first saw this in the theaters in NYC when it first came out...was actually a little teed off as i was at that time into his slapstick comedy and the crazy hand to hand combat. well...this movie has grown on me over the years. all his stunt-men are still in this movie, you get to see Mars at the start as a terrorist shooting off a ak-47...that was a different sight...never expected to see him as a bad guy.
first off, there is not one funny moment in this movie and it is based on a true story. second off all...Jackies got mad pull in Hong Kong, he is the only one who was able to close off parts of a highway in Hong Kong to shoot the action scenes, that is only happening now and not 20 years ago, when this film was made. the 3rd and last thing i like to mention is that for the longest time in Hong Kong you couldn't do big explosions in movies which were filmed in Hong Kong because the island was so small and people complained...well guess what?-Jackie got his big explosions even though they are still a little tamed compared to Hollywood and the rest of the worlds film industry who are not restricted by that. that use to be one of my main gripes watching Hong Kong action movies back in the day.
this is jackies first serious role as Police Story 1 doesn't count cause that actually had a lot of funny moments in it. he plays it straight up in this one and does a really capable job. the story is about the kidnapping of ultra-rich businessmen in Hong Kong, after which they are held for ransom. it was a big problem then and still is nowadays. what Jackie and the rest of the honest cops don't know is that there are honest cops but there are also corrupt cops and the bad cop in this movie is actually the leader of the kidnappers.
there were some complaints by some of his fans because the action was different to what we were accustomed to seeing from Jackie...but i think those fans were just a little jaded. there was nothing wrong with the action, as a matter of fact this movie had some of his most impressive and crazy stunts ever and there were quite a few. if you are a fan of big explosions...well they blew up the top floor of an apartment building! there were major gunfights and not with just .25 caliber guns, there were a lot of sub-machine guns including Uzis. all i have to say is that the action was pretty insane and not as over the top which i appreciated in time...LOL. the only action that was lacking was the hand to hand combat as there was only 1 such scene in the movie, but boy was it well done!
all in all i still would have to put this one in his top 10 or 12 most enjoyable movies. Jackie should have made more of these types of movies back in the days and i think he would have been even more popular and well rounded actor now! not to be missed if you are a Jackie Chan fan!
