Police Story (1985 film)

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Police Story
Hanyu Pinyin
Jǐngchá Gùshì
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingGing2 Caat3 Gu3 Si6
Directed byJackie ChanWritten byJackie Chan
Edward TangStarringJackie Chan
Brigitte Lin
Maggie CheungCinematographyCheung Yiu ChoEdited byPeter CheungMusic byMichael Lai
Tang Siu Lam
Production
company
Distributed byGolden Harvest
Release date
  • 14 December 1985 (1985-12-14)
Running time
100 minutesCountryHong KongLanguagesCantonese
EnglishBox officeUS$18.7 million (est.)

Police Story (

Chan Ka-Kui, alongside Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung
. In the film, Ka-Kui helps arrest a drug lord, but must clear his own name after being accused of murder.

Chan began work on the film after a disappointing experience working with

stunts performed by Chan and his stunt team, including car chases, Chan hanging off a speeding bus, parkour-like acrobatics, and a shopping mall
fight with shattering glass panes, leading up to Chan sliding down a pole with exploding electric lights as he falls to the ground. Much of the film was created surrounding the action sequences, which Chan and the filmmakers developed via linear progression.

Police Story was a blockbuster success in Asia and Europe, grossing an estimated US$18,724,000 (equivalent to $53,000,000 in 2023) at the box office. It won the Best Film award at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards. According to Chan's autobiography, he considers Police Story his best action film. Since its release, Police Story has been frequently listed as one of the greatest action films of all time. It is also considered one of the best martial arts movies of all time.[4] [5] In 2016, Police Story was voted the fifth best action movie of all time in Time Out's poll of film critics, directors, actors and stunt performers.[6] Chan's final action sequence in the mall is considered one of the greatest stunts in the history of action cinema.[7] A 4K restoration of the film had a limited theatrical release in North America on 1 February 2019, along with its sequel Police Story 2.[8]

Plot

The

Chan Ka-Kui (or Kevin Chan in some versions) is part of the operation, along with undercover officers stationed in a shantytown. However, the criminals spot the officers and the shootout ensues between the two groups. Civilians either flee the town or are caught in the crossfire. Chu Tao and his men successfully flee in their car by driving through the town but crash it immediately after going downhill and escape on foot. Ka-Kui persists in his chase on foot as Chu Tao and his men attempt to escape in a double-decker bus. Ka-Kui manages to get in front of the bus and bring it to a halt by threatening to shoot the driver with his service revolver
.

Later, Ka-Kui is reprimanded by Chief Inspector Raymond Li for letting the operation get out of hand but subsequently presented to the media as a model police officer. His next assignment is to protect Chu Tao's secretary, Salina Fong, who is pressured to testify in court about Chu Tao's illegal activities. At first, Salina insists that she does not require protection, but Ka-Kui has a fellow policeman break into her apartment and pose as a knife-wielding assassin. Ka-Kui and Salina fight him off and she agrees to be more cooperative. The two drive away in her car, but are ambushed by Chu Tao's actual hitmen, who are scared away when Salina threatens them with Ka-Kui's revolver.

When Ka-Kui arrives at his apartment with Salina, he is surprised to find his girlfriend, May, and her friends throwing a birthday party for him, but May becomes angry with Ka-Kui after seeing Salina only wearing lingerie and Ka-Kui's jacket. Ka-Kui eventually explains to May that Salina is a witness, but only after much bumbling and embarrassment. While he tries to apologize to May, Salina discovers that the attack at her apartment was a sham, and decides to record over her taped confession about working for Chu Tao. She sneaks away while Ka-Kui is sleeping and is not present at the trial the next day, which ends with failure for the prosecution because of Salina's absence and tampering with the recording.

Though Chu Tao is released on bail, he wants revenge against Ka-Kui. He captures Salina and threatens to kill her to ensure her silence. Ka-Kui finds and frees her, but is attacked by several of Chu Tao's men. When fellow Police Inspector Man arrives (Kam Hing Ying), he reveals that he had been working with Chu Tao and thus Salina's capture was merely a ruse to trap Ka-Kui. To Man's grim surprise, the plan is also to include Tao's men killing him with Kui's gun to frame him for murder. Now a fugitive cop killer, Ka-Kui must try to catch Chu Tao and clear his name, taking the Chief Inspector as a hostage in order to escape custody, though he soon lets his co-operative superior go free.

Salina goes to Chu Tao's office at a shopping mall to download incriminating data from Chu Tao's computer system. Chu Tao notices this and he and his men rush to the shopping mall to intervene. Ka-Kui and May, who are monitoring Chu Tao's activities, follow. In the ensuing carnage, Ka-Kui defeats all of Chu Tao's henchmen (and destroys a good portion of the mall). The briefcase containing the computer data falls to the bottom floor of the mall, but Chu Tao and his men retrieves it after attacking May. Ka-Kui, at the top floor, slides down a pole wrapped in light bulbs to the bottom floor and catches Chu, but the rest of the police force quickly arrives and prevent him from further taking matters into his own hands. Salina attests to them that Danny Chu killed Sergeant Man and evidence of his crimes is in the briefcase. Chu's defense attorney shows up and accuses the police of misconduct, prompting a beating from an at-wit's-end Ka-Kui, who goes on to extend the beating to Chu Tao before being stopped by his friends.

Cast

  • Chan Ka-Kui
    ("Jackie" in second, third, and fourth English dubs)
  • Brigitte Lin as Salina Fong, Chu Tao's secretary aka Selina Fong (all English dubs) (as Brigette Lin)
  • Maggie Cheung as May, Ka-Kui's Girlfriend
  • Chor Yuen as Chu Tao, Crime Lord aka Tom Koo (first and second English dubs) / Joe Chu (third and fourth English dubs)
  • Charlie Cho as John Ko, gangster aka John Chow (second English dub)
  • Fung Hark-On
    as Danny Chu Ko / Danny Koo (first and second English dubs)
  • Lam Kwok-Hung
    as Chief Inspector Raymond Li
  • Bill Tung as Inspector "Uncle" Bill Chou / Inspector Wong (first and second English dubs) / Inspector George (third and fourth English dubs)
  • Kam Hing Yin as Inspector Man / Sergeant Mao (first and second English dubs) / Sergeant Ming (third and fourth English dubs)
  • Mars
    as Kim
  • Lau Chi-wing as Lawyer Cheung
  • Tai Po as Lee / Snake Eyes (first and second English dubs) / Sharkey (third and fourth English dubs)
  • Kent Tong as Tak / Tom / Francis Tong (Japanese release version)
  • Wan Fat as Mad Wing / Jacknife (1st and 2nd English dubs) / Crazy Wing (third English dub) / Psycho Wing (fourth English dub)
  • Bowie Wu as Sha Tau Kok police officer
  • Clarence Fok as Photographer
  • Money Lo as TV reporter

Jackie Chan stunt team

  • Chan Tat-kwong
  • Johnny Cheung
  • Danny Chow
  • Fung Hak-on
  • Benny Lai
  • Rocky Lai
  • Sam Wong
  • Ben Lam
  • Chris Li
  • Mars
  • Pang Hiu-sang
  • Paul Wong

Production

The film contained many large-scale action scenes, including an opening sequence featuring a car chase through a shanty town, Chan dangling from a speeding double-decker bus before stopping it with his service revolver, and a climactic fight scene in a shopping mall. This final scene earned the film the nickname "Glass Story" by the crew, due to the huge number of panes of sugar glass that were broken. During a stunt in this last scene, in which Chan slides down a pole from several stories up, the lights covering the pole had heated it considerably, resulting in Chan suffering second-degree burns, particularly to his hands, as well as a back injury and dislocation of his pelvis upon landing.[9]

Edward Tang, the screenwriter for this film and many others, said that he did not write this film the way normal Hollywood screenwriters work. Chan instructed Tang to structure the film around a list of props and locations, e.g. a shopping mall, a village, a bus, etc. In contrast to this production, most Hollywood films rely on the creativity of the screenwriters to create the plot elements of a film, which are then forwarded to the director for actual filming.

In an interview with Chan, he discusses the stunt of sliding down the pole covered with lights. As with the clock tower stunt from

Buddhist prayer paper, which he put in his trousers before finally performing the stunt.[10]

Stuntman Blackie Ko doubled for Chan during a motorcycle stunt in which his character drives through glass towards a hitman.[citation needed] In the double decker bus scene, Jackie used a metal umbrella because a wooden one kept slipping when he tried to hang onto the bus.

Box office

The film grossed

Seoul City.[18]

In Europe, the film sold 245,452 tickets in France (released 1987),

Police Story 3: Supercop, with both films well-received among Austin audiences at the time.[21] The film later had a limited US release in 2019, grossing US$113,164.[22]

Market Year Box office gross revenue Ticket sales Ref
Local currency
US dollars
Hong Kong 1985 HK$26,626,760 $3,418,069 1,800,000 (est.) [11][23][24]
Taiwan 1985 NT$20,549,670 $578,048 312,245 [13][14][25]
Japan 1985 ¥1,900,000,000 $11,300,000 1,700,000 (est.) [16][26][27]
France 1987 €908,200 (est.) $1,048,426 (est.) 245,452 [19][28]
Seoul City
) 		1988 ₩769,308,000 (est.) $1,051,732 (est.) 192,327 [29][30][18]
Hungary 1988 €931,400 (est.) $1,101,381 (est.) 846,700 [20][28]
Romania 1996 €26,300 (est.) $33,393 (est.) 65,700 [20][28]
United States
(limited release) 		2019 US$113,164 $113,164 12,560 (est.) [22][31]
Worldwide est. US$18,724,000 (equivalent to $53,000,000 in 2023) 5,174,984 (est.)

Critical reception

Upon release, the film received critical acclaim in Hong Kong. At the 5th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1986, it won Best Picture and Best Action Choreography, out of six nominations.[32]

Overseas, the film initially received a mixed reaction in contemporary English-language reviews.

Monthly Film Bulletin, that Police Story starts well with its car chase described as an "astonishing set-piece", but that "once the mix of realistic settings and fantasy action seems to have been established, the film falls back on Chan's clowning and turns into a slapstick comedy heavily dependent on cake-in-the-face jokes". The review concluded that the film "still lacks much of the aesthetic appeal and occasional comic grace of the more traditional period kung fu films such as Project A, Drunken Master, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Dragon Lord".[33] Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times that at a screening of the film at the New York Film Festival Chan was promoted as a hybrid of Buster Keaton and Clint Eastwood, with Canby noting that Chan was "more like a scaled-down, oriental Sylvester Stallone, with energy and a willingness to smile fondly at himself". Canby also noted the excessive pie-in-the-face gags, and that Chan "participates in several elaborately staged gun fights and car chases" which were "mildly amusing" but not as amusing as the dubbed dialogue. Canby concluded that the film "is of principal interest as a souvenir of another culture".[34]

The film went on to receive wide acclaim in later reviews.

action thriller" that leaves "most American action films in the dust." He praised the "absolutely stunning" action scenes, saying the "film must have set a new record for the number of people thrown through windows in a single action film" as Chan eventually "perfects another action scene" with his final stunt. He also praised Chan's unique humor with the "long complicated scenes of physical comedy" rather than the usual "awful one-liner your average hero spouts after wasting a bad guy." He called it "great action entertainment" but noted "many people" would "snub it because they'll have to read subtitles." He concluded that "Jackie Chan is the true last action hero."[21]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.57/10; among top critics, it holds a 100% approval rating based on 6 reviews, with an 8.3/10 rating. The site's consensus reads: "Blending brilliant physical comedy with thrillingly choreographed set pieces, Police Story makes a persuasive case for Jackie Chan as one of the all-time genre greats."[35]

A review from the

Sharky’s Machine".[7]

In 2016, when Time Out polled 50 film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films of all time, Police Story was voted the fourth best action film of all time. Film critic Trevor Johnston wrote that "you have to go back to the silent-comedy era of Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton to find the equivalent of Jackie Chan in his Hong Kong prime—a star who’d put life and limb at risk to get the shot he wanted"—and that "Chan’s ’80s peak delivers a whole other level of insanity." He praised "the exuberant blend of comic knockabout thrills and heart-stopping spills from this landmark cop flick," especially his "batshit crazy" final stunt which "has since become celluloid legend."[6]

Accolades

Home media

Home video

The film was released on VHS in the United States by the distributor Cinema Group under the title Jackie Chan's Police Force, using Golden Harvest's export version created for international distribution, and featuring a new music score by composer Kevin Bassinson. The export cut is shorter than the original cut by 13 minutes.[37]

New Line Cinema acquired the rights to the export version of the film, distributing it on VHS and Laserdisc on 4 August 1998, with a recycled soundtrack score from J. Peter Robinson replacing Bassinson's music. On 19 December 2006, The Weinstein Company released the film on Region 1 NTSC DVD (under their Dragon Dynasty label) with special features and deleted scenes; it was also released in Canada on 23 January 2007.

In late 2004, Hong Kong's Intercontinental Video Limited released a

Blu-ray Disc in June 2009. The first film was released on Blu-ray on 14 September 2009.[38]

Shout! Factory released Police Story and Police Story 2 as a double feature on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 16 April 2013.[39]

The Criterion Collection released both Police Story and Police Story 2 on Blu-ray on 30 April 2019 with 4K restoration on both of the films, as well as including the Hong Kong-release version of Police Story 2. The release also includes bonus features on Jackie Chan himself; new programs on his screen persona and action-filmmaking techniques, a stunt reel, and archival interviews with Chan and stuntman Benny Lai, as well as a 1964 TV program about Peking opera training that was akin to the education Chan received as a child.[40]

Television

In the United Kingdom, the film (released as Jackie Chan's Police Story) was watched by 1.2 million viewers on television in 2004, making it the year's fifth most-watched foreign-language film on television (below four other

Hong Kong action films).[41] It was later watched by 800,000 UK viewers in 2006, making it the year's most-watched foreign-language film on Channel 5.[42]
Combined, the film drew a 2 million UK viewership in 2004 and 2006.

Sequels

Main article: Police Story (film series)

Police Story 2

Main article: Police Story 2

Police Story 2 (

1988
, features many of the same actors reprising their roles from the original. The story picks up with Chan Ka-Kui demoted to traffic cop for causing so much damage in his apprehension of Chu. Chu has been released from prison on the pretense that he is terminally ill, and Chu and his clan continue to harass Chan and his girlfriend May as Chan gets reinstated to the detective unit when criminal bombers begin extorting money from businessmen.

Police Story 3: Super Cop

Main article:
Police Story 3: Super Cop

Police Story 3 (

dubbing
.

Police Story 4: First Strike

Main article:
Police Story 4: First Strike

Police Story 4 (

1996, is the only film in the Police Story series made partially in English. The action shifts away from Hong Kong and East Asia, with a globe trekking espionage plot, lending the film the air of a James Bond adventure. New Line Cinema's US release contained several alterations. Filmed on location in Ukraine and Australia, the film also marks the last appearance of Bill Tung
, who plays Chan's superior in the series.

New Police Story

Main article: New Police Story

New Police Story (

reboot of the Police Story series. Chan portrays a disgraced detective named Wing, and acts alongside younger Hong Kong actors including Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi and Daniel Wu
. The story features a more dramatic focus, taking a darker and more serious tone.

Police Story 2013

Main article: Police Story 2013

Police Story 2013 (Police Story: Lockdown in North America) is a 2013 Chinese-Hong Kong action crime film starring Jackie Chan in another reboot of the Police Story film series. The film is directed by Ding Sheng, who previously helmed Chan's Little Big Soldier. According to Chan, unlike the previous Police Story films where he portrayed a Hong Kong cop, in the new film he portrays a mainland Chinese officer. Like New Police Story, 2013 is a stand-alone installment with a darker tone than the previous installments, which were comedies.

Popular culture

See also

References

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    . As the kung fu craze waned, Chan moved into other genres with such films as Police Story (Jingcha Gushi, Jackie Chan, 1984), a crime film in which Chan performed some astonishing stunts on a double-decker bus.
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External links
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