CELLULOID BURNING

This is a very special Top 10 Tuesday because….well…it’s Friday. Today marks the release of Jackie Chan’s latest paycheck American movie, The Spy Next Door. This list is meant to both celebrate the career of the greatest worldwide action icon and as a passionate plea to the movie going public to not waste your hard earned/borrowed/stolen money. The sad truth is that that Jackie is in the autumn of his career. The man is 55 years old and while he can still do more than anyone half his age, he’s 20-30 years past his prime. While Chan may have physically aged, his body of work hasn’t. He has starred in, choreographed and directed some of the greatest martial arts movies ever committed to celluloid. In honor of that, here are my Top 10 Jackie Chan Movies.

First off, I am a huge Jackie Chan fan and own all of his movies (even crap like The Tuxedo and The Medallion). I even bought an all region dvd player so that I could track down and buy the best versions of each film. So, going through and putting together a list of his 10 best movies was extremely difficult. I based my list on an overall enjoyment of the film itself (not just it’s fight scenes) and tried to balance that with the level of achievement the movie represents to Chan as a martial artist, actor and/or director.

Let the countdown begin:

10. Rush Hour 2 (2001) – Rush Hour 2 is, hands down, Chan’s best American movie and the peak of his stateside “buddy” movies. This second installment in the series is superior to its predecessor (and Chan’s other movies for the US market) in every way. Chan and Chris Tucker possess an undeniable chemistry that goes beyond words… mostly out of necessity since they have difficulty understanding each other in real life. What really makes the movie work is the balance between the two leads. Tucker is the “fish out of water” in Hong Kong this time around and it helps smooth some of his rougher comedic/insulting edge. This, coupled with Chan throwing insults of his own back at Tucker make for hilarious exchanges (particularly the “I’ll bitch-slap you back to Africa” line). While Rush Hour 2 may be one of Chan’s weaker fighting movies, it is still one of his most entertaining.

9. Gorgeous (1999) – This film is an interesting anomaly in the body of Chan’s work. Gorgeous was made in Hong Kong right after the first Rush Hour. Most of his diehard fans like to pretend that the movie doesn’t exist because it strays so far from the “Jackie Chan Style” they have grown accustomed to over the years. Gorgeous represents Chan’s first, and possibly, his best attempt at doing more than just “action.” The movie is a full on romantic-comedy with martial arts thrown in. The end result is a bit uneven yet fun and somewhat amusing. All credit goes to stars Jackie Chan and Shu Qi, who manage to almost pull it off. Shu in particular, possesses a charm a likability on screen that the eye is naturally drawn to. Also, in the film, Chan play around with some of the themes he preaches in real life: preserving natural resources through recycling and fighting for sport not vengeance. This being a Jackie Chan movie, the fights are still important and they are pretty darn good. Check out the final fight sequence between him and his stunt man Brad Allen, which is probably Chan’s last (close to) great one-on-one duel.

8. Who Am I? (1998) – Who Am I? is the last truly great Jackie Chan movie and arguably the best of his International features (Rumble in the Bronx, First Strike, Mr. Nice Guy). This film, above the others in this period, is the best balance of action, stunt work and martial arts. While it’s here that Chan does begin to show his age a bit, he still manages to produce a fun and enjoyable action film. The first hour is a bit on the long side (I actually prefer the American Edit of this movie over the International which has 30 min at the front of the movie that is borderline useless), but once the punches do fly they’re packaged in creative and innovative fight scenes. Of particular note is the final fight scene that his both well choreographed and paced but also extremely entertaining and funny.

7. Armour of God II (1991) – Armor of God II was released in the United States as Operation Condor (even more strange is that the first Armour of God was released as Operation Condor 2). This movie is one of Chan’s most enjoyable films. He plays an Indiana Jones-esque adventurer on the hunt for some missing Nazi gold. Everywhere and in between are exotic locals, wonderfully imaginative action choreography and excellent stunt work. It is the little details, though, that make this movie great. Armour of God II is the last movie Chan directed from beginning to end and contain fun little touches that other directors didn’t bother to take the time to do. There is the amusing little business about how he pops gum in his mouth that is carried over from the original. Along with that, this movie also highlights Chan’s comedic talents. There is a gag in the desert with Chan and his three thirsty female companions that would have given Billy Wilder a giggle.

6. Supercop (1992) – Also known as Police Story 3: Supercop is the movie that truly brought Jackie Chan to another level. At this point in his career, Chan had already proved himself as a screen fighter and as daredevil stunt actor. Supercop is the film that best combined and used these talents to the limit. This film can be considered Chan’s first “buddy movie” (which quickly became an overused trend), staring along side Michelle Yeoh. Yeoh, who was retirement at this time, was wooed back by director Stanely Tong. The pair go way back, both came up as stuntmen, with Tong, often doubling for Yeoh on dangerous stunts. The trio of Chan, Tong and Yeoh worked hard together, constantly pushing and competing to outdo one another. Tong, even as the director, would not ask either lead to do a stunt until he did it for them first. The friendship and rivalry produced an action film unlike any other at the time. It contained stunts that no other star or director even attempted to match. Safety wires or not, who else would hang onto a rope ladder attached to a helicopter and fly around the city or jump a motorcycle onto a moving train after only a day of riding lessons?

5. Wheels on Meals (1984) – Wheels on Meals is from the period of time (the 80’s) where Jackie Chan was at his physical peak. If you haven’t seen a Chan movie from this era, get ready to pick your jaw up off the ground because he will move faster than you’re seen him before and with more grace and athleticism than should be possible. The highlight of the movie is a one-on-one fight with kickboxing legend Benny “The Jet” Urquidez. Chan has spoken often that he considers this to be his greatest on screen fight and that Urquidez is the one opponent who pushed him, physically to the limit. Gone are the use of “props,” which Chan liked (and still likes) to insert into his choreography. It is all hand to hand here and both men fight with a speed, power and ferocity unseen since the Bruce Lee days. There is an amazing kick from Urquidez over Chan’s head that blows out a row of candles (the only special effect used here was raw talent). Also note Urquidez’ swollen face toward the end of the fight, a result of him insisting Chan really hit him with full force for the big knockout blow. It is a true joy to see two such physically gifted individuals performing with and against each other.

4. Project A (1984) – Project A is the best and most balanced of the Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao collaborations. The three are at the peak of their physical prowess and share the screen time and fights better than any of their movies before or after. The instinctual timing they have from having grown up together in the Peking Opera school is on full display here. The highlight, of course being the three of them against 80’s Hong Kong cinema bad guy, Dick Wei. The real hidden delight of this movie, however, are the wonderfully conceived comedic bits sprinkled throughout. It was during this period where Chan truly was the auteur of his films. He would write, direct, choreograph and star in each movie. He had total control and an unlimited budget to do whatever he wanted. He used this power and control to create some of the most dazzling stunts and actions set pieces, including the homage to the famous Buster Keaton clock tower fall and the bicycle chase seen through a maze of alleys as seen below.

3. Miracles (1989) – Every auteur has a passion project. A project that’s very personal and ends up revealing much about the inner workings of the director who made it. These passion projects also usually end up bombing at the box office and altering the the auteur’s cinematic direction thereafter. Miracles, also sometimes entitled Mr. Canton and Lady Rose or Black Dragon, is Jackie Chan’s passion project. He considers it his favorite movie, and for good reason. Miracles came about when a lot of critics and people in the industry were belittling Chan’s direction. They argued that he did great action scenes but not much else. Chan set out to prove the naysayers wrong with an epic of Citizen Kane proportions. Does he succeed? I say yes. Miracles is a hidden gem that even a lot of diehards don’t know much about. It’s a screwball period piece that is a remake of Frank Capra’s Lady for a Day (which Capra later remade as Pocket Full of Miracles). This classical Hollywood film lineage spilled over into the style of the movie. For the production, Chan imported copious amounts of camera equipment and technicians never before seen or used at the time in Hong Kong. He used them to created elaborate tracking shots and complex long takes (the outtakes at the end of the film show Chan operating the Steadycam himself). There was a detail and love in every single shot that he was never afforded again. He took the time to do little details like how he flipped his hat onto his head and how he throws it across the room onto a hat rack every time he enters a room (I don’t even want to know how many takes and days were spent to get them all right). With the lack of success on this movie and in a way to thank and payback Golden Harvest (his production company), Chan moved into a new phase in his career where he relinquished a lot of control and started working with different directors (often 3 or 4 at a time), making more internationally friendly event movies. Even so, Miracles is still a high-water mark in Jackie Chan’s directing career.

2. Drunken Master 2 (1994) – Drunken Master 2 is a return to form in many many ways for Jackie Chan. It was his first period piece martial arts piece for the better part of a decade. It was his first time playing the folk hero Wong Fei-Hong since his original Drunken Master. Lastly it was also Chan’s last return to doing a solely martial arts themed movie (at that time Chan was mostly making martial arts action movies that were focusing more and more on big stunt/action set pieces). The end result is a pretty good movie (with some pacing issues) with jaw dropping fight sequences. This movie has always been a fan favorite mostly because of its amusing (and very cult-ish) premise of Jackie Chan becoming a better fighter the more alcohol he consumes. The film culminates in an action spectacle starting with Chan and others storming their way inside a factory, fighting their way through all the factory workers and then taking on the two bosses, including the much heralded dual between Chan and his bodyguard Ken Lo. The fight really does live up to the hype. Chan was set on fire multiple times and does a fall into a pit of burning coals. This is truly one of the great fights ever in the history of cinema.

1. Police Story (1985) – It’s difficult to describe how revolutionary Police Story was for the career of Jackie Chan and the history of martial arts cinema. At the time in Hong Kong, there were two kinds of action movies: cop/gangster movies and period martial arts movies. Police Story successfully merged the two disparate genres by taking martial arts out of the past and making it work in the present. It may sound simple today as these films are very common, but in its day Police Story redefined the action cop genre and spawned a host of imitators (including Chan’s later Rush Hour movies). For Chan, he was in a point in his career where he needed a hit. He had just returned from America after a series of unsuccessful attempts at English language films: The Big Brawl, Cannonball Run 1 & 2 and The Protector. Chan resolved after this experience to focus on the Asian market place. He put all his time and effort into making this movie. The production of Police Story is the stuff of legend. The action sequences were so difficult and dangerous that they had a revolving door of stunt men going in and out of the hospital. He was forced to create his own specialized unit (which exists to this day) to whom he vowed to personally pay for the hospitalization and care of any stunt actor hurt under his employ. The result is a movie jam packed with some of the most amazing and dangerous stunt-work ever. The best example is the opening action sequence with the gun fight and car chase through the shanty town. This scene was latter ripped off borrowed by Michael Bay for Bad Boys 2. As you can see, the version from Police Story is much more vibrant and visceral than the lifeless version Bad Boys 2 could do (even with 100 times the budget and modern technology). There are stuntmen sprinkled throughout the Police Story version, giving the shanty town a sense of life, while the Bad Boys 2 version was completely barren causing far less tension and drama in the scene.

Bad Boys 2

Police Story