While the big focus of 1980s Hong Kong cinema is Jackie Chan, the actor’s longtime friend Sammo Hung was the first to get international notice. It was Sammo who sparred with Bruce Lee in the opening of Enter the Dragon. While Sammo didn’t come close to winning he showed off a few moves to prove he wasn’t merely another fighting extra. He was a force. His original talent in cinema was as a fight director/choreographer. Sammo would also fight on screen. Because he was thicker than the average martial artist, Sammo didn’t mind connecting blows during action packed scenes. He had natural padding so he wasn’t into near misses for the camera. He rose up to be both a leading actor in films and a director. He even produced and had his own production company. Sammo is Cinema. Triple Threat: Three Films with Sammo Hung is a glorious retrospective of Sammo’s career with a film from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. You get a sense how he worked over this time in various roles and as different characters.
Manchu Boxer (1974 – 86:39) has Sammo playing a henchman while being the fight coordinator. The real lead is Tony Liu (Human Lanterns) as the son of powerful man. He gets involved in a fight where he kills his opponent when the guy jumps him after it seems the fight was over. Liu is rather shocked that his hands really can be lethal. His upset father throws him out of the house during the middle of winter. Tony Liu finds himself living a roaming boxer’s life. What’s remarkable is even in the middle of the snowy season (the movie was shot in South Korea), they built a platform for a martial arts tournament. There’s enough snow on the ground that they could be fighting with skates on. Tony Liu was a noticeable face to fans of Bruce Lee having appeared in The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon and Enter The Dragon. The movie seemed to be a way to position Tony as the successor to Bruce who had passed barely half a year before the release of The Manchu Boxer. While Sammo should have had a bigger role, the film is loaded with martial arts battles thus he was extra busy behind the camera with the choreography.
Paper Marriage (1986 – 92:08) is a romantic screwball comedy. Bo Chin (Sammo) plays a gambler who owes quite a few people including his bookie on bad bets and his ex-wife’s alimony. He’s willing to be a human guinea pig for rather torturous experiments to make quick cash. He battles in an early version of Mixed Martial Arts fighting although he’s not considered a major force. In order to make even more money, he makes a deal with Peter (director Alfred Cheung) to marry his fresh from Hong Kong girlfriend Jade Lee (Heroic Trio’s Maggie Cheung) so she can get US citizenship. Peter can’t swing it right now so that’s why Bo has to say the vows. Jade isn’t too enamored at being stuck with Bo. but they must for immigration investigators. Since Peter has control of the money Jade made selling her place back in Hong Kong, she ends up in the middle of a mud wrestling match for cash. Do they still do mud wrestling? Sammo gets into a boxing match with his ex-wife’s new boyfriend. He’s eager to beat his alimony check out of the pretty face. Eventually Bo and Jade get caught up in a suitcase filled with cash that the local mobsters want. Like Jackie Chan’s Rumble in the Bronx, Sammo acts like he’s in America when they’re really shooting in Canada. Sammo’s rumbling around Edmonton. The finale takes place in the massive West Edmonton Mall. They had a pirate ship, a huge waterslide and a dolphin show in the middle of this joint. The action takes advantage of two of these three attractions. While Sammo doesn’t seem to be the usual star for a romance, the story sets up a great way that he would be involved with someone like Maggie. It’s a fun goofy movie.
Shanghai, Shanghai (1990 – 87:55) has Sammo playing the main villain in this period piece about the city before the arrival of communists. The hero is his fellow Three Dragons partner Yuen Biao (Project A) as Little Tiger. He arrives fresh in the city of Shanghai looking for his brother Big Tiger (Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars’ George Lam). His journey goes weird when he ends up on the back of truck with a group of mobsters ready to burn down a rival’s nightclub. Yuen ends up saving the life of the guy running the nightclub. This upsets Anita Mui (also in Heroic Trio) plays a revolutionary who is causing trouble especially with Sammo’s scheme involving smuggled American dollars. The film recreates the time before Shanghai changed and blows the place up. The big draw for this movie is the finale when Sammo and Yuen Biao get to go at each other. The two pals go full force on the screen.
Triple Threat: Three Films with Sammo Hung gives a sense of his range over the decades Each film has a different tone. Paper Marriage shows Sammo as an accidental romantic lead. The Manchu Boxer has him mainly act as a physical thug since he was in charge of making Tony Lui look heroic in the frozen locations. Finally Sammo gets to be manipulative and diabolical in Shanghai, Shanghai. It’s a fun triple feature to take in the glory of Sammo.
The Video is 2.35:1 for Manchu Boxer and 1.85:1 anamorphic for the other two films. The transfers look fine after being restored in 2K. The Audio for The Manchu Boxer is Mandarin while the other two are Cantonese in LPCM 2.0 Mono. All three movies feature English dubs in LPCM 2.0 Mono. All three movies are subtitled in English.
Audio Commentaries include Frank Djeng and Michael Worth on The Manchu Boxer, Arne Vebena and Dominie Ting on Paper Marriage & Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto on Shanghai, Shanghai. All three are worth rewatching the movies so you can get a deeper sense of context. Arne keeps up the tradition of singing the Golden Harvest song. We learn why Sammo Hung set up Bo Ho Films after not liking what Raymond Chow did to a previous film.
Extended International Cut of The Manchu Boxer (92:53) has almost six minutes. The audio only has the Cantonese track with English subtitles.
Extended International Cut of Shanghai, Shanghai (93:24) has over five minutes of extra footage. It also only has the Cantonese track with English subtitles.
Happily Ever After (21:32) catches up with Paper Marriage director and co-star Alfred Cheung. He started as a screenwriter since he was broke and needed money fast. The studio wanted a film made in Hong Kong with Sammo Hung as the lead. Cheung came up with the idea and wanted it to make it entertaining with action, comedy and a touch of romance. We learn that this is where Sammo Hung met his wife while she was playing his ex-wife in the film. There’s a great story about how Sammo was scared of the water slide at the mall.
The Manchu Boxer Trailer (3:52) promises action from the land of Kung Fu with Kung Fu greats. The film was called Incredible Fist for this release.
Paper Marriage Trailer (3:25) opens with Sammo taking hits in the ring and a cute song. He goofs around with Maggie Cheung.
Shanghai, Shanghai Trailer (3:22) opens with Yuen Biao jumping the wall and racing across the minefield. We also see the revolutionary nature of Anita Mui. We gets sense of the action that goes with the intrigue.
Eureka! Entertainment presents Triple Threat (Three Films with Sammo Hung). Directed by Wu Ma, Alfred Cheung and Teddy Robin. Screenplays by On Szeto; Hing-Siu Leung & Keith Wong; and Calvin Poon & Raymond To. Starring Sammo Hung, Piao Ho, Ki Bum Kim, Ki-joo Kim, Maggie Cheung, Yuen Biao, George Lam and Anita Mui. Boxset Contents: 3 movies on 3 Blu-ray discs. Ratings: Unrated. Release Date: December 9, 2025.
