Police Story

This is a high-energy and awesome cop flick starring Jackie Chan, who plays Hong Kong Detective Kevin Chan. He is framed for murdering a fellow cop by a drug lord and, while having to clear his name, Kevin goes on a mission to capture the druggie while, at the same time, keeping his girlfriend.

Chan displays some of his best martial arts action in this film, with incredible stunt work, daredevil jumps and butt-kicking action. It's good old-fashion fighting skills with no wires and CGI.

The plot is pretty simple, nothing too suspenseful, but it's fast-paced with a mixture of humor and drama. And, the acting is pretty good - fun stuff and dialog coming from Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin. Cheung displays the tenderness in her character while Lin displays more of a feisty personality. And, Bill Tung as the Chief is a lovable and hilarious character.

Highly recommended action film!

Grade A

Jackie Chan stars as tough police inspector Chan Ka Kui, who is determined to bring Hong Kong drug lord Chu Tao (Yuen Chor) to justice, but who finds himself having to clear his own name when he is framed for the murder of a corrupt cop. Helping Chan to put things right is Chu Tao's secretary Selina (Brigitte Lin), but her presence doesn't sit well with the inspector's jealous girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung).

Police Story is widely regarded as being amongst Jackie Chan's best films, but while it undeniably showcases some of the star's most incredible fighting and stunt-work—opening in spectacular fashion with the destruction of a hillside shanty town during a car chase, and closing with a jaw-dropping shopping mall showdown in which no pane of glass remains un- smashed—the simplistic plot and frequent Chaplin-esque comedy routines prevent it from being one of my favourites. Chan is renowned for his trademark blend of kung-fu and comedy, but in this case it seems out of place amidst the organised crime, murder and shooting.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for the eye-watering moment three men fly through the top window of a double-decker bus and hit the ground in a most painful manner.

Probably Jackie Chan's best film in the 1980s, and the one that put him on the map. The scale of this self-directed police drama is evident from the opening and closing scenes, during which a squatters' village and shopping mall are demolished. There are, clearly, differences between the original Chinese and dubbed English versions, with many of the jokes failing to make their way into the latter. The latter is also hampered by stars who sound nothing like their Chinese originals. In fact, the only thing the dubbing has corrected is the court trial—at the time, trials in colonial Hong Kong were conducted in English, while the original has this scene in Cantonese!

Nonetheless, Chan's fighting style and the martial arts choreography inject humour where possible, so non-Cantonese audiences don't miss much. It's not, after all, the dialogue that makes a Chan flick, but the action and the painful out-takes. The story is easy to follow: Chan plays an incorruptible Hong Kong detective pursuing a gangland godfather (Cho Yeun), and assigned to protect a star witness (Brigitte Lin). The action is superb from beginning to end, and there's not much time to breathe in between. It'll never get you thinking, but what an entertaining, and well strung-together, film. Arguably, this is one of the best martial arts films out there.

Jackie Chan directs this film in which he plays a policeman who, at the film's start, is part of a massive raid that captures a major crime lord. The crime lord's secretary (Brigitte Lin) will be forced to testify against her boss, so the police have Jackie keep watch over her until the trial. That doesn't sit well with Jackie's girlfriend (Maggie Cheung).

What seems like a cute romantic comedy gets a bit darker as the crime lord's henchmen set out to kill both Brigitte and Jackie. There are so many amazing action set-pieces that it's hard to pick which is the best, from cars driving full-throttle downhill through the middle of a shanty town, to Jackie using an umbrella to hang on to the outside of a double-decker bus driving at full speed, to bone-crunching jumps and falls, and a huge action sequence inside a shopping mall.

If the overall story had been a bit more engaging, this might have gone down as one of my all-time action faves. As it is, it's highly recommended for action fans or those who want to know why Jackie Chan spent two decades as one of the world's biggest superstars. This was a huge commercial hit all over Asia, and won multiple awards, making it one of the premiere films in Jackie Chan's career. It has spawned multiple sequels.

It is a great shame that Jackie Chan's eventual emergence as a fully -fledged Hollywood star did not happen much earlier when he was at his physical peak. Of course even now he is pretty amazing,but he IS around 50 now. The Jackie Chan of Police Story would have REALLY amazed the world.

Police Story may not be his best movie but it is possibly the one to watch to get an overview of his abilities and film-making style {one must not forget he directed many of his Hong Kong films}.It is a somewhat uneven but often exhilarating film which mixes cop drama,slapstick comedy and amazing action. The film features opening and ending action sequences which are amongst the best done EVER. The opening has a shoot-out in a shanty town,virtual destruction of the town by cars and Jackie hanging on to a bus with a walking stick. The climax features an incredible fight scene in a shopping mall which is a fantastic combination of martial arts,brawling and sheer destruction,and the final stunt-WOW!

In between the film concentrates more on comedy,some of which slows the pace a little but is simply delightful to watch,such as a scene where Jackie has to answer lots of telephones at the same time {cut from the slightly poor dubbed version which also has a far inferior score},a very funny courtroom scene and even the old pie-in-the-face routine! Some of the humour may annoy those wanting more action but it is as essential to an understanding of Jackie's art as his martial arts and stunts,and here he perhaps perfects his favoured 'everyman' hero,a normal guy who may have amazing martial arts skill but still has relationship problems and is as likely to lose a fight as to win it. Sadly female stars Maggie Chung and Brigite Lin simply exist to be knocked about!

By no means a perfect film,and possibly Project A,Drunken Master 2 or Dragon's Forever might be better films but if you want a sampling of Jackie doing everything he does best,than this is the film to see .It spawned 3 sequels,all of which add to and build on the first one.