Shanghai Surprise (1986)

Director:

Jim Goddard

Writers:

John Kohn (screenplay) &
Robert Bentley (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A romantic adventure for the dangerous at heart.

Plot:

Glendon Wasey is a fortune hunter looking for a fast track out of China. Gloria Tatlock is a missionary...

Plot Keywords:

Opium | Critically Bashed | Adventurer | City Name In Title | Box Office Flop

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Sean Penn	...	Glendon Wasey
Madonna	...	Gloria Tatlock
Paul Freeman	...	Walter Faraday
Richard Griffiths	...	Willie Tuttle
Philip Sayer	...	Justin Kronk
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Joe Go
Kay Tong Lim	...	Mei Gan
Sonserai Lee	...	China Doll
Victor Wong	...	Ho Chong
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Yamagani San
Michael Aldridge	...	Mr. Burns
Sarah Lam	...	China Doll's Maid
George She	...	Wu Ch'En She
Won Gam Bor	...	Rickshaw King
To Chee Kan	...	China Doll's Boatman

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:12 (DVD rating) | UK:15 (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-16 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

HandMade Films

Trivia:

The original soundtrack was never officially released. In 2004, all the songs written for the movie appeared in the re-mastered version of George Harrison's album "Cloud Nine".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Wasey and Miss Tatlock catch up with Faraday in the ship's cabin, the amount of shaving-foam on Faraday's face varies between shots.

Quotes:

[first title card]
Title Card: Shanghai 1937
Title Card: The Year of the Japanese Occupation

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Ashton Kutcher/50 Cent (#28.18)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Hottest gong in town

Dreary, dreadful romantic comedy

"Shanghai Surprise" is an idiotic, out-of-date, poorly-acted, campy action film that wants to be a romantic comedy. Madonna, in her second starring role, had about enough acting talent at this point as a doll. Unfortunately, the doll in this movie comes off looking better than she does.

Madonna, playing a missionary (!) nurse (!!) for a Shanghai mission, is in search of opium (!!!) for medicinal purposes (!!?!!) approaches Sean Penn, an American soldier-of-fortune type who happens to speak Chinese. Penn and Madonna, who were married at the time this film were made, are obviously uncomfortable with the material and do little to justify the film's existence. Penn mugs his way through and attempts to crach a few weak jokes, while Madonna stamps her foot and places her hands on her hips as she squeaks (yes, she squeaks, and you must hear it to believe it) in frustration.

The plot is absolutely ridiculous -- Madonna and Sean Penn chasing after a mysterious cargo of opium known as "Faraday's Flowers" (incidentally, the name of the book this movie is based on) must run from a Chinese gangster with porcelain hands, have a romantic interlude with an Imperial concubine, teach baseball skills to another Chinese gangster, and (boy, aren't we surprised) sleep together to seal a deal.

This movie, like "Mommie Dearest" or "Plan Nine From Outer Space" has immense camp value because it's so deliciously awful. Utterly predictable, insipid, and full of instantly forgettable lines, this movie is the equivalent of the yellow stuff they stick on your nachos at the movie theatres -- it's not really good enough to be real cheese, but it's much cheaper and tastes pretty much the same anyway. This movie isn't even cheesy enough to be cheesy.

Avoid "Shanghai Surprise" unless, like me, you like Madonna WAY too much or if you're just a fan of bad movies.