# The Fortune Code (富贵兵团)
**The Fortune Code** (富貴兵團; also released as *Code of Fortune*) is a Hong Kong Lunar New Year action comedy set during the [Second Sino-Japanese War](https://www.edgepedia.org/second-sino-japanese-war), directed by Kent Cheng (鄭則仕) and written by Wong Jing (王晶) and Barry Wong (黃炳耀), with an ensemble cast of dozens of then-famous Hong Kong stars.[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) The story follows patriotic overseas Chinese who raise US$400,000 for the anti-Japanese resistance and deposit it in a Swiss bank; the withdrawal password is known to only one man, code-named "God of Wealth" (財神), who is captured by the Japanese army and must be rescued from a detention camp.[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 富貴兵團; English titles *The Fortune Code* and *Code of Fortune*[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) |
| Director and writers | Directed by Kent Cheng (鄭則仕); screenplay by Wong Jing and Barry Wong[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) |
| Release | Hong Kong release dates are given as 1 January 1989[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) and 19 January 1990[2](https://kungfutube.info/6703); sources disagree |
| Genre and format | Comedy and action; Cantonese language; color; 35 mm anamorphic widescreen; rated Hong Kong: IIA[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) |
| Running time | 89 minutes[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B); other sources list 86 minutes[2](https://kungfutube.info/6703) |
| Hong Kong box office | HK$17,527,234[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B), ranked 14th for the year[2](https://kungfutube.info/6703) |
| Production company | 藝能影業有限公司 (Movie City), Hong Kong; produced by Kent Cheng and 張國忠[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) |
| Action directors | 陳會毅 (Chin Kar-liang) and 元彬 (Yuen Bun)[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
During the Japanese invasion of China in the Second World War, patriotic Chinese living overseas pool donations for the resistance and deposit the money, forty thousand US dollars by one account, in a Swiss bank. The withdrawal password is held by a single man with the code name "God of Wealth" (財神), which makes him the object of a contest between Chinese and Japanese forces.[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) The God of Wealth returns to China, is captured by the Japanese army, and is imprisoned in a detention camp; a fuller synopsis gives the camp as Camp No. 732.[6](https://video.contentchina.com/movie/186078) A Chinese-language retrospective instead places him in a camp of [Unit 731](https://www.edgepedia.org/unit-731).[3](https://post.smzdm.com/p/aom98226/)
The resistance organization entrusts the rescue to numbered agents. According to the fuller synopsis, agents 天字一號, 天字二號 Rosen (羅森), and 天字三號 [Hua Mulan](https://www.edgepedia.org/hua-mulan) work outside the camp gathering intelligence while 天字四號 Wah Hero (華英雄), who has escaped from the camp, returns inside to help; inside, Wah Hero cooperates with fellow prisoners nicknamed Peanut, Stinky Egg, Big Banana, and [Marshmallow](https://www.edgepedia.org/marshmallow) against the Japanese commander, and with help from [Flying Tigers](https://www.edgepedia.org/flying-tigers) members the agents finally obtain the password and the funds.[6](https://video.contentchina.com/movie/186078) The original synopsis describes the hero Wah Hero escaping from the camp and, commissioned by the resistance, returning with the agent Rosen to rescue the God of Wealth.[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B)
## Cast and production
The film's principal selling point was its cast. The credited leads include [Sammo Hung](https://www.edgepedia.org/sammo-hung) (洪金寶) as Brother Hung, Alan Tam (譚詠麟) as Robin, Anita Mui (梅艷芳) as Jane, Andy Lau (劉德華) as Wah, Michael Miu (苗僑偉) as Little Robot, Eric Tsang (曾志偉) as Runaway, Natalis Chan (陳百祥) as Dragon, and Kent Cheng as [Chocolate](https://www.edgepedia.org/chocolate).[9](https://www.loopinwithme.com/zh-TW/movie/410992) A fuller cast list adds [Gordon Liu](https://www.edgepedia.org/gordon-liu) (劉家輝), Chen Kuan-tai (陳觀泰), Lung Fong (龍方), Billy Lau, Charlie Cho, and many others.[7](https://moviecool.asia/film/g1lkxnICd9Sj) A retrospective notes that the lineup included multiple Hong Kong Film Award or Golden Horse Award best-actor winners, Sammo Hung, Andy Lau, Kent Cheng, and Alan Tam, together with best-actress winner Anita Mui.[4](https://read01.com/4DoQ3J8.html)
**Production background.** The film was produced by 藝能影業 (Movie City), a company founded by the talent manager 張國忠; after splitting from partner 潘迪生 of D&B in 1986, the company began producing films independently, completing its first feature *愛的逃兵* in 1988.[5](https://suling213.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-post_22.html) Sammo Hung led the project and Kent Cheng directed, drawing heavily on Hung's own stunt team, the Hung Ga Ban, alongside friends such as Alan Tam, Andy Lau, Anita Mui, Natalis Chan, and Lung Fong.[3](https://post.smzdm.com/p/aom98226/)
## Reception and context
**Box office.** The film earned HK$17,527,234 in Hong Kong.[1](https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B) The Japanese database KUNGFU TUBE ranks it 14th for the year,[2](https://kungfutube.info/6703) while a Chinese retrospective places it 11th;[3](https://post.smzdm.com/p/aom98226/) both note that it fell far behind the year's gambling films *All for the Winner* (HK$41,326,156) and *God of Gamblers' Return* (HK$40,342,758).[4](https://read01.com/4DoQ3J8.html) It is described as a sister work to the 1986 hit *Shanghai Express* (原題 *富貴列車*), with a comparable all-star cast but a smaller scale and weaker box office; *Shanghai Express* took HK$28 million and ranked second for its year.[2](https://kungfutube.info/6703) A contemporary account says the title rode on the *富貴列車* name, and that had that property remained with Golden Harvest the film might simply have been called *Shanghai Express II*.[3](https://post.smzdm.com/p/aom98226/)
**Critical view.** Commentators attribute the film's weaknesses to its setting: nearly all of the plot takes place inside one detention camp, which one retrospective compares to a stage play divided into acting areas by a single backdrop, with simple sets and limited realism, and the many stars interfere with the story's coherence.[4](https://read01.com/4DoQ3J8.html) A Hong Kong film blog judges it a straightforward [Lunar New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/lunar-new-year) money-maker with little ambition, fast-paced and easy to watch, and notes that despite the Chinese resistance setting it feels thoroughly like a Hong Kong comedy, with modern slang and characters joking in the face of death.[5](https://suling213.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-post_22.html) Aggregated ratings are middling: 5.6 of 10 on IMDb, 6.7 of 10 on Douban, and 6 of 10 on the Japanese review site Minna no Cinéma Review.[2](https://kungfutube.info/6703)
**Origins of the premise.** A common belief holds that the film borrowed its premise from Teddy Robin's *我愛夜來香*, in which [Brigitte Lin](https://www.edgepedia.org/brigitte-lin)'s character is also named "Agent No. 1" (天子第一號); a 1990 retrospective states that both films' ideas and character names in fact come from a 1940s mainland Chinese film titled *天子第一號*.[3](https://post.smzdm.com/p/aom98226/) The same retrospective notes a self-referential joke: Alan Tam's card-game monologue as Rosen parodies his character Ah Sum from Wong Jing's 1989 film *至尊無上*.[3](https://post.smzdm.com/p/aom98226/)
The film appears in published lists of Hong Kong Lunar New Year films for 1990, alongside *三人新世界*, *吉星拱照*, and *亂世兒女*.[8](https://cpv3dev3.appasia.net/?p=4281728) It was never released theatrically in Japan, where it was broadcast on MATV.[2](https://kungfutube.info/6703)
## References
1. 《富貴兵團》, 百科知識中文網 (jendow). https://www.jendow.com.tw/wiki/%E3%80%8A%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E5%85%B5%E5%9C%98%E3%80%8B
2. 富貴兵團／The Fortune Code（1990）, KUNGFU TUBE. https://kungfutube.info/6703
3. 〖影评专栏〗1990香港电影风云（上）, 什么值得买. https://post.smzdm.com/p/aom98226/
4. 昔日這部港片驚喜滿滿群星匯聚再難重現, 壹讀. https://read01.com/4DoQ3J8.html
5. 彼此不要羨慕: [電影] 富貴兵團, suling213 blog. https://suling213.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-post_22.html
6. 《富贵兵团》在线观看简介, 喜福影视网. https://video.contentchina.com/movie/186078
7. 《富貴兵團》(1990) 電影, MovieCool. https://moviecool.asia/film/g1lkxnICd9Sj
8. 主题故事｜新年集体回忆 重温香港贺岁片历史. https://cpv3dev3.appasia.net/?p=4281728
9. 富貴兵團 電影評分與社群評論, LoopIn. https://www.loopinwithme.com/zh-TW/movie/410992
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › War action and adventure › War action films released through 1999 › Released 1963 to 1998*
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