Producer: Corey Yuen Kwai

‘All For The Winner’ is a fun all-round movie with a particularly pleasing performance from Stephen Chow.

A ho-hum attempt at old school martial arts that succumbs to plodding pacing and dull storytelling.

A few fight scenes pull one back from catatonia, but mostly this is a failure without the luxury of budget constraints to blame its incompetence on.

This is the definitive Hong Kong action flick of the 80’s, easily on a par with ‘Police Story’ and should take pride of place in any fan’s collection.

If you’re a fan of Biao or Sammo, this will make an unremarkable, but enjoyable addition to your collection; if you’re indifferent to either, the chances are you will feel the same about this film.

If, like me, you loved the 80’s action style of people like Yuen Kwai then this is a good purchase, as the fights stand up to repeat viewings even if the rest does not.

‘The Top Bet’ is that very parochial fusion of gambling and ‘nonsense comedy’ (mo lei tau) that many of us are still baffled by after all of these years.