''Amang Hustler'' is a 1987 Filipino

action crime Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

film written and directed by Mike Relon Makiling and starring

Rhene Imperial Renato Chua (born February 15, 1950) better known as Rhene Imperial, a former action star, former producer and currently born-again Christian minister in the Philippines. Career Imperial starred in ''Boy Singkit'' (1980) with Tony Ferrer and Car ...

in the title role of George "Amang" King, alongside

Ramon Zamora Ramon Artiaga Zamora (June 27, 1935 – August 26, 2007) was a Filipino film actor best known for his leading roles in local martial arts films and action movies of the 1970s. He was popularly dubbed as the "Bruce Lee of the Philippines". ...

, Philip Gamboa,

Melissa Mendez Melissa Mendez (; born July 27, 1964) is a Filipina film and TV actress. Mendez was nominated for a Best Actress FAMAS Award for the film ''Kalakal'' (2008). Mendez produced an independent movie, ''Hilot'' (2009) with Empress Schuck. It was dir ...

, Robert Lee, and

Anita Linda Alice Bueñaflor Lake (November 23, 1924 – June 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Anita Linda, was a Filipino film actress. A romantic lead in her youth, she later gained critical acclaim for her portrayals in maternal or elderly r ...

. Set in

Binondo Binondo () is a district in Manila and is referred to as the city's Chinatown. Its influence extends beyond to the places of Quiapo, Santa Cruz, San Nicolas and Tondo. It is the oldest Chinatown in the world, established in 1594 by the ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

, the film is about Amang, a Chinese mestizo who is jailed for a crime he did not commit, only to be lead into a life of crime after his release and become the new kingpin of a

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

syndicate. The film was released on March 6, 1987. Critic Justino Dormiendo of the ''

Manila Standard The ''Manila Standard'' is a broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines. , it is owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through incumbent speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner of tabloid p ...

'' gave the film a negative review, criticizing the film's exploitative violence and poor characterizations of

Chinese Filipino Chinese Filipinos; tl, Tsinoy, / Tsinong Pilipino, ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Philippine Hokkien , Mandarin Chinese in the Philippines, Mandarin (also known as Filipino Chinese in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent, mo ...

Cast

as George "Amang" King *

* Philip Gamboa *

as Amang's fiancee *Robert Lee *

as Amang's mother

Release

''Amang Hustler'' was released in theaters on March 6, 1987.

Critical response

Justino Dormiendo, writing for the ''

'', gave the film a negative review, disparaging the "senselessness and meaninglessness" of the violence in its action scenes. He stated that "Here, he violenceis used for sheer exploitation, unsparingly, reveling in bloodshed after bloodshed, until the whole movie crumbles in the pool of its gore." Dormiendo also criticized the film's poor characterization of its

characters with their lack of cultural nuances, as well as the lack of policemen in the story other than Philip Gamboa's character, all of which results in an unconvincing film.

References

1987 films 1980s crime action films 1987 action films Filipino-language films Films set in Manila Philippine action films Philippine crime action films Films directed by Mike Relon Makiling {{Philippines-film-stub