Saturday, June 6, 2020

Junesploitation 2020 Day 6: Jackie Chan!

Fight first. Apologize later!

73 comments:

  1. 'HAIL THE HERO WITH THE WILL OF STEEL' FOURWAY!

    THE FEARLESS HYENA (1979, A.Prime, TOMBARTMAN454@GMAIL.COM: 6/18/2015)

    In "Jacky" Chan's directorial debut he plays Shing Lung, a mentally challenged youth with a gift for unorthodox kung-fu styles taught by his too-strict grandfather. Naturally Shing shows off defeating foes at a fake martial school arts by playing dumb (or a sexy lady! :-O), which brings doom upon Lung and his grandpa. Chan uses the traditional kung-fu revenge movie template (along with "Superman: The Movie" music cues and Bugs Bunny sound effects) to alternate between Bruce Lee-type technique and the reluctant clown persona he'd perfect throughout the 80's and beyond. Uneven, goofy and predictable, but I defy anyone to watch the last 10 minutes without grinning as Jackie goofs his way against a Chinese Lee Van Cleef-lookalike mofo. 4 Crippled Unicorns (out of 5)

    WHEELS ON MEALS (1984, PLEX, Gabby Ferro: 6/15/2015)
    Samo Hung directs this Spain-set tale of Chinese street vendors (Jackie Chan and Biao Yuen) with a cutting-edge food truck (because the 1980's) that fall for Sylvia (Lola Forner), a hottie who only pretends to be a prostitute to make a living stealing wallets. Hung, as a wannabe private eye, rounds the heroic trio that protect Sylvia from goons trying to kidnap her. "Wheels on Meals" keeps topping itself with one spectacular car/fighting stunt after another. It all builds to a one-on-one duel between Jackie and Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez (with Keith "Revenge of the Ninja" Vitale as a baddie wingman) that delivers what genre fans live for. Silly fun with the right amount of badass sprinkled throughout. 4 Mitsubishi Sports Sedans (out of 5)

    POLICE STORY 1 & 2 (1985/88, Criterion Blu-ray, Mac McEntire: 6/23/2018)
    Though Jackie's direction has improved (except for persistent edge warps in the anamorphic framing) the man isn't afraid to push boundaries in this surprisingly intense action flick. The simple plot (a secretary can implicate and put away her corrupt criminal boss if Detective Chan Ka-Kui can keep her alive and hidden until the trial) is a passable excuse to stage jaw-dropping stunts, including a scene that was lifted directly for "Tango & Cash's" opening. I could lose Chan's whiny girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung), but her physical abuse at the hands of the big bad (Yuen Chor) pushes our hero's righteous rage into overdrive. By the time all the glass at a shopping center is shattered, runaway bikes crash and an exploding chandelier finale comes about, "Police Story" has earned its place among Jackie Chan's finest work. 5 Conveniently Placed Mitsubishi Logos (out of 5)

    "Police Story 2" opens with a highlight reel of the best action scenes from the prequel. Big mistake, because nothing in this sequel comes close to matching its predecessor. Det. Chan is demoted to street cop, but he quits the force after goons working for Mr. Chu Tao (the villain from "PS1") harass May and her relatives. But threats of bombings in crowded places unless a $10-20 million ransom is paid force Ka-Kui's bosses to have him rejoin the force (to May's rightful anger). An argument can be made "PS2" shows cops doing actual police work (with ass-kicking female detectives as interrogators!), but the personality and memorable baddies from before are gone. Still delivers fireworks that don't burn as brightly as before. 3 Yellow-Truck Mitsubishi Convoys (out of 5)

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  2. Not sure if you knew this or not, but the reasoning behind the nonsensical title “Wheels On Meals” was superstition. Golden Harvest had a couple of huge flops, one was Megaforce, starting with the letter M and they wanted to change their luck. I’ve just always thought that this was an insanely arbitrary way to title a film.

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    1. Aren't all movie titles an arbitrary combo of what's available ("Twilight; X" because that's the source material's name), what the production can legally afford ("Tyler Perry's X") and filmmaker intent? In "Wheels on Meals'" case the odd juxtaposition captures the oddity of a Chinese film production shot in Spain starring Chinese, Spaniard and European actors.

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    2. Agreed, a lot of moving parts on that one. I would love to see that strategy employed again sometime. Plane On The Snakes? Me On Lean? So many confusing possibilities.

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    3. I love Wheels on Meals so, so much. That fight at the end, amazing.

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  3. Dragons Forever (1988, Sammi Hung)

    Every time I watch a Jackie Chan movie, my first question is how? The acrobatics seem impossible. And watching Chan acrobaticly interact with Hung, Biao and Wah (whose cigar was also performing death defying feats) was delightful - there was a vaudville Three Stooges quality to it. I may have lost track of the plot, but I think Yuen Wah was trying to poison Gotham's water supply? I didn't really buy Chan as a shady lawyer either, but it doesn't really matter, you're there for the fights and acrobatics and it's over flowing.

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  4. The Prisoner AKA Island of Fire (1990)

    Jackie Chan serves mostly in a supporting role, so you may not get your fix with this one. That said, I really liked this and would go well for Prison! day. The plot follows three unrelated stories that all connect for a batshit ending.

    The Protector (1985)
    Now that's more like it. Two cops with a tendency to bend the rules are tasked with finding a drug lord's daughter - much fighting ensues. Chan has so many "shut the fuck up" expressions in this. Fantastic. Danny Aiello is also great - as always - although he's quite the creep.

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  5. I'll be diving into Police Story (1985) for the first time today, super excited!

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    1. Since it's widely available through Criterion channels I expect this and its sequel will be quite popular today.

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  6. POLICE STORY (1985)

    By the time the conclusion was near, I had lost the narrative thread of Police Story a little. But that did not matter because the point of the film is the action.

    There are some incredible set-pieces in Police Story. I thought the shanty town destruction would not be topped, but I was proved wrong in a heavenly way. That mall battle is beyond words. I loved how one of those stunts was shown three times, and it could have played ten more times without me complaining about it.

    Only being familiar with Maggie Cheung in dramatic roles for Wong Kar-Wai, it is was a little jolting to see her throw a cake in Jackie Chan's face. One has to start an acting career somehow.

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    1. I love to tell people "Jackie Chan falls through a mall."

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  7. The Drunken Master (1978, Yuen Woo-ping)

    Watching Drunken Master is like watching an intricate ballet with poo jokes. The best kind of ballet. But all I really want to do is write an essay on the body hair placement in this movie. It's fascinating.

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    1. And I can't stop thinking about pairing Drunken Master with the Lighthouse. Just the older teaching the other to drink. But only one ends in insanity.

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  8. Supercop (English dub) AKA Police Story 3 AKA The one with the helicopter stunt

    This was a great opportunity to go digging through my Dragon Dynasty DVD’s. Jackie’s Chan Ka Kui or Kevin in the English dub is back in action. He is pretty much universally acknowledged as a Supercop to the point that he is referred to as such probably about 15 times in the first 30 minutes of the movie. Michelle Yeoh is along for the ride this time and although it’s not fully discussed, presumably as a regular cop. It’s great to see a male-female buddy cop movie from this era (1992) that actually gives the leading lady a lot to do. Michelle Yeoh kicks a metric ton of ass in this to near Rothrockian proportions. Chan has to go undercover to infiltrate a heroin operation and Yeoh is posing as his sister. Despite the first half being a little slower paced for a Police Story entry, there are still a few decent set pieces. The final third however is a flat out balls to the wall stunt spectacular. You’ve got Jackie’s She-Chan-igans (copyright pending), cars, trains, helicopters and a sweet motorcycle stunt actually performed by Yeoh that took a few tries which can be seen in the credits/outtakes sequence. Another portion features Jackie dangling from a moving helicopter’s rope ladder above the city that is a must-see. The English version features a hip hop soundtrack of the era (2pac, Warren G etc) peppered in throughout the movie which still feels a little odd to me. There is also a cover of Kung Fu Fighting by Tom Jones and a title track by Devo which you’re not treated to until the credits are rolling. To the uninitiated, give it a shot, as the last third is heavy action royalty. This might be the best overall movie of the Police Story series, although the first one does feature about a dozen stuntmen being properly murdered in the name of their art.

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    1. Wish Criterion had included this instead of "Police Story 2" (or added it as a bonus extra feature). :-(

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    2. Not gonna lie...”she-Chan-igans” made my whole day.

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  10. Rumble in the Bronx (1995):

    First rewatch since getting the Blu. Probably my favorite Chan film.


    City Hunter (1993):

    A fun comic book slapstick either helped or hurt (depending on your perspective) by Prime's ridiculous English dub. I thought it helped.

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    1. I considered City Hunter as a possible second watch, Rob. The awful dubbing and ridiculous story was too much after ten minutes. I am clearly not the audience for it.

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    2. I can see that. I was just in the mood to give myself over to it, so it worked. Doubt I’ll revisit it.

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  11. Wheels on Meals (1984)
    Really fantastic film. It's disappointing to see Jackie's reputation become classified by some as just goofy/funny when his fights and physicality are so good too.

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  12. Armour of God (Lung hing foo dai) (1986, dir. Jackie Chan)

    The fight scenes are fun (though not as numerous as one would hope), the plot incidental and the comedy cringe-inducing. So in short, it's a Jackie Chan movie.

    Fun fact: The actress who plays the love interest in this (and Wheels on Meals) celebrates her 60th birthday today! I guess Patrick knows what he's doing.

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  13. Police Story (1985)

    Jackie Chan quits the force when he sees it acting corruptly. He also E.Honda-punches an old man in the stomach. 10/10

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    1. Points for the E. Honda reference.

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    2. Maybe the Capcom programmers saw the movie and put the 1,000-hand slap on Honda as an homage... unless the Mitsubishi folks objected. :-P Seriously, if you watch enough Jackie Chan movies set in contemporary years the Mitsubishi plugs become ubiquitous.

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  14. Miracles: The Canton Godfather (1989) 88 Films Blu ray

    Based on Capra's 1933 movie Lady for a Day and Capra's 1961 remake Pocketful of Miracles, Chan (who also directs) stars as an innocent and somewhat naive newcomer to Hong Kong (in the 1930s) who becomes a mob boss by way of miscommunication.

    It's funny and sweet. Anita Mui lights up the screen, the costumes are fantastic, and the fight scenes are always are fantastic. A lot of Jackie Chan movies have heart, but this one is on another level.

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  15. Police Story 2 (1988)

    Sooooooooo...maybe this wasn’t the ideal time to watch a movie where Jackie Chan is a cop who ignores the rules and goes after the bad guys with no regard for the tremendous amount of collateral damage he causes. Oops.

    Chan’s vendetta against every pane of glass in China continues unabated as he hunts down a mad bomber. Unfortunately this one is pretty draggy and other than a fun Donkey Kong-inspired fight sequence it’s fairly light on the action that made the first movie so much fun. Disappointing.

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  16. HEART OF THE DRAGON (1985) on Amazon Prime

    If you are looking for Jackie Chan action, this is not the best option. It is more of a drama about brothers. There are not any serious action scenes until around 70 minutes in. AIthough I found the film engaging overall, the blending of the fight scenes with the drama is awkward.

    Jackie Chan plays a cop whose brother is mentally-disabled. The most interesting aspect of the film is the casting of Sammo Hung to play the brother. Hung somehow makes it work. A lot of the first hour the viewer follows along with his adventures with his child friends, who frequently get him into trouble. Chan’s character loves his brother but is frustrated by having to put his life on hold to take care of him. Events happen to force Chan’s cop to make a difficult choice.

    I have a complicated relationship with dubbing. Sometimes it is a necessary evil because it is the only way to access a film, but I am generally never happy with it. With a film like Heart of the Dragon, the dubbing is a big disservice. I believe the Chinese version would have more emotion than the actors doing the English dub are able to express. It also difficult to gauge Jackie Chan as a dramatic actor with the dubbing.

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  17. Mr. Nice Guy (1997, dir. Sammo Hung) (Original Version)

    This was pretty awesome. Non-stop action from start to finish including some incredibly dangerous stunts where Jackie scampers around a live table-saw and under the wheels of a giant dump truck. Having said that, don't play a drinking game based around how many women get punched in the face; you will die.

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  18. THE FEARLESS HYENA (1979)
    Jackie plays a mischief-maker whose martial arts school runs afoul of the local crimelord. This was Jackie’s directorial debut. As director, his style is as basic as it gets, but that’s intentional. He wants us not to think about where the camera is, and instead take in every detail of the fight and/or slapstick choreography. Not a lot of substance, but entertaining.

    30 days of HELLO MARY LOU: PROM NIGHT II, day 6
    When you watch a movie over and over, you start to notice all the little things. Our heroine Vicki is into art and painting, which I guess explains the wholly eccentric paintings in her bedroom. It doesn’t explain why she has a full-size carousel horse in her bedroom, though, except just to freak out the audience. The first time the horse comes to life, it’s menacing, but the second time it does, Vicki (possessed by Mary Lou) rides is suggestively. This is another metaphor for Vicki fighting feelings of repression.



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  19. Police Story 3: Supercop (1992)

    It's Jackie Chan vs Michelle Yeoh vs evil drug dealers vs other cops vs a platoon of soldiers vs cars vs motorcycles vs helicopters vs Jackie Chan's girlfriend. The chemistry between the two leads is top notch, the comedy beats are adorable and the final multi-vehicle chase sequence/train fight scene is absolutely bonkers.

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  20. Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

    My first time actually watching this one and I loved it! Pretty ridiculous (the dub was pretty wild haha) but it’s pretty light hearted and really fun. Also, very 90s in the best way. Oh and I just can’t help but think, is there really any more likable movie star than Jackie Chan? He’s just the best.

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  21. Drunken Master (1978) - First time watch. I'd heard a lot about this, and I'm just so grateful for F This Movie! finally giving me the reason I needed to check it out. I don't know enough about Kung Fu to understand one "style" over another, but Jackie Chan is just awesome here, and it's always refreshing to see a positive, pro-alcoholism message mixed in with all the fighting. I also find it interesting that there's so much going on, the drunken style of the title doesn't even show up until 3/4 of the way into the movie!

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  22. Criterion Channel has a bunch of Jackie Chan films currently available to stream including Police Story 1 and 2 which both include special features.

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  23. Supercop (1992)

    I remember being carded when I tried to see this in theaters in 1996 so watching it feels like I'm undercover!

    Obviously Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh are great and the stunts are amazing, but can we talk about Panther for a second? He steals this movie, right?

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  24. Dragons Forever (1988, dir. Sammon Hung)

    I've watched a lot of Jackie Chan movies in the last few weeks. This (a first time watch today) is one of the most enjoyable that I've seen. It's got comedy, it's got romance, it's got the usual amazing action. My favorite new-to-me movie of #Junesploitation so far.

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  25. Project A (1983) Eureka Blu Ray

    Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Sammo Hung vs. Pirates. Also a great clock tower scene.

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  26. Police Story (1985, dir. Jackie Chan)

    Jackie Chan is almost entirely new to me, so I decided to start with a classic. It was absolutely incredible. Given the generic title I had no idea what to expect, but it had a solid and simple enough cop-plot with plenty of room for action, comedy, and great character work. The stunt work was out of this world. Jackie making most movie stars look like lazy bums.

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  27. Wheels on Meals(1984)

    Screwball greatness.

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  28. Police Story (1985)

    What can I say that hasn't already been said here? Jackie doing the moonwalk after stepping in cow dung is one of the most delightful moments in cinema history.

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  29. The Young Master (1980)

    No one takes a punch, or kick, like Jackie Chan, and the final fight in this is a prime example of that. It was a bit strange to watch a movie where he doesn't do his own dubbing.

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  30. The Medallion (2003)

    Pros: 30 seconds of Scott Adkins, Claire Forlani is adorable

    Cons: Everything else?

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  32. The Fearless Hyena (1979). Live action cartoon with the standard "You killed my grandfather!" plot. But Jackie's prop fu is so inventive and the whole thing is so much fun. No Drunken Master but still pretty good. This might be my favorite Junesploitation so far. A few minutes in, when Jackie first fights the three goofy students at the martial arts school, my eight year old wandered into the room. By the end of the fight, Jackie had a new fan. I was planning on a rewatch of Police Story later tonight, but that may be a little too adult.. but I think he'd like Half a Loaf of Kung Fu!

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  33. Spiritual Kung Fu (1978, dir. Wei Lo)

    Not my favorite Jackie Chan movie, but it's clever and fun.

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  34. Meals on Wheels (1984, dir. Sammo Hung)

    The letterboxd reviews of this movie are so positive I started to wonder if Jackie had two movies with this title and I watched the wrong one. No, I'm just the outlier. I didn't care for the comedy and there's very little action until the end. Not for me.

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  35. Armour of God (1986)

    Also called Operation Condor 2: Armour of God, Jackie Chan stars as Asian Hawk, one-time pop star now soldier of fortune!

    The entire sequence with all the monks is probably in my top 5 favorite Jackie Chan fight sequences.

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  36. The Drunken Master (1978, Yuen Woo-ping)

    In a movie packed with funny moments and incredible fights, I think my favorite part was Jackie solo demonstrating the techniques of the 8 drunken gods

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  37. Drunken Master (1978)

    One of the great things about Jackie Chan is that he is not afraid to get his ass kicked and be made a fool of. He is the star but he tries to give everyone else equal weight. That is until he's had enough...alcohol. I do love the idea that wine is his spinach. I can't believe this was 42 years ago. What a great category! So excited to be diving into the JC(coincidence?) pool, today.

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  38. Personal Tailor (2013)

    Jackie Chan was in exactly 5 seconds of this movie and it shows. I DIDN'T KNOW! Shame on me for not doing better research.

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  39. Painted Faces (1988) Netflix

    Jackie Chan is not in this movie exactly, nor is it specifically about him. Child and teenage versions of Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Chan (mostly referred to here by the nickname Big Nose) appear and Hung and Chan get a little bit of focus. There is a slightly greater focus on Master Yu (played by Sammo Hung), their instructor in the Peking Opera School where The Seven Little Fortunes developed many of their skills.

    Really though the movie seems to be about the changing times in Hong Kong as these opera troupes become less relevant and those brought up in this way of life often struggle to earn a living, as illustrated by both Yu himself and his "brother" Wah (referred to by Yu's students as Uncle Wah. With this ultimately as the films only real conflict it's maybe odd that towards the end Wah is the character used to illustrate it as he is largely a background character throughout. That it worked at all for me is partly due to having developed a fondness for Ching-Ying Lam after having seen him in Eastern Condors and The Prodigal Son last Junesploitation.

    For Jackie Chan day though, this was good viewing if for no other reason to get an idea, even if it's maybe fictionalized a bit, of what Chan and the others endured in order to hone their acrobatic and acting skills. It's a reminder that even with the natural talent Jackie Chan likely had, one doesn't get to that level without a lifetime of dedication, and often painful training and motivation.

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  40. Police Story (1985)

    I'm so glad I am the first person to watch this, today. Anyway, it's great. It was nice to get so much of Jackie Chan(just saying Jackie sounds wrong) after so little in the last movie. The stunts are beyond extraordinary. We talk about certain guys being the best action stars ever but come on. It really isn't that close.

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  41. First Strike (1996)

    This movie has everything! Ladder fight! Stilt fight! Underwater fight! Sharks! Koalas! Koala underwear! Jackie Chan booty!

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  42. My Lucky Stars (1985)

    Somehow, this came out the same year as Police Story. Jackie Chan is in the first 10 minutes but then disappears for over half the movie. During that time, we are introduced to 5 knuckleheads who are actually pretty funny. Their humor doesn't always work but it carries the movie long enough for JC to return. Then he has a great scene in a Japanese haunted house. It turned out to be nice '85 double feature.

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  43. Day 6

    A Jackie Chan Triple Feature

    Police Story 3: Supercop
    I had put off watching this for not wanting to watch the Dimension version. I found a stream of the original version with english subtitles. The movie was good not great. The first two Police Story's are close to perfect. There is a certain goofy charm that runs through the first two that wasn't there enough in Supercop. The stunts and the action are outrageous as they should be but it just felt lesser, more going through the motions until the last 30 minutes or so. The biggest miss from this was the catchy Hero theme that is sung by Jackie at the end of both movies. It just felt odd not hearing it.

    My Lucky Stars
    Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Bolo Yeung in a movie together, what could go wrong?? Just about everything in this disjointed movie. Jackie is no more than an extended cameo and when he does show up the movie gets that energy. Sammo is good enough as the defacto hero. Bolo shows up for two minutes to beat the wrong guy up in a dentist office. The movie goes from great action, to odd screwball comedy, to back to heavy action. None of it works, especially a joke about gang raping a woman. The movie just kinda ends and then the end credits look like ad banners hocking stuff. Weird movie, wished it would've worked.

    The Young Master
    This is the movie I guess I was waiting for all day. Full on Jackie Chan kickass along with full on Jackie Chan screwball comedy. The last hour of the movie is nothing but fight scenes, with each one changing up what we had seen prior. Fights with benches, swords, dresses. The last fight is brutal, never ending fight between Jackie and the Big Bad Master. This movie was awesome in every fucking way. The movie taught me to not drink from a stream if a kid is peeing into it and that if you get your ass beat, just get real mad, and throw yourself repeatedly into the ground!!

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  44. Rumble in the Bronx (1995, Stanley Tong)

    If anyone has a lead on where I can get one of those sleeveless adult onesies, please drop the link below.

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    1. Time machine to the mid-90's, coming right up. ;-)

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  45. Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)

    Blind buy in the recent Twilight Time (RIP) sale, hoooly shit - what an absolute blast. Great choreography, tons of fun humor, and an exceptionally fucking strange, and plot relevant, cat fighting a cobra scene. Chan proves he's got both the martial arts and physical comedy chops early on in his career. Totally understand why Tarantino was hyping this one up on the recent pure cinema episode. The fact that it comes on a Blu also containing Drunken Master is a deal of almost unfair proportions.

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  46. After recently watching the first 2 instalments, the kids and I watched Rush Hour 3 (2007). Although all 3 films have similar beats and jokes, I thought the series delivered incredibly consistent enjoyment over all 3 movies, without feeling repetitive. As soon as the "outtakes" were over, the kids asked if we could watch Rush Hour 4. "Someday...maybe someday".

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  47. Who Am I? (1998)

    I had this one on VHS as a kid. Still love it.

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  48. Drunken Master (1978)

    Anytime Yuen Siu-tien shows up in a movie, that movie is awesome. He's like the Kung Fu John Cazale. I wish this had more fighting.*

    *Sarcasm

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  49. Police Story (1985)

    Any action sequence in this movie would be the highlight of any other action movie. My favorite was the group fight around the two cars. Ouch!

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  50. Cannonball Run II (1984)

    I hadn't seen Burt Reynolds on my screen in a few days so I threw this one one. I had seen parts of this when I was young. I love the first one and I loved this one, as well. It silly, stupid fun. Jackie Chan is in a small roll but he's fantastic as Jaws' sidekick. Everybody in this huge ensemble cast was having a good time and so did I.

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  51. The Young Master (1980, dir. Jackie Chan)

    Midway between the traditional wuxia of a Shaw Brothers film and something more modern, visceral, and comedic, The Young Master feels like a bit of an unrefined directorial effort from Jackie, who still seems to be finding his footing behind the camera. The film features more crash zooms than a Fulci film, and a couple of the setpieces are unnecessarily undercranked to speed up the action. Still, the fight scenes (including a duel with a policeman’s son who favors using a bench as a weapon and the incredibly grueling final battle with Hwang In-shik) are jaw-dropping. Currently available to stream on the Criterion Channel.

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  52. The Foreigner (2019) - Not an awful lot of the fun martial arts he is known for, but a nice dramatic turn from Jackie. He really made us feel the weight of his loss here. A good performance by Pierce Brosnan too. A fine diversion on Netflix.

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  53. Jackie Chan's First Strike (1996)

    A fun spy adventure with some good set pieces. It's short, it's funny and it has koalas, sharks and ladder brawls. I've always felt this one was a tad underrated.

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  54. Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

    A Jackie Chan who doesn't want any trouble is the most dangerous Jackie Chan.

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  55. Dragons Forever (1988)

    The last of the movies with Chan, Biao, and Hung together and possibly their best. Other Seven Little Fortunes members Yuen Wah, and Corey Yuen are also involved acting and behind the scenes respectively. Honestly though I might equally enjoy this movie if it was just a Sammo Hung romantic comedy.

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  56. Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow

    1978, dir. Yuen Woo-Ping

    I found this on YouTube, but in browsing the comments, Frank Dahlmeyer mentions there is a Blu from the now defunct Twilight Time. I bought it immediately. Thanks Frank.

    Fucking shit this is the movie I needed this week. Seriously, what a blast. This will hopefully be my only cheat for this month in regards to only watching stuff I haven’t seen - because it turns out I have absolutely seen title. Most of the titles I’ve picked out for the month have been mentioned on the last few Pure Cinema episodes (thanks Elric and Brian), this title specifically from the Kung Fu with Tarantino episode. I grew up watching a loooot of kung fu. My buddy Torino would always bring bootleg VHS tapes over that his uncle send him (Vietnam vet, travelled across Asia, settled on being ex-pat in Hong Kong). Every cassette he sent back home was like a mystical artifact, labels with 2-4 languages, the immediate snap into the movie with no trailers or FBI warnings, having to make up names for each film because the title cards were often edited out. We’d watch and then immediately go film our own version in the backyard. So yeah, Kung Fu is my nostalgia porn.

    Right from the beginning, seeing Jackie Chan so young, and showing off a much different form than I’ve seen from his western films, with the groovy soundtrack, put the biggest smile on my face. The rest of the story is fairly pedestrian - warring schools, Chan’s Cinderella-esque journey to being the best, double crosses, a surprise outsider, the rapturous moment where the hero coalesces all his skills and knowledge into something new and game changing, etc.

    I realized early on that I had, in fact, already seen this movie but since it’s been almost thirty years, I let it slide because I was already having so much goddam fun. The specific scene is when the old master catches all the mosquitos buzzing around his head while he’s trying to nap, and then he beats the hell out of his landlord’s goons with an old rice bowl and some chopsticks. It’s all of the usual goofy slapstick you expect from a Jackie Chan movie but with the insane direction and choreography from the guy who did the fight choreography for The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, and Kill Bill. Tarantino was absolutely right about this one being a crowd pleaser.

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  57. Police Story (1985)

    Seems like a popular choice today. Pretty incredible. So glad that Criterion has an entire collection of Jackie Chan movies to stream. Really want to watch them all over the next few weeks, I've only seen a couple Jackie Chan movies but love them. The stunts are incredible, he's really like no other movie star I've seen, combining physical skill and comedy.

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  58. Police Story (1985)
    This was my first Jackie Chan movie as an adult (I probably caught something on TV as a kid but have no recollection of it), so I went for something obvious and likely to showcase both his physical and comedy skills. I don't think I expected the action sequences to be this impressive and large-scale. Pretty incredible indeed!

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  59. Shanghai Noon (2000)
    I enjoyed Shanghai Noon when I saw it in the theater, but the sequel, Shanghai Knights, was so wooden that it changed my opinion of the first. We watched this one because my partner is new to Jackie Chan, and I thought that this might be a good place to start, and it was. Shanghai Noon is light on its feet, the ratio of Chan to Wilson is heavily tilted to Chan, and the fights are pretty decent. I was already a Chan fan, but now my Bonnie is too.

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