Millionaires' Express

East meets West certainly isn’t a new idea for the martial arts genre.  The structure of most kung fu films bump through the wagon ruts of classic western cliches and high noon showdowns anyway.  But Millionaires’ Express (1986) takes things a step further, creating a comedy mash-up of simultaneous stick-ups and hijackings all stuffed under writer / director Sammo Hung’s ridiculous 10-gallon hat.

 Ching Fong-tin (Hung) is an outlaw with a heart of gold returning to his hometown with a plan to derail the Millionaires’ Express and funnel all the big spenders into his hometown.  But there are other agendas at work, including a bank hold up and international heist, all ignorantly competing with one another.  Toss in a group of ambitious hookers and an overeager local police force and the stage is set for a Blazing Saddles finale with some Shanghai style.

 

Next to Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung is probably the most likable figure in Hong Kong cinema.  So most fans would probably be willing to give the scattershot plot of Millionaires’ Express a good deal of slack.  After all, it’s supposed to be a convoluted comedy of errors punctuated with some amazing stunts and fast-paced action. But those punctuations are very few and far between, with the first genuine fight sequence coming at one hour into the film’s running time.  Juggling too many characters – with too many boring backstories – Hung’s film gets hung up on uninteresting subplots and melodrama when it should be showing audience’s a good time.

 

The final 20-minutes will certainly win back their attention, featuring a bruising series of fight scenes, including Japanese samurai swords and a mobile gatling gun, that highlights Hung’s direction at its finest.  The film not only pays homage to Hollywood westerns, but finds inspiration from classic musicals, choreographing the comedy and kung fu with equal measures of visual inventiveness. But this is one trip that just makes too many stops along the way, overstuffing the plot with more detours than it can handle.

 

Arrow Video’s two-disc limited-edition Blu-ray sports a new 2K restoration that blows the old Dragon Dynasty release out of the water and includes four (yes four!) versions of the film, the lengthiest being a “hybrid” edit that combines elements of all the Hong Kong and international cuts.  Extras are piled on too, like a trio of commentary tracks (even one from co-star Cynthia Rothrock), new and archival interviews, a fold-out poster and illustrated collector’s booklet.

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