Casino Raiders (1989)

It's not how you start...

Jimmy Heung and Wong Jing's Casino Raiders is proof of the adage that it's not how you start but how you finish. For most of the surprisingly lengthy (by Hong Kong standards) 125-minute running time it's business as usual as gamblers Andy Lau and Alan Tam pull scams when they're not exposing them for casinos and incurring the wrath of a family of Japanese gangsters before Tam marries rich girl Idy Chan and Lau, as is the way with all movie hustlers, gets a busted hand, a drink problem and Rosamund Chan (so not entirely a bad shuffle there). Working well enough within its limitations to qualify as slightly above average even if the larger than usual number of badly dubbed English-speaking actors does play havoc on your senses, it's when the stakes in the initially a bit dull multi-million dollar card game get raised from cash to body parts that it rises above the average, pulling a neat hand out of thin air to leave you feeling the whole film was a whole lot better than it really was. Watching it, it comes as no surprise that Wong's favourite films include The Cincinnati Kid and The Godfather, and the film's success in cashing in on the gambling mania in Asia not only led to an entire subgenre of Hong Kong gambling movies like the same team's God of Gamblers but a couple of in name only sequels.
December 28, 2007

Very nice Hongkong Casino Movie

10 years ago, I saw this movie for the first time. It was very impressive to me.. Unforgetable movie.. I pre-ordered this movie about 2 month before release, and waited eagerly. It's very nice 'Guy-movie'. The chinese title means "Royal straight flush" which is the highest cards in poker game. Andy Lau was the best Hongkong movie star like Chow Yun Fat. July 18, 2001

More reviews at Amazon.com ...