Shanghai Surprise | | Cast : | Sean Penn, Madonna | | Director : | Jim Goddard | | Studio : | Lions Gate Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | August 29, 1986 | | DVD Released Date : | July 22, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 20, 2005 | | Summary | Disappointing because the stars ARE stars | Content
 | Madonna has proven time and again that she's a talented actress, from the sly fun of "Desperately Seeking Susan" to her phenomenal performance in "Evita", and of course Sean Penn's an Oscar winner. Although this is one of their earlier films - WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???? This movie isn't fun, just dumb, from the blase plot to the far-fetched premise of Madonna as a missionary. This talented couple is utterly wasted on this flick and the lousy script is more of a tragedy than the Penns' failed marriage. Ugh. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 21, 2005 | | Summary | give it a chance | Content
| i saw this movie in the theater when i was a kid (the place was completely empty). i haven't seen it in ages since but i just got the dvd and i didn't remember it being so good. what an enjoyable film.
madonna and sean are both sexy and adorable. the plot is full of fun twists and the ending is so uplifting. i don't think it's anything oscar-worthy but it does what a good movie should do: it entertains.
along with desperately seeking susan and who's that girl, this is one of madonna's most natural performances. she doesn't overpower the movie the way she has in all her post-league of their own work (that power only worked to her advantage in evita).
also, she's not as mannered and affected here as she is in later films. the only stiff part is in the beginning (where one newspaper reviewer said she seemed to be reading off cue cards) where gloria is treating glendon with distaste. i guess it's hard for madonna to play "stiff" without seeming like she's acting.
but the rest of her performance is very natural. her smile at the end when sean takes her arm and makes her wave to faraday is extraordinary, on par with the acting of a good romantic comedy actress like sandra bullock or julia roberts.
i can see why sean and madonna wanted to do this. it had the potential to be well-received (though period screwball comedies/love stories were an outdated genre after 1975) but i think the media can make or break you. the media was really fed up with the poison penns and that's why they trashed this movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 08, 2005 | | Summary | It's sorta okay | Content
| I admit when I first saw this movie, I was mesmorized by Madonna. The acting is over-the-top and the plot a little far-fetched, but the movie doesn't deserve the reputation it has. Madonna has done worse, see The Next Best Thing or Swept Away, if you doubt me.
Madonna plays Gloria Tatlock, a missionary (!?!?!) in Shanghai in 1938. Sean Penn plays Glenn Waysy, a glow-in-the-dark tie salesman (?!?!?!) trying to leave China back for the United States. They get together trying to find lost opium.
The plot is far-fetched like I said earlier, and there is nothing "good" about the film, but... it doesn't merit the disdain it has. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 03, 2004 | | Summary | This is a decent film- not sure why it's so hated. | Content
| As I sat down to watch this film, I was braced for the worst but instead found myself rather pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I'm not sure why this is considered such a terrible movie. My only real complaint is that none of the characters are particularly believable, but I'm not sure how seriously this film was ever meant to be taken. The plot, while a little weak at times, is interesting enough; the songs George Harrison wrote for the film are great; and I especially enjoyed Sean Penn's performance of Glendon Wasey. I loved the part at the end where he's making Gloria wave! I think Madonna was good in this film too but I don't believe acting is her first talent and to be fair, she wasn't given as much to work with in this film as Sean was. All in all, it was fairly enjoyable 93 minutes of my time. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 14, 2004 | | Summary | The Lousiest Gong in Town | Content
| The ONLY reason this film is worth more than gum stuck to your shoe is because of the late George Harrison. Some great songs were written and used in this film...some bad ones too!
Where else can you find the one time Beatle crooning in 1937 China. Great songs like 'The Hottest Gong in Town' and 'Zig Zag' were unfortunately placed in this awful use of poor talent. Although he re-recorded it the next year, 'Someplace Else' is another gem done for the film. It's too bad musical talent was wasted on one song called 'Shanghi Surprise'.
A movie like this could kill your career. Sometimes I wish it had. |
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