''Hong Kong Godfather'' is a 1985

Hong Kong action film Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese culture, Chinese and Culture of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling an ...

written and directed by

Wang Lung-wei Wang Lung Wei () (born 1949), also known as Johnny Wang, is Hong Kong martial artist, actor, director, producer, and action choreographer, who has starred in over 80 kung fu films, mainly for Shaw Brothers Studios. Wang's first Shaw Brothers film ...

, who also served as

action director Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet pr ...

and appears in a supporting role, and starring

Bryan Leung Bryan Leung Kar-yan (Chinese: , born 20 January 1948) is a Hong Kong film and television actor and film director who has played roles in numerous acclaimed martial arts films. He is affectionately known as "Beardy" due to his trademark facial ...

Plot

Mad Wai (

) is a former triad member who has retired from the underworld to raise his daughter after his wife died. When rival triad Jiaxi Lan (Wong Chun), who led a gang in

Chinatown, Manhattan Manhattan's Chinatown () is a Neighborhoods in Manhattan, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy, Manhattan, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center to its ...

, decides to take over territories in East

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hu ...

belonging to Wai's former boss Han (

Shih Kien Shek Wing-cheung (1 January 1913 – 3 June 2009), better known by his stage name Shih Kien, Sek Kin, or Sek Gin or Shek Kin(), was a Hong Kong–based Chinese actor. Shih is best known for playing antagonists and villains in several early Hong ...

), Lan manipulates Han's cowardly underling Rotten Chi (Shum Wai) to betray and kill his boss. Upon hearing the death, Wai vows to seek vengeance for Han. At this time, Lan also kidnaps Wai's daughter. Wai, alongside his old friends Playboy Lung (Norman Chu) and Sergeant Lam (Richard Cheung), engage in a bloody battle against Lan to avenge their former boss and save Wai's beloved daughter.

Cast

as Mad Wai *

Norman Chui Norman Chui Siu-keung (; born 16 October 1950) is a Hong Kong actor. He was best known for portraying heroic protagonists in many martial arts films from the 1970s to 1980s and later portraying villainous roles in the 1990s. Chui was contracted wi ...

as Playboy Lung *Richard Cheung as Sergeant Lam *Shum Wai as Rotten Chi *Wong Chun as Jiaxi Lan *

as Boss Han *Kong Lung as Ting No. 3 *Joyce Tsui as Connie *Hon Lai-fan as Boss Han's relative *Fong Yue as Boss Han's wife *Chui Fat as Lan's hitman *Patrick Gamble as Lan's hitman *Wayne Archer as Lan's hitman *Paula Tocha as Lan's hitman *

as Lan's hitman *Pomson Shi as Lan's hitman *Ken Boyle as Police Commissioner *Yat Poon-chai as Officer *Luk Ying-hung as Officer *Fung King-man as Uncle Chin *Kam Tin-chue as Uncle Te *Huang Pa-ching as Uncle *Titus Ho as Chan Hao *Chui Kin-wah as Bus driver *Chan Ming-wai as Boss Han's thug *Lam Moon-wah as Han's bodyguard *Chung Wing as Han's bodyguard *Tang Chiu-yau as Han's bodyguard *Kong Lung as Han's bodyguard *Chang Sing-kwong as Han's bodyguard *Wong Chi-keung as Victim at casino *Chan Hung as Casino fighter *Cho Yuen-tat as Boss Han's man *Lee Yiu-king as Boss Han's man *Lee Fat-yuen as Security guard *Tong Pau-chung as Security guard *Yee Tin-hung as Security guard *Lung Ying as Security guard *Chan Kwok-keung as Security guard *Nai Tim-choi as Lan's thug *Stephen Chan as Lan's thug *Ho Wing-cheung as Lan's thug *Ting Tong-chi *Errol Chan *Lau Chi-ming as Security guard *Wong Wai-fai *Lam Fu-wai *Yiu Man-kei

Reception

Critical

''Hong Kong Godfather'' received generally positive reviews. Jean Lukitush of
Kung Fu Cinema
' rated the film three and half stars out of five and gave a positive review praising its brutal and realistic action scenes and the performance of the cast. Paul Taggart of
Far East Films
' rated the three out of five stars and writes "''Hong Kong Godfather'' keeps it straight and simple, offering bloody thrills with a cast and crew honed on kung fu movies smashing their way into the gangster arena." On the other hand, Roy Hrab of ''

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...

'' gave the film a mixed review and writes "Gratuitous nudity, extreme violence, plentiful bloodletting, cheesy sets, even cheesier fashion, discount special effects, and lousy acting; it's all on display in ''Hong Kong Godfather'', a Shaw Brothers production that makes for a fairly entertaining distraction."

Box office

The film grossed HK$3,213,478 at the Hong Kong box office during its theatrical run 27 October to 8 November 1985 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

References

External links

* *
Hong Kong Godfather
' at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual ( French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websi ...

*{{IMDb title, 0089293 1985 films 1985 action thriller films 1985 martial arts films 1985 crime drama films Hong Kong action thriller films Hong Kong martial arts films Triad films 1980s Cantonese-language films Shaw Brothers Studio films Films set in Hong Kong Films set in New York City Films shot in Hong Kong Hong Kong films about revenge 1980s Hong Kong films