In 1986, with the financial support of Jiahe, Hong Jinbao took his own "HongJia Class" to create an action comedy classic - "Rich Train".
With its witty plot design, wonderful action fights, and gorgeous star lineup, this "Rich Train" has won the second place in the Hong Kong film box office of the year with a box office performance of more than 28 million.
Although "Rich Train" won the second place at the box office, this achievement could only be regarded as "so-so" for Hong Jinbao at that time.
After all, in 1985, Hong Jinbao directed and acted in three works: "Fuxing Gaozhao", "Summer Fuxing" and "Dragon's Heart". These three works respectively won the champion, runner-up and palace throne of the Hong Kong film box office rankings this year.
Compared with the glory of 1985, the performance of this "Rich Train" in 1986 is really "so-so" for Hong Jinbao, which is barely justified.
Time came to 1990, after 4 years, "Rich" IP launched a sequel - "Rich Corps".
Also played by Hong Jinbao, the same luxurious star lineup, the same funny comedy story as a selling point, the same design of a lot of wonderful fight bridges. There are some film elements in "Rich Train", and this "Rich Army" is not bad at all.
However, what surprised the audience was that this "Rich And Noble Corps" was not an orthodox sequel to "Rich Train", but a high-quality imitation of "cottage goods".
Who copied the classic action IP of "Hong Jiaban", and why did Hong Jinbao participate in this "cottage work"? In this issue, we will talk about the work of "Rich And Noble Corps".
Who copied Hong Jinbao's action film IP, and why Hong Jinbao wanted to participate in this "cottage goods", the answer to all this must start from Zhang Guozhong's "Yineng Film Co., Ltd."
In the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s, the name of "gold medal agent" Zhang Guozhong can be said to be known to everyone. Zhou Runfa, Tan Yonglin, Andy Lau, Li Keqin and others are all under the operation of Zhang Guozhong, step by step to the peak of their careers.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, with the rapid development of the Hong Kong film industry, Zhang Guozhong also had the idea of "entering the film industry", so a production company called "Yineng Pictures" quietly stepped onto the historical stage.
Following the trend is a major feature of Hong Kong film production in the 1980s and 1990s. At the beginning of the establishment of "Yineng Pictures", it also followed the trend model, and Zhang Guozhong also had a fondness for the action comedy style of "Hong Jiaban".
In 1989, "Yineng Pictures" found Wang Jing and created and filmed the movie "Fuxing Breaks into the Rivers and Lakes". This work not only stole the classic IP of the "Five Blessings" series, but also found Zeng Zhiwei, Feng Quanfan, Wu Yaohan and others to star.
After the release of "Fuxing Into the Rivers and Lakes", it not only did not cause "copyright disputes", but also achieved good box office results.
After "Fuxing Breaks into the Rivers and Lakes", Zhang Guozhong firmly established the creative idea of "Shanzhai Hong Jinbao Film". In 1990, "Yineng Film" filmed a "cottage sequel" for "Rich Train". The screenwriter of the film is still Wang Jing, and the work of director is entrusted to Zheng Zeshi.
In order to stabilize the box office effect of "Rich And Noble Corps", Zhang Guozhong used his personal connections to assemble a brilliant lineup for the film.
As the "gold medal agent" of the Hong Kong performing arts industry, Zhang Guozhong's connections are self-evident. Mei Yanfang, Andy Lau, Tan Yonglin and others have appeared in "Rich and Noble Corps".
And the "genuine holder" Hong Jinbao, who also can't quit the word "love face", participated in the filming of this cottage work.
"Teaching righteousness and good feelings" can be described as a major trait in Hong Jinbao. Because of this trait, Hong Jinbao in the early years quickly rose in the film industry; it was also because of this trait that Hong Jinbao in the 90s also suffered a career crash and fell into the trough of life.
In 1990, this "Rich and Noble Corps" was a fuse for the collapse of Hong Jinbao's career.
Next, we will briefly review the story of this "Rich Army", and at the same time, talk about how the work made Hong Jinbao's film career collapse step by step.
The story of "The Rich And Noble Corps" takes place in a concentration camp during the War of Resistance.
Andy Lau plays "Hua Hero", who was originally a prisoner of war in the 732 concentration camp, in order to meet his fiancée. Hua Ying escaped from the concentration camp with the help of his fellow inmates "Marshmallow" (played by Zheng Zeshi), "Dragon in the Clouds" (played by Chen Baixiang), "Stinky Duck Egg" (played by Lou Nanguang), and "Big Banana" (played by Cheng Kui'an).
Hua Yingxiong met his fiancée "Cao Mulan" (played by Mei Yanfang) as he wished, and the real identity of Cao Mulan was actually a secret agent, code-named "Tianzi No. 3".
Cao Mulan's superior, "Tianzi No. 1" secret agent Hong Dadi (played by Hong Jinbao), hopes that Hua Hero will join the secret agent organization and become "Tianzi No. 4" to assist Cao Mulan in completing an operation.
Hua Yingxiong did not want to join the secret agent organization, but because he was worried about the safety of Cao Mulan, he finally decided to become the "Tianzi No. 4".
After convincing Hua Yingxiong, Brother Hong recalls the "Tianzi No. 2" secret agent Rosen (played by Tan Yonglin) who is on vacation. After the people and horses were assembled, Brother Hong also said the task of the operation.
It turned out that overseas anti-Japanese rescue volunteers had raised a sum of military funds for the salvation of the dead, extracted the code for this military expenditure, and held it in the hands of a secret agent code-named "God of Wealth".
A few days earlier, this "God of Wealth" had been captured by the Japanese army and imprisoned in the 732 concentration camp. It is precisely because Hua Yingxiong has successfully escaped from the 732 concentration camp before, so Brother Hong wants him to participate in this operation.
After learning the reason, Lawson and Hua Yingxiong were mixed into the concentration camp under the arrangement of Brother Hong.
In the concentration camp, Hua Ying used his former inmates Yunzhong Dragon, Marshmallow, Rotten Duck Egg and others to inquire about the whereabouts of the "God of Wealth". Unexpectedly, stinky duck eggs are a gap between prisoners of war. The news that Hua Hero and Lawson are looking for the "God of Wealth" is soon learned by the Japanese army Daisa" "Asakawa" (played by Ryukata) in the concentration camp.
Originally, Asakawa did not know anything about the "God of Wealth", but with the whistleblowing of the rotten duck egg, Asakawa also began to torture the prisoners of war in an attempt to find out who was the real "God of Wealth".
Not long after, Cao Mulan, who was lurking in the medical team, also followed several assistants to the concentration camp. Lawson, Hua Hero and Cao Mulan successfully joined, and the three of them also increased their efforts to find the "God of Wealth".
While Lawson, Cao Mulan, and Hua Hero are looking for the "God of Wealth", the Japanese spy "Guan You Fart" (played by Ke Shouliang) is ordered to rush to the 732 concentration camp to investigate the true identity of the "God of Wealth".
In order to cover the three people in the concentration camp, Lawson, Cao Mulan, and Hua Hero, Brother Hong killed the "Guan you fart soldier" in the middle of the road.
In the execution room of the concentration camp, Hua Yingxiong confirmed the identity of the "God of Wealth" through a secret code. However, the "god of wealth" who was tortured had not yet had time to say the password, and he swallowed his breath.
Cao Mulan found that the "God of Wealth" had a parrot before he died, and the "God of Wealth" told the parrot the password. However, the parrot was all raised in Asakawa's office.
After determining the target, Hua Ying, Lawson, Cao Mulan, and others planned to take the parrot and escape from the concentration camp.
The Dragon in the Clouds, Marshmallow, big banana and others decided to help Hua Hero, and several pilots of the "Flying Tigers" who were captured in the concentration camp also helped the three secret agents.
On the other hand, because the "Guanyou Ass" was killed, the Japanese army sent the "Three Tigers of Kanto" to the 732 concentration camp to investigate. In order to welcome the Three Tigers of Kanto, Asakawa asked the prisoners of the concentration camp to perform a show for the Three Tigers.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of rehearsal, Hua Ying, Cao Mulan, and Rosen jointly dug a tunnel to escape.
The Three Tigers of Kanto arrived as scheduled, and Hua Hero, Cao Mulan, and others also took action at the banquet, stealing parrots and escaping from the concentration camp.
In the end, with the escape of several secret agents and the successful release of the password by parrots, the story of this "Rich And Noble Corps" also officially came to an end.
In terms of plot design, this "Rich Corps" reveals a strong comedy style of Wang Jing, and a large number of spoof bridges add a lot of fun to the film. The action scenes designed by Chen Huiyi and Yuan Bin also stimulated the visual nerves of many viewers.
As a work of imitation, this "Rich Army" perfectly reproduces all the film elements in "Rich Train". However, on top of the performance of the word "rich" in the theme of the story, the story of "Rich And Noble Corps" is somewhat far-fetched.
In "Rich Train", the movie revolves around a "train robbery", because the members of the train are either rich or expensive, so the title of the film is "Rich Train".
However, in this "Rich Corps", the film does not introduce the background of these characters too much, and the identity of these secret agents does not seem to have much to do with "rich". The film uses the name "Rich Corps", obviously to rub the IP popularity of "Rich Train".
In 1990, "The Rich Corps" won more than 17 million at the box office in the Hong Kong film market. The box office of "Rich Train" was not particularly prominent in the Hong Kong film market at that time, but it also made sense.
However, it is this film work that is still reasonable at the box office that completely freezes the relationship between Hong Jinbao and "Jiahe".
As an artist under the umbrella of "Jiahe", Hong Jinbao in the 80s often ran to his competitors to make movies. For this kind of "eating bowl noodles against the bottom of the bowl", Jiahe initially turned a blind eye.
After all, in other people's companies, Hong Jinbao is a small fight, and on the big screen of Jiahe, Hong Jinbao can always go all out to make high-box office works.
However, in 1990, "Yineng Pictures' "Rich and Noble Corps" defeated "Children of the Troubled World" filmed by "Jiahe" in the New Year file, which made the two senior executives of "Jiahe" have a lot of opinions about Hong Jinbao.
In 1986, "Jiahe" planned the movie "Best Lucky Star". Hong Jinbao found an old friend Mai Jia from the "New Art City" and partnered in filming.
After the release of "Best Lucky Star", it won the runner-up of the Hong Kong film box office that year. And Mai Jia and several partners of "New Art City" also had mutual mustard because of this "Best Lucky Star", and finally "New Art City" went to break up.
A dog has his day. In 1990, Hong Jinbao also encountered the embarrassment of Mai Jia that year. After "The Legion of Rich and Noble", the relationship between "Jiahe" and Hong Jinbao became more and more rigid.
In 1991, Hong Jinbao's "Baohe Movie" and Jackie Chan's "Weihe Movie" suffered an operational crisis at the same time. "Jiahe" found Tang Jili to shoot "Police Story 3" for Jackie Chan, and successfully revitalized the "Weihe Movie". And Hong Jinbao's "Baohe Movie" silently went out of business without anyone's attention.
In 1992, with the collapse of "Baohe Film", Hong Jinbao completely fell out of favor in "Jiahe". Between 1993 and 1997, Hong Jinbao only worked as a director to shoot three works: "A Knife In the City", "The Face of the Man" and "A Good Man".
Among these three works, only "A Good Man" was funded by "Jiahe". And this "A Good Man" also became the last cooperation between Hong Jinbao and "Jiahe".