Xia ri fu xing

Despite an outstanding cast and some brilliant fight scenes, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, (the third in the 'Lucky Stars' series after Winners and Sinners and My Lucky Stars) can be a struggle to sit through at times, due to its heavy dose of poor slapstick humour and a rather incomprehensible plot (which is too daft to go into at length). However, if you can make it past the puerile comedy (face pulling, 3 Stooges-style routines, and endless attempts by the 'heroes' at ogling or fondling young women) and turn a blind eye to the forgettable story (cops v bad guys), there is plenty of other stuff to enjoy about this manic 80s Hong Kong classic.

Featuring martial arts superstars Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Baio and Andy Lau, Twinkle Twinkle's action scenes are amongst the best you'll see on film. An early fight, between good guys Chan, Baio and Lau, and a warehouse full of gangsters, showcases each star's incredible moves, with Baio in particular impressing with some mighty fine acrobatic kicks. Sammo Hung also gets to shine in a fantastic showdown against both an Aussie bad-guy (the formidable Richard Norton) and a sai wielding Japanese killer.

And even when the action lulled, and the 'comedy' was in full swing, the movie kept my attention thanks to the presence of several rather lovely ladies: pretty Sibelle Hu returns as Barbara Woo; the gorgeous Rosamund Kwan stars as lady-in-peril (and object of lust for the guys) Chi-Chi Wang; and even Michelle Yeoh pops up as a sexy Karate instructor.

Although not the best Hong Kong actioner of the 80s by a long shot (Sammo Hung's Eastern Condors gets my vote for that accolade), Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars is still, on the whole, very entertaining and well worth giving a go.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

"Xia ri fu xing" was the first movie by Sammo Hung, and I loved it. The stunts and the action is great and the story isn't stupid. The decrees are fun. Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and the rest of the actors played super. You don't see very much blood, but they hit and kick and hit and kick...

This movie shows, that you can film super stunts, without special-effects, like in "The Matrix".

The third Lucky Star film is both the best and the worst. First of all,it has some absolutely superb action,including Jackie Chan,Yuen Biao and Andy Lau taking on loads of villains in a warehouse,Chan chasing and battling Richard Norton down some streets and Samo Hung battling a dagger wielding Japanese villain with tennis rackets. Hung's fight choreography is at it's best here,really pushing himself and his other stars to the limits.

Unfortunately this is the least funny of the films. Most of the time it just replays gags from the previous two films,and the 'five horny guys in the same house as a woman' schtick seems even more like sexual harassment and goes on for ever. The plot,although not really that important,was obviously cobbled together in a rush and makes no sense at all. Chan has slightly more footage than in the other two films but due to an injury done on another film he was shooting at the same time doesn';t feature much in the final action.

These Lucky Stars films are really odd. When they are good,as in most of the action,they are excellent. When they are bad,as in a great deal of the comedy which simply doesn't travel well,they really drag and one is tempted to just fast forward to the next fight scene. At least this one has a great cameo from Michelle Yeoh as a fight instructor and what seems like half of the Hong Kong stars of the time coming out of a lift at the end.

After one of his informers is murdered by a Thai gang boss, lawman Muscles (Jackie Chan) calls in his former orphanage pals, 'The Lucky Stars', to go undercover and infiltrate the boss's underworld establishment. The unorthodox Kidstuff (Sammo Hung) and Ricky (Yuen Biao) soon prove their worth, and are ultimately joined by Muscles for an explosive martial arts finale.

Jackie Chan and Yuen Baio are sidelined this time, making room for more buffoonery from the Lucky Stars, who, as usual, are lusting over women - Rosamund Kwan is the main centre of their attention - and it's funny to a point, but eventually it can get tedious and the line between humour and perviness is blurred, especially with the buffoons trying to cop a feel and leer. Having said that, it's entertaining film, and the fights scenes standout with some lethal foes. The use of badminton against swords is an inspiring idea. Richard Norton is one tough dude. Not as good as My Lucky Stars, but still a good one.

The script is totally incoherent (something about a letter that could expose a criminal organization... don't even bother to think about it), and most of the comedy is lame, but the action is fast and exhilarating. Jackie has a small part and barely any dialogue in this one; I also would have liked to see more of the gifted Yuen Biao, who has a way of making even the most amazing stunts seem effortless. Sammo Hung gets the lion's share of the fighting, and at the end he is pitted against Richard Norton, one of the most worthy villains of Jackie Chan movies. I give "Twinkle" * for the comedy and *** for the action, so the average is **.