I enjoyed "Casino Tycoon" a lot, though I feel that I should point out that I am quite familiar with Hong Kong cinema and how crazy it can get at times. Western viewers who sit down to watch this movie and are not familiar with Hong Kong cinema may be taken aback at times. That's because the movie throws in a number of genres along the way and jumbles them around. Sometimes the movie is a gangster movie, sometimes it's a romantic movie, sometimes it's a kung fu movie, sometimes it's a revenge saga, sometimes it's a look at characters over a long period of time... see what I mean? It's is kind of messy at times, but I admit that it's never dull, so if you are prepared for it like I am, you should find it enjoyable despite its two hour length. Looking forward to watching the sequel!
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Wizard-831 October 2019
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CASINO TYCOON is another gambling-themed movie from director Wong Jing, here re-teaming with star Andy Lau after the success of the breakneck HARDBOILED 2: THE LAST BLOOD. CASINO TYCOON is more of a laidback and mannered piece of work, reminiscent of GOODFELLAS in the long-term, expansive storytelling, told on a budget which does the story justice without it ever feeling epic in scope. In fact it feels much like an updated Shaw-style movie along the lines of Takeshi Kaneshiro's HERO, although it isn't an action movie.
The above average central cast members certainly work hard to bring the story to life and by and large they succeed. Lau is an intensely likable figure from the era and Chingamy Yau and Joey Wong both do well as his rival lovers. Alex Man's stalwart buddy is a great asset in the movie and features in some of the most intense moments, while Paul Chun (one of David Chiang's brothers) has one of those love-to-hate bad guy roles. CASINO TYCOON features plenty of twists and turns, a large dose of villainy, some brief but cool action, and lots of drama. I give it the thumbs up. A back-to-back sequel followed. -
morrison-dylan-fan6 August 2021Browsing round on Netflix UK, I stumbled on a series of Hong Kong Action flicks which I had never heard of before,leading to me meeting the tycoon.
View on the film:
Released the same year as Ringo Lam's Full Contact and John Woo's Hard Boiled (1992-both also reviewed), writer/director Jing Wong gives the Heroic Bloodshed action a scatter-shot mood of short, sharp slo-mo hits, as the camera scans the casino floors covered in blood.
Taking the first roll of the dice as a Historical Drama via following Hsin and his family flee to Macu as Hong Kong falls to Occupation, the screenplay by Wong takes a left-field turn into a strange genre mash-up,which whilst never binding together, offers delights thanks to how at odds each element is, going from a blistering shoot-out one moment, to a hilariously arch Melodrama romance the next.
Appearing to be the only one fully aware about the peculiar tone of the flick, Andy Lau shines as Hsin,thanks to Lau one moment having Hsin tear up and screeching over a broken heart, and then flipping over to chewing the scenery as he takes on the underworld in order to become a casino tycoon. -
paul_haakonsen20 July 2022Not having seen the 1992 Hong Kong crime action drama "Do Sing Dai Hang: San Gor Chuen Kei" (aka "Casino Tycoon") before now in 2022, I must admit that I was actually looking forward to watching it, as the movie had Andy Lau in the leading role.
However, I have to admit that I found the storyline in the movie to be somewhat erratic and skittish. It felt like writer and director Jing Wong was just making things up as the filming of the movie was progressing. I didn't really feel that there was a fully cohesive and constructed narrative to the movie. The things that happened throughout the movie felt too random and one scene wasn't really leading up to the next.
The acting performances in the movie were adequate, taking into consideration the shortcomings of the script and storyline. Andy Lau was delivering his usual good performance, so at least he made the movie watchable. The movie also had the likes of Chingmy Yau, Paul Chun and Hoi-San Kwan on the cast list, so there are some familiar faces for fans of the Hong Kong cinema.
Now that I have seen "Do Sing Dai Hang: San Gor Chuen Kei", I can check it off of my to-watch-list. However, I doubt that I will ever return to watch this movie a second time. And if you are a newcomer to the Hong Kong cinema, then this is not a movie that I would recommend as something you should sit down and watch.
My rating of "Do Sing Dai Hang: San Gor Chuen Kei" lands on a four out of ten stars. -
RosanaBotafogo18 July 2021Based on the lives of three Hong Kong magnates who made their fortune with the Casino in Macau, it is very reminiscent of "The Bund" in context and overall execution, good production, simple, flawed, a little exaggerated, however good...
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horaceblacktree20 July 2018I loved the film from the beginning to the end. Is there another one coming after this one?