Millionaires Express (, also known as ''Shanghai Express''; released in the Philippines as ''China Warriors'') is a

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

Hong Kong martial arts 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 and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Ko ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by

Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreographer for ...

. The film stars Hung,

Yuen Biao Yuen Biao (born Ha Lingchun; 26 July 1957) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist and stuntman. He specialises in acrobatics and Chinese martial arts and has also worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and action choreographer. He was one ...

Rosamund Kwan Rosamund Kwan Chi Lam (born Kwan Kar Wai on 24 September 1962) is a Hong Kong former actress, best known for starring as the female lead "Thirteenth Aunt" in the 1990s ''Once Upon a Time in China'' film series. She had since retired from acti ...

, Mei-sheng Fan and

Hwang Jang-lee Hwang Jung-lee (Korean: 황정리; born December 21, 1944), known to many with the spelling of Hwang Jang-lee is a Japanese-born Korean martial artist and actor. Hwang is perhaps best known for his role as "Thunderleg" in 1978's ''Drunken Mast ...

Plot

Ching Fong-tin goes to Russia to steal goods from the Russian soldiers. Unfortunately he is caught and the soldiers make him strip his clothes down to his underwear. They force him to wear a brassiere and the head of a mop as a wig, and he is made to dance for their amusement. However, he makes his escape, grabbing his grenades as he goes, and throws one into the cabin. Fook Loi catches Ching and lectures him about his crimes. Ching tries to escape, but in the scuffle, he and Fook end up rolling into a snowball. In the final moments after they both got out of the snowball, Fook tries to look for Ching and is taken by surprise when he jumps down from a tree, grabs his clothes and rushes off back to his hometown. Bandits dressed in police uniforms set fire to a large building. Tsao Cheuk-kin and his fire team race to the scene and save a fat lady and a blind woman. While the fire rages, the bandits rob the town bank, but the manager manages to alert the townfolk before they can escape and two of the bandits are jailed. With the loss of money stolen by the bandits, Mayor Yi gives a negative speech. In contrast, Tsao encourages the townfolk and he is given the job of mayor and head of the town's security. Ching and his assistant move from a hotel to his home town, arriving with a car full of women. Ching's ambition is to get money into the town, so his hotel is cleaned up and redressed. A train is due to pass, carrying numerous passengers, including some criminals and some Japanese ninja. In order to bring custom to his hotel, Ching hatches a plan to force the train to stop at the town, by blowing up the tracks with dynamite. He heads towards the railway station on his motorcycle and sidecar, but is chased away by Tsao riding on horseback. Ching swings a tree branch, which knocks Tsao from his horse. Ching takes the horse and rides the rest of the way. As he prepares the dynamite, Ching is discovered, and ends up fighting with Tsao. After winning, Ching continues to wait for the train. As the train travels through the country, passenger Han sneaks back and forth on roof of the train between his fat wife and his beautiful mistress. The bandits from the town try to board the train. The first bandit, with his body covered in magnets inadvertently gets stuck to the train, whilst the second bandit using the rope to climb aboard. However, instead of

lasso A lasso ( or ), also called lariat, riata, or reata (all from Castilian, la reata 're-tied rope'), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish an ...

ing the train, his rope catches Han, who is forced to hang on for dear life, whilst the bandit runs alongside the train. The remaining bandits struggle with a cart, but finally manage to get on board. When the train reaches the station, Ching blows the dynamite, derailing the train. As Ching had planned, the passengers spend time in his home town awaiting the train's repair. In the hotel, the criminals devise a plan to get into the room housing Han's mistress, posing as Japanese tourists. Unfortunately they don't don't know the language, and are forced to hide when the train captain and his mistress enter the room. After the train captain goes into the bathroom, the bad guys try to sneak out quietly, but soon have to hide again. Han climbs down the hotel roof, inadvertently scaring the train captain's mistress. The commotion alerts his wife, who accuses him of cheating. To explain the situation, he claims that he is actually an agent spying on the Japanese, and the bad guys use this excuse to come out of hiding. When Ching asks Chi to distract Tsao she comes with all sorts of things most of them saying that she loves him. Tsao then tells Chi that he's busy and can't dream with her and leaves. Chi captures up with him and asks him not to go and Tsao swings his hat to the side and takes Chi into his hands and starts snogging her. Tsao then says something that makes Chi want to kiss him more. When Chi wants to kiss him more he signals his helpers to take his place and unfortunately Chi opens her eyes and runs away. Fook Loi returns from Russia and uses Tsao to capture Ching and put him into jail. At night, Siu-hon and her group of ladies free Ching and allow him to make up his mind. The rest of the bad guys arrive on horseback, storming the town and capturing the Japanese ninja. After Ching makes up his mind, he comes back to his hometown and free the bandits, plus Fook, Tsao and Siu-Hon. He decides to turf the bad guys out of town, beginning by using a chaingun, and later using martial arts. A huge fight breaks out, until the bad guys are dealt with and Ching and Tsao finally take back the map from the Japanese.

Cast

as Ching Fong-tin *

as Fire Chief Tsao Cheuk-kin *

as Chi *

Kenny Bee Chung Chun-to (born 23 February 1953), also known by his stage name Kenny Bee, is a Hong Kong singer, musician and actor. He is best known as the singer of the group the Wynners, and as a solo artist who has been active in the Hong Kong ente ...

as Fook Loi / Lai Fu *

Peter Chan Peter Ho-sun Chan (born 28 November 1962) is a film director and producer. Early life Chan was born in British Hong Kong to parents China. He and his family moved to Thailand when he was 12, where he grew up amongst the international Chine ...

as Firefighter / Security Officer * Olivia Cheng as Siu-hon * Chin Kar-lok as Firefighter / Security Officer * Chin Siu Ho as Siu Cheung * Emily Chu as Prostitute Employee Bo *

Chung Fat Chung Fat was born on (December 2nd, 1953) and is a native of Guangdong, He is also a Hong Kong film actor, choreographer, producer and director. He primarily stars in jiangshi fictions and martial art movies . Performing experience Chung Fat ...

as Mountain Bandit * Fan Mei Sheng as Mountain Bandit (as Mei-sheng Fan) * Hsiao Ho as Siu Hau *

as Yukio Fushiki *

Yasuaki Kurata is a Japanese martial artist and actor, best known for his work in Hong Kong action films. He holds dan ranks in Karate (7th degree), Judo (3rd degree), and Aikido (2nd degree). Biography Kurata was born and raised in Sakura-mura, Niihari Dis ...

as Ninja * Phillip Ko as Mountain Bandit * Lam Ching-ying as Security Officer / Bank Robber *

Billy Lau Billy Lau Nam Kwong (born 3 April 1954) is a Hong Kong film actor, director and writer. He is best known for playing the Police Captain in ''Mr. Vampire'' (1985) and went on to be cast in similar roles. He has appeared in many comedy and horro ...

as Train Captain *

Lau Kar-wing Lau Kar-wing (born 1944) is a Martial Artist, Hong Kong martial arts film director, action choreographer and actor. Background Born in the Xinhui District of Jiangmen in Guangdong, China, Lau Kar-wing was the fourth child of Lau Cham (), a mart ...

as Kang *

Mang Hoi Mang Hoi (born 1 May 1958) is an actor from Hong Kong. He won the Best Supporting Actor at the 5th Hong Kong Film Awards. Selected filmography *''The Price of Love (1970 film), The Price of Love'' (1970) *''Pursuit (1972 Hong Kong film), Pursuit' ...

as Security Officer / Convict / Bank Robber (as Randy Mang) * Richard Ng as Han *

Lydia Shum Lydia Shum Din-ha or Lydia Tin Ha Sum (; 21 July 1945 – 19 February 2008) was a Hong Kong comedian, MC, actress and singer. Known for her portly figure, signature dark rimmed glasses and bouffant hairstyle, she was affectionately known to pee ...

as Han's Wife * Richard Norton as Mountain Bandit * Yukari Ôshima as Female Ninja *

Cynthia Rothrock Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek origin: , , "from Mount Cynthus" on Delos island. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cynd ...

as Mountain Bandit * Shih Kien as Master Sek * James Tien as Yun Shiyu / Shi Yu *

Eric Tsang Eric Tsang Chi-wai (; born 14 April 1953) is a Hong Kong actor, film director, producer, and television host, best known for hosting the variety show '' Super Trio series'' on the Hong Kong television network TVB over 18 years. He currently hol ...

as Jook Bo *

Jimmy Wang Yu Jimmy Wang Yu (; born Wang Zheng Quan; 28 March 1943 – 5 April 2022) was a Hong Kong-Taiwanese martial artist, actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. Initially a contract player for Shaw Brothers, he rose to fame for his starring r ...

as Master

Wong Kei-ying Wong Kei-ying or Huang Qiying (c. 1815–1886) was a Chinese Hung Ga martial artist and physician of Cantonese ethnicity, who lived during the Qing dynasty. He was one of the Ten Tigers of Canton. He was best known for his use of the Tiger ...

Dick Wei Dick Wei (, born April 15, 1953) is a Taiwanese actor, director and writer who specializes in martial arts and action films. Early life and career A Hakka, he was born in the town of Pingtung in southern Taiwan and began studying martial art ...

as Mountain Bandit * Woo Fung as Mayor Yi *

Wu Ma Fung Wang-yuen (22 September 1942 – 4 February 2014), better known by his stage name Wu Ma, was a Hong Kong actor, director, producer and writer. Wu Ma made his screen debut in 1963, and with over 240 appearances to his name (plus 49 directoria ...

as Security Officer / Convict / Bank Robber * Bolo Yeung as Cotton Weaver *

Yuen Wah Yuen Wah (born Yung Kai-chi; 2 September 1952) is a Hong Kong action film actor, action choreographer, stuntman and martial artist who has appeared in over 160 films and over 20 television series. Early life Born Yung Kai-chi on 2 September 195 ...

as Security Officer / Convict * Johnny Wang as Train Robber * Cho Tat-wah as Shanghai Chief Inspector *

Teresa Ha Teresa Ha () (October 6, 1937 – August 5, 2019) was a former Chinese television and film actress from Hong Kong. Ha is credited with over 260 films. Career In 1956, Ha started her acting career in Hong Kong films. Ha first appeared in The Soul ...

as Cotton Weaver's Wife

Release

''Millionaires Express'' was released in Hong Kong on 30 January 1986. In the Philippines, the film was released as ''China Warriors'' by Asia Films on 2 August 1987, rated "G" by the

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board ( fil, Lupon sa Rebyu at Klasipikasyon ng Pelikula at Telebisyon; abbreviated as MTRCB) is a Philippine government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines that is respon ...

DVD releases

The film was initially released on DVD 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 Delta i ...

by Universe Laser (Region 0). It was re-released in 2006 by Joy Sales (Region 3). In the US it was released in 1999 by Tai Seng, under the title ''The Millionaires Express'' (with a leading "The"). It was re-released in 2007 by

Dragon Dynasty Dragon Dynasty is a joint venture started by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. The company was created on May 23, 2006 for the sole purpose of distributing East Asian films on DVD in the U.S., whose licenses are held by, or will be acqui ...

under the title ''Shanghai Express''. In the UK it was released in 2005 by

Hong Kong Legends Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007. Hong Kong Legends was initially part of Medusa Communications, who, along with Soulblade bought ...

Contender Entertainment Group Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

, under its original title.

References

External links

* *
The Millionaires Express at filmaffinity.com
{{Sammo Hung 1980s Western (genre) comedy films 1986 action films 1986 comedy films 1986 films 1986 martial arts films 1980s Cantonese-language films Films about bank robbery Films set on trains Films directed by Sammo Hung Golden Harvest films Hong Kong martial arts comedy films Hong Kong martial arts films Ninja films 1980s Hong Kong films