How Hong Kong’s gambling film genre was spurred by Andy Lau, Chow Yun-fat and Stephen Chow

Wong Jing set Hong Kong’s gambling movie genre in motion in 1989. We recall three of the best, including a parody that saw the most success

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Chow Yun-fat in a still from God of Gamblers, Wong Jing’s gambling classic that broke Hong Kong box-office records in 1989, and, along with Casino Raiders the same year and All for the Winner in 1990, set the gambling movie genre in motion.

Published: 7:45am, 8 Sep 2024Updated: 10:24am, 8 Sep 2024

During Hong Kong’s filmmaking heyday in the late 20th century, so many movies were made that directors carried over ideas from film to film, actors kept their personas in different roles, and cross-referencing was common.

That was especially true of the gambling movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s, a highly prolific genre made famous by producer and director Wong Jing with 1989’s God of Gamblers.

Wong’s film was parodied by rising star Stephen Chow Sing-chi and director Jeff Lau Chun-wai the following year in All for the Winner, and Chow’s version was such a big hit that Wong hired him to star in the sequel to God of Gamblers.

Here we look at the three interconnected films that set Hong Kong’s gambling genre in motion.

1. Casino Raiders (1989)

CASINO RAIDERS Original Trailer (with English Subtitles)

The first production to raise the profile of the gambling film genre is very different to those that followed. It is an epic triad drama about a pair of gamblers, played by Andy Lau Tak-wah and Alan Tam Wing-lun, who are trying to survive in the criminal underworld.