Reviews (2)

Worth the purchase price for the "sleeping disciple" scenes.
This is the only Stephen Chow (spelled Chiau on the box) film that I've ever seen, but I am determined to see more of them. Not only is he a physically talented comedic actor and convincing as a kung fu master, he is also quite pleasing to look at. The plot is silly, but it works well with the comic delivery. I particularly enjoyed the scenes where Chow's character uses "sleeping disciple" kung fu, in which he seemingly yawns and stretches while hitting his opponent in the face, etc. Well-done special effects, just this side of cheesy, show the sorcery and magical kung fu moves.

Since Amazon hasn't given you a summary, here's mine: Young ne'er-do-well Su Chan (Chow) falls in love with a courtesan. In order to win her hand in marriage, he signs up for an imperial examination to become a military officer. For reasons partially attributable to Tin Li Jiao, an evil Taoist sorcerer and martial artist, and partially attributable to Su Chan's own laziness and his father's dishonesty, Su Chan winds up a beggar. He uses kung fu to rescue his ladylove and the Emperor when they fall into the clutches of Tin Li Jiao.

The version I have (didn't buy it from Amazon, but looks like the same one) is in Cantonese and Mandarin with subtitles in traditional characters and English. The subtitle translations are just bad enough to be amusing, but not so bad as to be confusing. Because the English subtitles are plain white, they are hard to read against a light background. Fortunately, the plot of the film isn't so subtle that reading every subtitle is critical.

I thought the film was entertaining and funny. Not a masterpiece, perhaps, but better than many action/comedy films out there. I'll definitely watch it again.

one of the funniest h/k movie!
get this dvd if u like hong kong movies and stephen chow,it's really funny.i cant stop laughing when i watched it.even if it is not as good as hail the judge(stephen chow's best) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Really Royal Tramp I, Part 2
The book on which Royal Tramp 1 and 2 are based (The Deer and the Cauldron by Jin Yong) was originally published as a serial in a Chinese newspaper, so the idea of splitting the story up into parts made sense.

As a result, this film is every bit as good as the first one, and I would strongly recommend buying both films. I would also recommend against watching this film first, since the two films really do make up a single story.

I don't think it will give too much away to say that in this film, Wilson Bond (or Wei Xiao Bo/Trinket Wei - translations vary) defeats his enemies, becomes supremely powerful, and marries all the beautiful women he has met. After all, that's the kind of movie this is, and that's the kind of character Wei is. (In the book, you can bet that any time he's introduced to any new powerful group, he'll be a leader of the group within the next 50 pages, and any time he meets a new beautiful woman, he'll be married to her in the next 100 pages. :-)

I also like that this film contains most of my favorite actresses from Hong Kong: At the end of the first movie, the Empress Dowager (played by the fabulously beautiful "Sharla" Cheung Man) was found to be someone else in disguise. That "someone else" is played in part 2 by Brigitte Lin, another of my favorite female stars. (I would have been happy to watch another couple of hours of the lovely Ms. Cheung, but at least we got a brief appearance from her at the beginning). This film also has Helena Law Lan (who bears a striking resemblance to Michelle Yeoh in this role) as the One-Armed Nun, Michele Reis, Chingmy Yau... Ahhh. If the plot weren't so good, I could just spend my time watching the pretty women.

I can't recommend this movie (or part 1) highly enough. This one is really a must for any fan of Hong Kong cinema, and a great introduction for those who aren't fans yet.

Royal Tramp II, or Lone'er Seeks Revenge on Wilson Bond
"Lu ding ji II zhi shen long jiao" (don't you just love Mandarin?) is not so much a sequel as a continuation of "Royal Tramp." Our hero, Wilson Bond (Stephen Chow), is now a friend of Emperor Ning (Siu-Lun Wan), but he is still caught in the middle of all the factions trying to overthrow the emperor. Bond is ordered to escort the Emperor's sister (Chingmy Yau), who is about to be married off to form a political alliance with a treacherous prince. Once again, our hero is forced to get by on his big mouth and his fast thinking. This 1992 film, also directed by Wong Jing, is a half-step below the original, mainly because it is covering the same ground in a new setting, but for a "sequel" that is pretty darn good. These films might be intended as parodies of Hong Kong swordplay epics, but they are actually way about average as representatives of the genre. Be sure to watch both parts as a double feature. ... Read more