I recently listed some of my favourite martial arts movies but now I wanted to bring you a Top-10 of my favourite Jackie Chan films. Jackie Chan can be credited for making Hong Kong films even more popular than even Bruce Lee. Jackie’s characteristic blend of hand-to-hand and prop-based fighting combined with his humorous expressions helped make his movies super popular by effectively taking the piss out of the genre while at the same time showing genuine feats of physical prowess.
However, there’s more to a good movie than just flashy fights and comedy and so, I wanted to take the opportunity to also list some of my favourites stories from Jackie’s films and not simply what were the most flashiest (though there’s a lot of that too). I’ll also present a Bottom-10 later, but for now let’s look at what I think are Chan’s finest films.
I wanted to stick to only one movie per series so honourable mentions here go to the first Police Story and Police Story 4: First Strike as well as the first Rush Hour movie and Shanghai Knights. Also, his performance in the Karate Kid remake was excellent. And although Jackie only plays a minor role in it, the movie Winners and Sinners is a must-see for fans of Hong Kong cinema, so I’ll give it an honourable mention too.
But enough talking, let’s get on with the list…
10. Battle Creek Brawl
Battle Creek Brawl (or The Big Brawl) was one of Jackie’s earliest attempts to bust out in to American cinema. The film is set in the 1930s where Jackie is forced to participate in a fighting tournament in order to get the mob off his back. Apart from a lot of pretty decent fighting the movie also features a pretty rad roller scading scene.
Battle Creek Brawl was directed by Robert Clouser who also directed Enter the Dragon (and the somewhat butchered finished version of Game of Death). This movie is a very early take on Jackie’s iconic fighting style but I think it actually holds up pretty well with the fights being interesting enough and Jackie even gets to show his agility in various ways. It’s definitely not as high impact of a film as some of the others on this list, but I think a good soft landing into Jackie Chan territory and filled with cheeky comedy as well.
However, the film doesn’t feature Jackie’s iconic bloopers which is a bit of a disappointment (Jackie got the idea when he appeared in The Cannonball Run movies). Even so, this is an early Jackie Chan flick which I highly recommend.
9. Around the World in 80 Days
Jackie steals a Jade Buddha back from an evil aristocrat who wants to rule China and hides on the premises of an inventor called Phileas Fogg where he assumes the role of Passepartout to hide from the authorities. Jackie inadvertently convinces Fogg to accept a wager to travel around the world in 80s days as part of a scheme to get the Jade Buddha back to his home village. Around the World in 80 Days is admittedly an action and slapstick heavy interpretation of the Jules Verne novel but I think very enjoyable.
Jackie gets to showcase his fighting in a variety of interesting locations. The comedy, though a bit cringe-worthy, works well with the silly and almost cartoony atmosphere. Plus, there are numerous cool cameos including Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Cleese, Sammo Hung as well as Luke and Owen Wilson as the Wright Brothers. This movie’s best aspect is that it never has a dull moment.
Its down-side is that the movie perhaps mixes too many different brands of comedy together. There’s some witty word-play and fairly effective slapstick but also some pretty bizarre off the wall moments and even a bit of gross out humour (and even a smidge of Monty Python-esque comedy in Cleese’s cameo). Also, Steve Coogan really doesn’t come off the least bit sympathetic although he does get a few funny lines in as well. The movie perhaps comes off as a bit of a miss-mash because of it but it’s still definitely enjoyable.
8. Armour of God
The sly treasure-hunter Asian Hawk is forced to find the remaining pieces of the Armour of God by an evil cult who kidnap his former band-mate Lorelei. Jackie has to team up with his other former band-mate Alan to save her despite their dislike of each other. They butter up to a count who holds the missing pieces and take his daughter May with them who is an expert sniper.
This movie was also on the Top-10 martial arts movies list and in my opinion it’s easily the finest of Jackie’s 80s films. Apart from the excellent fight scenes (of which the final one is by far the best) the film contains several other awesome scenes, such as the musical montage at the start, the chase-scene in Jackie’s tricked out car as well as Jackie and Alan sneaking around the evil monastery. It’s also cool to see Jackie play a character who isn’t completely selfless making this a slightly more fleshed out performance by him.
Having said that, the movie’s plot really isn’t anything too special and there isn’t much in the way of character development. And although the opening where Jackie steals one of the armour parts from an African tribe is excellent and action-packed, it can also come off the slightest bit racist. Still, easily my favourite Jackie film from the 80s and also one which he nearly died making.
7. Police Story 3: Supercop
In the third instalment of the Police Story series, Ka-Kui Chan has to work with mainland Chinese police in order to uncover the plans of a crime boss called Chaibat. In order to do this, Ka-Kui busts his most trusted underling Panther from a prison camp and then follows him with the help of a mainland Chinese officer, played by Michelle Yeoh, posing as his sister. Eventually, Ka-Kui and the officer are expected to help Chaibat free his wife from Malaysian authorities, avoiding a death penalty and in order to uncover the code to his Swiss bank account containing his ill-gotten gains.
Supercop is easily the strongest of the Police Story films. Ka-Kui is sent on a dangerous undercover mission with little to no preparation and outside the reach of the law. The film contains several awesome action-scenes, including the brawl at a crime leaders’ meeting and Jackie holding on for dear life to a helicopter’s drop-ladder. Michelle Yeoh also kicks plenty of ass and shows to be herself a strong lead protagonist.
I think the story and setting in general are Supercop’s best features. It has both an interesting narrative but also enough action to keep you invested. The comedy maybe delves into the corniness on occasion but never so much that it would become distracting. A definite must-see.
6. Thunderbolt
Jackie is a mechanic from Hong Kong whose father helps the local authorities crack down on illegal street-racers. When a drug dealer and adrenaline junkie called Cougar starts ripping up the concrete on Hong Kong’s roads, Jackie gets involved and helps the police capture him. Cougar has his revenge by busting out of jail, destroying Jackie’s home, killing his father and kidnapping his sisters. Cougar promises to only let them go if Jackie agrees to race against him.
Thunderbolt was the first Jackie Chan film I saw and it’s still one of my favourites. Despite Jackie having to film the movie on a broken ankle (from shooting Rumble in the Bronx) the film contains plenty of fast action-scenes and hellishly impressive stunt-work. The film is also quite grim despite a few comedic moments which is also something that I enjoy about the movie. The theme song also kicks ass and is one of my favourites from any Jackie film. Over-all, there’s not much to complain about.
… well, except maybe for the fact that a lot of the racing scenes are obviously speeded up to make the cars seem like their driving faster. Despite Gordon Chan’s photography being mostly excellent, there’s a few camera tricks which honestly don’t work as well as I think he thought they would, such as the crane scene where the film has a choppy effect to try an increase the tension. These minor complaints aside though, I really like Thunderbolt.
5. Rush Hour 2+3
Yeap, it’s a double entry. In the second film of the series, Inspectors Lee and Carter (Chan & Tucker) go on the trail of Triad conspiracy involving counterfeit currency which was the case that led to Lee’s father’s death. In the third movie, Lee and Carter chase down an Asian criminal who was once Lee’s sworn brother in Paris. In both films, the two cops’ friendship grows as they face danger, beat down baddies and trade racist insults but always look out for each other.
The first Rush Hour was a good movie, but you could clearly tell that Chris Tucker provided the vast majority of the humour while Jackie provided most of the fighting. With the sequels, I think the ratio of comedy and action got more even with Carter getting his own glorious moments and Jackie’s improved acting in the role of Lee allowed him to match Carter’s insults. Also, I like how the characters develop over the series with their friendship becoming an increasingly stronger theme. The chemistry between Jackie and Chris is the beating heart of this film series.
The reason for this double entry is that I honestly couldn’t decide which of the two movies I like better. Both have iconic jokes (“I’ll bitch slap you back to Africa!”), iconic recurring gags (the violent taxi driver) and awesome fight scenes (Casino Brawl and Eiffel Tower fight).
4. New Police Story
Inspector Chan is the top cop of Hong Kong. However, when a group of sadistic youths ambush him and his unit and kill all his men, Chan loses his nerve and turns to alcoholism. He’s dragged out from his rut by a young, enthusiastic officer who want to help him for unknown reasons. As a result, Chan and him track down the criminals and uncover a lot of dark secrets along the way, including one about Chan’s young partner.
Despite carrying the name of Chan’s Police Story series, New Police Story has little to no connection with the other films (beyond one very subtle reference) and therefore I’ve never really considered it a part of the series. It’s considerably darker than any of the prior Police Story movies with almost no comedy, except in a few very selective places. Chan does a great job as the aged and depressed ex-officer.
New Police Story’s only flaw is that it maybe goes almost overboard with its dramatic mood shifts. It’s a veritable emotional rollercoaster ride, particularly the scene where one of the youngsters leaves his fiancée a bomb which she has to keep perfectly balanced to prevent it from blowing up. Jackie still gets to show off his fighting prowess and the movie is a definite must-see.
3. Shanghai Noon
Chon Wang is an imperial guard who witnesses the kidnapping of Princess Pei Pei. He escorts the royal guards and his uncle to deliver the ransom for her release, but on the way through the Wild West his uncle is shot by bandits robbing the train. After saving a Native American boy, reuniting with the robber Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) and forging an uneasy alliance, Wang goes after the kidnapper who turns out to be an ex-royal guard, Lo Fong.
Shanghai Noon is an excellent adventure and buddy-comedy film which uses Chan’s prop-driven fighting to the fullest, Owen Wilson’s cool and quirky delivery as well as finding time to pay homage to Western clichés. What’s great about this approach is that it gives the movie a nice flavour, especially with Wang being a complete fish out of water in the west and having to rely on the extremely unreliable Roy. The comedy is great from the Native Americans to more subtle stuff like Roy’s unintentional racism.
Shanghai Noon’s one problem might be that unlike Chris Tucker and Chan’s repartee, Chan and Wilson never really find the same page although admittedly this seems intentional since Roy is untrustworthy while Wang is more dedicated and on-task. Also, the villains are a mixed bag with Lo Fong being skilled but not particularly memorable and Marshall Van Cleef being more threatening despite being only the secondary antagonist. Either way, this is still a really strong film and one of my personal favourites.
2. City Hunter
Jackie is Ryo Saeba, a private detective known as “City Hunter”. He’s tasked with tracking down a media mogul’s daughter who has run away from home. Saeba tracks her to a cruise ship filled with crazy characters and Ryo has to sneak on board. A group of terrorist hijack the ship and force the wealthy passengers into rounds of high stakes poker, where losing means they’ll be shot. Eventually, Saeba saves the mogul’s daughter and with the help of both her and the strange ensemble, which includes a comedic dancer duo, an undercover detective, her big breasted sidekick and a man who can chuck playing cards in a deadly fashion, they try to stop the terrorists and their leader McDonald (Richard Norton).
City Hunter was loosely based on a Japanese manga and anime series of the same name and director Wong Jing elected to use a highly cartoonish style. The film is just filled with hilarious gags and jokes. The film is particularly famous (or infamous) for the Street Fighter 2 fantasy fight scene where Jackie takes on the persona of Chun Li.
Outside of that, other comedic elements are also excellent. The movie may steer into camp and cheese in a very heavy way and it may be just smidge too much for some people. However, I can’t stop laughing when I watch this film and even the particularly absurd song-number at the middle of the movie doesn’t really bother me. While Jackie is a bit of a one-trick pony (lecherous, lazy and always looking for food), the support cast is very colourful and actually helps the movie from becoming too repetitive. Even so, Chan and Norton’s final battle scene is easily the most impressive of the whole movie.
1. Who Am I?
Jackie is a special task force soldier ordered to carry out a capture mission in Africa, where he and a bunch of other soldiers capture a group of scientists and their work. However, on the flight home, the group’s pilots try to ditch them in a helicopter going down. Jackie grabs one of the pilots and is held onto by his fellow troopers but when the chopper goes down, Jackie falls into the woods and loses his memory. He’s rescued by a Bushman tribe, saves a Japanese rally driver and her navigator brother and tries to piece his past together. Unbeknownst to him though, the CIA agent who double-crossed him is now tasked with finding him as he tries to sell off a piece of a rare meteorite which has weapon capabilities.
Who Am I? is easily the best Jackie Chan film I’ve seen just from the story’s point of view. You can really sympathise with Jackie who has no idea who he is, where he comes from and why people are out to kill him. The way Jackie pieces his past together is also interesting and the story and action flow together well, in a way where they don’t sideline each other. I’ve always been hugely impressed with this. In addition, the action-scenes are all excellent but none too over the top and unbelievable. Still, we get what is possibly the longest fight scene in a Jackie movie, which will probably satisfy those who enjoy Jackie going one-on-one with other martial artists.
Now, the movie could have held off on revealing the identity of Jackie’s betrayers for a bit longer but over-all this is just a fantastic movie and highly recommended for anyone who enjoys Jackie’s films.
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