Classic Comedy in Sammo Hung's Lucky Stars Collection

Continuing their tradition of classic and varied acquisitions, and their finger firmly on the pulse for kung fu cinema, Eureka Entertainment has unleashed The Lucky Stars 3 film collection, featuring the Sammo Hung-written, directed by and starring vehicles, Winners and Sinners, My Lucky Stars and Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars. The movies are well-known for featuring Sammo’s “kung fu brothers” and longtime collaborators, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. Since these particular roles would often amount to supporting parts or cameos, maybe Sammo saw an opportunity to recruit his friends and bankable co-stars for a comedy-led project, or maybe he wanted trusted collaborators along for the ride, either way, there’s a lot of fun to be had. Most crucially, the Lucky Stars films shine light on a loveable comedy ensemble including Eric Tsang, Richard Ng, John Sham and more, who provide the majority of the laughs.

These films fall into an interesting period during 1980’s Hong Kong cinema and even the careers of its stars. When I first saw these at an early age, progressively exploring the output from (namely at first) Sammo and Jackie, these movies were a great find. Admittedly not in the same mould as Wheels on Meals, Police Story or even the enormously underrated action-drama, Heart of the Dragon, these are comedies first and foremost, showing a sillier side of Sammo Hung’s storytelling and imagination, and his obvious love and knack for comedy. Whereas most of his and Jackie’s work would pit the protagonists in serious situations played straight, and slapstick thrown into the action for comic relief, the Lucky Stars films are pretty consistent comedy, played lighter, and with climactic fight scenes often anchoring the predicament at hand.

But let’s not over intellectualise this, since the Lucky Stars don’t set out to do thought provoking comedy, and we’re here for quintessentially Hong Kong slapstick, complete with sound effects, funny faces and crass humour, and you need to buy in to enjoy it. Once you do, you’ll have a riot. These films, and by extension their lifelong marketing over the years, really hooks you in by “selling” a Jackie Chan adventure. Once you realise those names are not the focal point, and the action - as great as consistently strong as it is - pops during choice moments amidst the comedy shenanigans, you gently rest into the groove. And with a supporting cast and cameo appearances including Andy Lau, Rosamund Kwan, Moon Lee, Dick Wei, James Tien, Bolo Yeung and others, there’s plenty to keep your eyes peeled for and enjoy, as a Hong Kong film fan.

In the original 1983 film, Winners and Sinners, five former prisoners form a cleaning company and endeavour to steer clear of crime, but soon find themselves caught in the middle of a counterfeit money scheme, and now the Triads and the police are out to get them. Comedy and mistaken identity gags aside, Winners and Sinners still won in the category of Best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards, so the fight scenes throughout these films have never, ever been an afterthought.

Functioning more as spin-offs rather than actual sequels, the follow-up films then reunited the cast of familiar characters to great effect. Next up, in 1985’s My Lucky Stars, the group is sent to Japan to help the police apprehend a gang of dangerous criminals and a corrupt cop. But nothing goes to plan, and one of our heroes even finds himself kidnapped, with only his friends to save him.

In the third outing, Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars, also from 1985, shows our “Lucky Stars” tasked with bringing down a criminal outfit, and wreaking havoc in a holiday paradise culminating in more brutal fist and feet action. This leads to Sammo’s now-famous showdown with Australian martial arts actor and future Hollywood stunt coordinator Richard Norton, for which the actor shed several pounds of weight filming the punishing and exhausting sequence. So, it’s important to acknowledge, even as comedies, these films never felt like commercial cash-ins and writer-director Sammo Hung genuinely wanted to do something a little different. Through these projects, it feels like the kung fu movie veteran found an opportunity to scratch his itch for comedy, more so than he’d done previously, meanwhile the action is clearly taken as seriously as it would be on any top-tier Sammo action project. The set pieces may not be as frequent, but when they come up, they make them count.

My personal favourite in the trilogy has always been My Lucky Stars which is possibly the most outwardly comedic, yet each film brings it’s own flavour and memorable moments while feeling well connected to the series as a whole. In wider career context, unfortunately these movies do feel like they hold second class status in the pantheon of Sammo, Jackie and Yuen Biao’s best-known and most influential work, but they do stand on their own merits. There’s nothing quite like classic Hong Kong cinema, and for a self-medicating dose of Hong Kong action balanced with physical gags and slapstick, these are also warm and spirited comedies, with great characters and chemistry.

With the last decent releases on DVD from the much lauded Hong Kong Legends label, most impressively, these films are presented here on Blu-ray from new restorations by Eureka and look visually striking, unsurprisingly the best versions available to date.

Comprising all three movies, this new presentation spans all three films presented in 1080p on Blu-ray with Winners and Sinners boasting a glorious new 4K restoration, My Lucky Stars enjoying a new 2K restoration and Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars benefiting from a new 4K restoration, plus the alternate extended Taiwanese version also fully restored in 4K, which is a pretty impressive bonus, especially for completists.

There’s also an O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork, collector’s booklet with new writing by James Oliver, a whole heap of extras including new commentaries and archival featurettes, outtakes and trailers, making this an essential set for any serious fan and collector.

Sammo Hung is rightly acknowledged as one of the best Hong Kong action filmmakers of all time. He arguably made Jackie Chan look better than he ever dud anywhere else, even in his own self-directed work, or while teaming with other top filmmakers. The Lucky Stars films offer a very enjoyable and commendable blend of high quality action and laugh-out-loud comedy, the latter owing largely to its great ensemble cast. As a strong yet under-appreciated chapter in the wider of directorial career of Sammo Hung, these titles definitely deserve a closer look.