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Cast:
Sammo
Hung
Yuen
Biao
Eric
Tsang
Olivia
Cheng
Kenny
Bee
Hwang
Jang Lee
Dick
Wei
Richard
Ng
Cynthia
Rothrock
Action:
Hung
Ga Ban
Producer:
Leonard
K.C. Ho
Director:
Sammo
Hung
Score:
 
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MILLIONAIRES'
EXPRESS
AKA:
Shanghai Express
Year:
1986 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Sammo
Hung once again assembles a superb cast and creates an
excellent blend of comedy and top-notch fight action. In what
could best be described as an 'Eastern Western', Sammo as
director manages to put an ensemble of stars together who
stand as one of the many good reasons to watch this film. The
plot revolves around a portly 'entrepreneur' (Sammo - who
else?) who returns to his home town with a posse of women and
a dubious reputation preceding him. The newly instated town
chief (Biao) soon uncovers Sammo's plan to open a hotel and
brothel in the town to reinvigorate the local industry (and
line his own pockets). With this in mind, Sammo plans to
derail a train full of wealthy passengers and 'persuade' them
to stay at his various establishments. Although Biao opposes
Sammo in an excellent one-on-one fight, the plan is successful
and the numerous socialites frequent the town, spending
liberal amounts of money in the process. However, what Sammo
doesn't realise is that a small army of bandits also had
designs on the train and have now switched their attention to
the town. All of the townsfolk must therefore forget their
differences and join together if they want to have any chance
of success.
The
first hour of 'Millionaires' Express' is built around comedy
with brief spurts of action punctuating the storyline. This
isn't necessarily a bad thing though as the various madcap
situations and character banters are very enjoyable and help
introduce the plethora of Hong Kong superstars into the film.
When the action does appear, it is certainly worth the wait as
Sammo gives the viewer a number of exciting encounters: Sammo
himself against Cynthia Rothrock in a brief, but
well-choreographed skirmish; Yuen Biao and Dick Wei in another
of their excellent screen battles; a superb tour de force
showing by a young Yukari Oshima and a reminder of Hwang Jang
Lee's exceptional athletic prowess.
If
there's one person who shines among the stellar cast it's got
to be Yuen Biao in another one of his magnetic performances as
an upright super-fighter. As with Sammo himself, Biao has
always been adept at the physical side of film-making, but
remains an underrated actor in the field of comedy.
'Millionaires' Express' gives him a superb opportunity to play
a very able straight man.
In
summary then, 'Millionaires' Express' is another superb
production from Sammo Hung. Newcomers will enjoy the fight
action, the slightly more experienced will also appreciate the
comedy and the veteran viewer will be entertained by the great
cast. To top this off, the Universe DVD is superb quality.
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