Niki Larson

Jackie Chan plays a womanizing private eye known as City Hunter in this Wong Jing directed movie. The movie is played for surreal laughs part of the time. But with Wong Jing at the helm of this comic strip of a movie, that is no surprise. When you watch this movie, you realize that Jackie Chan knows how to pick stories and direct himself better than anyone else.

I saw this movie on the Media Arts DVD released in April, 1999. The Japanese manufactured DVD has subtitles in 8 languages, including English and Spanish. The aspect ratio is 2.35 and the image quality is very fine.

An attempt to create a live Anime comes up short due to careless handling but the movie delivers on a couple of action sequences which will be one of the best of all time in the comedy/martial arts genre particularly Chan's fight scenes and the hilarious live re-creation of the Street Fighter video game!Chan is very game in his perfomance but the director just tries too hard to get comical/cartoonish behaviour.The director could have done much better with much less overkill and better soundtrack.The musical number also was torture and that one I recommend you fast forward.This movie is only for die hard Chan fans and big martial arts/comedy fans who know both Anime and Hong Kong style humor......

Loosely based on a Manga,City Hunter is by no means Jackie's best on an artistic level. However,it might very well be his most sheerly entertaining.

Although the plot is similar to Under Siege,the similarities end there. City Hunter is played almost entirely for laughs and manages to be consistently funny throughout while having more inventive ideas in 20 minutes than all three Austin Powers movies put together. Director Wong Jing {the same Wong Jing who made Naked Killer and God Of Gamblers!}absolutely crams the film with sight gags and slapstick,all filmed in a bright cartoon-like manner. One sequence involving Jackie being chased around a ship while hunting for food is an absolute masterpiece of silent-movie style comedy. Many of the best gags are very quick,such as Jackie crawling out of a bag hardly bigger than his head. Some are extremely sexist though,such as the woman holding a gun and falling forward because of the combined weight of the gun and her large breasts {this happens more than once}.

Despite all this City Hunter still manages to be crammed with action scenes,except of course in this film rather than simply staging a fight in a cinema we have Jackie taking guidance from an on-screen Bruce Lee! A Streetfighter sequence where the characters morph in to various game combatants has to be seen to be believed and the end showdown between Jackie and Richard Norton,although not one of his best in terms of martial arts technique,is easily his funniest.

Add some great characters,a terrific score,and for the male viewers,some gorgeous Hong Kong 'babes',and you have 90 minutes of sheer,non-stop FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Based on a comic by Tsukasa Houjo, City Hunter was made because a Japanese fan mentioned to Jackie Chan that he looks like Ryo Saeba.

Ryo Saeba (Jackie Chan) is asked to bring back Seiko (Kumoko Goto) back to Japan. On their way back, the luxury liner carrying both gets high jacked by gangs. Ryo, Seiko and others battle the gang inside the luxury liner.

The movie is made to appeal to both Hong Kong and Japanese audience, and actor Joey Wong who was popular at the time in Japan appears as Ryo Saeba's girlfriend. Kumiko Goto who was popular in Japan at the time also appears. All star cast of Richard Norton, Leon Lai, and Chingmy Yau also appears to appeal to audiences in both countries. There's a comical scene where characters that looks like the Street Fighter appearing in fight scenes.

This movie is bit different from other Jackie Chan movies, in that body exploitation with many men and women in their swim suit appearing, and overt comedy is part of the story. But the fight scene between Richard Norton and Jackie Chan is pure Jackie Chan movie.

Many people say this is the only Jackie Chan movie that doesn't work, but it is an entertaining movie with some good action spread in between.

Now, I've read a lot of reviews on 'City Hunter' here, and I seem to see that a lot of people have started claiming how terrible, and stupid the whole movie is.

Please, grow up would you?

'City Hunter' was originally a Japanese manga, or comic book.. so wake up, and smell the coffee. This is not a conventional martial arts movie!

This movie, to a fan of the manga.. which I am.. is absolutely perfectly done. It really is like watching a live manga book, or an anime, Jackie brings the sexist, dumb, yet cool and laid back character of Saeba Ryo to life! Also the actress who plays Kaori is excellent, she brings the whole crazy, childish, yet underlining love interest for Saeba Ryo to the plot. The huge mallet she strikes Jackie with during one sequence is actually something that has appeared in the comic book, what can I say, the Japanese have a wild sense of humour!

Richard Norton is a brilliant villain figure, and his right hand man ( So to speak. ) played by Gary Daniels is threatening, powerful.. but downright hilarious, sometimes.

Weird, yet funny elements include the Bruce Lee homage in the movie theatre, the sequence involving Jackie and the estranged wives of people he has put behind bars, and DJ Soft and Hard's bizarre J-Pop style musical number. It is so downright bizarre and disturbing, it is actually hilarious! I wish that they had subtitled the song!

I should also mention this movie has a rather catchy, cheesy theme tune, watch, or should I say listen out for that one!

Best scene of the movie has to be the 'Street-Fighter II' video-game homage, Gary Daniels firing Hadoken at will! And how many people can actually say that they have seen Jackie Chan dressed up like Chun-Li? "Yasai!"

Other honorable character mentions go to Kaori's Cousin ( The guy who seems to have very loose elastic in his pants. ) the 'slightly camp' guard on the cruise ship, and also, the cool, supporting good guys to Ryo Saeba.

This is truly, like watching a live version of the 'City Hunter' manga series, a fan of the series, or Jackie Chan in general will love it, however the more serious martial arts fans, I recommend you give this one a miss.

Truly, an enjoyable movie!