Police Story: Ging chat goo si (1985)

It is amazing that Jackie Chan isn't crippled, I can't think of any actor who performs more of his own stunts with this high of a difficulty level since the silent era. In this film alone he dislocated his pelvis, was taken to the hospital after breaking through stunt glass, and came close to breaking two vertebrae.

Chan started getting credited films roles in the mid-70's and by the time he made this film other directors in Hong Kong were making copycat films as soon as his film titles were announced. For instance, when announcing Drunken Master a series of drunken martial arts films started coming out. Therefore he made this film's title very vague to avoid copycats. This film is considered a remake of The Protector, which was made earlier that year. Chan was rumored to be disappointed The Protector, and hoped this similar story without the English dialog would be better.

For me the opening sequences are the best of the film. Namely the scene were Chan grabs an umbrella, hitches a ride on the outside of a bus, and walks across oncoming traffic. The scenes in the mall with glass breaking at every turn was a bit overdone, a little unnecessary, and lead to several stuntman injuries. The funniest thing for me was when we got a slow motion replay of Chan's big stunt that almost paralyzed him, I wasn't sure if I was watching a movie or a football game for a minute... but a commentator never came on...

If you want a good international kung fu film check this out, Chan is fantastic.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089374/

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