God of Gamblers Part III: Back to Shanghai (1991)

This film focuses on the disciple of the God of Gamblers, Chow Sing Cho, also known as the "Saint of Gamblers". A group of people with telekinetic powers matching his attack him and his ... See full summary »

Director:

Jing Wong

Writers:

Jing Wong, Jeffrey Lau (characters)

Stars:

Stephen Chow, Gong Li, Ray Lui

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Chow	...	Chow Sing Cho / 'The Saint of Gamblers' (as Sing-chi Chow)
Gong Li	...	Yu-San / Yu-Mong (as Lei Gung)
Ray Lui	...	Ding Lik (as Leung-wai Lui)
Man-Tat Ng	...	Uncle 'Blackie' Tat / Chow Tai-Fook (as Ng Man Tat)
Charles Heung	...	Ng Loong / 'God of Guns' (as Wa-keung Leung)
Sandra Kwan Yue Ng	...	Spring (as Kwan-yue Ng)
Wan-Si Wong	...	Japanese Officer
Man Cheung	...	Yee Mong
Barry Wong	...	H.K. Police Chief Wong (as Ping-yiu Wong)
Fong Lung	...	Wong Kam-Kwai
John Ching	...	Tai-Kun / Devil of Gamblers
Feng Tien	...	Mayor of Shanghai
Shun Lau	...	Eunuch Wei
Lung Chan	...	Tiger Lui
Indra Leech	...	The Prince of Gamblers

Storyline

This film focuses on the disciple of the God of Gamblers, Chow Sing Cho, also known as the "Saint of Gamblers". A group of people with telekinetic powers matching his attack him and his uncle, accidentally sending him to the year 1937, in Shanghai. This is a year crucial in Sing's family history, and he must use his powers play a part that has irrevocable effects on his present and future, while trying to find a way back to home, the year 1991.

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Plot Keywords:

second sino japanese war | time travel | world war two | sino japanese war | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The Ding Lik character first appeared as one of the main characters of the 1980 TVB mobster drama The Bund. It was in that series that Ray Lui originated the role of Ding Lik, which he reprised in this film. Notably, Chow Yun-Fat, the star of God of Gamblers (1989), was also one of the primary stars of The Bund, and his Bund character Hui Man Keung is mentioned in this film, although the character does not appear in the film because he is dead.

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Connections

Followed by The Return of the God of Gamblers (1994)

User Reviews

Laugh-out Loud Funny Movie

The plot is pretty standard fare: guy with power (our hero) and his uncle gets sent back in time to 1937 Shanghai (from 1991 Hong Kong) when a group of super-powered "gamblers" (I guess), decides to whack him for him beating one of them in a gambling boat (or something). I don't speak Chinese, so I had to rely on the subtitles, and most of the times the titles (being in white font) clashes with the video background, hence making reading it impossible, so I'm just summing up as best as possible.

But the real treat of GOG3 isn't the plot -- like all HK action fare, the plot is secondary to the stunts. Needless to say, our hero must find a way home, but along the way, gets in the middle of history. Standard Back to the Future stuff, except with Chinese gamblers with psychic powers instead of a sports car.

What's really good about GOG3 is the comedy. Unlike a lot of its HK supposed "comedy" flicks, this one is actually funny! I've seen a lot of HK movies, and they are usually two things -- too over the top or just too childish. The Chineses, it seems, have a weird sense of humor -- and most of the time I find their "comedies" to be forced and low-brow. Certainly GOG3 is pretty low brow at times, but it's darn funny and campy as heck. Even if you can't understand what they're saying (as I couldn't), the pratfalls and "mistaken identity" that is so prevalent (and unfunny) in many HK movies is actually FUNNY here!

Check this movie out for a good time. Too bad most HK movies aren't nearly this funny.

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English Mandarin French

Release Date:

21 August 1991 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Back to Shanghai

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,035,893

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samico Films Production Company Ltd., Win's Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1