Rich and Famous

Gong Woo Ching/Rich & Famous(1987) fills some requirements for the epic genre with scenes of grandeur and emotional dramatic content. The epic quality of this picture helps make it one of the top Hong Kong features of the late 1980s. Although not an epic in the usual sense because of its duration of 106 minutes, Rich & Famous(1987) still uses the epic form on a few aspects. The scenes move along on an epic pace. For a lowbudget movie, the film sure looks lavish.

Although Chow Yun Fat on the cover of the video is said to be the leading actor, he really isn't. One of the few co starring roles for Chow Yun Fat in his post A Better Tomorrow(1986) career. He giveas a very good performance as Li Ah Chai. Early in the picture Li Ah-Chai is an arrogant person but towards the end he becomes more humaine. Li Ah- Chai is the Hong Kong equivalent of Don Vito Corleone.

The main actors of the film are Andy Lau and Alex Man. The story of Rich & Famous(1987) revolves around two brothers who join an organize crime group in Hong Kong led by Li Ah-Chai. About how the two brothers evolve thoughout the feature and go their own separate paths. Andy Lau is cool as the honorable and loyal Kwok. Alex Man does an ok job as the overly ambitious and power hungry brother, Tang Kat Yung.

A Tale of Two Brothers is a more apprropriate title for this film. The personalities of Kwok and Yung are like water and fire in comparison to one another. At the beginning they have a close relationship but by the end they grow apart. Kwok is someone who would risks his life for people he cares for. Yung is someone who always gets himself and others into deep trouble.

Gong Woo Ching/Rich and Famous(1987) was part of a giant craze in the gangster genre for Hong Kong cinema. Rich and Famous(1987) and its sequel Tragic Hero(1987) are two of the top twenty five films of the Heroic Bloodshed sub genre. Some of the cast members had appeared in countless Heroic Bloodshed pictures. Overshadowed by the more flashier flicks of the popular sub genre in HK cinema. Only recently has this film begun to get noticed with the continued success of Chow Yun Fat in the cinema.

More of a dramatic piece than an action crime thriller. The action is spriinkled throughout Gong Woo Ching(1987) in small portions except in a couple of sequences. Its sequel, Tragic Hero(1987) is a more action and gun battle orientated motion picture. Gong Woo Ching(1987) should be watched with plenty of patience because there are more slow moments than fast. The dramatic content is what makes it into a Godfather inspired pic.

The big action scene comes in the middle of the flick. The moment when Chow Yun Fat comes out shooting with an Uzi in each hand does he remind viewers of his action antics in A Better Tomorrow(1986). This sequence is one of three highlight scenes for Rich & Famous(1987). Starts out slow and ends with a bang. Its not a flamboyant or flashy action scene like in some Heroic Bloodshed pictures.

The tragic hero of this story is Mak Ying Hung played by Alan Tam. This character is greatly misjudged by Li Ah-Chai in the first half. Mak Ying Hung is played with heart and pathos by Alan Tam. He proves himself to be a hero by sacrificing himself to save his friends. The two best acting performances goes to Alan Tam and Andy Lau.

The direction is average which prevents Rich & Famous(1987) from being a masterpiece. Weddings in Hong Kong films appears to be synonymous with death. Carina Lau gives a very good performance as the beautiful and strong willed Lau Po Yee. Danny Lee is memorable in his sterotypical role of the honest and relentless Policeman. Would have benefited from having more scenes with Danny Lee because his performance is really good.

One of a handful of very good and substancial films done by the prolific and average film maker, Taylor Wong. Its nice to see Shing Fui On in a non villainous role in a Hong Kong film for a change. An underrated motion picture it is does not mean its a great film. The flawed areas are overcomed by the good parts of the film. Gong Woo Ching/Rich & Famous(1987) features some low key and strong performances by most of the actors.

Although Chow Yun-fat is announced as the star of the movie, Andy Lau and Alex Man plays the two biggest parts as two brothers both working for Chow Yun-Fat but ends up as enemies. The movie doesn´t give as much action as one may have hoped, but there IS some great part of shoot-out in it. To sum it all up, it is an action-drama, with tremendous actors and a suprisingly well-written story. Any fans of Chow Yun-Fat or Andy Lau should like this as they both are excellent as their characters.

As a fan of Chow Yun-Fat and Hong Kong-movies I saw "Rich and Famous" yesterday, and I thought that it was pretty good. The movie wasn`t as good as "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled"(both 10/10), but then nothing is.

"Rich and Famous" had what I like about Hong Kong-films, namely cool characters and well-choreographed action, but it wouldn`t hurt this movie if it had more action.

A pretty good film, and Chow Yun-Fat is cool as always. 7,5/10

"Rich and Famous" is a film that is most definitely trying to emulate the classic Godfather films. The film focuses on both family, crime, loyalty, and revenge; themes Godfather explored to a greater, and better, degree. Also like the Godfather, this was a two-part series (at the time it was made, rather). However, this film comes nowhere near the level of those classic films and actually doesn't even rise above the status of average.

One reason is the acting. With the exception of Chow Yun Fat, who exudes a high level of charisma, the acting is generally over the top and unbelievable. The audience tends to find the proceedings humorous simply because the actors' inability to maintain any degree of seriousness. As a result, we find the film not truly emotionally involving or intense since we don't particularly care what occurs with these characters.

Another reason is the film's lack of focus. The narrative tries to incorporate many different story elements into the film, but this results in portions of the movie becoming underdeveloped as well as lacking any real sense of coherency. The audience sometimes becomes lost at the proceedings we are viewing, not knowing what are character's motivations are. We also get confused in which characters are whom since the narrative readily shifts focus between characters at a rapid rate.

The film's climax does contain a decent gun fight and is probably the highlight of the film. The movie tries to create an dramatic set piece with it taking place on grand steps of a church, but again since we don't care about the characters, we don't care about what happens; The scene loses it's intensity and suspense because of this. The other action set pieces are rather mundane in nature, with a feeling of it being too controlled rather than free flowing.

In general, this is a strictly average film and isn't recommended to the general film viewer... Only hard core genre enthusiasts and fans of Chow Yun Fat should consider this film for viewing.

Despite the negative reviews I really liked this one, I thought it did the job very nicely. Made at a time when the heroic bloodshed genre was just taking off and with Andy Lau and Chow Yun-Fat as the stars it's impossible to dislike it. The story starts off a little confusing but soon boils down into a tale of rivalry between gangsters, and the cast, which includes Danny Lee and the great Alex Man, is excellent. Plus the vibrant action sequences have a sadistic edge which appeals; the ending in particular is spectacular. A sequel, TRAGIC HERO, followed.