Reviewed by: Hyomil Date: 04/07/2011 Reviewer Score: 4

Reviewed by: STSH Date: 02/27/2001 Summary: Terrific silly fun If there's one thing HK films excel at, it's being silly. So, why not go to extremes ? Well, The Big Deal does just that. The cast is packed with actors who mercilessly send up the characters they play in other films. Sibelle Hu pounds her many roles as an oh-so-serious lady cop. Moon Lee and Yukari spend most of their screen time catfighting each other. Tommy Wong plays a supposedly talented mainland cop who is actually a useless nitwit. Yuen Wah plays his then-usual towering villain, but with tongue firmly in cheek. And Sophie Crawford is a blast as his moll. Make no mistake - this film is completely mad silliness from start to finish. It is either madness or action all the way. In short, it's a treat. Those who'd get most out of it would be people who've seen a few films by the lead actors in their more serious pics. And there are probably quite a few in-jokes which an outsider would miss. And, if that's not enough, this movie has definitely the most hilariously awful English subs of any HK film - and that's really saying something. This only adds to the fun. For an entirely different point of view, read Brian's review, attached at Link #1. I'm puzzled that any HK film fan could dislike this movie, but perhaps a few people who take actors like Yukari and Moon Lee very seriously might find the nuttiness a bit much. ----- Previous review: Extremely silly great fun ! This slap-happy (in the most literal sense) daffy action/comedy makes Dumb And Dumber look classy. The of- little-consequence plot very occasionally interrupts proceedings, and concerns cops'n'robbers, a stolen painting then a stolen sword. Super "Canon" (not religious or a photocopier ! - Sibelle Hu) is a psycho gun-twirling cop who teams with Lethal Weapon (Tommy Wong, who keeps bumping into crims who look like him) to catch the Saint Hero a.k.a. Tee Tung Fong (Yuen Wah). But his activities are mixed up with Lan and May (Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima) and their Mentor (Yuen Cheung Yan). Everyone takes turns at driving everyone else crazy. Even the Inspector (Woo Fung) at one point tries to kill his subordinates Canon and Weapon. The three great fighting fems (Hu, Lee and Oshima) mercilessly send-up their well-known action screen personas. Lee and Oshima, supposedly a team, spend at least as much time cat- fighting each other as their opponents. What really knocked me out was the pacing. Here comes a superlative statement : among the few hundred HK films I've seen to date, this one THE most action-packed. Don't believe me ? Try this test. For it's entire length, Big Deal goes no more than thirty seconds without someone getting hit, falling down or suffering considerable duress. This outpaces even continuously breathless gobsmackers (for Americans : gob = mouth) like Kung_Fu_Cult_Master and Angel_Terminators_2 (one of the films Big Deal sends up). And all the characters take turns at outrageous mugging and pulling stupid faces. It really is cartoonish Punch'n'Judy all the way. Sassy high-kicking blonde Sophie Crawford (also in Escape_From_Brothel and possibly Angel_Terminators_2) does quite well as Saint Hero's suffering ladyfriend. And if, by ANY chance, you managed to take this film seriously, that impression would be dispelled by the towering super-baddie Yuen Wah, flailing around in a hot magenta-pink business suit with floral sleeves, pausing every now and then to ensure his tie is straight. I can even forgive the inevitable lapses into fecal humour. For instance, two cops and Lee have guns drawn at each other. A tense moment, to be handled with maximum tact. Tommy Wong can't stop a fart, and it's all guns blazing. Overall : Rattling good fun for very young kids of all ages........ Footnote : This film can claim another achievement : it sets a new low in subtitling. Reviewer Score: 10

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/21/1999 The "Saint" is a secret group comprised of a martial arts masterand his two oddball daughters. They were brought to this earth to uphold justice by robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. A Robin Hood like saga set during modern-day Hong Kong. [Reviewed by Tai Seng Catalog]