Sylvia Chang Movies

Popular Hong Kong action filmmaker Ringo Lam (City on Fire and Replicant) reputedly directed this third of four official sequels to 1982's Aces Go Places only as a favor to star Karl Maka, and it shows. King Kong (Sam Hui) once again joins bald detective Albert Au (Maka) and his son Baldy Jr. as they fly to New Zealand to save Albert's wife (Sylvia Chang) from a gang of crooks who have kidnapped her. The crooks, led by Ronald Lacey in a send-up of his role in Raiders of the Lost Ark, are trying to get control of an experimental prism which they need for a machine which turns men into indestructible super-beings. The film is dark, violent, and not quite as funny as previous installments, and the goofy subtitles call Sylvia Chang's character "Sylvia" instead of "Nancy." Still, there is a good supporting cast of genre veterans like Sally Yeh, Kwan Tak-hing, and Cho Tat-wah to please Asian film buffs and Lam keeps the film moving at a speedy clip. The official series ended with the next installment, 1989's Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit, but was revived eight years later with a new cast in the subpar 97 Aces Go Places. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Shanghai Blues combines romantic comedy, slapstick, music, and several classic coincidences (a favorite ploy of director and writer Tsui Hark to tell the story of a man (Kenny Bee) and a female dancer (Sylvia Chang) who meet under a Shanghai bridge in 1937 as they seek shelter from the Japanese bombing of the city. They are immediately drawn to each other and make a pact to meet under the bridge again when the war has ended. But their plans are thwarted and ten years later, the man gets an apartment in Shanghai (where he works as a musician, songwriter, and clown) unaware that the dancer -- for whom he has been searching -- is his downstairs neighbor. Meanwhile, a young, bubbly woman makes friends with the dancer at the club where she performs and inadvertently causes a considerable mix-up that at first looks fated to keep the star-crossed lovers apart. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

After appearing in cameos in the first two Aces Go Places movies, it was only a matter of time before cult filmmaker Tsui Hark took a turn in the director's chair himself, and the result is a spectacularly silly send-up of the spy genre and one of the series' best installments. King Kong (Sam Hui) is kidnapped in Paris by a British agent called James (Jean Marchent) who wants to recover one of the stolen crown jewels, the Star of Fortune. For some reason, the jewel is hidden at the headquarters of the Hong Kong police, meaning that King Kong will have to steal the jewel without the knowledge of his best friend, bald detective Albert Au (Karl Maka). Albert and his wife, the fiery Superintendent Ho (Sylvia Chang), have a new baby in their house, but their tempestuous relationship produces as many fireworks as ever, with Albert ready to walk out and King Kong using the situation to his advantage by setting Albert up on a date so he can pull off the heist. Eventually, of course, King Kong realizes what the duplicitous James is up to and joins his friend in bringing the bad guys to justice. Peter Graves and Richard Kiel show up to add to the fun, and there are numerous jabs at various genre clichés to go alongside the series' usual blend of action, slapstick, and interpersonal conflict. Purists should note that the dubbed English version on Thorn-EMI is missing approximately 12 minutes and loses a great deal in the translation. The next installment, 1986's Aces Go Places IV, would be helmed by Ringo Lam. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Prolific Hong Kong director Lau Kar-wing helmed this first of four official sequels to the 1982 hit Aces Go Places (there was an abortive 1997 follow-up feature as well). An assassin called Filthy Harry is hired by a shady figure (clearly meant to represent Henry Kissinger) and charged with killing the series' unlikely pair of heroes, bald detective Albert Au (Karl Maka) and reformed criminal King Kong (Sam Hui). The film is quite lively, as Albert's relationship with the fiery Superintendent Ho (Sylvia Chang) has hit the skids. The men are framed twice for different robberies by King Kong's new girlfriend, nearly committed to a mental hospital by their devious boss, and forced to battle Filthy Harry's weaponry-laden robot while covered with time bombs. As in the previous film, action scenes are tempered with a great deal of broad slapstick, mostly centering on the heroes' combative interpersonal relationships. Viewers should be cautioned that one English-dubbed version in video circulation is missing nearly 15 minutes of footage from the 102-minute original. Eric Tsang, who directed the first film, co-stars with Raymond Wong, Billy Lau, and Tsui Hark, who appears in a cameo as an insane man who believes himself to be an FBI agent. Hark would direct the next sequel, Aces Go Places III: Our Man From Bond Street, in 1984. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Force Z is a crack Australian military corps during World War II. When a plane carrying a high-profile Japanese defector crash-lands somewhere in the South Pacific, it's up to Force Z to find it. Complicating matters is a traitor in the good guys' midst. John Philip Law heads the cast of Attack Force Z, but some video companies have bestowed top billing upon Mel Gibson, originally listed 3rd in the cast. The film also features an early leading peformance by Sam Neill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A hugely successful crime-comedy from Cinema City and director Eric Tsang, Aces Go Places set records at the box office and made a star of Sam Hui. Hui plays King Kong, a clever thief who steals a cache of diamonds from some gangsters, framing another thief called White Glove for the crime. That's when the bald detective Albert Au (Karl Maka), who has been chasing King Kong for quite some time, pairs with the volatile female Superintendent Ho (Sylvia Chang) to bring him to justice. King Kong ends up joining the good guys, with the requisite hostile patter firmly in evidence, to defeat White Glove and another bad guy dubbed Mad Max (Chen Sing), and recover the diamonds from the hiding place where they were left by King Kong's dead accomplice. The English version is missing ten minutes of the comedy which makes this movie special, and the fight scenes are nothing to write home about, but the original's mix of broad action and even broader slapstick made it a hit, spawning four sequels over the next seven years and a failed 1997 attempt at revival with a new cast. Dean Shek co-stars with Cho Tat-wah, Raymond Wong, and cult filmmaker Tsui Hark in a small role. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

It is the 1960s in Hong Kong, and a pair of friends who are nightclub performers are managing quite well until one of them falls in love with a female singer who happens to be the objective of a gangster's roving eye. The two recklessly get on the bad side of the mobster who has them so badly beaten up that the love-struck performer suffers brain damage, cured only by a trip to medical specialists in Malaysia. Once the two friends return to Hong Kong and a normal life, they meet and fall in love with two different women -- and everything seems to finally be going well until the old mobster and his cronies catch up with them again, intent on more mayhem. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide