''Fatal Bet'' is a 1989 Hong Kong action

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Jimmy Heung Jimmy Heung Wah-sing ( – 20 November 2014) was a Hong Kong film producer, director, and presenter. His older brother is film producer/presenter Charles Heung. Career Charles and Jimmy Heung were often hailed as two of Hong Kong's most successf ...

and Kin-Nam Cho (as Dick Tso). It belonged to the early part of the 1989-1996 period, a period when

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

-themed films were dominating the Hong Kong movie scene.

Plot

Soon after being released from a Hong Kong prison, professional gambler Crab and his friend Sam are summoned by a tycoon named Dragon to his casino in

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

to crack a

baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...

scam being run by the half-Chinese and half-Japanese Taro and his father Gubon, head of a powerful Japanese syndicate. There, Crab and Sam also meet Catherine Ashley, a rich heiress who is on vacation. Catherine and Sam also develop a relationship. After the three of them return to Hong Kong, Sam is being hunted down by Japanese gangsters who were sent by Kung to seek revenge. Fortunately, Sam is rescued by Crab. However, this leads to Crab severely injuring his left hand, which affects his gambling skills. Catherine introduces her father to Sam, who is arranged to work in his future father in-law's company. There, Sam also ruins the plan by Taro and Gubon to scheme money from his father-in-law, and Kung therefore hires more killers to kill Sam, and this time, he becomes injured and hospitalised. One day, Taro tells Crab that he wants to play against Sam. Crab instead offers to play against Taro himself for a bet of half a million dollars, but the police unexpectedly break in. Although they are not prosecuted because Taro's stake was thrown outside, it is revealed that most of Crab's stakes were counterfeit bills and Taro feels offended. Taro retaliates by kidnapping Catherine and challenges Crab to retrieve her. Crab leaves his girlfriend alone while he goes to confront Taro, during which time one of Taro's men comes and kills her. Crab fights with Taro's henchmen but is then challenged to a game by Gubon. In order to rescue Catherine, Crab is forced to pick between two glasses of wine, one of which contains poison. Gubon is convinced that Crab has made the right choice and lets them leave, but Crab succumbs to the poison after he and Catherine escape. Sam is determined to seek vengeance for his friend's death. Catherine lends him money to be able to gamble at a poker game run by Taro and Gubon. During the intermission of the final round of the poker game, Sam is shot by a hitman in the restroom. The injured Sam entrusts Catherine to take his place for the final bet. He tells her to bet their entire stake because Taro will not have a sufficient stake. Catherine bets all of her assets of $50 million, which Gubon cannot match, so she also requests the left arm and leg of Taro. Gubon agrees, but Catherine has to bet her hand as well to make the bet fair. In the end, Catherine wins with a straight flush. Taro does not want to cut off his arm and leg, so he shoots and kills his father and other audience members before being shot dead by both the Americans and Japanese. Catherine then goes to see Sam at the hospital where she overhears a conversation between Sam and the hitman who shot him. It is revealed that the attack in the bathroom was staged by Sam himself in order to have Taro agree to bet his arm and leg and ultimately have the Kungs kill each other, achieving his ultimate goal of seeking vengeance for Crab. Sam also says he does not intend to let Catherine know about this secret and instead, he would conceal it forever. After hearing this, Catherine removes her engagement ring, leaves it on the floor outside Sam's room, and leaves.

Cast

* Mark Arnold as Sam * Murray McRae as Crab * James Barnett as Meatball/Mr Burton * Ken Boyle as Don Frasanini *

Philip Chan Philip Chan may refer to: * Philip Chan (actor) Philip Chan Yan-kin (born 25 January 1945) is a Hong Kong actor, film director, producer, screenwriter and music composer of Taishan area origin. Career He worked as a Royal Hong Kong Police F ...

* Nancy Cser as Catherine Ashley *

Charles Heung Charles Heung Wah-keung ( zh, c=向華強) is a Hong Kong actor-turned-film producer and presenter. As founder of Win's Entertainment in the 1980s and China Star Entertainment Group in the 1990s, he has helped established the careers of vario ...

as Dragon *

Jack Holloway Edward James "Jack" Holloway (12 April 1875 – 3 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1929 to 1951, representing the Labor Party. He served as a government minister under James Scullin, ...

Eddy Ko Eddy Ko Hung (; born Ho Yiu-sum ; 1947) is a Hong Kong television and film actor who has worked on the TV stations RTV, ATV (both now defunct), and TVB. Most recently, he has made appearances in several international films including 2015's ''T ...

as Gold Teeth *

Lung Fong Jimmy Lung Fong (龍方) was a Hong Kong actor, film director, and action choreographer. Lung was best known to moviegoers for his frequent portrayal of villains in various Hong Kong films, most notably in films made by Wong Jing. Lung retired ...

as Taro *

Daniel Mintz Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

Kenzo Ogiwara is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *賢三, "wise, three" *健三, "healthy, three" *謙三, "humble, three" *健想, "healthy, concept" *建造, "bu ...

as Gubon *

Yasuhiro Shikamura Yasuhiro is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yasuhiro can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *康弘, "healthy, vast" *康広, "healthy, wide" *康寛, "healthy, generosity" ...

as Kwei *

Kirk Wong Kirk Wong (黃志強; born March 28, 1949) is a Hong Kong film director and actor. Wong is best known for action films '' Crime Story'' and ''The Big Hit''. Wong's other films like ''Health Warning'', ''Organized Crime & Triad Bureau'', and '' R ...

as Sergeant Telly

Production

''Fatal Bet'' is based on the same true story as Heung's film ''

Casino Raiders ''Casino Raiders'' is a 1989 Hong Kong action drama film written and directed by Jimmy Heung and Wong Jing and starring Andy Lau, Alan Tam, Idy Chan and Rosamund Kwan. It belonged to the early part of the 1989-1996 period, a period when gambli ...

'' and has virtually the same plot. Heung decided to use a budget of HK$8,750,000 to direct two versions of the story, one in Cantonese and one in English for international audiences. Many of the minor characters are played by the same actors, including extras.

Release

The film was launched a week before ''

'' in Hong Kong.

References

External links