All for the Winner (1990)

Pretty Good

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

It is a first film starred with Stephen Chow as the main character on this gambling epic. He was a "nobody" who came from mainland China to Hongkong, in searching of better life. While his potential was discovered by his gamble addicted uncle, which is supernatural ability to exchange any card at any time. Through this journey, he met the girl he always dream of, and the fame he always wanted. Finally, he was forced to enter a tournament to face the best of the best. His comedian skill led the audiences enjoy the movie from the beginning til the end. As most story goes, he won the tournament, and won the girl he loves. Stephen Chow makes high ranking on this movie in Hong Kong's box office in 1990. Chow showed his superstar talent at this early stage; you can get by thanks to his hilarious delivery and winning physical comedy. The chemistry between Chow and Ng Man-Tat is evident even at this early stage in their partnership. A fun film.Thanks to his performance as a God of Gamblers wannabe, Stephen Chow became the biggest box office draw of the nineties. Watching Stephen Chow's film is a kind of enjoyment,he offen act as a ordinary guy bue and last he save the world ,what's more ,he becomes a hero,I love Stephen

Stephen Chow stars as a young man who goes to visit his uncle (played by Ng Man Tat of course). When his uncle finds out he has a supernatural power that allows him to see through objects, he gets Chow to become a gambler. Things don't start off so great for Chow, but he finally puts his special power to use when a certain woman is around. When the King of Gamblers finds out Chow will be in the World Gambling Tournament, he has his gang take Chow out. After his lady friend is kidnapped, he may not be able to participate in the finals of the tournament.The comedy is very funny and not many jokes fall flat. In one scene Chow makes his first entrance as the Saint of Gamblers and walks into the room in slow motion. I probably shouldn't try to describe it, but it's a must see moment and had me crying with laughter. There are plenty of other great parts like when Chow tries to do some fancy shuffling and sends all the cards flying into a guy's face. Paul Chun does a good job as the King of Gamblers and the whole cast is enjoyable. Jeffrey Lau is one of my favorite Hong Kong directors and he really makes the gambling scenes fun. You never know what kind of movie you will get from him, but they are usually good. I have seen every Stephen Chow movie except his TVB work, and this is one of my favorites. It's a brilliant showcase of his comic genius.The fight scenes are not long, but still really good. Corey Yuen's choreography is as masterful as it gets. Chow is not one of the better action stars, but he can can get the job done. With Corey Yuen helping him out, expect the action to be top notch. There are 4 fights, and the one shootout scene is very exciting. Like most Chow movies from 1990-1996, Cheung Man plays his love interest, and thanks to Corey Yuen, she isn't just eye candy but also gets to show off her athletic skills. 'Last Hero of China', 'Fist of Fury 91' and 'Sword Stained With Royal Blood' are the only movies I have seen where she looks this good.

All for the Winner, a parody of the Chow Yun Fat movie God of Gamblers, was a huge hit in Asia, further cementing Stephen Chow's reputation as a sure-fire box-office success. Personally, I found the film rather tedious; Chow may have had them rolling in the aisles in Hong Kong, but I watched rather stony-faced, only really enjoying the occasional fight scene or high-octane shoot-out (courtesy of action director, Corey Yuen).Chow plays Sing, a young man from the mainland, who travels to Hong Kong to stay with his uncle Tat (Man Tat Ng). When Tat discovers that Sing possesses supernatural powers, he tries to exploit them by taking him gambling. But Sing's success at the tables attracts the attention of two rival gamblers/gangsters, both of whom wish to take advantage of his mysterious talents…I'm guessing that a lot of the movie's comedy was lost in translation (some particularly dodgy subtitles didn't help), since I didn't find it very funny; add to that my general indifference to the gambler genre and I suppose I wasn't destined to love this film as much as I had some of Chow's other offerings (King of Comedy is my favourite so far).Corey Yuen's deft handling of the action sequences make the film a not entirely worthless viewing experience, but there just aren't enough of them. A few more high-kicking bullet-spraying scenes and I'd have been a much happier bunny.After the worldwide success of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, Chow is at last receiving global recognition and I hope that future projects will be as accessible to an international audience as these were. It would be a shame to see Chow losing fans around the world due to his sometimes more baffling and distinctly Chinese 'humour'.

A parody of movies like "God of Gamblers", Chow plays a young mainland Chinese who comes to visit his uncle in Hong Kong. His uncle discovers that Chow has certain talents and takes advantage of them by using them to win at gambling. Eventually, Chow's character ends up involved with shady characters, falling in love, and competing in a world championship card game. Over-all, not as good as "God of Cookery", but a good solid Stephen Chow film.