Jackie Chan

Police Story 2 (Special Collector's Edition)
$14.95
"Police Story" wasn't my favorite Jackie Chan movie, but nobody short of a blind person can deny that its action, humor, and stunts were enough to raise both eyebrows. Alas, much of what made the original film memorable has been undone in the sequel, to the point of there being almost no comparison between the two. It's still a pretty good action film by most standards, but nonetheless a disappointing follow-up to one of the genre's most appreciated masterpieces.

The story: Ka Kui (Chan) is still a policeman, but his unorthodox practices and exploits of the previous adventure have gotten him demoted from hero to zero. On top of this, the villainous Mr. Chu (Chor Yuen) has been released from prison and promises to make life miserable for him and his unstable girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love)...all whilst the police department is faced with a case involving the robbing of $10 million from building owners by demolition-savvy terrorists.

The movie switches between an action vehicle and a police thriller more than once, with wire-planting and surveillance scenes taking precedence more than once. Frankly, I don't watch a Jackie Chan movie for stuff like that, and when it starts going on for half-hours at a time, I started losing interest. Granted, it all comes back to some good martial arts scenes, but for the most part, the film takes itself much too seriously (the original also did, but at least it could make up for it on a more regular basis). The only non-action aspect of the film that I really enjoyed was the continuation of Jackie's and Maggie's onscreen relationship, which peaked in a hilarious scene where Maggie shouts Chan through a shower room filled with naked, embarrassed policemen and corners him in a bathroom stall. Besides that, though, there's less physical comedy from Jackie, and that's not cool.

I shouldn't complain too much, though: there is a lot of cool action to fall back on...it's just not as cool as that of the original film. Chan has four hand-to-hand fights: the first one is against Chu's thugs in a restaurant, and while still very entertaining, it's nothing we haven't seen out of Jackie before (although there is a cool move where he breaks an open drawer with a man's face); the next is a more inventive follow-up fight in a park where Chan takes on an even larger group of attackers wielding metal sticks; he then has a brawl with two CID agents that too short to warrant interest; the movie ends on a high note with Chan taking on the three terrorists in a fireworks factory - this includes the vast majority of the film's stuntwork (comprised of Chan the bad guys falling from very high places) and a rather impressive fight between Ka Kui and Chan-movie veteran Benny Lai as a deaf-mute pyromaniac.

Dragon Dynasty did a reasonably good job with this release, though they apparently shared all of the good stuff with the prequel: included are two Cantonese audio tracks (stereo and mono) and one English one in which Chan does not do his own dubbing, feature commentary by Brett Ratner and Bey Logan, a 33-minute tribute to the Jackie Chan stunt team, alternate outtakes, a location guide, and a Ratner/Logan interview...but no personal words from Chan himself. Alas, even the special features of the original film are better than the sequel's. This general uneven comparison shows that even Hong Kong has its problems with having sequels live up to their predecessors, and not even director Chan could shatter that stereotype. If you're a fan of Jackie's, you'll already own this, but newcomers to Dragon Dynasty should start somewhere else, regardless of the name recognition.

The Legend of Drunken Master
$14.99
This movie is one of Jackie Chan's finest. The action was great, and so was the story.

Jackie Chan's First Strike
$9.98
This is vintage Jackie Chan, but perhaps with a better story than most. The plot revolves around him getting amnesia and forgetting that he is a member of a special tactics squad. He realizes that someone wants him dead but has no idea why. Complications ensue.....

Lots of location shots in Africa and Holland make it the sort of "travelogue" we've come to expect in this type of movie.

This one is to buy and keep, share with friends, and watch again in a couple of years.

Operation Condor / Operation Condor 2: The Armour Of The Gods
$14.99
I love this movie, but I have to say that if you are going to get it, make sure you get a copy that is in cantonese. The english version made for america has a random nude scene inserted, and it cuts two of the funniest scenes in the movie. It is well worth reading the subtitles to see those two scenes.