Yeah, Kirk Wong is a very gritty director much like Ringo Lam--he also did Gunmen, Rock and Roll Cop, and Organized Crime and Triad Bureau -- I think Crime Story is part of a trilogy by Wong...Quote:
Originally posted by Despair
No, Crime Story is stand alone Chan's film. Its a serious crime drama, very serious and dark, and without usual comedy bits. Directed by Kirk Wong.
Yup--he's a huge pop star -- see in HK pop stars become film stars and film stars become pop stars -- name a favorite HK actor and most likely he/she is a pop star as well...Quote:
Originally posted by Rumpy
Jackie likes to sing. He's sung some other tunes for his movies too iirc.
Chan is a very good singer IMHO --but only when he does cantonese/mandarin songs...he also did Police Story theme and the theme to OUATIC with Jet Li....he did most ending songs for when the credits role and they show bloopers...
So basically -- this was in all rights a Gordan Chan/Sammo Hung film -- Sammo did those amazing fight scenes (they are among my favorites in any Chan movie ever!)...those fights are signature Sammo Hung--he is a very good and brutal fight director--actually in many respects he is a better director than Chan simply for his ingenuity....and willingness to go over the top.Quote:
Originally posted by Click_Stick
Funny, I was just about to make a thread about this movie and I planned to include just about everything you mentioned in your first post...
Anyway, I only caught about half of this, and I think that was enough for me to determine that this was pretty shitty stuff. The dub was awful, to begin with, and the fighting scene[s] were very un-Chanish. Did they use ropes in that casino fight? What was with all the -kick guy across room- stuff? And that camera blur stuff was irritating.
The race at the end was ridiculous. As soon as I saw the eighth car crash in a row, I knew only Jackie and that ponytail thug were goning to be left racing... Bad.
Way too ridiculous for my taste. It would have been nice to see the whole thing, however... Just because.
Oh yea: Jackie Chan sang the theme song? Yea, this movie IS weird.
Anyway, that's why they don't feel like Chan fights--who did his own stuff with the JC stunt group on most of the films he directed himself, i.e. police Story, Project A, Armour of God, etc...
But Sammo and his stunt group ( definitely with the input of Chan) has done a lot of the choreography for many of Chan's films--Dragons Forever and Mr. Nice Guy, and many of those earlier Biao, Hung, Chan films like Wheels on Meals, etc...
You know, the U.S. tries to sell Chan as this non-violent film maker, but in my opinion he has done a lot of very violent and brutal films...but in the scope of other HK films, they are rather tame, but still nothing as tame as U.S. action films...Quote:
Originally posted by Rumpy
Especially for a Chan movie. He usually doesn't have guns in his movies, but the police station was just ripped apart in that scene. I never heard of the movie until today.
Heart of the Dragon he takes a machete and slams it into the neck of his enemy; Supercop (HK version) has some violent shoot-outs that show bullets puncturing the bodies; Protector (HK version is actually tamer!) has nudity, violence, drug use, etc...eventhough Chan took out the nudity in the HK version); Crime Story; and the Police Story series I think is very violent and not kiddish violence in any way, especially Police Story 2...
and Thunderbolt is very brutal, maybe his worst in that respect...
I think they did a good job of repackaging many of the films like Rumble for the U.S. and selling Chan as this guy who does all his own stunts (he doesn't!) and who is comically violent (he isn't!)...
Anway, I enjoyed Thunderbolt and feel that the action scenes are simply amazing (disregard the car scenes!)...if you put it in perspective of years of HK fighting films...these are very unique and experimental fights that I don't think the U.S. audience would have really taken to had it been released soon after Rumble in the U.S. as it was scheduled to.
These fights also show the continuance of Sammo as a fight director...he has had an amazing career and is just as influential in the HK industry as Chan, if not more so for his traditional kung fu and modern actioners...plus it helps to see the film in widescreen because those fights are pretty broad and get destroyed by Pan & Scan...
