Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985) User Reviews

Classic HK action/comedy, chock full of stars.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 22 June 2007]

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.

Sillier than the previous entry

[rutt13-1 · 6/10 · 20 June 2001]

Really silly stuff, goofier than usual, but fun nonetheless. Another of Jackie's "minor" movies, he's back in a smaller part, but he does get to scrap a bit with Richard Norton, who showed up later in "City Hunter" and "Mr. Nice Guy." The ending of course is really cool, and it's fun to see a young Michell Yeoh in a tiny, tiny part....

Those martial arts stars twinkled in 1980s all right

[AndreiPavlov · 7/10 · 17 October 2006]

Without martial arts sequences it would be 5 out of 10 at most on IMDb, no doubt. But the flick does have some amazing brawls as a tasty dish in different parts of the film.

The Chinese humour here may be called moronic but being that bad it does not spoil the movie. Suggest that one should watch this movie in Chinese with subtitles. Maybe being drunk will also help. The way that little fat "bugger" (as another character calls him) speaks is awesome. As if singing some idiotic childish song - quite a moving intonation. Lexically his speech is idiotic as well. The way Sammo looks in this movie also adds some crazy flavour: he is so baby-faced here and so hurtful at times (with his kicks, jumps, and all). Richard Norton is ridiculous as well with his "Excuse me" and trademark "Painful?" phrases together with childish face expressions, though he has a beard.

In a few words this movie is an orient extravaganza that is quite more enjoyable than anything "blockbusterish" of today's cinema.

The things that spoiled (a bit) the movie for me: voodoo doll topic (it gets too far), outtakes on the DVD (not funny, not cool - plain uninteresting and dull, thankfully these scenes are not in the movie), and little fighting (yes, really tough but little - would be happy with an additional 15 minutes brawl between everybody engaged in the production). The movie could be also shorter for the sake of insane pace - 70 minutes of this stupidity would be nice.

Almost forgot: 1) that Biao's jump at the factory is still in my mind's eye (he made the backward splits and kneed the opponent in the back grabbing him by the hair and thrusting forward through the glass - pure ecstasy); 2) the scene where one of those stupid old fellows is harassing his two friends with the fingers and finally slaps them with that helicopter move hitting the first friend up the chin and the other - upon the head (re-watched this dumb scene a number of times - still cannot believe my eyes while it looks so childish and phoney); 3) the music becomes to the movie perfectly - it resembles the one used in the old Soviet cinema for kids; 4) the moronic ending with the endless crowd of people coming out of the elevator makes me smile real wide.

A ridiculous 7 out of 10 - forget the manners and you'll love it, but do not re-watch it too often because it can make you stupider... Thanks for attention.

Great fighting,tedious comedy,a real mixed bag

[DrLenera · 22 May 2005]

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.

Twinkle Twinkle Lucky stars

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 20 January 2023]

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.

An action-comedy-suspense-allstarcast-packed movie!

[OllieSuave-007 · 7/10 · 6 January 2016]

The Five Lucky Stars, played by Sammo Hung, Richard Ng, Stanley Fung, Eric Tsang and Charlie Chin, return in this action-comedy sequel. Charlie Chin's character, Herb, makes a cameo appearance only and is replaced by his brother, Pagoda (Kiu Wai Miu). They get themselves involved in an illegal drug operation plot, where an informant is assassinated by the drug lord, and is instructed by Chief Insp. Barbara Woo (Sibelle Hu) to protect the informant's friend Yi-Ching (Rosamund Kwan) while she and her police team attempt to bring down the illegal operation.

The main plot is loosely tied together and the film contains various subplots that were quite silly - from the Lucky Stars' vacation in Thailand with a bunch of tour girls to Sandy's (Richard Ng) meeting with a witch doctor, and from cops Muscles (Jackie Chan) and Ricky (Yuen Biao) high intensity fight with a gang of arm dealers to the Lucky Stars' attempts to woo Yi-Ching. It gets quite annoying at times when the movie strays away from the main plot, but what made up for it is the huge all-star cast, its numerous martial arts action scenes, humorous one-liners and just class Hong Kong-style comedy.

I remember first watching some parts of this film when I was a kid and was pretty entertained by it. The appearances of the martial arts trio of Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and Andy Lau was neat stuff and, of course, it was cool seeing the Five Lucky Stars in a sequel again.

With such a large cast of characters, it's fun seeing how each contribute to the story. The film is not as entertaining as the original "Winners and Sinners" film, but it has more fun and action than the second film. Despite the loose plot, the filmmakers really packed a lot of stuff in this flick.

Grade B-

Yuen Biao's Legendary Kick Is In This

[coconutkungfu-30704 · 7/10 · 19 February 2020]

Lucky stars brand of humor mixed with some excellent action. The Pepsi factory battle is a highlight and features one of the coolest kicks in HK action cinema courtesy of the incredible Yuen Biao.

7 out of 10!

We need more Jackie and Yuen Biao.

[gridoon · 5/10 · 13 July 2004]

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 **.

A highly entertaining action comedy

[kurciasbezdalas · 10/10 · 25 October 2008]

Some people just don't understand this movie. It isn't about plot it's about jokes and martial arts. It's just fun to watch. The jokes are pretty simple but they still are funny, especially when you get to know the characters of this movie better. The fighting scenes were unbelievable. It's much better than in Hollywood movies. The warehouse fighting scene is one of the best fighting scenes I've ever seen. Many people think that the best films of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao is Wheels on Meals or Dragons Forever, but I like Lucky Stars series more. Althou some people may be disappointed because Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao appeared only in few scenes but that's OK to me because other actors did a great job to and there was no boring moments in this film. I gave it 10/10 and it's worth it because it's really fun to watch.

Terrible comedy with a couple of decent action scenes! 2/10

[leonblackwood · 2/10 · 19 December 2015]

Review: This movie was awful. There's loads of unnecessary comedy, which is really not funny but the action is fast, when it is taken seriously. I thought that the movie was going to be based around Jackie Chan and his crime squad but most of the scenes are with these 5 characters who seemed more like the Marx Brothers than action heroes. Anyway, the serious side of the movie is about a police informant who sends an important letter to his friend, which contains information about an illegal drug operation. When the informant gets brutally murdered by the druglords hit men, the cops put the informants friend in protect custody by making her stay with the 5 Lucky Stars, who I personally thought was a bunch of misfits who were completely useless. When the druglords find out about the mysterious letter that will damage there operation, they go on the hunt for the woman that the police are protecting but Muscles (Jackie Chan), and his elite squad, manage to stop them in there tracks by using there Kung Fu skills to take down the bad guys. The movie wouldn't have been that bad if that was the main story, because the epic battles with the bad guys, actually wasn't that bad but we're stuck with this badly written comedy scenes which became hard to watch after a while. I should have known what to expect, once I saw that Sammo Hung was in the directing chair because he's known for his comedic movies, which I really don't find that funny but I thought that I would give this movie a go because I'm close to finishing my Jackie Chan season. His acting wasn't bad in this film and the epic fight at the end was worth the wait but the rest of the movie was a waste of time. Disappointing!

Round-Up: This movie was directed by Sammo Hung, 63, who brought you the great Prodigal Son, Winners & Sinners, Project A, Wheels on Meals, Dragons Forever, Moon Warriors, the Evil Cult and Mr. Nice Guy. Personally, I'm not a fan of his movies because I don't really find his comedy that funny but he can fight and he does put together some epic action scenes. His haircut was really strange in this film, along with his weird costumes and he did seem to be making a fool out of himself in most of the scenes. With that aside, the elite police squad made this film slightly watchable but I still found the core of the movie quite poor. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/martial arts/comedies starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen, Michelle Yeoh, Richard Ng and Andy Lau. 2/10

Dodgy laughs, an ensemble cast, and plenty of fantastic action

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 23 November 2016]

This broadly humorous sequel to the cult hit MY LUCKY STARS is another film cast from the same mould: small scale comedy and laughs combine with hard-hitting action, the result is a roller-coaster of a film, slow in some spots and rip-roaring in others. The thing that really made me enjoy this film was the fun atmosphere, even more improved since the last instalment: the leads now seem really natural together (as they should, having starred in two ensemble films previously) and the comedy comes brisk and naturally. Plenty of the humour surrounds the boys' attempts to score with a pretty young woman, creating fires and fights in an attempt to grope and see her naked as many times as possible. Yes, it all sounds pretty low brow, but that's the point, and there's an innocence about the humour which makes it impossible to dislike.

Just about every cast member acquits themselves admirably in this production. The comedy stars shine through and the action heroes are quite wonderful. Comedy and action is mixed together in a successful, always moving, non-boring sequence. There are two main martial arts sequences, whilst the rest of the film involves incredible stunts (jumping from buildings and moving cars particularly), motorbike chases, shoot-outs, and just plain old-fashioned escapism (Jackie shooting the door off his car is a favourite moment). The warehouse attack, about halfway through, is a major tour-de-force for stars Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and a young Andy Lau. Each faces a weapon-wielding toughie in a warehouse setting; the resultant fights are fast and furious in the truest sense of the words.

The film is really a who's who of Asian talent: along with bit-parts from popular players like Kara Hui, Jason Pai Piao, Phillip Ko, and villain Dick Wei, we have fresh-faced soon-to-be-famous bits from Michelle Yeoh and Andy Lau amongst the more established turns of the three leads. Rosamund Kwan lends fiery support but the fun is in the villainous trio, comprising Fat Chung with hilarious eyebrows; imposing Japanese villain Yasuaki Kurata, and best of all the Australian martial arts master, Richard Norton. In one of his first roles, Norton is great as the shell-suit clad baddie, particularly when shooting people with a machine gun whilst hang-gliding through the air! He also gets some great dialogue, such as in the final fight scene: "Painful?". Norton's tongue-in-cheek turn makes for the best villain of the series and every scene with him is a winner.

Sammo Hung only really comes to light in the film's finale, a chase-cum-shoot-out-cum-mass-fight in a theatre and a restaurant. There's a great gag in which a girl pretends to be blind, then some blistering action from Hung and Chan. Hung is particularly good, wielding wooden tennis rackets and beating bad guys like the pro he is. Obviously these kind of films are an acquired taste, a mix of old-fashioned slapstick, sniggering schoolboy humour, and the kind of martial arts flavoured mayhem they can only make in Hong Kong. It's reall rather good.

Excellent action plus terrible comedy

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 5/10 · 9 July 2023]

The entire movie feels like you're constantly channel-surfing between a terrible comedy and a fantastic crime/action/martial arts movie. The difference between this movie at its worst and this movie at its best is unbelievable. I'd genuinely recommend fast-forwarding anything that's not an action scene, and watching all the action stuff if you're a fan of Jackie Chan and/or Sammo Hung. You might feel like you're missing something, if you watch Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars this way, but trust me... you're not.

It's been a while since I watched the first movie in this series, and I don't think I've seen any others... but my memory of the first was similar, in that the action was top-notch, and the comedy was pretty bad.

3rd Is A Charm!! Best In The Series!!

[jrat6200 · 26 February 2004]

Awwww Man!!! HK action is great!! Twinkle Twinkle My Lucky Stars (A.K.A. My Lucky Stars 2) surpasses the two previous installments, Winners And Sinners and the first My Lucky Stars. I admit though, the movie starts slow at first, but its WELL worth the watch. The warehouse fight scene was excellent!! A young Andy Lau has some good moves for a non-martial artist. Jackie and Yuen Biao are at their usual, taken baddies down with acrobatic aerial moves and kicks. The climax was also off the hook, with Richard Norton matching up against Sammo Hung. Some of the best choreography is shown in this movie. Once again, Jackie is not the limelight of this action flick. That is still great because everybody has a chance to get involved in this film.

One more thing... THE COMEDY, THE COMEDY!! Richard Ng and Eric Tsang return with the rest of the lucky stars to give the audience more of their comedic antics. Also, look out for more cameo appearances throughout the movie. Overall, a great comedy actioner from Hong Kong!!

My Final Judgement: 10/10

not the best

[Zargo · 8/10 · 7 July 2003]

Full of awful humour and irritating characters, 'The Target' (what I saw it as) isn't a highpoint in the career of Jackie Chan, Samo Hung, and Yuen Biao.

I have to wonder at how the 'lucky star' series that this is a part of managed to become so popular, going by 'The Target' and the other one I've seen ('my lucky stars')

Besides the couple of final battles, there are only two good scenes, one featuring Michelle Yeogh teaching Judo, and the other involving the main girl pretending she's blind to avoid being killed as a witness. jackie's only in a few scenes and is generally wasted. If you want to see Jackie, Samo, and Yuen Biao is a good movie, watch Dragons Forever, or Project A if you haven't already.

In terms of the martial art fights is concerned it gets an eight

[jordondave-28085 · 8/10 · 5 July 2023]

(1985) Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION/ COMEDY

Third "Lucky Star" film which is not as funny as "My Lucky Stars" and doesn't show Jackie performing as many stunts as his previous films since while doing another film, pulled a muscle or an injury which is why it was adapted that the bad guy succeeded in shooting Jackie on the shoulder. Jackie's presence is rather lacking compared to the previous films which he was shown only on the beginning and towards the end. The beginning showed a pretty good all out fight in a warehouse that includes Jackie, Yuen Baio and Andy Lau taking on a bunch of goons leading the way frequent martial art baddie Dick Wei. This film is more of a Sammo Hung movie than anything with a memorable fight with real life martial artist and bodyguard of Linda Ronstadt Richard Norton that involves tennis rackets.

Continuation of My Lucky Stars

[ebiros2 · 9 November 2011]

Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars is one of Sammo Hung's production featuring the three dragons - Sammo, Jackie, and Biao. It's the 3rd installation of his Lucky Stars series.

Muscles (Jackie Chan) and Ricky (Biao Yuen) are under cover HK cops. They are assigned to protect their colleague Barbara Woo (Sibelle Hu) who is also assigned to protect informant Yi-Ching. Barbara has also solicited the help of her five friends. Together they fend off the assassination attempt of the gangs who are trafficking drugs between Thailand and Hong Kong.

This movie stars almost the same cast as Winners and Sinners, and My Lucky Stars that was also produced by Sammo. The atmosphere of the story is almost identical too. They are so similar that it's hard to tell which movie is which at some point. The story goes nowhere until the last where there's massive amounts of hand to hand combat. This is also same as the Winners and Sinners, and My Lucky Stars. The story is made around the talents of these five stars (Six if you count Sibelle Hu), and isn't particularly fresh approach compared to other HK movies of that time.

This movie has the best cast. It's the earliest movie I've seen Andy Lau in. Other stars includes Yasuaki Kurata, Rosamund Kuan, and Michelle Yeoh to name a few.

Out of the three almost identical movies, this one is the best made, and most recommended for viewing.

A good good movie

[FinnishChanFan · 4 January 2004]

'Xia ri fu xing' is a very good ending to Lucky Stars trilogy (Winner & Sinners, My lucky stars, twinkle twinkle lucky stars). Jackie is not the main character. He only appears in fight scenes. But it doesnt matter. Samo and his friends are really entertaining if you like crazy hk humor. There are only three or four fight scenes in this movie but they are magnificent! It is a pleasure to watch Jackie and Yuen Biao beating up bad guy's. Young Andy Lau is Jackies assistant. Fight's are well cordinated and fast! Awesome!

Samo and his buddies are funny! Samo beats women assassins, Richard Ng tries voodoo on some girls and one of the female character's plays blind to not get shot as a murder witness! Really Funny! I recommend.

Action, stunts, comedy and women: one of the best Easters

[m.k.whatisthematrix · 6 June 2000]

"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".

Running time

[markojankovic-10958 · 19 February 2021]

It is a 94 minute movie, not 105 minute. Please correct it