Reviewed by: dandan Date: 07/04/2006 Summary: what is russian soup? sammo hung directs and stars as rice pot, frankie chan plays chimney, rice pot's brother. the two work with master kim (lau hak-suen) and his daughter ann (pang sau-ha) as a team of crack pickpockets. richard ng plays a cop who keeps running into the gang and deannie yip plays miss ling; a cop who sammo takes a shine to and ends up helping her with a diamond robbery that she's investigating. there's plenty of laughs, some nice slight of hand and some fantastic choreography from sammo et al. although, as people have already commented, the finale is suprisingly violent and a little bloody. all in all though, this is a solid action comedy and a very entertaining film. great stuff...

Reviewed by: cal42 Date: 05/20/2006 1982’s Carry on Pickpocket is an uneasy mix of comedy and violence – which is somewhat typical of Sammo Hung’s style. What isn’t typical is the modern setting – in 1982, action films were still predominantly set in the late 19th century or earlier. Sammo really was one of the true pioneers of the modern day action film. The scene in the disco is hilarious – were all 80’s discos THIS bad?! I suspect so. As has been noted before, the finale of this film takes place on a docked ship and is surprisingly violent in places, which jars somewhat with the easygoing tone of the film at the start. Hong Kong’s music man Frankie Chan steps in front of the camera, although it’s easy to overlook the fact that he was also quite a prolific actor at one point. It goes without saying that he supplies the film’s original score as well. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 09/18/2004 Summary: Dated i cringed when i saw the disco part of the film, the movie just looks really old. The action though is pretty good and this movie is worth a watch, but i still cant get over how old it looks!! 7/10 Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: andras Date: 09/23/2003 Nothing to do with the Lucky Star series of course. Excellent direction, good gags and the action scenes at the end are amazing. Among my favourite Sammo films. The Mega Star dvd has altered the soundtrack on the classic disco scene (now set to different music).

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 04/06/2003 Summary: 3.5/5 Another lucky Stars film. Pretty funny at times. 3.5/5 Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 11/27/2002 Summary: OK, with great final reel Sammo Hung and Frankie Chan spent most of 1982 working together on THE PRODIGAL SON, which took almost a full year to complete. CARRY ON PICKPOCKET must therefore have been squeezed out quite quickly. As such, it's not surprising that it is one of Sammo's lesser works, breaking a string of directorial classics that had been running since 1978. The movie is a fairly frivolous tale about a gang of good natured pick pockets who get drawn into the altogether more serious criminal world of diamond thieves. There's a good deal of comedy, some of which is funny, and a little bit of drama to keep things moving along. All a pleasant enough diversion, but not surprisingly it's not until the movie shifts into action that it really takes off. There are a few fight scenes sprinkled throughout the movie, all showing Sammo's expert touch. Most of the action is saved for the final reel though, and this is the point that the movie passes from the pleasant to the sublime. Sammo seemed to reinvent the action movie with every film he made in the early 80's, and C.O.P. is one of his first experiments in modern day action. Guns are still a very minimal presence, but the environments and props brought into the fights are all modern... well, they were in the 80's at least :) The choreography is tremendous, and Sammo is in great physical form. The fights have a very fast and loose rhythm, indicative of the shift from old school choreography to the looser modern style around that time (which Sammo was largely responsible for). Most of the movie is a 3/5, maybe 4 if you're a fan of Sammo and Frankie Chan (which I am). The action scenes are pure 5/5 gold though, which in my book makes this a gold star movie! Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: mpongpun Date: 05/08/2002 Released in the early 80's when pickpocket movies were en vogue (Beware of Pickpockets comes to mind), this flick is about a team of pickpockets, Master Kim Ming (Lau Sek Huen) and daughter, Ann, plus Rice Pot (Sammo) and Chimney (Frankie Chan) who make their living using the five finger discount on Hong Kong's unsuspecting inhabitants. Life is going great for the group until Chimney and Rice Pot pickpocket some diamonds from a Triad boss named Chou Meng Sheng (Chan Lung with a cowboy hat) thinking they are working on behalf of an undercover cop (Deannie Yip). Chimney and Rice Pot soon find out that they've been duped, and not only that, Boss Chou and his boys are out to get them!

Reviewed by: Kncklz2000 Date: 04/08/2001 Summary: European movies gone East In the similar style of Adriano Celentano and Jean-Paul Bilmando, comes a Sammo Hung film about two friends who earn there way by stealing from others. Frankie Chan and Sammo are pickpockets, who just keep ending up with the wrong people. Whether it is another gang, the cops, Sammo's "girlfriend", or their very own teacher, they never seem to stay out of trouble. There are a good deal of comedic scenes; one at the disco, where Sammo is trying to get acquanted with a woman; quite a few with the police officer (almost greatly played by Richard Ng); and of course, the actual scenes where Sammo and Frankie show us the fine art of pickpocketing. As for the fighting, there isn't much, but what there is, is awesome. There's a fight in a disco, where Frankie gets beat down and Sammo steps in to straighten out the situation. Another fight takes place later on, but isn't very long, about 20 seconds or so. The end of the movie has what everyone expects from a Sammo movie; about 15 to 20 minutes of some incredible action. (The VERY last fight sequences take place on a boat). *NOTE TO YOUNGSTERS* the boat fight is VERY violent (blood being splattered after a girl sticks and ax in someone, and Frankie Chan using a BIG needle to stick it into a person's groin and later on into somene's chest, and Sammo breaking someone's neck- which you don't see too often). -Frankie's action was quite impressive with a lot of comdeic elements in it. Sammo also had humor installed into his fights, but they were much more seroious and impressive. Sammo takes on about 3 or 4 guys with axes. Then he fights off another guy with a metal stick. Then he faces Dick Wei (watch out for the stunt double- it's YUEN BIAO- the scene where Dick Wei is doing a sweep kick followed by a spinning heel kick and all while Sammo does a backhand spring) Quite similar to the Italian and French movies during the disco era, Carry On Pickpocket is a fun movie to watch. If you love the early comedic style of the 80's, and don't mind waiting for the fights to come around, then you'll enjoy this movie. 3.75/5

Reviewed by: SBates Date: 02/07/2001 Summary: A Dry Run for 'Lucky Stars' Similar in style to the Lucky Stars films from later in the 80s. sammo and Frankie Chan play two thieves under the auspices of a Fagin-like master thief. He double-crosses the pair over a cache of diamonds. The two later must fight their way off a cruise ship, with Sammo going one-on-one with Dick Wei in a very violent conclusion. Largely unmemorable, even in the action department, except for an intriguing opening showing the two thieves' techniques, and an overall pessimistic tone.