Review- King of Beggars
11-04-01, 05:17 PM
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Review- King of Beggars
Distributor: Mega Star
Director: Gordon Chan
Cast: Stephen Chow, Cheung Man (credited as Sharla Cheung), Ng Man-Tat
Overall score: 7/10
Think of this as a period film mixed with a comedy film.
Stepen Chow plays Chan (Tsan), the illiterate son in a wealthy family. He enters a martial arts tournament to impress a girl he wants to marry. He loses the tournament because it was discovered he cheated on the written testing portion of the tournament. (Remember, he is illiterate). His family is forced to give up all their properties. Tsan and his father are sentenced to become beggars for the rest of their lives. He joins up with the Society of Beggars, eventually becoming their leader. Tsan and his army of beggars end up saving the life of the emperor. Happy ending.
Full of the usual Chow humor, the movie doesn't drag a bit. The fight scenes are reminiscent of older kung fu flicks in style, but these are all overdone on the heroic strength/abilities. Humorous, but not too silly for the most part. 'Booger-girl' makes an appearance too.
Quality: Well, it was made in 1992. I don't know whether to expect more or not. There was speckling present, not enough to be distracting, but noticeable when they showed shots of sky. Colors were strong for the most part, only a few spots where the colors were a bit muted.
Supplements-
-Theatrical Trailer for King of Beggars
-Synopsis of the movie with some cast info (in English too)
-Other Trailers for: Beast Cops, G4-Option Zero, & First Option (all subtitled)
If you like Stephen Chow or Ng Man-Tat, get this movie. To me it is on the same level with God of Cookery. Parts of this movie had me cracking up. It now goes on my shelf in between Shaolin Soccer and God of Cookery.
What other Chow movies should I get?
cheers,
Gabe
Director: Gordon Chan
Cast: Stephen Chow, Cheung Man (credited as Sharla Cheung), Ng Man-Tat
Overall score: 7/10
Think of this as a period film mixed with a comedy film.
Stepen Chow plays Chan (Tsan), the illiterate son in a wealthy family. He enters a martial arts tournament to impress a girl he wants to marry. He loses the tournament because it was discovered he cheated on the written testing portion of the tournament. (Remember, he is illiterate). His family is forced to give up all their properties. Tsan and his father are sentenced to become beggars for the rest of their lives. He joins up with the Society of Beggars, eventually becoming their leader. Tsan and his army of beggars end up saving the life of the emperor. Happy ending.
Full of the usual Chow humor, the movie doesn't drag a bit. The fight scenes are reminiscent of older kung fu flicks in style, but these are all overdone on the heroic strength/abilities. Humorous, but not too silly for the most part. 'Booger-girl' makes an appearance too.
Quality: Well, it was made in 1992. I don't know whether to expect more or not. There was speckling present, not enough to be distracting, but noticeable when they showed shots of sky. Colors were strong for the most part, only a few spots where the colors were a bit muted.
Supplements-
-Theatrical Trailer for King of Beggars
-Synopsis of the movie with some cast info (in English too)
-Other Trailers for: Beast Cops, G4-Option Zero, & First Option (all subtitled)
If you like Stephen Chow or Ng Man-Tat, get this movie. To me it is on the same level with God of Cookery. Parts of this movie had me cracking up.
It now goes on my shelf in between Shaolin Soccer and God of Cookery.What other Chow movies should I get?
cheers,
Gabe
11-04-01, 06:31 PM
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King Of Beggars is still my sentimental Chow favourite. Though Norman Chu almost steals the flick as the badass, Chow is at his wry best here. 
Anyway, I'd definitely recommend From Beijing With Love if you haven't already seen it. Stephen Chow is brilliant as always, and if you're a James Bond fan you'll be left in stitches!
Cheers,
-matt
Anyway, I'd definitely recommend From Beijing With Love if you haven't already seen it. Stephen Chow is brilliant as always, and if you're a James Bond fan you'll be left in stitches!
Cheers,
-matt
11-04-01, 08:18 PM
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I personally liked King of Comedy, Tricky Master, Forbidden City Cop, Chinese Odyssey 1 and 2, Royal Tramp 1 and 2, Justice My Foot, and I even liked Lawyer Lawyer.
11-04-01, 11:50 PM
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Apart from the others named already I think two of his best are Fight Back to School 1 and 2. Number three had some pretty funny scenes in it, but I think it really suffered for not having Ng Man-Tat in it.
11-05-01, 12:19 AM
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Gabe,
if you like Stephen's period films such as King of Beggars, you'll also like Justice My Foot and Royal Tramp I/II. Hail the Judge is pretty good as well. I personally didn't care for Mad Monk and you probably wouldn't be able to find acceptable DVD of this movie anyhow.
I guess I would also consider the two Chinese Odyssey films to be period films as well, so I would also recommend these movies (not necessarily the DVD though).
if you like Stephen's period films such as King of Beggars, you'll also like Justice My Foot and Royal Tramp I/II. Hail the Judge is pretty good as well. I personally didn't care for Mad Monk and you probably wouldn't be able to find acceptable DVD of this movie anyhow.
I guess I would also consider the two Chinese Odyssey films to be period films as well, so I would also recommend these movies (not necessarily the DVD though).
11-05-01, 10:50 AM
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I'd agree with all these recommendations, except for Mad Monk (I haven't seen it yet, so can't comment). Especially since most of them are about $5.5 US.
From Beijing With Love - For some reason, the 'magic box' scene really, really cracked me up, even though it's such a short scene. But if you watch the ending credits, you'll see some extended footage that they cut out.
From Beijing With Love - For some reason, the 'magic box' scene really, really cracked me up, even though it's such a short scene. But if you watch the ending credits, you'll see some extended footage that they cut out.
