Millionaires' Express (Subtitled and Dubbed) (Wide Screen) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Good action, good story
Disadvantages:	Some of the humour may be lost of western audiences

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

---Plot---
Sammo Hung plays Tin, a charlatan type character, who after escaping a law man (Kenny Bee) he returns to his home town, to start up a hotel where he plans to get rich by stopping the train which carry's a number of rich people and getting them to stay and spend there money in the town. There to stop him is the new sheriff Tsao (Yuen Biao).
However a gang of ruthless bandits also have an eye on the train and intend to rob the passengers.

---Cast---
Sammo Hung - Chin Fong-Tin
Kenny Bee - Loi Fook
Yuen Biao - Tsao
Yasuaki Kurata - Samurai
Yukari Oshima - Samurai
Cynthia Rothrock - Bandit
Richard Norton - Bandit
(And many, many more for more details check a site like imdb)

This film has a hell of a lot of characters to mention as their so many different stories's going on. You have Tin who's come to town with a bunch of prostitutes in tow. Tsao and his newly elected team of law enforcers, Sheriff - Loi Fook who's determined to capture Tin for his past crimes. Then there's the characters on the train, the man who has his wife and mistress on board, the Chinese gangsters who intend to steal a map containing Chinese secrets off a bunch of Samurais, the old Kung Fu masters travelling with there children and much more.
This is a comedy set in a village in China, which has a western style setting as there where apparently places in China just like this. The style of comedy is pretty goofy and has a slapstick style of the old silent movies, some bits of which might be lost on western audience. However other bits will make you laugh so hard it hurts.

Now the Martial Arts action? Well it certainly has it yet this is a film that could probably get away with not having it, as the story is so good. However it does work well and it's a detail to watch the flexibility of Yuen Biao and the hard punching and kicking of Sammo Hung (how such a big guy is so agile is amazing).
It's also well thought instead of prostitutes suddenly busting out Kung Fu, they are scrappy, hair pulling and scratching at the bandits.

---Scenes to watch out for---
Rolling Sammo Hung and Kenny Bee down the hill in the snow
Yuen Biao jump off the burning building
Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao fight (which includes a bit where a stunt man landed on his next - ouch!)
The scene in the hotel with the gangsters, the man, his wife and his mistress and the train guard and his girlfriend. (Confusing to explain really)
Final Chaos in the scene where the bandits come into town
Sammo Hung fight with Cynthia Rothrock (worth it just for Sammo Bruce Lee impression alone)

---Who is Yuen Biao?---
Born Hsia Ling-Jun he was enrolled at the China Drama Academy at the age of five making him the youngest person there. From an early age his acrobat skills stood out.
A life long friend of Jackie Chan (who in his biography talks about there friendship) he finished the academy at 16 and moved to the USA with Master Jim-Yuen. He returned back to China two years later as there where no opportunities for Chinese martial artists in American cinema. He did a lot of stunt work on films.
Sammo Hung gave him his first big break in 1979 in the film Knockabout. His work with Sammo Hung has said to bring out some of the best stuff of his career. He's (undeservedly) been in the shadow of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, and has built an audience in the west through word of mouth.

---Who is Sammo Hung---
Real name Hong Jin Bao, he was born in Hong Kong, Sammo (named because of his resemblance to a cartoon character).
He went to the China Drama Academy as a child where he was Jackie Chan's and Yuen Biao and many others 'big brother'. He is a respected actor and director in the Hong Kong film industry and his break as an actor came in Bruce Lees 'Enter the Dragon'. He's probably best known to western audiences for starring in the US TV series Martial Law. He's recently started with Donnie Yen in S.P.L which will hopefully come out in the West sooner rather than later.

---Extras---
Commentary with Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan - this is an absolute delight to listen to. Within just three minutes of the film starting with the company's logos you are loaded with information. Hong Kong film expert is definitely a title he deserves. As you go through the film he'll mention the actors and actresses, mention other films they've been in, knowing them all by name and not struggling with pronunciation of any of the names. Surprisingly he is able to carry the commentary throughout the film on his own, never stopping for any pauses. Listening to this made me appreciate things done in the film lot more such as the stunt work and explaining some of the comedy that got lost on me, because this when watching the film again I felt I was able to enjoy the film much more when I watched it again.

On the Cutting Edge - An exclusive interview with Yukari Oshima. This is an interview with the half Japanese/Chinese actress who played one of the samurais in the film. She starts off mentioning her humble beginnings, here start in karate, struggle not knowing Cantonese, working with Sammo Hung and more

A New Frontier - exclusive interview with Sammo Hung. Talking about westerns, filming on the train track, creating the setting for the town, the different languages on the set, imitating Bruce Lee and more.

Trailer Gallery - Original Theatrical Trailer and UK Promotional Trailer

Further Attractions - Trailers for Moon Warriors, Iron Monkey, The Scorpion King and Volcano High as well as information on then and two other films.

It's bit disappointing that there are no deleted scenes on the disk as with so many characters some of them just disappeared when the bandits come into to town and feel that the deleted scenes might have answered what happened to them.

---Other Information---
Running Time: 98 Minutes (approx)
Certificate: 12 (Though I'd recommend it younger cause although it does have the violence it's bloody and I thinks it's a shame kids might miss out on this film because they're potential part of the audience that probably could get the biggest kick of this film (
Languages/Audio: English Dubbed, Cantonese (re-mastered), Original Cantonese Mono Audio Track, English Subtitles, Dutch Subtitles

---Final Verdict---
Over all I'd say this film is worth seeing if you like slapstick humour, good Martial Arts action and also see work of an underrated actor and director to western audiences Sammo Hung and even more under rated Yuen Biao.

If your interested in Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung or Yuen Biao I'd recommend reading Jackie Chan's autobiography - 'I am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action' cause although it's mainly about Jackie's life it does have the odd bit about Sammo and Yuen.