Shanghai Express

(aka "Shanghai Express" or "Millionaire's Express" or "Foo Gwai Lit Che")

directed by Sammo Hung
Hong Kong 1986

It’s easy to associate Hong Kong cinema with names like Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-fat, and John Woo. However, Hong Kong has long had a super-busy movie industry that rivaled Hollywood and Bollywood in sheer volume. What Hong Kong lacked in Hollywood money it made up with spectacular, real stunts.

Jackie Chan originally trained with a Beijing-opera troupe, so he’s really more of an acrobat than he is a martial-artist. Among his fellow troupe members were Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Hung and Yuen collaborated on Shanghai Express (often referred to as Millionaire’s Express), a movie made for Chinese New Year in 1986. Chinese-New-Year’s movies are filled with the wildest stunts with the biggest and most gimmicks possible. In this case, several of Hong Kong’s biggest names all crowded into the frame in a zany mish-mash of the Western, action, and comedy genres. Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and others all pile into a frontier town for one of the most impressive climaxes in Hong Kong cinema.

Occupying center stage is Sammo Hung, of course--and not just because he’s the director. Despite his rotund physique, Hung is extremely quick, agile, and flexible. I remember seeing him do back flips and somersaults without any apparent problems. Hung’s sense of comedic timing rivals that of Jackie Chan.

Yunda Eddie Feng

Poster

Theatrical Release: 30 January 1986

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Genius Products - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Yunda Eddie Feng for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Genius Products Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:41:48
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.42 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese Chinese, Dolby Digital 5.1 English, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono Cantonese Chinese
Subtitles	Optional English and Spanish
Features	Release Information: Studio: Genius Products Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • audio commentary by Bey Logan • interviews with Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Cynthia Rothrock • Deleted Scenes • trailers DVD Release Date: 29 May 2007 Keepcase Chapters 16

Comments:

Video:
Movies made in Hong Kong during the 1980s were not always placed under the best care, so Genius Products is to be commended for either finding or creating a nice-looking 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer for this movie. The picture has the expected faded colors, but it is otherwise sharp and free of debris. Given the expected market for the Dragon-Dynasty titles, I think that this is very respectable video.

Audio:
The new Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese Chinese mix does an excellent job of un-muffling the original mono track. The dialogue and effects sound fresh and lively, and there is a fair amount of surround-sound activity.

You can watch the movie with a Dolby Digital 5.1 English dub or the original mono mix in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono guise.

Optional English and Spanish subtitles support the audio.

Extras:
Upon loading, the DVD plays trailers for other Dragon-Dynasty DVDs.

Bey Logan makes another audio-commentary appearance. The fellow lived in Hong Kong and actually participated in making a couple of flicks with folks like Jackie Chan, so he’s an invaluable source of knowledge about these Dragon-Dynasty releases.

There are interviews with Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Cynthia Rothrock. Four un-restored deleted scenes show you how good the main feature’s transfer is. Finally, there are two trailers for the movie.

--Miscellaneous--
An insert advertises other Dragon-Dynasty DVDs.

- Yunda Eddie Feng

DVD Menus