Happy Birthday To One Of The Greatest Contributors to Movies Ever, Jackie Chan
There are very few people in the world of movies that have had quite the impact on movies that Jackie Chan has. He pioneered the genre of martial arts comedy, almost always performed and choreographed his own stunts and is one of the few HK actors to successfully make the Hollywood transition. In honor of the big man's birthday, here is some essential viewing movies staring Jackie Chan.
1. Police Story - HBO Max
Officer Chan Ka Kui manages to put a major Hong Kong drug dealer behind the bars practically alone, after a shooting and an impressive chase inside a slum. Now, he must protect the boss' secretary, Selina, who will testify against the gangster in court.
This movie features some of the greatest fight and stunt sequences ever done. Hate the over-use of CGI in movies? This movie demolishes an entire built village without a computer in sight. Hate shaky-cam fights? Every fight in this movie involves real martial artists and that cameraman doesn't let the camera move and INCH. Do you like good detective stories? Then buddy, this is the movie for you. Police Story 2 is also on HBO max and worth a watch.
2. The Dragon Trilogy - Rent
This is an unofficial trilogy of the movies 'Wheels on Meals', 'Project A' and 'Dragons Forever'. All three star Chan and 2 other HK legends, Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao. That trio of martial artists crush all three of these movies, delivering awesome martial arts as well as great humor. Just check out this fight scene.
The movie unfortunately left Paramount+ recently so it's rent only as far as I can tell.
3. The Rush Hour Trilogy - HBO Max
I'll take a wild guess and say these are the movie most of you know Jackie Chan from. You've already seen them so you know they're some of the best in both the buddy cop and action comedy genres.
4. Operation condor aka Armour of God I & II - Rent
These movies are basically Jackie Chan's answer to Indiana Jones. They combine the martial arts action Chan is capable of with an action-adventure plot involving archeology. As always, the fights are awesome and the humor is great. The stunts, though, are on another level. Chan fractured about a million bones doing this one where he fell over 6 stories.
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5. The Legend of the Drunken Master - Rent
Wong Fei-Hung is a mischievous yet righteous young man, but after a series of incidents his frustrated father has him disciplined by a master of drunken martial arts.
This sequel to his 1978 breakout role absolutely rocks. He is basically at the peak of his game, delivering great humor and really cool fight sequences.