#971: CHAN, Jackie: Police Story (1985)
CHAN, Jackie (Hong Kong)
Police Story [1985]
Spine #971
Blu-ray
Packed with great extras.
The Booklet
Commentary
None.
Alternate soundtrack
Police Story [1985]
Spine #971
Blu-ray
The jaw-dropping set pieces fly fast and furious in Jackie Chan's breathtakingly inventive action comedies, two smash hits that made him a worldwide icon of daredevil spectacle. The director/star/one-man stunt machine plays Ka-kui, a Hong Kong police inspector whose methods are, ahem, unorthodox; the phenomenal Maggie Cheung, in a star-making role, plays his much-put-upon girlfriend, May. Packed wall-to-wall with astoundingly acrobatic fight choreography, epic explosions, charmingly goofball slapstick, and awesomely 1980s electro soundtracks, Police Story and Police Story 2 set a new standard for rock-'em, sock-'em mayhem that established Chan as a performer of unparalleled grace and daring and would influence a generation of filmmakers, from Hong Kong to Hollywood.
100 minutes
Color
Monaural
in Cantonese
Monaural
in Cantonese
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2019
Director/Writer
Screenplay by Edward Tang and Jackie Chan.
Chan was 31 when he directed Police Story.
Born Chan Kong-sang (pronunciation), Jackie Chan was trained in a Peking Opera school and was making films from a very young age (his first IMDb credit is from 1962, when he was eight years old).
Today, Chan is one the highest-paid actors in the world.
Other films by Chan in the Collection:
The Film
An exciting action film, loaded with unbelievable stunts from start to finish, Chan never lets the momentum flag. His direction is cool, never overly flashy — but the action is always front and center.
The opening scene sets the tone for the film. A shantytown on a Hong Kong hillside is the locale for an attempted bust of the big heroin dealer. A flurry of furious action — including cars plowing through the dwellings on a steep slope, bashing onto the highway below.
Similarly, a scene involving a bus and a purloined umbrella is thrilling.
Chan always makes sure that the viewer can see that it is really him doing all these crazy things.
Criterion includes an option for the English-language dub. Don’t do it! Watch it with the original Cantonese soundtrack.
The two women — Maggie Cheung (May), in one of her first films, and the gorgeous Brigette Lin (Salina) — add a lot of humanity to the constant chaos.
Be certain to watch the credit outtakes.
Film Rating (0-60):
Film Rating (0-60):
49
The ExtrasPacked with great extras.
The Booklet
Eight-foldout poster featuring Chan on his police motorcycle and an essay by film critic Nick Pinkerton.
“Let’s not mince words: the mall brawl that concludes Jackie Chan’s 1985 film Police Story is to action cinema what Beethoven’s Fifth is to symphonic music, what Charles Dickens’s Bleak House is to the nineteenth-century novel, what Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa is to representative painting.”
Thus begins Pinkerton’s brilliant essay, which touches upon Chan’s biography and neatly details all the things one will learn from the extensive and informative extras packed herein.
Commentary
None.
Alternate soundtrack
Alternate 5.1 surround soundtracks, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio.
Dub
Alternate English-dubbed soundtracks.
Jackie Chan: My Stunts
Excerpts from a 1999 documentary codirected by and starring Chan.
This is so good. Chan shows how it’s done — including his brilliant editing skills, making nearly invisible cuts.
Edgar Wright
2017 podcast conversation between Edgar Wright and Chan.
Lots of discussion of Chan's Hollywood films versus the I'll-do-it-my-way Hong Kong films.
Lots of discussion of Chan's Hollywood films versus the I'll-do-it-my-way Hong Kong films.
Becoming Jackie
on Chan's screen persona and action-filmmaking techniques featuring author and New York Asian Film Festival cofounder Grady Hendrix.
This guy is a real Chan expert — he discusses every aspect of his filmmaking career.
The King Vs. Kings II
Excerpt from a 2017 television program reuniting Chan with the original members of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team.
A real tear-jerker. Many generations of Jackie’s stunt teams pay tribute to the then 63-year-old icon.
Jackie Chan
Undated interview, in which Chan talks about the making of this film.
Trailers
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