Tai-Pan (1986)
- Starring:
- Bryan Brown, Joan Chen, (more)
- Director(s):
- Daryl Duke
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
- Format(s):
- DVD
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Synopsis of Tai-Pan
Daryl Duke directed this epic adventure, based on James Clavell's best-selling novel, concerning the battle for control of the China trade in early 19th-century Hong Kong. The film takes place in 1842 on the China Coast, where the Chinese object to the British imperialist policy of buying opium from the Chinese and then selling it back to them at a higher price. As a result, British warships arrive to pound the recalcitrant Chinese into submission. The outcome of the assault is a treaty giving England the right to operate Hong Kong as a free-port. The problem is who will become the Tai-Pan, or British merchant ruler of Hong Kong? The battle lines for the position are drawn between two swashbucklers -- Dirk Struan (Bryan Brown), a skipping and jumping buccaneer, and Tyler Brock (John Stanton), a weaselly cheat. Brock makes the first move by forcing Straun into bankruptcy, but, thanks to the help of the local prostitute May-May (Joan Chen), who has a score to settle with Brock, Straun is able to raise the money at the last minute. This enrages Brock, who remains bitter through the years and finally confronts Straun in a climactic sword fight. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 127 mins
Complete Cast of Tai-Pan
- Bryan Brown - Dirk Struan/Tai-Pan
- John Stanton - Tyler Brock
- Bill Leadbitter - Gorth Brock
- Kyra Sedgwick - Tess Brock
- John Bennett - Orlov
- Tim Guince - Culum
- Bob Appleby - British Merchant
- Vic Armstrong - Drunken Sailor
- Patrick Ryecart - Capt. Glessing
- Bert Remsen - Tillman
- Chen Kuan-Tai - Wung
- Charles Woods - British Merchant
- Job Stewart - Dr. Gonzalez
- Siu Kam - Executioner
- Leslie Peterkin - Piper
- Chuang Cheng - Jin Qua
- Kwang Pan - Kwang Kuo
- Billy Horrigan - Brock's Crew
- Carol Gillies - Mrs. Brock
- Dickey Beer - Brock's Crew
- Chen Shu - Chen Sheng
- Richard Foo - Lin Din
- Rosemarie Dunham - Mrs. Fotheringill
- Joan Chen - May-May
- Tim Guinee - Culum Struan
- Russell Wong - Gordon Chen
- Janine Turner - Shevaun Tillman
- Derrick Branche - Vargas
- Barbara Keogh - Mrs. Quance
- Jovita Adrineda - Servant Girl
- Patty Toy - Poxed Whore
- Norman Rodway - Aristotle Quance
- Lisa Lu - Ah Gip
- Zhang Jie - Liln
- Mac Wheater - British Merchant
- Rob Spendlove - Nagrek
- Ian Sheridan - British Merchant
- Bronco McLoughlin - Brock's Crew
- Joycelyne Lew - Beaten Whore
- Denise Kellogg - Nude Model
- Pat Gorman - British Merchant
- Chan Lub Bun - Elderly Chinese Woman
- Michael Gwynne - Cooper
- Robert Easton - Zergeyev
- Nicholas Gecks - Horatio
- Katy Behean - Mary Sinclair
- Director(s):
- Daryl Duke
- Writer(s):
- Stanley Mann, John Briley, Larry Yust
- Producer(s):
- Raffaella de Laurentiis
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Adult Situations, Not For Children, Violence, Nudity)
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