4 Star

From a Jack to a King.

Writer/director Gordon Chan (Fist of Legend, Beast Cops) bring martial arts to life in The King of Beggars, as Stephen Chow (FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE, THE ROYAL TRAMP COLLECTION) lights up the screen with his talents. This from riches to rags story sees a lazy young man get even lazier as he hones his skills to take on the big baddy of the day.

 

So Chan (Stephen Chow) is a spoilt, lazy brat, mainly because he is the son of General So (Man-Tat Ng, Shaolin Soccer, A Moment of Romance), a man of wealth but almost no schooling. Their family has a long history of illiteracy, so when he shows off writing his name very flamboyantly, father and his many wives are impressed (even though it is literally spider crawl). But what he is good at, is excelling in many martial arts, and he will take on anyone who wants a fight.

So one night when his is in Madam Pimp’s (King-Tan Yuen, Forbidden City Cop, Honour of the Gods (TV Series)) brothel, he spots Yu-Shang (Sharla Cheung, THE ROYAL TRAMP COLLECTION, Fight Back to School), a freelance prostitute who has been promised to Chiu Mo-kei (Norman Chu, Duel To The Death, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin), a high-ranking government official, but So is smitten and claims he wants to marry her.

Then a bidding war between So and Chui begins until the inevitable happens and they both show their martial arts skills. What So doesn’t know is that Yu-Shang wanted to be with Chiu, so that she could extract her revenge for Chiu killing the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the king of the beggars.

So isn’t likely to give in easily, when Yu-shang say she will only marry him if:

You must be a worthy martial artist and a top scholar, second to none.

This is where So gets into trouble, the martial arts are sorted, but the scholarly challenge is beyond his lazy ways. But he heads to college where his father has paid a relative to be his tutor and help him out, but at the final when Chiu’s candidate is beaten by So the revelation that he is illiterate, the Emperor sentences him and his family to be beggars for life.

They are looking for a king, after all.

King of Beggars is a class act that will impress any martial arts fan,

KING OF BEGGARS (Eureka Classics) Limited Edition is available on Blu-ray

 

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

 

• Limited edition of 2,000 copies
• Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Sam Gilbey
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on King of Beggars and director Gordon Chanby Andy Willis
• 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a new 2K restoration
• Cantonese audio (original stereo presentation)
• Optional English dub
• Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
• New audio commentary with East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
• Beggars and Tramps – new interview with director Gordon Chan
• So Chan and Stephen Chow – new video essay by East Asian cinema scholar Gary Bettinson, co-editor of The Cinema of Stephen Chow
• Original theatrical trailer