Le Marin des mers de Chine

In their incredibly dangerous stunts and amazing body control, Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton are surely kindred spirits. In this film Chan falls from a clock tower, slowed only by a few sheets of fabric, and lands on his head, and it seems a miracle that it didn't kill or paralyze him. And he did that stunt several times(!), which on its own makes the film worth seeing. Just imagine if Harold Lloyd had actually fallen during Safety Last!. As for the rest of it, it's as zany as you might expect, with a plot that's not always easy to follow laced with martial arts sequences and juvenile humor. It's a fun one to watch and wonder what's coming next though, and Chan is, as always, irrepressible.

I once watched Jackie on a documentary mention how a specific audience likes his Hong Kong films and a specific audience likes his American films but they rarely overlap. I belong to the former group, and believe this movie is the perfect example why.

The story does not twist or turn much but does have a certain charm and separates itself from any average "beat anyone up" kung fu film - even if a few fights happen for the stupidest reasons. It's all about a group of soldiers put together to get rid of some pirates in nearby waters which is always in competition with the local police force for funding. But the film really entertains through the use of Jackie's stunts and gags. From cycling through the cramped streets of Hong Kong to grenade training in the police academy, you bound to sometimes be in a state of awe - or at least chuckle a few times.

It's amazing some of the stunts Jackie pulled off, including falling from a very high clocktower. If your interested in Jackie's films, or want a high quality kung-fu film then I recommend you have a look at 'Project A'.

Okay, let's judge this film overall, and not just by the fighting, which is obviously the best thing about this film.

The sets are very good, and you can tell that this was a big-budget film for the time. You get the feel of being in colonial turn-of-the-century Hong Kong. The costumes add to this feel too, not to mention the fact that a lot of the buildings used actually ARE Hong Kong landmarks from all those years ago. On top of this, there's the fact that the film ages less because it is a period piece. Police Story might as well be called, "Eighties Story." Acting - well, although I watched this movie in Chinese with English subtitles, and with English dubbing, I cannot find anything wrong with the acting. It's all done pretty well, with the obvious quirks that make Hong Kong movie acting what it is: strained facial expressions, a lot of pointing, and a lot of laughing that is laughable itself.

Sound - not very good, but when you consider that all the sound had to be re-dubbed, it makes sense, and allow for more leniency.

The plot is not wafer-thin, as has happened in earlier Chan movies, but this isn't Pi. To be honest, it's about as complicated as a Jackie Chan movie is ever going to get, and if the only reason for watching a kung-fu movie is plot, you're an idiot, anyway.

Right, then - action - and boy oh boy, this film is full of incredible action. I have over sixty Jackie Chan films in my collection, so I know what I'm talking about when analysing his films. Project A ranks among the best of his films, when looking at the action. There are so many fights staged, and so many pay-offs. You get to see Jackie, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biu fighting each other, and the bad guys in such a fast, furious, and creative way that this is an action movie you'll never forget. Dick Wei is muscular and mean as the head of the pirates, and is a formidable foe, who forces the three brothers to come together to dispose of him.

As usual, the stunts would not have been allowed in Britain or America, but hey, this is Kong Kong, so let's blow these guys up, and watch them flip and fly across the set for our own satisfaction.

Overall, this is a top notch film, with wonderfully edited fights, excellent creativity, and superb Chanesque humour along the way. It's a showpiece of the efforts of the three special ones of Hong Kong cinema in the eighties, and any fan of Hong Kong cinema should only miss this at their peril.

Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and Samo Heung were all at the height of their considerable powers when this film was made and it shows. This blows just about every other martial arts film out of the water faster than any of San Pao's pirates ever could. With humour, suspense and a half decent plot thrown in to add to the blistering action I found this to be the 'three dragons' most accessible film to a western audience. The humour translates well and three sequences stand out as some of the best action scenes ever put to film the three being Jackie's homage to 'Safety Last' by falling from the clock tower, the bonkers bike chase through increasingly narrow city streets, and the final showdown defeat of San Pao by Jackie, Yuen Biao and Samo (with a little help from Mars and some wayward grenades). This is the pinnacle of Jackie Chans stunt career and is near impossible to better and I doubt that anyone will ever reach this level of stunt excellence again. If you only ever see one Jackie Chan film see this one as it is truly unique.

Boy, that lead-in stinks of a rotting cliche, doesn't it? But I really do enjoy this movie. Every time it hits cable, I watch it.

Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung play wonderfully off of each other, even in the dubbed version. The story is realistic enough to be compelling, and the action sequences are superb. My personal favorite is the battle on the bicycles in the narrow back alleys.

The one thing that has made Mr. Chan my favorite martial arts actor is the way his movies infuse humor and slapstick into serious fight scenes, and Project A, in my opinion, does that better than any of his other films.

Highly recommended.