The Top Bet (1991)
Anita Mui plays the sister of the Saint of Gamblers, and also possesses supernatural gambling abilities. However, she chooses not to use her powers. She decides to come to Hong Kong to retrieve her brother and bring him back to China. There she meets his assistant, Ng, who is without the Saint of Gamblers, as he has headed off on a cruise. Ng asks Mui to compete in the next tournament, but she turns him down. Mui stays at Ng's house, and helps him find another player to compete. But when Mui finds out that the opposition also has supernatural gambling abilities, she throws the gauntlet down and prepares for the match of her life.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Stephen Chow's Saint of Gamblers has crossed over to a few of Chow Yun-Fat's God of Gamblers films; however, this film, The Top Bet, is the only true sequel to the Saint of Gamblers. It's a story about Taiwanese triad leader Chung Chan (Jeffrey Lau) who demands that the Saint of Gamblers, Chow Sing Cho (Stephen Chow), play cards for him at an upcoming gambling tournament - at the stake of his Uncle Blackie Tat's (Man Tat Ng) life. However, Sing is away traveling around the world and Tat hopes Sing's sister Mei (Anita Mui) would enter the tournament in his place. But, she refuses, which leaves leaves Tat to ask the Queen Of Gamblers (Carol 'Do Do' Cheng) to play cards instead.Lots of Hong Kong stars in this one, but much of the card playing action and plot lines are drowned out with the excessive nonsensical comedy and slapstick mess that sometimes make this film a little annoying. The plot goes too fast at times, which leaves little room for suspense built-up. The acting was OK for the most part, though.Overall, it's not a great film. Had Stephen Chow had a larger role and done more screen time with Anita Mui, the movie could have been better. It won't hurt if you give this one a pass.Grade C-
All For the Winner 2 a.k.a. Top Bet (1991) was the follow up to A.F.T.W. Anita Mui plays Stephen Chow's sister. She has come from mainland China to look for her brother. Whilst looking for him he learns that her brother and Uncle have become famous and have moved on. She comes across a shady female gambler (Carol Cheng) who learns about her power by chance and decides to exploit her.Not as great as the first film, but Anita Mui carries the movie with her comic timing and superb acting. Carol Cheng is funny as well in the "Blackie Tat' role. This film is just a reworking of the first film with the same results. I found it to be a very entertaining film. Not a classic but it's worth a watch. The action set pieces are incredible (thanks to Corey Yuen) and the dialog is pretty sharp and witty.Highly recommended!