter while top kicker Hwang Jang Lee pops up to create some samurai carnage. The rest of the cast is packed with familiar faces including Yuen Wah, Lam Ching Ying, Wang Lung Wei, Yukari Oshima, and Bolo Yeung who all do their bit. One standout is Sammo's run-in with Cynthia Rothrock which is brief but brutal. All in all the finale livens an otherwise good film, turning it into a minor masterpiece with one of the best martial arts endings of all time!

Somewhere in Alaska, in the tradition of 'Death Hunt,' North Korean president Kim Jong-un is riding horseback and steals gold nuggets off a dead Russian army. They raise from the grave and he's captured and humiliated with a mop wig and turned into a New Zealand hula girl and made to dance for the dead army. China's answer to Eastwood arrives and captures Lady Boy-un. They frolic and roll around in the snow until it builds momentum and morphs into a big CGI snowball. Mr. Miyagi, code name Spider-Man, leaps from a tall tree and takes down Eastwood. (It sounded like Miyagi.) If you look hard at the start Cynthia Rothrock appears on a horse. Now, I personally questioned her in a mall about this movie not being available in the video stores back in '93 and she informed me to find it at your local Chinatown area. (I bought it online in 2019.) We had our picture taken that night and years later I'd tell anyone online who'd listen that she was my dead wife. That's my claim to Hollywood. Time out! Time! Sorry to make a teaching lesson out of this, but whoever translated the English subtitles needs making an example out of. And they must never work in the translation business ever again. Here are a few examples. Don't you want me to owe you all my life? Don't you have the gut to do that, do you? Excepting my mom I have slept with all women I know. Can you keep my dream alive, can't you? Don't worry, I don't prefer old women. Go home for some sleep. IF THIS MOVIE'S INTENTION WAS TO OFFEND ME, THEN IT'S SUCCEDED IN ONLY 14-MINUTES! That whole scene needs a reshuffle and filmed again. It's some kind of slapstick comedy and not a serious kung fu movie. Hang on! Did that really just happen at the 15:20-minute mark? A 400-pound fire dragon woman is ablaze and forced to leap from a fourth story floor and into the awaiting arms of the trampoline bug catchers down below and they let her fall to the ground face first? Hmm. So, this is China's answer to humor, eh? This guy's 10ft tall. "Don't play with the chicken otherwise it'll expose your identity." What does that mean? Karl Malden is on a train with his son and punches his cabin mates when they go through a dark tunnel. 'Pink Panther-type' sleuth music. Benny Hill stupidity. Subtitles that go way too fast and are riddled with blatant errors, which I find highly offensive. Captain, I have been followed him closely. THESE SUBTITLES DARE OFFEND ME WITH POOR GRAMMAR! TO SUBJECT ME TO SOMEBODY ELSE'S POOR SCHOOLING IS TO BRING ME TO THEIR LEVELS! A man on a PeeWee 50 that sounds like a Ferrari when revved? THIS MOVIE WANTS TO VIOLATE MY INTELLIGENCE IN MY OWN ROOM? I don't believe I can't manage it. THIS IS INTENTIONAL. There's a good fight scene at a train station and this guy moves fast for a big guy... and manages to maintain wearing his glasses the entire time. Movie's about a silly train heist - 'Solo' - and filled with different segment skits that don't seem to run concurrently with the main theme. I swear I can hear snippets of Mr. Miyagi's voice at times. Wow - this run home to momma prison scene is award winning. My God. Whoops, here we go again! Don't be so hidden bitterness. What is the reason of being so hesitated? WHOEVER TRANSLATED THESE SUBTITLES WAS PAID FOR DOING SO! THEY ACCEPTED CASH IN RETURN FOR INCOMPETENCE! The end fight scenes by all involved are awesome. This ninja lady in the blue is ultra-impressive with her moves. Why wasn't the rest of the movie this good? They ambled along for three-quarters of the movie trying to be funny, with lame comedy skits, then it kicks into gear when it's all over and only gets serious with proper fighting drama at the end before the credits roll? The ending of this doesn't belong to the rest of the movie. That was some serious fighting that belonged in another movie. Very, very, impressive how a lot of these fighters moved at the end. The ending deserved better than the rest of it.

Aug 21 Millionaires Express arguably the most star studded hong kong film ever, Jackie Chan is really the only one missing. Everybody is a well known actor regardless of how small the part, plus we even get the likes of Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton too. Its got action and its got comedy and its got some breathtaking martial arts. This film was very expensive to make for a HK film of this time, but it was worth it. 9ish out of 10.

"The Millionaires Express" from 1986 is a movie that I hadn't even heard about prior to 2021, when I was given the chance to sit down and watch it. And with it being a Hong Kong movie, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down to do so. I will say that "The Millionaires Express" (aka "Foo gwai lip che") is definitely an archetypical mid-1980s Hong Kong action comedy. So if you have seen movies from the Hong Kong cinema from around that time, then you know what you are in for here. And it should be said that writers Sammo Kam-Bo Hung and Keith Wong definitely delivered a good script, and director Sammo Kam-Bo Hung brought it quite nicely to life on the screen. The storyline told in "The Millionaires Express" is actually one that grasps multiple storylines and interweaving them nicely together for a wholesome movie. There is the story of the thief stealing from Russians, the story of three robbers, the lawmen of the town, some Kung Fu gangs, and of course the foreign soldiers, to mention a few. While it might seem like quite a handful to handle, it is actually done in a very satisfactory manner. Now, what really impressed me about "The Millionaires Express" was the impressive ensemble of actors and actresses that were in this movie, which included the likes of Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Biao Yuen, Eric Tsang, Richard Ng, Wah Yuen, Kenny Bee and Rosamund Kwan, to mention but the most recognizable of faces and names, if you are familiar with the Hong Kong cinema. "The Millionaires Express" is a good combination of story, action and interesting characters, and it is nicely spruced up with a good amount of comedy as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and it was definitely a nice surprise of a movie. And it is a movie that I will warmly recommend that you sit down to watch, if you find yourself given the chance. My rating of the 1986 movie "The Millionaires Express" is a six out of ten stars.

Long before movies like SUKYAKI WESTERN DJANGO or THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD, there was Sammo Hung's SHANGHAI EXPRESS. While both of the aforementioned movies definitely have their fair share of memorable moments, SHANGHAI EXPRESS tops them both (in my own, ever humble opinion) by virtue of its sheer diversity. There are, first and foremost, the unbelievable stunts (some of which would make Jackie Chan himself green with envy, I'd wager): at one point, Yuen Biao does a roundoff off the top of a two story building (falling about THREE stories in the process), jumps up when he lands, then runs out of frame- all in a single take. Another player does a similar jump from the top of a building later in the movie- again, in a single take and, again, jumping up to run out of the shot as did Biao. Sammo himself, sporting a kind of mullet haircut, engages Biao in a spectacular if brief slugfest at a train station. Cynthia Rothrock, in a very small but memorable part, also goes toe to toe with Sammo in a particularly brutal fight scene. My favorite moment, by far, has to be Kurata's fight with Richard Norton: when Norton nails him at one point, Kurata begins a Chaplinesque, leaning-tower-of-Piza stagger around Norton, circling stubbornly and refusing to fall. If you're a Charlie Chaplin fan (and who isn't?), you'll appreciate both the homage and the sheer craziness of the scene. In fact, there are several sequences (in particular a laugh-out-loud train sequence, with one guy roped and tied running alongside the train) that are guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. Hung mines comedy gold with SHANGHAI EXPRESS.

This is a one-of-a-kind Hong Kong movie filmed in the Western style and directed my martial arts great Sammo Hung, where he brought in an all-star cast including Hung himself, Yuen Biao, Eric Tsang, Richard Ng, Lydia Sum, Kenny Bee, Lam Ching Ying, Wah Yuen, Corey Yuen and Rosamund Kwan. It's a story where Ching Fong-Tin (Sammo Hung) tries to makes amends for his past by attempting to return wealth and prosperity to his hometown. In doing so, he plans to stall an express train full of wealthy passengers in hopes they will lodge at his town and spend money on its amenities. Meanwhile, a group of mountain bandits wants to rob the train, where three samurais in possession of a treasure scroll are on board. It is an action-packed film from start to finish that will give you pure fun and excitement - a film that has just about everything in it: comedy, adventure, martial arts, romance and drama. Each of the characters has his/her own unique charm, development and relevance in the movie that makes him/her stand out in the story. Hung took great care in directing that made every one of the many characters important, inserting humor and drama where appropriate and creating fun and interesting subplots (like the town's renegade security officers attempting to rob the train; Richard Ng's character's silly love affair; the rival between legendary martial artists Master Wong and Master Shek) while not swaying away from the main point of the story. He keeps the plot going at a fast pace and makes every scene captivating, leaving no room for boring fillers. The special and visual effects are realistic and believable and the script is an awesome piece of work - it makes you feel you are along the wild adventure and just having fun with the ride. The music score by Anders Nelsson, Alastair Monteith-Hodge and Chin Yung Shing is very catchy and dynamic, filming location is breath-taking and the acting was spot-on. There are some silly and goofy moments from some of the cast members, but it is not done overboard. With such a large cast and an exciting story, I just wished that the movie was made a little longer to have more time to accommodate the actors and action sequences. But overall, it is one of the best movies I have seen come out of Hong Kong and certainly one that is highly recommended if you are a fan of wild Hong Kong Cinema. If you are not, it is still a great movie to watch for the casual viewers! Grade A