{"id":26092,"date":"2023-02-28T00:29:25","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T08:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=26092"},"modified":"2023-02-28T00:29:25","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T08:29:25","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-millionaires-express-1986","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=26092","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: MILLIONAIRES\u2019 EXPRESS (1986)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This 2-disc limited edition Blu-ray is now available from Arrow Video.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you enjoy martial arts movies, then you\u2019ll no doubt be\nfamiliar with the likes of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Both studied together at\nthe China Drama Academy and became massive action film stars in Hong Kong and\neventually abroad. The rotund but extremely agile Hung was every bit as famous\nand adored a performer as Chan and had several hit films in his homeland. Arrow\nVideo have decided to release one of those big titles on Blu-ray this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hung served as writer\/director and star of Millionaires\u2019\nExpress<\/em> aka The Millionaires\u2019 Express<\/em> aka Shanghai Express<\/em>.\nThis period picture combined kung-fu and comedy with western elements,\nresulting in a bizarre but amusing venture. It is filled with impressive fights\nand a storyline featuring so many characters that it\u2019s tough to keep track of\neveryone. In a strange way, the movie feels more inspired by the likes of The\nCannonball Run<\/em> than a typical Hong Kong martial arts\/action picture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story is set in the early 20th<\/sup> century and\nbegins with petty thief Ching Fong-tin (Sammo Hung) in the Russian wilderness\nbeing pursued by government agent Fook Loi (Kenny Bee). An amusing chase\nsequence follows in the snow-covered mountains before Ching returns to China.\nOnce there, he meets local prostitute Siu-hon (Olivia Cheng), with whom he\nshares an unrequited love.Ching then heads out to his old hometown with a\nfinancial scheme to help locals and make up for a past wrong. A luxury train is\ntraveling through the area and Ching plans on derailing the locomotive, forcing\nthe wealthy passengers to stay in town and spend their cash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little does Ching know that one person onboard is carrying a\nvaluable map to the Terracotta Army site. Of course, a massive gang of hoods\n(as well as a trio of Japanese travelers) also want the parchment. While all of\nthis is being relayed, viewers are also introduced to various small-town\nlocals, including noble Fire Chief Tsao Cheuk-kin (Yuen Biao) and several\ncorrupt officers. The train does ultimately stop in town and everyone ends up\nin a nearby hotel. Chaos reigns as all the characters team up to fight and get\ntheir hands on the map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If the synopsis sounds confusing, that\u2019s because it is<\/em>\nan overstuffed narrative. There are many more characters and it all feels like\nan excuse to pack every actor in the country (and a few from aboard) into the\nfilm. Thankfully, several of the featured jokes are entertaining. There are\nsome great moments in the chilling cold between Ching and Fook Loi early on,\nand a few of the cameos work well. One, involving a very young Wong Fei-hung,\nresults in a big laugh. Some of the humor doesn\u2019t translate or is out-of-date,\nbut there are still plenty of fun moments. When Ching and Fook Loi are\nultimately forced to work together, there are creative bits, like the odd way\nin which the pair cool down an overheating gatling gun to use on villains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And of course, the action is exemplary throughout. Yuen Biao\nperforms an incredible stunt that involves falling numerous stories off of a\nbuilding and picking himself up off of the ground. Hung (and briefly, Bee) are\nforced to perform nearly naked on a snow-covered mountain top in subzero\ntemperatures. The final act features a twenty-minute showdown between all of\nthe characters, including an impressive showdown between Ching and a bandit\n(Cynthia Rothrock). It\u2019s all fantastically choreographed and incredible to\nwitness.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are four(!) cuts of the film featured over two discs.\nThis includes a 97-minute Hong Kong Theatrical Cut, in addition to a 102-minute\nthe Extended International Version made for audiences in nearby countries, as\nwell as a 93-minute English-Dubbed Version. Remarkably, there are noticeable\ndifferences present. The big romantic subplot between Ching and his prostitute\ngirlfriend from the Hong Kong Theatrical Cut is shaved considerably in the\nExtended International Version. This scene introduces love interest Siu-hon and\nis essential to the story. Those watching the International Version would no\ndoubt be completely confused as to who she and her friends are when they appear\nlater in the movie. But while that omission works against the Extended\nInternational Cut, there are some extra jokes inserted that are very effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extras reveal that some foreign territories would not\nallow there to be explicit references to prostitutes in the film, so that is\nwhy the introduction and references to prostitution were completely left out of\nthe International Version. With extra time needed to make up for several\nmissing bits, additional sight-gags and other small supporting character\nmoments were added in. It\u2019s interesting to watch and see all the little trims\nand additions in the different cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The fourth and final cut is the recently assembled\n109-minute Hybrid Edition. While this reviewer doesn\u2019t always appreciate recuts\ncreated many years after a film is released, in this case the Hybrid Edition is\nthe best. It seamlessly incorporates material from the Hong Kong and\nInternational cuts, resulting in a film that is considerably easier to follow\nand funnier. While one could argue that the pacing slows as a result, the earlier\neditions and their confusing rapid-fire narratives and jumping between\ncharacters was never the title\u2019s strongest asset. It may take longer for the\ncentral action to arrive in the Hybrid Cut, but everything flows a little\nbetter and more of the characters stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blu-ray extras are also fun to watch. There are two\nenjoyable commentary tracks from film historians. The more informative is the\none on the Hong Kong cut by Frank Djeng, which presents material on Hung and\nbackground details about the production, as well as tidbits on what went on\nbehind the scenes. One of the curious details that comes out is the casting of\nmusician Kenny Bee as the government agent. It appears that the part was\noriginally written for Jackie Chan, but he and Sammo Hung weren\u2019t on the best\nterms during this period. As a result, Bee got the part. While he doesn\u2019t\nperform any big stunts in the film, the singer acquits himself well and makes\nan impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The commentary second track on the Extended International\nCut is filled with information about cast members. There\u2019s some repeated\ninformation, but the critics here give their unique impressions of the movie\nand note some of the confusing elements that baffled them when they first saw\nthe movie (the International Cut was the version available to them at the\ntime). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Cynthia Rothrock offers her memories on a\nthird track that plays over her scenes, which largely involve martial arts. In\naddition to the commentary, Rothrock also appears in several interviews, including\na recently recorded piece. She talks about being hired and working in Hong Kong\nand China and elaborates on the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to\nfilmmaking being used in Hong Kong at the time. Rothrock is an entertaining\nstoryteller and shares incredible memories about the dangers she faced on set,\nbut comes across as happy about her experiences abroad and her work on this\ntitle, as well as other Hong Kong films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there are two separate archival discussions\nwith Hung, who goes over his approach to shooting the movie and what he was\ntrying to accomplish in his western\/martial arts hybrid. He discusses the\nchallenges in working with an international cast where many different languages\nwere spoken. Also included is an archived talk with co-star Yuen Biao, who also\nattended school with Hung and Jackie Chan. If that wasn\u2019t enough, a discussion\nwith Japanese martial artist\/actress Yukari Oshima is also included, where she\ntalks about her scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the set includes alternate opening and closing\ncredits, a trailer gallery and more. If you appreciate Hong Kong action\nfeatures with a humorous bent, Millionaires\u2019 Express<\/em> certainly fits the\nbill. Arrow Video have once again gone above and beyond in delivering great\nimage quality, extras and so many versions of the film that it may take a while\nfor viewers to determine which is their favorite. This reviewer heartily\nrecommends this Blu-ray release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This 2-disc limited edition Blu-ray is now available from Arrow Video. If you enjoy martial arts movies, then you\u2019ll no doubt be familiar with the likes of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Both studied together at the China Drama Academy and became massive action film stars in Hong Kong and eventually abroad. The rotund but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[119,697,1836,2933,3067,3073,3075,4256,4660,5025,9288,11592,13303,13983,17585,18148,21597,24114,24688],"class_list":["post-26092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-119","tag-action","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blu-ray","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-blu-ray-reviews","tag-china","tag-comedy","tag-cynthia-rothrock","tag-hong-kong","tag-kenny-been","tag-martial-arts","tag-millionaires-express","tag-sammo-hung","tag-shanghai-express","tag-the-millionaires-express","tag-western","tag-yuen-biao"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}