Qian wang dou qian ba (1981) User Reviews (2)

The formula for Hong Kong action gambling movies for the next 20 years

[ckormos1 · 7/10 · 18 January 2017]

This movie starts with a few men gambling in a casino private room. Wong Yu has some problems at the mahjong table then cut to Melvin Wong playing billiards. Wong and crew go to the pool parlor for a fight with cue sticks. The plot comes out as three of them are hired to get a list from a top gambler.

This movie, more than anything else, is Wong Jing's directorial debut. His prolific career dominated the Hong Kong movie business for 20 years starting with this movie. Yes, he directed "God of Gamblers" of course!

Patrick Tse steals the show as the top gambler for the good guys. Chen Kuan-Tai, former good guy in many earlier movies, now plays the antagonist. Wong Yu is along for the ride to provide most of the martial arts but outside of that seems a bit out of place. The gratuitous nudity, this time a perky pair of boobies, is revealed at about the 1:14:27 mark on my video file.

My copy is a digital file with hard subtitles, wide screen and high definition. It is an excellent AVI format file and I have no memory of where I acquired it. I watched it for the martial arts and it is really an action/gambling genre but I was not disappointed in any of the fights. I recommend it for all fans and rate it above average.

Works a treat

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 15 August 2021]

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this, Wong Jing's directorial debut and a landmark gambling movie in the history of Hong Kong cinema. It starts off cheap and cheesy, a far cry from the slickness of later bigger budgeted fare, but after a while it settles into an amiable routine that works rather well. The story is about a couple of pro gamblers whose job is to eke out a Japanese spy in Shanghai. Wong Yue supplies the goofy comedy and the fisticuffs and Chen Kuan Tai plays the big bad, with lots of other familiar faces along the way. The gambling scenes are superbly funny and the whole mock house plot later on is handled well too, and there's a great action climax to boot. Little to dislike here.