Jackie Chan's Police Story (Special Collector's Edition)
by Jackie Chan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bill Tung, Brigitte Lin, Jackie Chan, Kwok-Hung Lam, Maggie CheungDirector: Jackie Chan
Brand: Police
Cinematographer: Yiu-Tsou Cheung
Editor: Peter Cheung
Producer: Leonard Ho
Producer: Raymond Chow
Writer: Edward Tang
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Cantonese (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Published), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-19
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Dragon Dynasty
Movie Reviews of Jackie Chan's Police Story (Special Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: Jackie Chan: The Model Officer
Summary: 4 Stars
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 2"), Bill Tung (seen in most of Chan's films), 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.
Summary of 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.This classic Jackie Chan picture opens with one of the wildest police action set pieces ever filmed, an extended chase that includes the total destruction of a hillside shanty settlement, as fleeing crooks and pursing cops crash down through it with their vehicles. Overall, however, the picture is an awkward mixture of clashing elements. At first it is a little strange seeing Chan playing it (mostly) straight in a hard-edged police thriller. The fights are all extremely ferocious and real-looking, without the lighthearted slapstick stylization that leavens his best period vehicles, like Project A, Part II. The comedy elements (especially a recurrent cake-in-the-face gag) seem to come out of nowhere; they are no longer integral to the spirit of the movie. But there are wonderful set pieces, stunts, and action scenes, including Jackie struggling to answer a dozen jangling phones at once, when he's left alone at the police station, and the all-out, glass-smashing fervor of a climactic battle royal in a shopping mall. --David Chute
Jackie Chan has become a genre unto himself, and watching Police Story, you'll understand why. The plot is minimal: Chan is a hero cop involved in a raid that goes wrong. He's assigned to guard a witness, the kingpin's attractive female secretary (Brigitte Lin). For the rest of the film, Chan's protecting himself from the secretary, from the gangsters out to silence her, and from his own jealous girlfriend (Maggie Cheung). But watching Chan for plot is like watching porno for existential themes. While most modern action films steal cues from Westerns, Chan condenses those open mesas into the dense throngs of modern Hong Kong--and tosses in Buster Keaton slapstick. For example, when the opening raid goes haywire, there's an unbelievable car chase through the steep huddle of a hillside shantytown. That's through. No roads, just shacks. Flimsy shacks. As the film progresses, Chan scales a speeding bus using an umbrella, uses cow dung as an excuse to break into some Shaolin moonwalking, and transforms an urban shopping mall into a demented gymnasium (think clothes racks, escalators, and lots of plate glass displays). Chan is amazingly versatile both physically and emotionally--and he's a secure enough star-director to let his costars shine, too. --Grant Balfour
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This classic Jackie Chan picture opens with one of the wildest police action set pieces ever filmed, an extended chase that includes the total destruction of a hillside shanty settlement, as fleeing crooks and pursing cops crash down through it with their vehicles. Overall, however, the picture is an awkward mixture of clashing elements. At first it is a little strange seeing Chan playing it (mostly) straight in a hard-edged police thriller. The fights are all extremely ferocious and real-looking, without the lighthearted slapstick stylization that leavens his best period vehicles, like Project A, Part II. The comedy elements (especially a recurrent cake-in-the-face gag) seem to come out of nowhere; they are no longer integral to the spirit of the movie. But there are wonderful set pieces, stunts, and action scenes, including Jackie struggling to answer a dozen jangling phones at once, when he's left alone at the police station, and the all-out, glass-smashing fervor of a climactic battle royal in a shopping mall. --David Chute
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