Shanghai Surprise (1986)

Absolutely brilliant

A Masterpiece!

The acting in this movie is really good.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Does absolutely no - one realizes this is an attempt to update Orson Welles film with his once gorgeous wife - Rita Hayworth. Brains anyone ?

OK, it's not a classic, not every movie is, but if you just want to see a tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy you could do worse.The music of George Harrison helps and I, for one, kinda' liked this unpretentious little movie.Not many movies were being made about China in 1986 and being set in 1938 during the Japanese occupation adds some historic appeal. The plot, although unbelievable, is not really predictable and some of the supporting characters are interesting to say the least.If you want to see a "great movie" then watch something else but if you like a fun movie with a few twists and turns then Shanghai Surprise might be just right.

I came across this movie at my local video store, and my Madonna-loving heart just had to buy it; it was only $3.15, and I was sure it couldn't have been as bad as everyone made it out to be.I was right. While it's in no way outstanding or excellent, and is, in fact, probably slightly bad (but more mediocre than anything), it's no way the worst movie ever made, or deserving of being on the Bottom 100, either.The only acting I found to be lacking was from Madonna, who seemed stiff in several scenes in the first half and rather annoying throughout the last half. I don't see where the hate against Sean Penn's performance is coming from - like in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", I was able to focus on the character and forget about the fact that I really dislike Sean Penn, so he must have done something right.The plot wasn't bad, either - a bit confusing in places, but otherwise decent. A lot of stuff that I found to be rather ridiculous in the beginning made more sense in the end (why missionaries would be looking for opium), and I didn't find Madonna the Missionary's unethical behavior to be that far-fetched or over-the-top.All in all, a decent, somewhat (unintentionally) campy movie recommended to fans of Madonna, Sean Penn, or both the Poison Penns. Otherwise, if it comes on TV, and you're bored with nothing else to do, consider giving it a try.

I'm not a fan of Penn or Madonna, but this movie is undoubtedly the most underrated film on IMDb. I can't believe that Shanghai Surprise user rating is only 2.6 and is on it's way to bottom 100.The story here is very good, Penn was okay and Madonna was not as bad as in other her films, so I rated it strong 6 out of 10, not an 0.1 less but not an 0.1 more. Perhaps it's not an excellent adventure, but still very entertaining, sometimes funny,and with beautiful cinematography as a bonus. Enjoy!