An amiable buddy-buddy-just-plain-weird comedy offering, a follow up to WINNERS & SINNERS and following much the same mould. This time around the ensemble cast travel to Japan to outwit a criminal gang, cleverly located in an amusement park which makes a great backdrop for the action. Unfortunately, despite the kick-fest indicated by the trailer, action is exactly what MY LUCKY STARS is short of. It's a film of two halves. The first ten minutes and the final half an hour is one film; the hour in between is another. For the most part, the middle of the film is a meandering comedy film reuniting the jokers we all know and love; Kidstuff, Roundhead, Rawhide, Sandy, and Herb. The jokes are pretty childish but there are plenty, and a fair few hit home. It's likable enough but not exactly what action fans are looking for and it doesn't always help that the Chinese comedy is so different from what Western viewers are experienced with. However, I find the jokes improve on repeat viewing, especially the hilarious 'dinner' scene that makes fine use of the language barrier. Of the cast members, the funniest is Eric Tsang, playing the stupid one of the group and usually at the butt of everyone else's joke, although all of the actors get some nice scenes to themselves.Thankfully, the beginning and end of the film feature Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao engaged in some fine work, the martial arts battles. The film kicks off with a hilarious and exciting chase by car, complete with a far-fetched stunt and a battle with some ninjas. Movie heaven, to be exact. Then Biao and Chan disappear and Sammo is left to carry the can as both star and director, something he does with skill. However things get really exciting at the finale, where the good guys storm the amusement park and Jackie Chan goes into the House of Horrors to fight the baddies.Lots of spooky shenanigans follow in an expertly shot sequence from Hung, who also directed, reminding me of FANTASY MISSION FORCE. Things culminate in a massive bust-up in which Jackie fights regular villain Dick Wei (PROJECT A), Sammo fights a whole load of bad guys, and a female bodybuilder comes on the screen to make an impression. It's crazy and fun. My only complaint with the action is that it's sped-up, which I found really noticeable in this instance. The resulting movie is a strange combination, not one of the total classics from the decade like DRAGONS FOREVER or PROJECT A but still good fun if you're in the right mood.

This movie was made in the same year as "Police story" which for me (and not only me) is Jackie Chan's best movie . I guess that he was working so hard on the set of that movie that he didn't put much heart in this one. In this movie he is just a supporting player , gone for most of the movie. The main heroes are five guys who are school friends of Chan's character.Those five guys are pretty likable , so the fact that Jackie is gone is less painful . This movie is more about comedy than action. The action appears in the beginning and in the end of the movie just like Jackie Chan. Most of the movie is slapstick comedy , which is rather funny.Those five guys are quite adorable. I liked the whole "bad guys are invading the house and tying us with rope" scheme , so they could touch the attractive heroine. The haunted house thing was nice.I don't really remember much more from the movie. The fights were done well and the story while nothing special was enough to keep me interested. The humor and characters are probably the best things about this movie. Not bad for Sunday afternoon relax. After that it pretty much fades out of memory. I give it 3/10.

I am trying to find out who did the music for this show, which I have just watched. The background music for the mall scene is a nice bossa, with some "Bob James"-type chording, and I would like to get a copy of it. The show as a whole was actually quite good, as modius pointed-out. I enjoyed seeing Jackie and Sammo together, and both in their youth! The kung-fu of these two, and the swordplay of the girls, is just really amazing. Anyone who has studied martial arts at all can appreciate the skill and precision evidenced by these actors, most of whom hold upper belts in various styles. My main concentration, for this note is, however, still finding out who did the music for the show, or at least, who wrote the mall scene background music. I really liked it, and would like to get a copy of it. Anyone have any ideas on how to find it?

Some films seem destined to have sequels. This is especially true if you have a multitude of popular stars that do not have to contribute to the whole film (and if one does not work out replace him), a boilerplate formula and financial success on the first movie. In fact, My Lucky Stars (1985) was more of a hit in HK than its predecessor Winners and Sinners (1983) with the original raking in 22M HK dollars and the sequel 30.7M HK. While I have grown in appreciation of the first film, I have also grown a little less interested in the first sequel though a few segments transcend above the mostly mediocre material. When watching this film it is good to think of this as an ensemble piece not a Jackie Chan or a Sammo Hung film (though Sammo did direct this in his most prolific period and after the success of The Own and Dumbo (1984)). That frame of mind might help in enjoying this uneven picture more.In the beautiful locale of Japan, Muscles (Jackie Chan) is chasing a corrupt Hong Kong cop (Lam Ching Ying: Mr Vampire) though an amusement park with the help of Ricky (Yuen Biao: Prodigal Son in an extended cameo compared to Winners and Sinners) until Ricky gets whisked away by a band of ninjas. This nice little 11 minute sequence of Jackie works well with the fight choreography and shows some nice jump stunts by Jackie. I am not sure of Sammo's use of slow motion in the beginning though. It just seems timed poorly (I have sensed this problem in a few of his movies like Mr. Nice Guy). There is also a strange scene where Muscles gets stopped by tourists to take a picture. If you were chasing a crook would you let yourself be stopped by tourists? Jackie needs help to find his partner. The help will have to come in the form of five trusted crooks since the cops could be spotted by the former HK officer. The ringleader is Sammo (once again having a horrific haircut) and he (after a stint in jail) has to recruit the old gang: Rawhide (Stanley Fung: The Owl And Dumbo), Sandy (Richard Ng: Shanghai Express), Herb (Charlie Chin) and Round Head (Eric Tsang who is in this movie instead of John Shum from the first film). They will be lead by a legitimate police officer Inspector Woo (Sibelle Hu playing basically the same foil role as Cherie Chung did in the first - I did say this was a boilerplate formulaic movie) who is consistently being hit on by the males (during a very tiring six minute gag) while having to take them to Japan.The whole second act of the film and the majority of the movie are the comedic sequences of Sammo getting the gang together, meeting the female assistant and going to Japan. While some of it can be funny (Richard Ng is almost always hilarious and those damn curly haired bus drivers), some of it is just strange like the Eric Tsang sequence of playing "fly" poker and some jokes just fill like filler. And there is that Bolo Yeung Sze cameo.When the third act starts with the appearance of Jackie Chan the pace of the movie goes from stagnant to ludicrous speed (interesting how the comedy segments were less fun than the action). Without giving too much away the haunted house fight segment with Jackie Chan going through the maze like corridors is quite good and the most talked about aspect of this film is the Japanese villainess played by female bodybuilder Nishiwaki Michiko in her first Hong Kong role (she did not speak Cantonese at the time) and her fight with Sibelle Hu. Her fight introduction (disrobes her kimono and then flexes) has also been mentioned in many male-written reviews. There are other fights with Lam Ching Ying and Lau Kar Wing that are quite good if a bit short. Also check out that nasty fall toward the end - breaking bodies for our entertainment.Fans of action films will find something to like in this movie. While it is quite uneven there are worthy scenes (especially the end and beginning) to watch several times. Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung fanatics will, of course, have to watch this, but on multiple viewings will probably only want to watch the first and third act. If you have not seen Winners and Sinners then see that film first. The comedy aspects did not work as well for me as the first movie and the characters seemed less in depth. Richard Ng was underused and that is enough to make me and anyone angry.