Police Story (1985, Jackie Chan)

"Jackie Chan is assigned to protect the secretary to an evil drugs lord who is to act as a witness to the prosecution. But is she being co-operative, or still in league with the gang?"

I love the old HK Jackie Chan films. I grew up renting and watching all of them way before he ever became famous over here due to Rush Hour because my video store owner was Chinese and was a huge fan of Chan. So, I have a lot of great memories of going through the HK Jackie Chan films and loving almost of all them. I do think that the man is a living legend and I do think that 30 years from now people will still be watching his films. I do however also think that he has burnt himself out a lot with his americian films but after watching his New Police Story a couple of months ago I still felt that certain element his earlier films had. What I am basically saying is that I am a fan of the man. I love his unique style and brand of humor. I just really dig the pre hollywood guy.

Having said all of that I was lucky enough to finally watch Police Story today. Police Story was an impossible thing for me to track down for many years and when I did find it, it was a vhs copy in horrilbe condition. Thanks to the new dvd though I was able to finally check it out for the first time and was not let down. The saying goes that Drunken Master made Jackie Chan a star, but Police Story made him a legend. The saying seems to be true.

Polcie Story has the typical "good cop vs bad guys" storyline and there is nothing really special about the plot. It's executed well enough, as well as everything else in the film. Everything is just great enough except for the stunts, which are just amazing once again. This is the film where Chan starting going all out and it clearly shows in every action scene. Everything holds no punches and everything is just violent. The stunts that go along with these scenes are also just too great and I now see why this movie is so highly regarded for it's stunt work.

Some people may not like the style of the movie or the comedy that comes and goes, but I like it. Well, I dont really like it and I find the comedy horrible but I "understand it" Always remember that these are the same people that find it beyond hilarious when a man dresses in drag. Knowing this fact makes all these random comedy scenes much more tolerable than they should be.

Not much more to write about this one. If you are a fan of Chan's stuff then you have already seen or are waiting to see it.

- ***1/2