Winners & Sinners (1983)

AKA: 5 Lucky Stars

Literally: Strange Plan Brilliant Idea Five Lucky Stars

Director: Samo Hung Kam-Bo

Writer: Samo Hung Kam-Bo

Producer: Leonard Ho Koon-Cheung

Action Director: Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-Ying, Billy Chan Wui-Ngai

Cast: Samo Hung Kam-Bo, Jackie Chan (Sing Lung), Richard Ng Yiu-Hon, Ching Shung Lin, John Sham Kin-Fun, Stanley Fung Shui-Fan, James Tien Chun, Lam Ching-Ying

Running Time: 95/106 min.

Plot: They try to go straight. They really do. The five met in prison doing time for various misdeeds and became friends. They resolved to stay clean from then on. On their release, they form a cleaning company and settle down to earn an honest living. It isn't their fault that one of the buildings they are hired to clean is the headquarters of a ruthless gang of counterfeiters. It isn't their fault that the set of fake printing plates turns up in their van. And it isn't their fault that they get mixed up in a war over the plates between two rival gangs and just about every law enforcement organization in Hong Kong. But it sure is hard to explain.

Availability: This title is available at HKflix.com

NUMSKULL'S REVIEW: This is generally considered to be the first Lucky Stars film.

It isn't.

It's a blueprint; a not-quite-ripe-yet predecessor. Director/star Sammo Hung would later use many elements and cast members from this movie in "My Lucky Stars" and "Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars"...and some viewers will no doubt point to the name of the ex-cons' cleaning service, "Five Stars Cleaning", and shriek "I told you so, I told you so"...but Winners & Sinners does not fit into the true Lucky Stars continuity. The most obvious differences are the absence of Eric Tsang's character ("Roundhead") and the fact that Sammo's character ("Teapot") here meets the gung-ho cop played by Jackie Chan for the first time; in the other Lucky Stars films, they've known each other since childhood. Charlie Chin ("Vaseline") is still a womanizing jewel thief and Richard Ng ("Windpipe") is still nuttier than a Snickers bar, and Stanley Fung ("Ranks") is here too, but he's not the same as in the other films. By the way, these are the nicknames given on the Universe DVD; in other versions, they're a little different (Ranks = Rookie, Windpipe = Exhaust Pipe, etc.).

So, anyway. Our party of five (including "Curly", played by John Shum Kin-Fun, who appeared in a different capacity in Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars) get out of prison on the same day, crash at Curly's place, drool over his sister (Cherie Chung), and try to go legit. The plot, such as it is, mostly consists of a series of Sammo-ish comedic situations leading up to the protagonists' unwitting acquisition of a Triad leader's briefcase and the ensuing struggle over it. Outstanding among the bits of childish humor are an enormous vehicular pile-up and a scene in which Richard Ng believes himself to be invisible and struts around naked (although you can tell he's wearing shorts when he peeks at the chick in the bathtub). Action is sparse, but that's to be expected. Brief appearances are made by Mars, Lam Ching-Ying (R.I.P.), and Yuen Biao (who has a brief fight with Jackie; if this were a real Lucky Stars film, they probably would have recognized each other as cops, even if they weren't partners yet).

This isn't what I would call a great film, but the chemistry amongst the actors is certainly there, and it's a good sign of things to come in MLS and TTLS.

By the way...did I miss something, or did Sammo just immediately guess the briefcase combination?

NUMSKULL'S RATING: 6/10

SHAOL!NDRUNKMONK'S REVIEW: Sammo's first in a short series of successful films, Winners and Sinners has energy by the bucket-load, so much so that there was nothing left for the sequel! Anyways, whenever you put a group of convicts together in a Sammo film, good things are bound to happen...Watching the dubbed version adds to the off-beat energy, and the concept of a bunch of losers getting together and trying to go straight while total chaos erupts around them like Grandpa after a big meal adds to the comedy. This film doesn't take itself the least bit seriously, and you won't either. The purpose of the story itself is to tie the comedy scenes in with all the action into a concise and funny approximately 90 minutes of Jackie on roller-blades, Sammo fighting baddies in the fast-food joint, Sammo eating porkchops, and a gang of criminals hitting on the only female lead...Oh yeah, and Yuen Biao shows up to teach Jackie some manners as the whole group of convicts, cops, and cameo appearances cater to the short-attention-spanned kids in the audience and the action and humor crazed adults waiting for a good laugh and a painful stunt. You have to be in a certain mood to really enjoy this film...It's full of great stuff that you might miss the first time 'round. Winners and Sinners delivers. And that rhyme is the best thing I've come up with to describe this film.

SHAOL!NDRUNKMONK'S RATING: 10/10

THE GREAT HENDU'S REVIEW: When you've got characters named Teapot, Vaseline, Exhaust Pipe, Curly and Rookie, you know it must be a comedy. I certainly laughed a lot during this movie. It really cracked me up. Richard Ng was especially funny. His little scene about trying to be invisible was great. Having seen the other Lucky Stars movie first, I was a bit lost. Now I understand what is going on. The main stars are all sent to prison for different, individual crimes. They form a friendship while there and are all released on the same day. Jackie is a cop who knows Teapot (Sammo). Somehow, the group of newly released criminals get accidentally invloved with some counterfeit plates and the fun begins. Jackie and Sammo collaborate in a small fight scene in a restaurant that turns out to be pretty good, and Yuen Biao makes a cameo very quick fight scene with Jackie. Jackie has a cool rollerskate chase scene in the middle of the film which is classic J.C. and Sammo does a fine job fighting the bad guys at the end. Overall it's a decent film, but it's not a Jackie film. He only makes a few appearances. However, I am rating this film as a whole, not just on Jackie's part. It's definately worth the money.

THE GREAT HENDU'S RATING: 8.5/10

DJ NIXON'S REVIEW: This movie was OK,but it still needed more Jacki. What saved me was the comedy. I couldn't stop laughing - it was just SO funny. This movie had some action but not that much, the major let down on this movie was that the final fight - it didn't have Jackie in it! Sammo did most of the fighting, but when Jackie was on the screen it was always something good. Jackie did some great fighting in this one (but very little) and when he did, it was always the best part. Having seen My Lucky Stars (but not the third one), I have to say that I like My Lucky Stars was better because Jackie IS in the end fight and he seems to have a bigger role in My Lucky Stars than Winners and Sinners. I did like this one but I hate having Jackie share his screen time so much (although I love the three bothers movies). See this one only if you don't mind JC sharing his screen time and if you love tons of comedy.

DJ NIXON'S RATING: 7/10

JORDAN'S REVIEW: I recently rented Winners & Sinners from my local video store and it kicked ass!!!  I know Jackie didn't have much screen time and all, but the rest of the cast is talented and hilarious, and what Jackie did do was great! That rollerskating scene was superb, with Jackie skating over a volkswagon beetle then under a moving truck and all. I honestly didn't expect too much from this movie after reading some of the page's reviews (you guys are so critical!) and I was really impressed!

JORDAN'S RATING: 8/10

EZWALK'S REVIEW: The first of the Lucky Stars movies. The fights are cool and it's funny. Isn't that all you really want? Well I guess you might want more Jackie since he only has a recurring small part that really adds nothing to the movie. It's actually kind of funny how pointless some of it is. Such as Yuen Biao's cameo. It was a fight that added nothing but Yuen. Not that this is a bad thing but it sure is interesting. If you like hocky humor and want to see a bunch of cool fights and stunts go see this movie. It's definatly not brillant, but worth seeing.

EZWALK'S RATING: 7/10

ALOHO'S REVIEW: I'd like to give this a 0/10. It was a brainless stupid slapstick waste of time. However, There are some cool things. 1) The red cars - the tops come off. I want one. 2) Under the truck rollerskating stunt and 50 car pile up. 3) The "I'm invisible so I'm gonna walk around naked" scene. 4) This one is hard to explain. It's the scene at the main villian's house where one of the guys is about to take on two guys. Then another good guy comes with another opponent. And all this stuff happened. I blinked, so I missed a little.

ALOHO'S RATING: 4/10

AMANDA'S REVIEW: This is a very much like all the Lucy Stars Movies. Seems to have the same cast too. I found the story to be a bit lame, and on the level of 10 - 15 year old boys. For some reason Richard Ng's humor always annoys me. Maybe I just don't get it. The action is good when Jackie and Sammo get into it, but both have done better. Good for a couple of viewings, if only to see Jackie skate. Can you believe this won a Golden Horse?

AMANDA'S RATING: 4/10

EIRIAS' REVIEW: I don't think Jackie Chan's ever given a performance I enjoyed more. It lampoons his own image, (though it was made before that image was established). He plays his usual daredevil cop, but he's incompetent -- risking his neck to catch two thieves only to cause a 50 car pile-up, beating up innocents, and generally getting himself swiftly demoted through the ranks. His story barely intersects with the main one, concerning Sammo Hung, Richard Ng, and a whole slew of other character actors you've seen before (if you've watched enough of these movies), all of whom are good, and all of whom are funny. This comedy part, for once, is very funny, containing several elaborate set pieces, and leaves room for some real sweet character development of Sammo. Sammo's character knows kung-fu too, so when the plot appears, to everyone's surprise, he kicks everyone's ass until the cop's get their, and it's all great fun. Chan gets to fight Yuen Biao (in a cameo), and does the single most amazing stunt I've ever seen him do, involving a semi and some roller-skates, followed immediately by a bit with a mini-van. A lengthy set-piece featuring a naked man who thinks he's invisible goes in my book as one of the funniest of all time. The flaws that bothered me in other Sammo action/comedies don't bother me at all here, because this film hangs together, works as a whole, and doesn't belittle any of its characters, even as it makes fun of their quirks. At the end, it's rousing, and a triumph for the underdogs.

EIRIAS' RATING: 8/10

ANDREW'S REVIEW: And the oscar goes to...Richard Ng for his portrayal of an idiot who thinks he is invisible in a supporting role. No, this flick couldn't win too many awards, although it's slightly better than "My Lucky Stars". Jackie really didn't do much in this film. That would be OK with me if the movie was better, but his character was a moron too. Try taking Kevin Chan of the Police Story series and dividing his I.Q. by 3. Then give him the manners of a 2nd grade kid and the voice of a post pubescent chain smoker and you get the Jackie character of this film. It sounds like Eric Cartman did the voice of Jackie in this one. Don't get me wrong, there's decent fighting and a few good sight gags, but this film was just not what it could have been. Some things are truly amazing, like the massive car wreck (you can actually see people inside some of those cars when they crash) and Jackie kicking that stuntman out the window and over a retaining wall. That doesn't make up for poor acting in general and the plot discontinuity. Watch for Yuen Biao's cameo.

ANDREW'S RATING: 5.5/10

CLINT'S REVIEW: This film was not all what it could've been. Samo's awful editing in the fight scenes was devastating to my enjoyment of the film. There were two really great comedy scenes - when the lucky stars scare the bus driver and when the Sandy character fools Richard Ng into thinking he is invisible. Yuen Biao only makes a cameo, JC has his usual small role for the lucky stars flicks. Samo is the star of the film, but his fight scenes reeked. This film is a waste of time for JC lovers.

CLINT'S RATING: 4/10