# Fight Back to School (逃学威龙)
**Fight Back to School** (逃学威龙) is a 1991 Hong Kong action comedy directed by Gordon Chan (陈嘉上), starring [Stephen Chow](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-chow) (周星驰) as an elite police officer who goes undercover as a secondary school student to recover his superior's stolen revolver. The film was produced by Win's Movie Productions (永盛电影公司) and Samico Films Production, with Wong Jing (王晶) as producer, and it broke Hong Kong's box-office record with HK$43,829,449 in ticket sales.[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/7418) • [2](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/fight_back_to_school.htm)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | 18 July 1991 in Hong Kong; 101 minutes; Cantonese language[3](https://movie.douban.com/subject/1302090/) |
| Director / producer | Gordon Chan; produced by Wong Jing[2](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/fight_back_to_school.htm) |
| Production companies | Win's Movie Productions (永盛电影公司) and Samico Films Production Co., Ltd. (三和电影制作)[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/7418) |
| Hong Kong box office | HK$43,829,449, a record-breaking total that made it the year's top-grossing film[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/7418) • [4](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2011-09-20/10053421823.shtml) |
| Lead cast | Stephen Chow as Chow Sing Sing (周星星), Ng Man-tat (吴孟达) as undercover cop Tat, Sharla Cheung (张敏) as teacher Miss Ho, Roy Cheung (张耀扬) as triad boss Teddy Big[1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/7418) |
| Hong Kong Film Awards | Nominations for Best Director (Gordon Chan), Best Actor (Stephen Chow), and Best Screenplay (Barry Wong and Gordon Chan) at the 11th Hong Kong Film Awards[3](https://movie.douban.com/subject/1302090/) |
| Sequels | Fight Back to School 2 (1992) and Fight Back to School 3 (1993), completing a trilogy[5](https://whichott.com/us/movie/fight-back-to-school-1991-47647) |
| Ratings | 8.2/10 on Douban from 375,792 users; 7.0/10 on IMDb[3](https://movie.douban.com/subject/1302090/) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fight-back-to-school) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Chow [Sing Sing](https://www.edgepedia.org/sing-sing) (Stephen Chow) is a top officer in the Royal Hong Kong Police's elite Special Duties Unit (SDU), the police tactical unit known in Chinese as the [Flying Tigers](https://www.edgepedia.org/flying-tigers) (飞虎队). When the police commissioner's favorite revolver is stolen, apparently by students visiting the police station, Sing is given one last chance to save his career: he must pose as a pupil at the Edinburgh High School in Hong Kong to recover the gun.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fight-back-to-school) • [7](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E9%80%83%E5%AD%B8%E5%A8%81%E9%BE%8D/umc.cmc.2h1g2ir2fh1ryw94jfkoijskq)
A fellow officer, Tat ([Ng Man-tat](https://www.edgepedia.org/ng-man-tat)), supports him undercover as the school's janitor. Sing, unaccustomed to school life, stumbles through classes and exams, at one point secretly telephoning the police department for answers during a Chinese history test because failing would end his cover and the investigation.[2](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/fight_back_to_school.htm) • [8](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3290443/you-cant-turn-him-chow-yun-fat-one-go-stephen-chows-fight-back-school-coup) He grows close to the teacher Miss Ho ([Sharla Cheung](https://www.edgepedia.org/sharla-cheung)), who tutors him and motivates him to apply himself.[9](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/61115.shtml)
The investigation turns serious when Sing and Tat discover that students at the school are triad members who have passed the stolen police gun to their boss, Teddy Big (Roy Cheung), who is planning an arms deal.[7](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E9%80%83%E5%AD%B8%E5%A8%81%E9%BE%8D/umc.cmc.2h1g2ir2fh1ryw94jfkoijskq) Sing smuggles away Teddy Big's weapons at night, Tat is captured, and the finale brings an armed confrontation at the school during preparations for its anniversary celebration, with the commissioner arriving to help resolve the crisis.[9](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/61115.shtml)
## Production and context
The film came together at Win's Movie Productions under boss Charles Heung's company structure, with screenwriter Barry Wong (黄炳耀) partnering with Gordon Chan and the newly dominant Stephen Chow cast in the lead.[4](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2011-09-20/10053421823.shtml) Chan deliberately reversed Chow's established "mo lei tau" (nonsensical) comedy persona, in which he had usually played underdog figures, and recast him as a cool, capable comic hero, an image makeover widely discussed when the film opened.[8](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3290443/you-cant-turn-him-chow-yun-fat-one-go-stephen-chows-fight-back-school-coup) • [10](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/English/Stephen-CHOW_e.pdf)
**Box office record.** Released on 18 July 1991, at the start of the summer school holidays, the film drew audiences including teachers and parents and earned about HK$43 million, breaking Hong Kong's all-time box-office record.[4](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2011-09-20/10053421823.shtml) The Hong Kong Film Archive's profile of Stephen Chow records that his films around this period, including *Fight Back to School*, *All's Well End's Well* (1992), and *Justice, My Foot!* (1992), kept breaking local box-office records and placed Chow alongside [Jackie Chan](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackie-chan) and [Chow Yun-fat](https://www.edgepedia.org/chow-yun-fat) as major box-office draws.[10](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/English/Stephen-CHOW_e.pdf)
The film received nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Douban records three nominations at the 11th Hong Kong Film Awards: Best Director for Gordon Chan, Best Screenplay for Barry Wong and Gordon Chan, and Best Actor for Stephen Chow.[3](https://movie.douban.com/subject/1302090/) LoveHKFilm additionally lists a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Ng Man-tat, though it dates the nominations to the 16th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards.[2](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/fight_back_to_school.htm)
## Reception and legacy
Audience response has remained strong. On Douban the film holds 8.2 out of 10 from more than 375,000 users, ranking better than 96 percent of comedies on the site, and it carries a 7.0 on IMDb.[3](https://movie.douban.com/subject/1302090/) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fight-back-to-school) Reviewers have highlighted the pairing of Chow and Ng Man-tat as the comic core of the film, with routines that play on the mismatch between a hardened tactical officer and a classroom environment.[11](https://fareastfilms.com/review/fight-back-to-school/)
The film launched a trilogy. Gordon Chan directed *Fight Back to School 2* (1992), and the series continued with *Fight Back to School 3* (1993), with Chow and Ng Man-tat continuing as the central pairing.[5](https://whichott.com/us/movie/fight-back-to-school-1991-47647) • [12](https://hk.heritage.museum/documents/doc/en/resourceandservice/history/Architect-of-Dreams/Phrase-4/54_Choi_TatM_rev_21.7.23_rev2.pdf) The series is frequently cited in scholarship on 1990s Hong Kong comedy as an example of stories split among crime, school, and romance.[13](https://jpmm.um.edu.my/index.php/JPMM/article/download/9011/6360/18433) In 2023 the British distributor 88 Films released a deluxe Blu-ray collector's edition of the trilogy, and the film was reclassified by the [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) for that release with content advice for strong language and violence.[14](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/fight-back-to-school-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmdawmta) • [1](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/7418)
The film remains widely available: in the United States it streams on Hi-YAH, Darkroom, Kanopy, and Fawesome, and can be rented or purchased on Amazon Video and the Apple TV Store.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fight-back-to-school)
## References
1. [HKFACT: 逃学威龙 (Fight Back to School)](https://www.hkfact.com/movie/7418)
2. [Fight Back to School (逃學威龍) (1991), LoveHKFilm](https://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/fight_back_to_school.htm)
3. [逃学威龙, Douban](https://movie.douban.com/subject/1302090/)
4. [策划：陈嘉上光影史记, Sina Entertainment](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/2011-09-20/10053421823.shtml)
5. [Fight Back to School (1991), WhichOTT](https://whichott.com/us/movie/fight-back-to-school-1991-47647)
6. [Fight Back to School streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fight-back-to-school)
7. [《逃學威龍》, Apple TV (HK)](https://tv.apple.com/hk/movie/%E9%80%83%E5%AD%B8%E5%A8%81%E9%BE%8D/umc.cmc.2h1g2ir2fh1ryw94jfkoijskq)
8. ['You can't turn him into Chow Yun-fat in one go.' Stephen Chow's Fight Back to School hero, South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3290443/you-cant-turn-him-chow-yun-fat-one-go-stephen-chows-fight-back-school-coup)
9. [逃学威龙 详细资料, 1905电影网](https://m.1905.com/m/film/info/61115.shtml)
10. [Hong Kong Filmmakers Search: Stephen CHOW, Hong Kong Film Archive](https://www.filmarchive.gov.hk/documents/6.-Research-and-Publication/06-02-Filmmakers-Search/English/Stephen-CHOW_e.pdf)
11. [Fight Back To School (1991) Review, Far East Films](https://fareastfilms.com/review/fight-back-to-school/)
12. [蔡達明訪問終稿, Hong Kong Heritage Museum](https://hk.heritage.museum/documents/doc/en/resourceandservice/history/Architect-of-Dreams/Phrase-4/54_Choi_TatM_rev_21.7.23_rev2.pdf)
13. [Malaysian Journal of Media Studies](https://jpmm.um.edu.my/index.php/JPMM/article/download/9011/6360/18433)
14. [Fight Back to School, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/fight-back-to-school-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmdawmta)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action comedies › Action comedies, 1970s to 1990s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license