Police Story (1985)

This is the movie that made me remember Jackie Chan and be a longlife fan of him. At that time there were NO OTHER MOVIE in the world that could compare to this one! No real 'hollywood safety' or stuntdoubles when making this movie. Putting their real life in real danger not once, they did get hurt badly making this movie for you. Jackie Chan has never used a double in a movie.. that is just who he is. And this movie just blew me away and very few movies has done that over the decades to me ever since.

YES I said that right, not just Jackie Chan's BEST MOVIE but I really think its one of the best films every made, why?Here are my reasonsThe action is hands down some of the best you will EVER see! I think it will never be out done.The STUNTS are on a whole other level, the ending stunt Jackie does down the pole is probably one of his most dangerous and most spectacular looking stunts ever captured on film!I found the comedy hilariousThe story is probably one of Chan's most interesting, each and every scene progresses the plot, there are some funny scenes that do slow each scene down but in my opinion it works like magic as it is always balancing out the serious moments with comedy and it continually switches up until the end.One thing you have to keep in mind, do not go into this film thinking its going to be hardcore action all the way, otherwise you may be disappointed.I will say if there is anything NEGATIVE about this film, its that the difference in tones between the action and comedy is quite literally between light and dayThe action sometimes is really serious, and then the comedy is very light hearted and carefree! But I think it works perfectly, for instance,We see the funny scene of Chan having fun looking around all the corners to make it look like hes protecting the witness and then out of nowhere BOOM he gets into a crazy insane brawl in the streets, the bad guys are trying to hit him with there cars, they all have bats, one guy even gets dropped kicked into a car windshield! Will always be one of my favorite films of all time

This is my first foray into the Hong Kong world of film. I have never seen a Bruce Lee film or any of the crazy Kung Fu films you hear so much about. So I don't know if Police Story is a representation of the genre. Apparently it was vastly considered one of the best Chinese films but there are certain aspects of this movie that are just bad bad bad. Granted the film is voiced over in English which is brutally awful but even still the film feels more like a comedy until the last 15 minutes or so during the final battle. There are a few good action scenes but there are far more ridiculous comedy scenes. I do greatly respect the stunts and acrobatics in the film. I have always known Jackie Chan was a brilliant martial artist, choreographer, and stuntman and certainly he does some insane stuff in this movie. That is really what makes these films is when there is action, it is amazing what they do. Police Story has a decent, typical story but it is completely marred by the ridiculous campy scenes and yet when the credits rolled, I'll be darned if I wasn't somehow drawn into the ridiculousness. After the harrowing final fight I wanted to jump into the sequel and despite how off balance the humour was, it seemed to work.Jackie Chan co-wrote, co-directed and stars in the film proving furthermore how talented he is. He certainly has a quality about him on screen and he's versatile because he pulls off the campy comedy but turns the end into a viable vengeance fuelled action scene. He is really the only character who gets any sort of development. Brigitte Lin is downright annoying (her voice over actress doesn't help) as the witness Chan has to protect. She is the personification of a helpless damsel in distress. Maggie Cheung plays Chan's girlfriend and really despite being top billed she has a very small role that only becomes significant towards the end. They have okay chemistry considering what a small role she has. Bill Tung and Kwok-Hung Lam are ludicrous as Chan's bosses on the police force. Lam looks like he is about 14 years old and yet is barking orders like a senior cop. Again, the voice overs for both of these actors is really bad which doesn't help but even their body language and expressions just make you laugh at them which maybe is the point I don't know. Yuen Chor is decent as our villain. I wouldn't say he's very villainous but he looks the role of a high powered mob guy and he makes a decent adversary and as with any good Kung Fu movie he has a legion of thugs to fight.I think I just don't understand the genre very well. I mean this film was a huge success in China, given all sorts of awards and I see it as a lesser than B-Movie. Its just so silly and campy and ridiculous but as I said when it was all over I was morbidly entertained and found myself thinking about the silliness and how enjoyable it was. Maybe I have found a new genre to look into. Its a bizarre way of film making because to me, coming out of mainstream Hollywood, the comedy is oddly placed and the film seems to change directions multiple times. When they do a stunt, it is a huge ordeal (the pole sliding stunt when Chan apparently hurt himself quite badly) is shown three times in succession because they are so proud of it. They destroy an entire village in the first fifteen minutes and yet then they go off on a comedy tangent that is too ridiculous to even make sense. I don't know if I loved this or hated it so I have to go up the middle. I think if you're a Hong Kong film lover than this is likely exactly what you're looking for. 6/10

This is claimed to be one of the best action films of all time, but I disagree. It is probably one of Jackie's classic action films, but I would say it is far from his best. The thing that sets this apart from some of his better films is that the comedy is not as dominant in this film nor are the stunts all that spectacular. The thing that makes Jackie Chan movies stand out are not just the stunts but also the fight sequences. There was a pretty funky fight scene in a shopping center at the end but it went from fighting around escalators and all that to take a bulk of it in a small department store.The is one of the few Jackie Chan movies with a plot. He is after a big time drug lord, but is set up for murder and the evidence is destroyed. Not only that but because he is assigned to look after a female witness, his relationship is put in jeopardy, especially when the witness manipulates things to make her think he is sleeping with her.This film really has little in the way of outstanding themes. This is a Jackie Chan movie and thus when you approach it you expect it to be all action. It is not all action as it actually delves into the character's private life and the frustrations of Jackie dealing with a girlfriend that thinks he is cheating on her. Sometimes we feel sorry for Jackie because he seems to always play the character who can't hold a relationship down.The thing that sticks in my mind though is the closing credits which contain all of the outtakes. We didn't see any of the blunders, but I did notice that a lot of the production crew, during the filming, were dressed in only shorts making me think that it must be really hot in Hong Kong (it can be). It was still an enjoyable movie though not one of his best.