Reviews (1)

Entertaining New Years film with All-Star Cast
OK, so it's fluff, but it plays well and has a cast that puts over the material really well. Made for Chinese New Year, this is a family drama with many swerves in its plot. The main storyline has Mom & Dad presiding over a family of assorted types. Son Tony Leung (Ka Fai) is a sensitive comic strip artist. Daughter Teresa Mo is a newely-Europeanized world-traveler with a wimpy fiancee (Lau Ching Wan) and a hip friend (Leslie Cheung). Also present are Anita Yuen (without too much to do) and the ever-clever Carol (Do Do Cheung). Film buffs will appreciate Kwan Tak Hing, the screens first Wong Fei Hung, in his last ... role. A totally enjoyable film. Oh, and by the way Amazon.com - it's NOT "Dubbed in Unknown" - it's in Cantonese !!! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Hong Kong sitcom draws laughs from middle-class life
IT'S A MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1987) is an amusing character-driven Hong Kong comedy about a middle-class family beset with all sorts of social and financial woes. Bill Tung (Uncle Bill from Jackie Chan's SUPERCOP and RUMBLE IN THE BRONX) plays a news anchor at a local TV station who has a very demanding wife (Lydia Shum) and three growing daughters at home in an apartment block where all of their problems become the talk of their neighbors. Bill gets fired from the station after trying to humiliate his bitchy co-anchor on air (in one of the film's funnier sequences). As the family seems headed for poverty, they win the lottery, which ultimately causes as many problems as it solves. Things take a melodramatic turn in the last 20 minutes when the boyfriend (Eric Tsang) of the oldest daughter does a despicable thing to the family to help some hoodlum buddies get hold of the lottery winnings. He is eventually let off the hook much too easily for American audiences' tastes. (The crime he commits would once have gotten him the death penalty in the U.S.!)

There are more chuckles than actual laughs here, although some of the gags are quite clever, including the youngest daughter's dream sequence about a school science fair in which her working miniature nuclear power plant suddenly goes into meltdown. The three lead cast members, Bill Tung, Lydia Shum, and Eric Tsang, are all top-ranked comic performers in Hong Kong. While western audiences may be more familiar with Jackie Chan's stunt-filled comedies, this film offers a less frantic comedy of errors about ordinary life in Hong Kong and should give American HK buffs greater insight into the culture that produces the cinema they've come to love. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of my favorites
Having watched it the first time over 10 years ago, it is still one of my favorite movies. It has an all star cast that works well together. The story line, albeit silly, is interesting and deeply routed in Asian humor, that generally being more of a physical comedy than actual spoken joke. I would recommend this to anyone who has a good sense of humor.

90 minutes of my life I'd like to have back
I watched this movie on VCD. I grew up in Hongkong so I'm prepared for loud dialog and a silly plot. It's a story about 3 brothers and their quest for their mates. The oldest brother is married but is cheating on his homey but homely wife, who underwent a beautifying change after she leaves him. The second brother is an effeminate guy who's attracted to a very masculine woman. The third brother is a playboy who uses women like Kleenex. The part with the third brother losing his marbles after a bad fall, and the treatment after, is such absolute silliness and wasted the talents of the actors involved. This movie is good for a few laughs but... there are definitely better comedies out there. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Immortal archetypes resurrected in timeless fashion
The unmatched exuberance of youth and self portrait of the suffering artist is captured in this light-hearted romp through the inner visions of modern day survivalists facing the perils of a wilderness which cannot be understood or overestimated. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The whole showoff of all the Hong Kong stars
A movie that was made for charity. A movie that just took 3 days for writing the scripts and shooting. A movie that the entire celebrities in the Hong Kong showbiz took part. What do you ask for more? True, these are the most attractive part of this movie. In terms of storyline, I personally think it reflected the people in the society nowadays(or at least in the 1990s). Everyone loves moeny and once they got rich, they still ask for more. At the end, they found out the best thing is not money, but the time you spend with your family and the friendship in which money could not buy. Besides just watching the movies, you also get the chance to see all (or at least most) of the celebrities in Hong Kong. They are all the most famous people back then. If you are familiar with the artists in Hong Kong, try to find out how many of them are still here. You can also see Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-Fat in this movie, too. ... Read more