After losing a high stakes ($700 million dollars) poker game to a US Gambling Queen, the Japanese enlist the help of a HK triad boss (Roy Chiao) whose future son-in-law (Lam Wai) may be the only person skilled enough to beat the American in a rematch. However, there are hidden motives behind the tournament which eventually results in a body count to rival a Schwarzenegger film.
The acting in King of Gambler is frequently pitched at such hysterical levels (Alex Man hams it up to the maximum here) and boasts a body count that is so over the top, you have to wonder whether the director had his tongue firmly in cheek while making the film. The seemingly endless number of identically attired goons in shades that line up like lemmings to get gunned down (in slo-mo) is unintentionally hilarious.
Still, the ever-reliable Lam Wai and Alex Man definitely work well together on-screen (they would team up again a year later to much better effect in the superior Heroic Brothers, 1991). And Kathy Chow, as Lam Wai's fiancée gives a quite a good performance here. Michiko Nishiwaki, on the other hand, is wasted in a cameo as the Japanese Gambling Queen.
The elegant surroundings and locations are all aesthetically pleasing and the build-up to the main poker game, and the match itself, are probably the film's strongest points. It's never boring but due to the execution it just all comes across as a bit dumb. If the director would have exercised a little more restraint in places, it would have certainly have resulted in a far more effective and credible film.
2.5 out of 5
Review source: Ocean Shores Video, Laserdisc (Hong Kong) (Cantonese language with English subtitles)
The acting in King of Gambler is frequently pitched at such hysterical levels (Alex Man hams it up to the maximum here) and boasts a body count that is so over the top, you have to wonder whether the director had his tongue firmly in cheek while making the film. The seemingly endless number of identically attired goons in shades that line up like lemmings to get gunned down (in slo-mo) is unintentionally hilarious.
Still, the ever-reliable Lam Wai and Alex Man definitely work well together on-screen (they would team up again a year later to much better effect in the superior Heroic Brothers, 1991). And Kathy Chow, as Lam Wai's fiancée gives a quite a good performance here. Michiko Nishiwaki, on the other hand, is wasted in a cameo as the Japanese Gambling Queen.
The elegant surroundings and locations are all aesthetically pleasing and the build-up to the main poker game, and the match itself, are probably the film's strongest points. It's never boring but due to the execution it just all comes across as a bit dumb. If the director would have exercised a little more restraint in places, it would have certainly have resulted in a far more effective and credible film.
2.5 out of 5
Review source: Ocean Shores Video, Laserdisc (Hong Kong) (Cantonese language with English subtitles)
