Ex-Hong Kong Mafia (Triad) Member Breaks Down 12 HK Mafia Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It?

Jimmy Tsui, a former Sun Yee On triad member in Hong Kong and Tung On in New York City's Chinatown, breaks down 12 Chinese organized-crime scenes in movies and TV shows based on realism.
Tsui breaks down the accuracy of triad activities in Hong Kong and the United States, such as the money-laundering scenes in "Rush Hour 2," with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker; "A Better Tomorrow," with Chow Yun-fat and Leslie Cheung; the human smuggling ring in "Lethal Weapon 4," with Jet Li, Mel Gibson, and Danny Glover; and the connection of triads with the nightclub and movie industries in Hong Kong in "Young and Dangerous 3." He explains the realism of triads dealing with law enforcement and other international criminal organizations, such as the Irish Mob in "The Departed," with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson; the tensions between the yakuza and the San Francisco triad in "War," with Jason Statham; the relationship between the Hong Kong police and the triads in "Infernal Affairs," starring Tony Leung and Andy Lau; and the interaction with motorcycle clubs in "Sons of Anarchy" S6E10. Tsui also looks at scenes in New York City's Chinatown, such as the rivalry between two Tong associations in "The Corruptor," with Mark Wahlberg and Chow Yun-fat; and the gambling-house scene in "Year of the Dragon." Tsui also explains the rituals and hierarchy of the triads, such as the initiation-ceremony scene in "Election" (2005) and the voting scene in "The Brothers Sun" E7, starring Michelle Yeoh.
Tsui was involved with the Sun Yee On triad and Tung On in New York City's Chinatown for over 10 years. In 1985, in New York, he was arrested and charged with robbery and homicide with a $1.5 million bail. The case was dismissed, resulting in his transition into Sun Yee On in 1988. He was involved in karaoke bars, gambling houses, and various scams. After leaving the triads, Tsui got involved with Chinatown Gang Stories, a KZbin channel organized by Mike Moy, a former gang member and New York City Police Department officer.
You can learn more about Jimmy Tsui's story here:
/ @chinatowngangstories
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Hong Kong Mafia (Triad) Member Breaks Down 12 HK Mafia Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It?

[@User-54631]

“All went home? Nobody is working?” Had me dying

[@ump1nen]

🤣🤣

[@deucey89]

I love how honest and real this guy is

[@jbranche8024]

Anyone know if he has written a book or is working on a movie? This guy seems to have some interesting stories.

[@codyyeongyf4468]

U can find more information in Chinatown gang stories

[@PatFussy069]

@@jbranche8024 he has a youtube channel he's legit

[@llkk750]

I'm glad someone finally said the departed is a remake. The original movie infernal affairs is very good and people should watch it.

[@wallythewondercorncake8657]

"finally"? It's common knowledge.

[@iggyeegii9004]

"Finally?" It's been a topic for any random movie related youtube channel for last decade. Even on Mojo Top 10 remake movies you didn't know.

[@Jeffro5564]

Nope. Common folks have zero clue that departed a remake. Only cinephiles know it’s a remake and original brilliant

[@SleepFan771]

I love how he says during the Jet Li in Lethal Weapon 4 scene that Li's character could not be that tough with kung fu at that Triad level of negotiator White Paper Fan, then later he reveals that he was actually an enforcer general Red Pole level himself, so you know Jimmy Tsui was tough and real.

[@anarchclown]

I mean the line "The last time I got shot, I got hit five times" kind of clued me in.

[@muic4880]

What he means is that white paper fan usually are the advisors, consultants to the boss, they don't fight. Whereas Jimmy's position is those who lead to fight, where intellect usually was not a prerequisite.

[@JohnDoe-ug3su]

He meant Jet Li's character should have been a Red Pole.

[@STRAYD0G187]

On another podcast. BigHead talked about how did time and no one messed with him because they knew he was in for killing a man with his bare hands.

[@SirHenryMaximo]

I'd love to watch his breakdown of Sleeping Dogs.

[@assembled1855]

I think Gamology channel can bring him.

[@thareqprimaharianto8725]

Also Sun On Yee gangs from Sleeping Dogs is a direct dupe from Sun Yee On, the gang he was actually in.

[@ProfessorSnitch]

A man with no pork bun in his hand is never a real man.

[@eldisa013]

Totally

[@Ramboost007]

It's nice they put The Departed and Infernal Affairs next to each other, since The Departed is a Hollywood adaptation of Hong Kong's Infernal Affairs. That's why Scorsese put in the Hong Kong triad storyline: it's a shoutout to the original. (In the original btw, the Hong Kong triad is buying coke from the Thai mafia, which the ex-triad guy mentions he has worked with before). Another fun fact, the two lead actors of the original Infernal Affairs (playing the equivalent of the Leo and Matt Damon characters) were supposed to do a cameo as the Hong Kong triad leaders in The Departed as another shoutout, but that didn't pan out.

[@Noscrapsinmyscrapbook]

The Departed is such a weak adaptation.

[@Jeffro5564]

@@Noscrapsinmyscrapbooksadly Americans loved it and won awards which shows how bad the departed movie is. It’s terrible and seeing mark wahlberg with weird hair is hilarious

[@makukawakami]

A Better Tomorrow mentioned! Let's go!

[@mage1413]

This guy looks OG

[@ump1nen]

11:19 Yeah the dude had high rank in his organization. Was a (426) making millions and living like there's no tomorrow his podcast appearances have been pretty hilarious

[@oliviaguyong1875]

He is

[@Byorin]

It’s fascinating that this former Triad gangster basically emphasizes that the priority is business. Of course violence is part of that at times, but it’s not good for business and quiet discretion is valuable.

[@ww3032]

I suppose that’s the reason he managed to rise up the ranks. He is level headed, objective and business minded.

[@applepie9786]

It sounded like Hong Kong triad is way less violent than USA triad that were in regular gunfights.

[@Mewzyc]

​@@applepie9786it's much much harder to get guns in HK than USA.

[@Bomber_Fish]

They actually did it. They finally made the ex triad review Triad movie scene!

[@drewdogg77]

He should rate all of the Young and Dangerous movies! All of them!

[@ronaldlee7566]

I agree👍

[@Nammer403]

I was thinking the same

[@dumisatonyjohnson8145]

There’s only two of them, right? All I know is the sequel included Man Chi Leung

[@mzaa6787]

"That's bullshit. Would never happen. Impossible. I give it a 5." Lol Love this guy 👌

[@Maazzzo]

Thanks for the video!

[@josephfung3058]

so glad that jimmy reviewed election by johnnie to, probably one of the most realistic portrayals of modern hong kong organized crime in film. i highly recommend anyone interested in this topic to watch election and the sequel. a little easter egg in there is during the blood letting ceremony, the guy reciting the stuff is actually a real-life wo shing wo red pole/enforcer named "four eyes." in the beginning of the second movie, there is a narration that tells the founding of the wo triads (oldest triad group) in hong kong under the wo hop to banner.

[@dvaunt3516]

Thank you Jimmy!

[@Markynaz]

I watched both Infernal Affairs and the Departed, and I have to say, the Departed is nothing more than a cheap superficial imitation of the former. IA had tons of cultural and religious influences embedded in the film, and it showed a living breathing Hong Kong, both in the light and in the dark. The Departed was simply not even remotely close to the original.

[@darkiori87]

The should have had more Chow yun-fat and shaw brothers movies. Good video though.

[@ronaldlee7566]

Tnx for awesome breakdown of Triad scenes in movies

[@CRYSTALNEWSREVIEWFILM]

I LOVE YOUR HONEST REVIEW ! GOOD JOB !!

[@murrayscott9546]

Thank you for your insight - and to all others involved in this production. One World.

[@jai9587]

My niche in films is Hong Kong crime films so this episode felt like it was made for me. Thank you!

[@UncleBuZ]

"they all went home?" lmao. I like this guy

[@jeffreychang3166]

it’s funny bc it makes sense to say it like that in cantonese.

[@UncleBuZ]

@@jeffreychang3166 Im not commenting on grammar. Dude's funny. 但係多謝你教我一種我自己識嘅語言

[@minh1197]

"now after the HIV or the whatever..." Lol. I love his candor.

[@pauliedibbs9028]

Shoutout 2 Chinatown Gang Stories!

[@thealcohologist8624]

Im so glad they showed Election, it's a great movie

[@LoveYouFor10000Years]

probably the best of all shown

[@ayanami808]

You think he knows Ricky tan?

[@AlistairVigier1]

Everyone knows Ricky Tan!

[@flywan]

@@AlistairVigier1 He needs a pork bun first

[@chodagreat7876]

Little Ricky! ​@@AlistairVigier1

[@michellerosenfeld1651]

I've watched a lot of your 'how crime works' videos and would love to have people from different countries tell their stories and talk with each other. For example, gang members talking about US prisons having a conversation with former convicts from other countries and discuss differences and possible system changes

[@donnytonny730]

probably not feasible but would love to see this guy play sleeping dogs

[@PatFussy069]

he's done a video like this about sleeping dogs on his channel im pretty sure

[@mrpurple2306]

Sleeping Dogs might be his favourite game ;)

[@rum8121]

Cool great vid

[@philcassidy3823]

The first video with him had some really cool real life footage of the triads. Can't find it anywhere on KZbin

[@canuckscountry]

Was hoping he would’ve done more review on the Young and Dangerous franchise and Election

[@hugobranca]

Finally a real gangster. Glad for him he is out though.

[@michaelloi9562]

Thanks for Big Head Jimmy

[@tt90001]

呢位先生你好、十分尊敬、亦十分佩服你有咁樣嘅知識同學識、英雄本色同古惑仔都係我最愛嘅黑幫電影、杜琪峰嘅黑社會古仔最後面嗰幕有啲頂唔順、不過都幾鐘意😂。一定會subscripe你同俾like

[@DavidAndersonKirk]

Can’t wait to see this reuploaded again in a week 😂

[@Shaz-Daz]

THE DEPORTED 😆😆😆😆😆

[@kongpeter7352]

I like bighead very much ! hope ya do more video with him

[@LanceMcCarthy]

To get true score, subtract 5, multiply by 2 😁. Great interview!

[@xXFRESH510Xx]

Very cool to see Big Head on here

[@svanimir666]

This kind of thing is my favorite. i just love firsthand stories from people that lived that life..and not just ilegal stuff..even legal ocupqtions etc.

[@Silver-Lyfe]

Man Jimmy look like my uncle back in the day with the stache 😂😂

[@valiannt1]

Great

[@4shizzal]

I want to hear him talk about The Killer and Hard Boiled

[@gingerfoxxy1]

I love to listen to all these former Chinese gang members, Big Head, Kenny, Kid Jai and all of you, because you tell things the way they were without all the drama and bragging and making yourselves look so important and you are not living in the past. You tell us about the past and try to explain it as much as you can where you can relate to it if you were there! Keep up the great stories! This is not from a newspaper clipping. They are telling you when it was live action! Looking forward to more videos! Thank you Big Head! Excellent video!

[@themydnighthour]

Late 80s early 90s were the major times for Triad gang violence in Ctown.

[@rkb929]

19:28 yakuza film? what year is this? cant see it on the internet

[@pedrodea.m.g8767]

Where is the “next one” video?

[@splitprissm9339]

Please, comment on the dark army group in Mr Robot.

[@samirehman7189]

It would have been nice to see clips from DareDevil TV Show and Iron Fist

[@jonathanyuen8820]

Wheres the next video?

[@bohemianversace]

As soon as you put on a suit as a gangster you’re cool. Tell me I’m wrong.

[@Silver-Lyfe]

Chinese was doing business with the Italian mobs back in the day. These are facts

[@Leo-gh7nz]

Pretty crazy the CCP was stricter about cracking down on organized crime than the Brits.

[@user-uq6vl7vn7m]

sometimes comrade can get job down，right？

[@erikdayne5429]

I mean let’s be honest, who hasn’t spent some time in a Hong Kong mafia, am I right?

[@benle983]

I like during the sons of anarchy clip the triad boss is dressed the same as him

[@limexlme]

SUGGESTION FOR FUTURE VIDEOS: PROFESSIONAL DJ ANALYZES DJING AND CLUBBING SCENES IN MOVIES AND SERIES

[@jeremyspink4079]

That amount of money laundering in an Australian casino is ametuer hour

[@MeiinUK]

What is the name of the Rush Hour 2's lady that was fighting ?..... She looks so familiar...

[@MeiinUK]

He said "no such a thing as Irish triads".... that is because in Ireland, they have actual armies. Italian has mafia. Ireland has ex-militaries. Japan has Yakuza. Chinese has triads. Wow.. what a time to be alive ! Russia.... I forgot what the Russian ones are.

[@submarinewahoo238]

Iirc it's Zhang Ziyi

[@MK-tt5xy]

Fun fact: KZbin is owned by a big company called Google. You should check one of their other products called a search engine.

[@MeiinUK]

@@MK-tt5xy : I did, I couldn't tell which actress it was... there's a few listed in their listing... so... I thought she was somebody else. Maybe not.

[@bubbygold7234]

Anyone know which movie Tony Leung was in that they showed?

[@RighteousBeardArts]

Infernal Affairs

[@InHerMajestiesDefense]

I love how the man is the horse's mouth for anything triad.

[@kojiattwood]

Infernal Affairs>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>The Departed

[@edothebad]

React to the SLEEPING DOGS please!🎉

[@emiliog.4432]

Gerald Posner wrote a great book on the Asian heroin trade back in the before times. The good old days.

[@LIbertyorDeath419]

Warlords of Crime.

[@user-uq6vl7vn7m]

at that time the best heroin is from Southeast Asia.they get brand in heroin.even today you can see they put the old logo in heroin，that means high quality products.

[@Vmeen08]

Young and Dangerous and Teddy Boy Comics are based on real life since most of the story are based on the artists Triad Friends.

[@SpareThoughts-ff8on]

he was SON ON YEE?? I bet he knew Wei Shen back in the day. RIP Jackie Ma 🙏🙏

[@booceyfejan7667]

Like this guy

[@rickfalcon5572]

If he’d spent more time as a Triad in New York, he might of learned about an Irish American group from Boston (which ain’t that far) lead by James Bulger. The guy who inspired The Departed. If you ask me, that’s the closest I know of to Irish Mafia.

[@genocidus]

irish mafia were the prominent gangs in the early 1900s but got pushed out by the sicilians, also if you read Murder Machine in the 70s there was an irish mafia gang out of hells kitchen that worked with the Gambinos, they were small fry though which is maybe why they werent on this guys radar

[@grithusl6299]

Love Watching Jimmy break down Triad and Gangs back in the day. Rarely you hear these tales from Asians

[@deadronin47]

Takeshi Kitano ( actor is amazing) Outrage Beyond outrage Outrage coda Should be on this list three of the Triad based movies

[@TheUsername217]

5:14 they also made this into a video game called Sleeping Dogs

[@eternalbeing3339]

Shot 5 times? The most gangster chinese ever.

[@bubblefish17]

10:13 No wonder in 80s Hong Kong crime movies are so good. :)

[@Deyeezus]

I think I remember seeing something about NYPD would kind of let Chinatown run itself because the gangs had kept everything well organized, would pay them well, and because of the language barrier

[@pplla7821]

I know this guy, who it’s my friend’s wife’s uncle, he was in Chinatown in nyc; a gang member in the 80s. Now he is a Miami detective 🤷‍♂️ weird how life works out

[@LIbertyorDeath419]

I like and respect Big Head and learn a lot from his interviews. But he left out a few things: 1) Guns were often used in Hong Kong by Mainland Chinese gangs like the Big Circle Boys. On occasion, they even used the old potato masher hand grenades against the HK cops. But most of the shootings were during the triad wars were in Macau. 2) The West Coast Chinese gangs still often got into shootouts after the Golden Dragon Massacre. Especially during the Wah Ching -Wo Hop To triad war in the late '80s/early '90s. 3) The Thai triads were often offshoots of the Hong Kong societies like the 14K, Sun Yee On, Fuk Yee Hing, etc.

[@anitajohnson4780]

Have him play Sleeping Dogs!

[@Anon26535]

Do Sleeping Dogs next.

[@williamtheconjurer]

I really like this guy as well.

[@saturnv2419]

The joke is now real, there is an actual gang member rating gang movies!

[@murrayscott9546]

Experience + intelligence = knowledge. If you don't have one and two, you'll never get three. Lucky if you get out with your life.

[@ItsAugustus]

This guy needs to react to Sleeping Dogs.

[@commendao1]

Alvin leung?

[@cosimodemedici1530]

So triads do their Monday laundry in their casinos?

[@Kittyfinds]

Make him react to Kung fu Hustle 😂

[@MrOhtrueeee]

Certainly possible to launder that kind of money in a casino. Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia was notorious for this. Chinese organised crime laundered millions through it and Crown did it willingly until they got busted (had to pay a fine) lol

[@will-i-am-not]

Ex Triad! I understood once in you could not leave the triad

[@student7052]

Wow , movies controlled by mafia triads.... thought only Steph'en Chow's movies are

[@weberismail1076]

It was, lots of stories, rumors & mad things at that time. Some parents even tell their children not to get into the entertainment industry....... Nowadays, they are still involved in the high-end escort industry.

[@modgal]

music industry too

[@elai3147]

corruptor very underrated movie

[@djsapien3448]

The Departed is a ripoff because Warner Brothers bought the rights to adapt the first Infernal Affairs film only but they ended up incorporating all three films of the trilogy into one.😂

[@user-rh6ru5oz2o]

No, the largest triad in HK is the HK Police Force

[@brucegreen5781]

Big Head🐲🔴💰💯

[@chiefkeith9522]

the triads mafia looks soft and nice, they don't look violent like other gangs

[@Andrew-he2pb]

You sure he is former???

[@student7052]

so Jacky Chan has to pay monthly fees to mafias too ?

[@LIbertyorDeath419]

He had triad connections like fellow actor and triad member, Jimmy Wang Yu. These days JC has the backing of the CCP which is the biggest triad of them all.

[@user-ye6lv2ke2e]

Jet li was basically controlled by the mafia before he went to Hollywood

[@LIbertyorDeath419]

@@user-ye6lv2ke2e Jet Li worked with Charles Heung who was the leader of the See Yee On triad. He owned Win's Company which produced tons of Hong Kong classics.

[@doublep1980]

All the big Hong Kong movie studios have Triad connections. In the early 80's, Jackie Chan's contract ended and he wanted to sign with a different studio, which of course his old studio didn't like. There were threats and Jackie relocated to the US for a time. In the end, the 2 Triads who owned the 2 studios worked out a deal and he could return. Nowadays, Jackie Chan is working for the CCP in Beijing, who is more powerful than all Triads and is a ''devoted Communist''.

[@patricia5570]

😂😂😂❤

[@LowEndMarauder]

Sons of Anarchy is impossibly corny. I couldn't get through one episode of that trash.

[@sairadha674]

What are you talking about collusion between Triads and HK police in 80s? I know cops were kungfu fighting the triads in 80s because I saw so many Jackie, Moon lee and Sibelle hu movies. You know nothing. 🤓🥺😓😫😭😭😭😭

[@GPIA]

Could have used subtitles. Good interview though.

[@mattwilkinson5858]

He isn’t that hard to understand

[@deekay13]

I understood him just fine.

[@louiechin2937]

big head!!

[@lollydolly6004]

after young and dangerous came out, every Asian wanted to be gangster