Nostalgia Kinky

A frequently funny and consistently exciting film, King of Beggars (1992) marks the final time director Gordon Chan and star Stephen Chow worked together. Amongst the most popular Hong Kong films from 1992, King of Beggars is soon available from Eureka via a nice special edition Blu-ray featuring a beautiful 2K restoration.

An action/comedy with class consciousness at its heart, King of Beggars is a surprisingly fine period piece featuring absolutely gorgeous costume design and set decoration. Not at all content with delivering just another comedy, Chan is quite ambitious behind the camera creating a richly rewarding visual experience.

The story at the heart of King of Beggars, centering on a humbled young man looking for redemption, is from a script by Chan along with John Chan Kin-Chung and Albert Mak Kai-Kwong. It’s a bit overly complicated and packed for a 95 minute film, which ensures King of Beggars works best as a great star vehicle and a terrific visual exercise.

Stephen Chow is indeed phenomenal as the title character, oozing charisma and warm humor. King of Beggars is a fairly lightweight film thematically but Chow’s performance, along with the film’s endlessly alluring look give it serious weight.

Featuring an across the board strong ensemble cast, a fine score from Joseph Koo and awesome fight choreography, King of Beggars is a winning production. While perhaps not as memorable as some of the greatest Hong Kong classics of the nineties, King of Beggars has still aged exceedingly well. It’s a very good time.

The 2K restoration that is utilized here will be the real selling point for fans of King of Beggars and Stephen Chow. This is a gorgeous looking disc. Both the original Cantonese audio and English dub are on hand as is another great commentary by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng. I love his tracks and always know I am going to get to hear so much great film history when I see his name pop up. Great stuff. Eureka also gives us a new director’s interview and a video essay on Chow by Gary Bettinson, co-editor of The Cinema of Stephen Chow. This limited edition set of just 2000 also contains a booklet by Andy Willis, reversable sleeve and slipcover, all coming together for a very nice package.

King of Beggars is recommended and is available for pre-order directly from Eureka in the UK or for those stateside at MVD.

-Jeremy Richey, January, 2026-