Jackie Chan's Police Story (Special Collector's Edition)
Police Story breaks new ground with its breathtaking fights and incredible stunt sequences. Featuring a top-notch cast, which includes multi-award winning actresses Brigitte Lin & Maggie Cheung, director Chan combines a compelling storyline of an honest cop on the run from a false murder charge with dynamic visuals and full-blooded fight action which is electrified with emotional underscoring. In the case of this particular project the price of excellence was high, with many of Jackie's elite stunt team being seriously injured during the course of principal photography.
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Last updated: October 16, 2009, 6:18 pm
Jackie Chan's Police Story (Special Collector's Edition) Cusomter reviews:
Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 55
(Mike Schorn, 2009-05-18) By general consensus, Jackie Chan has made two very great movies above others: The Legend of Drunken Master and "Police Story". "Drunken Master" is a straight kung fu film while "Police Story" is more of a balanced action movie, incorporating gunfights and car chases with the martial arts. On the whole, I like "Master" more because its story progression is easier to understand and it has fewer pauses between action scenes, but "Police Story" is no slouch, either. While it does drag a bit in the middle, the film is a myriad of death-defying stunts and physical comedy; the movie's ability to perfectly balance the two is what has made it so unforgettable for a lot of folks. The story: Ka Kaui (Chan) is a Hong Kong policeman-turned-hero after he single-handedly captures a notorious druglord (Chor Yuen, Twin Dragons), but in midst of protecting the key witness to the gangster's trial (Brigette Lin, Chungking Express) and trying to keep his girlfriend (Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love) from leaving him, he is framed for the murder of another cop and attempts to clear his name without getting arrested or killed. The plotline is one of the two major issues I have with the film: I suppose that someone well-versed in Hong Kong cinema or proficient in Cantonese/translated subtitles would have less of an issue understanding what's going on, but I needed to read a synopsis to clarify some of the things that happened in the second half of the movie. My second beef lies in the amount of non-action going on in the film: rest assured, there is no shortage of action involved, but since I cannot really translate a subtitled or dubbed performance into appreciation for acting ability, I couldn't be swayed by the film's dramatic aptitude, even though I've been told that Jackie, Brigitte, and Chor Yuen, Lam Kwok-Hung (Police Story II), Bill Tung (Rumble in the Bronx), and company do a fairly good job as far as action cinema is concerned. Of course, Chan speaks a universal language with physical comedy; as far as I'm concerned, he has surpassed his idol, Buster Keaton, in how to make people laugh via body language and has perfected the art of "funny face" and taking a fall. This is especially well on display when his on-screen girlfriend assaults him with his own birthday cake upon assuming infidelity. Still, it's the film's award-winning action content that makes it stand out, and as much as I could go on about it, nothing I write can come close to expressing my amazement at how well it has been done. For starters, the martial arts scenes are not quite as technically-accurate as Chan would develop them in the future, but nonetheless amazingly choreographed and well within Chan's top-ten list. There are about three big ones of varying lengths, but the final one-against-many brawl in the shopping mall is as beautiful and brutal as one can hope for. Of course, no matter how very good these hand-to-hand encounters are, the definite highpoints of the picture are the stunt scenes: episodes within the movie that redefine the term "stunt". Since there are too many cool instances within the film to name and my review already is pretty long, let me highlight the most breathtaking ones: 1) Jackie and the villains drive three cars downhill through a shanty village, destroying literally dozens of scrap metal and straw shacks in their way, 2) Jackie uses an umbrella to haphazardly hang onto the side of a speeding bus, 3) the near-entirety of the shopping mall fight, culminating in Chan's legendary leap onto an electric lighting structure, down which he slides a legitimate seventy-five feet before crashing through a glass ceiling. In a word, astonishing. So, is it my favorite Chan flick? - no. Is it awesome anyway? - without a doubt. Should you buy the Dragon Dynasty release with a host of cool and exclusive special features? - of course, silly.
(Charlotte Ann Hu, 2009-03-22) This is an awesome look at the young Jackie Chan. In his prime, he was amazing -- fast, funny, and overwhelmingly powerful. This film has silly, stupid scenes that Jackie has become famous for. It has the great fight scenes and choreography that Jackie Chan is not only famous for, but in many ways, a style of film that he really put on the global market and created the world's appetite for. This film is awesome, fun, silly and fabulous.
(Trevor Willsmer, 2009-01-18) You have to wonder who on Earth would grow up wanting to be one of Jackie Chan's stunt team - looking at Police Story it's pretty obvious that you'll spend more time in the hospital than on the set. These guys aren't faking getting hurt - they really are getting hurt, and you don't need to see the end credits outtakes montage of them being carried away to work that out. But then, it's not as if Jackie Chan isn't sharing their pain. If it looks like there's a real sense of danger, that's because there was. Filmed comparatively cheaply (part of it even in Chan's own house) as a reaction to Chan's disappointment with US co-production The Protector, it's a mixture of impressive action, lacklustre plotting and broad comedy - this is the kind of film where the moment you see a birthday cake you know it'll end up in someone's face (the motivation can be found in this disc's deleted scenes if you're interested). If the comedy doesn't play so well with some Western audiences, there's no such qualms with the action, whether it's the 16-minute opening shanty town action scene that sees Chan hanging onto the outside of a speeding bus by an umbrella (and saw stuntmen hospitalised after a stunt stolen by Tango and cash went visibly wrong), and inventive fight scene in and around a car or the hardcore action finale in a shopping center where escalators, display cases, mirrors, lights, clothes racks and a motor bike (don't ask where that came from) all become deadly weapons. The bill for broken glass alone must have been huge, let alone the cost in broken bones. It's not Chan's best film despite being one of his breakthrough hits, but it's certainly one of the best. Sadly Dragon Dynasty's Region 1 NTSC DVD doesn't have as good or as clean a transfer as Hong Kong Legends' UK disc: it's acceptable but there's a lot of grain and its clear that they haven't spent too much time restoring it even if the print is clear. Where it scores is in the extras - deleted scenes, alternate outtakes, and an interview with Chan, and original trailer among them.
(Bobbie L. Coleman, 2008-12-16) JACKIE CHAN'S 1 OF HIS 1ST MOVIES HAS A PLOT BUT STILL CAN TIL IT IS DONE N JAP.
(Reviewer, 2008-08-20) This is one of the best JC movies in history. Some, such as Brett Ratner who in on the DVD bonus footage, say if you only see one JC movie, this is the one to see. It may well be his best, but I enjoyed so many of his earlier movies it's hard to pick a favorite. I might pick Armour of God as the best ever (marketed as Operation Condor 2 in the US). Not much to add that hasn't been said by everyone else. I would say that you must understand this movie was made in Cantonese (so you can expect bad dubbing) and a handful of jokes may seem inappropriate to US audiences. But it's a great, raw, movie with real stunts that put JC's neck on the line. Of course he was injured in this movie, but he almost died filming Armour of God if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, I'm still a fan of JC, though I wish he had not become commercialized In the US. After the Rush Hour movies he did something I wish he never would have done. He did movies using WIRES!!! Such as in The Tuxedo for example (which was also just a ridiculous movie). That's why I don't like Jet Li. Jet Li is nothing without his fake wire stunts. JC I always admired because there were no wires - just real stunts and real danger. When he started doing movies with wires, that's when I became less of a fan. But I still think JC is THE MAN.