Review of Police Story (1985) by William E — 25 Apr 2010

Police Story is one of the greatest action movies ever made. It has spawned three sequels, a reboot and even a spin-off movie starring Michelle Yeoh. Jackie is at his peak in this one and it really shows. It has breathtaking stunts, realistic fight scenes and a hard hitting story full of memorable characters and moments. This really is one of Jackie's best movies he's ever made, and he proves he is more then just a great actor, stuntman and martial artist by taking on the directing duties for this film as well.

The plot follows a Hong Kong police detective named "Kevin" Chan Ka-Kui (Jackie Chan) along with his fellow officers in a sting to take down a big crime lord Chu Tu (Yuen Chor). He is caught and put on trial but unfortunately the prime witness Selina Fong (Brigitte Lin) doesn't show up for court and Tu is set free. Fearing that Selina could still get him put him jail Tu sends out a hit on her to keep her quiet. Meanwhile Chan is framed for the murder of a cop by the hands of Tu's men. To prove his innocence and keep Selina safe Chan must take down Chu Tu and get the evidence needed to put him away for good.

This may sound like a standard cop movie plot to most but it actually points out some very serious truths. About injustice in society and how easy it is for powerful criminals along with scum lawyers to weasel their way out of convictions. With so much corruption in the world it's almost impossible to keep hope alive, which makes Chan's character so much more likable because he is not only willing to but determined to bring down the bad guys. By the end of the film Chan's frustration with the flawed system finally catches up with him and he snaps resulting in one of the greatest ending action set pieces ever filmed.

This movie is more than just great action and story though, it has some hilarious comedy scenes. Jackie's sense of humor is great and there is a lot of well thought out jokes in this movie. From the telephone mix up at the police station to the birthday cake scene where Jackie's girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung) mistakes the female witness Jackie brings home for a girl he's cheating on her with and throws his birthday cake in his face. Classic, and that scene actually sets up a gag for the next scene in the courtroom which is one of my favorite parts of the whole movie, seriously I almost died laughing. It's so rare to see such original and creative comedy in an action movie but I wouldn't expect anything less from Jackie Chan.

At the end of the day however this is an action film. These are probably some of the greatest large scale action sequences ever filmed (at least in Hong Kong in the 80's). It picks up fast too in the opening scene with a car chase through a shanty town and Jackie hanging off the side of a double decker bus by an umbrella as it flings him around like a ragdoll. The fighting is another high point of the film. Most martial arts movies especially at the time were doing very complicated choreographed fight scenes. This movie has a more raw and real feeling, like street fighting. When someone gets hit you feel it.

The film's climax takes place at a mall which is the perfect setting for Jackie to go nuts taking out bad guys in creative ways. Jackie takes some serious damage but his stunt team deserves a lot of credit as well, being thrown over balconies and knocked into so many panes of glass. The movie was actually nicknamed "Glass Story" by the crew because there was so much glass being broken. Jackie steals the show though with perhaps the most dangerous stunt he's ever survived (aside from the tree fall in 'Armour Of God'). After taking out a bunch of bad guys on the top floor of the mall, someone throws the evidence Jackie needs to take down Chu Tu to the bottom floor where Tu is. There is only one way to get to the bottom fast enough to get them before Tu does... JUMP!

Full of adrenaline Jackie leaps from the top rail to a pole sliding all the way down through countless electrifyed lights before smashing through a glass ceiling and finally hitting the ground. Talk about ultimate sacrifice for your art. It's unbelievable to watch and rightfully so because it really messed him up. The lights wrapped around the pole heated it and ended up giving Jackie second-degree burns on his hands. The actual fall to the floor injured his back and dislocated his pelvis. It hurts me just writing about it I can't imagine how he felt, but this is why Jackie is the greatest action star ever. He delivers everything you could ever want in a movie and more. If you've never seen this do yourself a favor and check it out, seriously this movie is legendary.