Jackie Chan Kong-song is probably the most internationally recognizable Asian actor, having entertained audiences around the world with his unique style of comedic action, stuntwork, and prop use ever since his first major film role in 1978's Drunken Master. With his renowned stunt team, he has made a lasting impact on martial arts cinema. So here are my favorite Jackie Chan fight scenes.
#12. Rush Hour 3 (2007)
In the west, Jackie Chan is fondly remembered for his team-up with another comedic star, albeit the non-martial arts variety, Owen Wilson, in Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights. But it is Rush Hour 3, the final film of a trilogy that forever cemented Jackie Chan in western pop culture that takes the first spot on the list. Chan and Chris Tucker's buddy cop duo return for one last assignment where they encounter the long-lost foster brother of Chan played by acclaimed Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada who is now a high-ranking Triad enforcer. The third act involves Sanada holding hostage the daughter of an ambassador who knows the identity of a mysterious Triad boss. Challenging Jackie to a sword duel in the Eiffel Tower, the fight presents an interesting ethnic reversal of weaponry where Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada wields a jian, a Chinese double-edged blade, while the Chinese Jackie Chan uses a katana, a Japanese singled-edged sword. The sword fighting is fantastic with Jackie relying on the surrounding furniture as he would being Jackie Chan and all until Sanada is sent crashing through a window dangling on the edge. Sanada is saved by Lee but they resume their fight balancing on metal beams and bouncing on the safety net below before Sanada finally sacrifices himself to save his "brother from another mother" leaving Chan emotionally devastated by the death of his foster sibling.
Sanada's part almost went to Steven Seagal as well as rumors of Jean-Claude Van Damme also being considered which actually lead to a fan campaign for Van Damme's appearance. Even Tony Jaa was another name being mentioned but was busy with Ong-Bak 2 and 3. As awesome and bizarre as it would've been to see Jackie Chan being knocked around by Seagal's Aikido techniques or groin-punched by Van Damme while doing the splits, Sanada is arguably the best pick for the role. He is one of the most popular Japanese actors in the world and has not only the physical but also the dramatic talent to appear in earlier Hong Kong cult kung fu flicks like Ninja In The Dragon's Den as well as many non-martial arts related Hollywood productions. Due to it being an American film, the fight sequence is more heavily edited and shot up close than most of Jackie's movies. Chan has stated his frustration with director Brett Ratner over direction of the action which Chan was not given much control over. A responsibility which was also partly handled by other stunt coordinators including the late Brad Allan, Eddie Braun, and Conrad E Palmisano, as well as additional stunt coordination for the Paris sequences specifically by Phillipe Guegan and Michel Julienne. Regardless of these creative disputes, Jackie Chan and Hiroyuki Sanada's final fight is still one of the finest that American action cinema has to offer and a great way to wrap up the Rush Hour series. Unless of course we finally get the mythical Rush Hour 4 which at this point is nothing more than a pipe dream.....
#11. The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
(end of fight scene not shown)
2008 marked the first time Jackie Chan and Jet Li had ever appeared on screen together. The year that saw the release of The Forbidden Kingdom. A Chinese-American co-production and adaptation of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West reimagining the tale of the mythical monkey king Sun Wukong where a time-traveling South Boston adolescent kung fu film fanatic bumps into a wandering scholar played by Jackie Chan. They later meet up with a silent monk played by Jet Li who is in possession of the golden staff once owned by the monkey king himself also played by Jet Li. The role of the Jade Warlord played by Collin Chou nearly went to Donnie Yen but was turned down taking away one of the few chances for the assembling of the kung fu cinematic trinity of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Donnie Yen that has to this very day yet to become a reality. Still, two martial arts film legends in a single film will suffice. Jackie has always played the student of Drunken Fist but is now a full-fledged master of the style and portrays Lu Yan, one of the eight drunken immortals imitated by Chan's character in Drunken Master 1 and 2. Jet Li also pays tribute to his past films returning to his roots as a warrior monk referencing his early work in the Shaolin Temple series.
Jet and Jackie play a game of kung fu tug-of-war, the golden staff eventually being kicked into the air and even through a nearby statue. The fight is filled with self-referential moments as Chan demonstrates his iconic Drunken Fist style and throws in some Tiger and Crane Kung Fu while Jet Li pulls off some Praying Mantis moves. In an homage to Jet Li's own move from his fight scene with Chin Siu-Ho in Fist of Legend, Jackie uses a one-armed push-up off the ground. Since Yuen Woo-Ping served as the action director, he brings his obligatory wirework which is certainly more suited to Jet Li as he is more of a wuxia veteran. But this doesn't necessarily limit Jackie Chan's signature style though he wasn't given much freedom to design the fight choreography himself. Jackie stated working with Jet Li was the most comfortable he has ever been in the previous 10 years of fight sequences he has been involved in as the two are so immensely experienced in the art of screen fighting that their scenes required minimal effort to perform. Besides Yuen Woo-Ping who has worked with both martial arts actors on numerous occasions, the fight scenes were also coordinated by assistant martial arts directors Yuen Cheung-Yan and Ku Huen-Chiu allowing the creation of a great one-on-one between two of the most gifted film fighters of our time.
#10. Rumble in the Bronx (1995)
Rumble in the Bronx is a Hong Kong film that takes place in...well, the Bronx, even though it was actually filmed in Vancouver and originally had the working title of "Rumble in Vancouver". But "Rumble in the Bronx" definitely has more of a ring to it. This was Jackie Chan's first breakout film in the US after several failed attempts with previous films in the past and became the highest grossing film in America during its opening weekend. Which is impressive considering that Jackie was the film's lead rather than just co-starring with an American actor like in the Rush Hour films. Chan plays a Hong Kong police officer who is visiting New York for a wedding but soon learns of a local biker gang that constantly robs his uncle's supermarket and frequently demands protection fees.
Chan eventually decides to settle the conflict by confronting the gang in their own turf. The confrontation leads to the quintessential Jackie Chan prop fight scene complete with every object in the gang's hideout like chairs, couches, refrigerators, tv sets, pinball machines, beer bottles, and even a ski as a makeshift staff. All of the items were in fact purchased by Jackie himself and chosen for a specific pre-visualized usage in the fight sequence. Chan first faces off the gang leader played by Canadian actor and stuntman Marc Akerstream on a pool table that almost stands in as a traditional kung fu platform before taking on the rest of the thugs all armed with baseball bats and totally trashing their headquarters in the process. Staying true to Chan's nonviolent spirit, he asks the gangbangers to rethink their lives who even join forces with Jackie later on upon realizing one of the biker gang members have been killed by a more powerful criminal organization.
Choreographing this pandemonium of prop work is of course Jackie Chan this time with full creative input unlike previous entries on this list while collaborating with famed Hong Kong director Stanley Tong who has worked with Jackie on many of his films including Police Story 3 and 4 (more on those movies later on the list). Stanley Tong is known to test out stunts himself before being performed by actual stuntmen including the one in which Jackie jumps across a 28-foot gap between two rooftops without any wires or safety gear. Two of the gang members were also assistant martial arts directors (Ailen Sit Chun-Wai and Chan Man-Ching) along with former leader of the Jackie Chan Stuntman Association Nicky Li Chung-Chi. 20 days were needed to film this particular fight sequence as the American stuntmen involved had to conform to the Hong Kong method of action. Jackie actually spent most of the filming with a cast around his right leg which he injured during his stunt when jumping onto the hoverboat. All the on-set pain he endured in the name of stuntwork and the art of film fighting won him and his team the 1996 Hong Kong film award for best action choreography.
#9. The Myth (2005)
Jackie Chan is the undisputed king of kung fu comedy but you probably wouldn't think of a dramatic sword duel when talking about a Chan-crafted fight scene. 2005's The Myth has just that being half an Indiana Jones style adventure and half a historical epic with large-scale ancient battles as well as the only Jackie Chan film featuring a character death. Every trace of the typical comedic tones of a conventional Jackie Chan fight is removed as we're left with only the fast and complex swordplay between the archeologist/reincarnated Chinese commander played by Jackie and an Indian martial artist/reincarnated prince played by Yuen Tak. A good number of Indian stuntmen were featured in many of the action sequences which partly showcased the Indian martial art of Kalaripayattu thanks to collaboration with some masters from the C.V.N. Kalari School. Despite their highly skilled stuntwork and choreographic talent, Hong Kong action veteran Yuen Tak was selected to play Jackie's sword-wielding opponent as only the most trusted of Chan's stunt team members are usually allowed to make it into the more difficult fight sequences. Tak also served as one of the film's action choreographers along with notable Hong Kong action designer Stanley Tong. Their duel jumps to and from a flashback sequence taking place in their past lives giving us two sword fights for the price of one until it ends with an elaborate triple blade-balancing disarm. The "young" 50-or-so-year-old Jackie Chan still clearly had the chops to deliver a spectacular weapon fight with far less comedy than the Rush Hour 3 entry from earlier but more visual variety than the Chinese-Roman 1-on-1 in Dragon Blade.
#8. Gorgeous (1999)
(skip to 12:56 for specific fight scene discussed below)
Although always wanting to star in a romance/drama, Jackie Chan was constantly dissuaded by Golden Harvest producer Leonard Ho who believed Jackie's female fans would dislike depictions of him in a relationship. After Ho's death in 1998, Chan decided to not only star in but also produce, cast, and edit Gorgeous. A rom-com where Jackie plays the CEO of a recycling company caught in a conflict with his childhood friend and rival over a Taiwanese village girl. Following the old cliched adage of "life imitating art", Chan's character was portrayed as being similar to the real life Jackie Chan in terms of his gentleman-like charm, health and fitness routines, environmental conscientiousness, and even fashion sense. In spite of its romantic premise, some action still remains as it is a Jackie Chan film after all.
To win over their mutual love interest, Chan's romantic rival hires a competitive fighter played by the late Brad Allan, long-time member of Jackie's stunt team and the first Caucasian to join Jackie's stunt ranks. Brad Allan would later become a well-respected stunt coordinator in his own right bringing his skills to Hollywood in movies like Pacific Rim, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the Kingsman series, and most recently Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The first fight results in a loss for Jackie but their rematch is the real highlight of the film and allows Australian martial artist Brad Allan a second opportunity to shine. Though Brad has an eclectic martial arts background consisting of Wing Chun, Karate, Aikido, and Hapkido, here Brad puts on display specifically his boxing combinations, insanely fast footwork, and incredible Taekwondo kicking even throwing almost four kicks in mid-air at one point. In contrast to many of Jackie's more prop-oriented fights, this fight sequence is a straight kickboxing match. Nevertheless, Chan's silly sense of humor is still present with plenty of slapstick moments like punching Brad's face like a speed bag. Jackie is certainly enjoying himself both in and out of character as he eventually defeats Brad Allan with a series of unconventional moves as is Jackie's style including a little tribute to his dance idols Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire swinging around Brad like a literal dance partner. The choreography is indeed "gorgeous" courtesy of Jackie and his stunt team which includes associate action designer Sam Wong Ming-Sing as well as assistant action designers Nicky Li Chung-Chi and Chan Ming-Ching. If you want more of this kind of pure hand-to-hand Jackie Chan action then don't worry because there's at least two more spots on the list coming up that'll satisfy that demand.
#7. Police Story 4: First Strike (1996)
(video featured below is from the English re-sound)
In this last installment of the original Police Story series before 2004's reboot, Jackie plays a Hong Kong cop working with the CIA to take down a black market weapons dealer. The mission goes awry when Chan is framed for the murder of a triad boss and is attacked by the triad members. Rumble in the Bronx may be the quintessential Jackie Chan prop fight but Police Story 4 released just a year later reinvents the formula with a more wide open space for Jackie and his stunt team to play in. Chairs and tables fly through the air as Chan uses his own jacket as a restraining tool, climbs up a balcony knocking down wooden flat boards, defends himself with a lion head, and even twirls a broom around his legs to trip a triad member. But this scene is most memorable for its use of a foldable stepladder which Jackie wields like a legitimate weapon despite its large and complicated structure.
In a possible homage to Bruce Lee's tracksuit from Game of Death, Jackie wears a yellow and black jumpsuit. The connection doesn't end there as Jackie was initially being prepared as another Bruce Lee clone with the critically panned New Fist of Fury causing Chan to eventually remodel himself as the antithesis to Bruce; normally on the defensive and visibly expressing his fear and pain as opposed to the stoic and near invincible persona of Bruce Lee. Besides the death-defying ski-jumping helicopter stunt, this ladder sequence lives on as the movie's greatest action scene and one of the Chan man's most ingenious pieces of propwork thanks to another team-up between Jackie and the film's director Stanley Tong winning them the Hong Kong film award for best action choreography as they had for Rumble in the Bronx featured earlier in the list. Assistant martial arts directors Ailen Sit Chun-Wai, Chan Wai-To, and Chan Ming-Ching, also helped with the fight sequencing with the last two appearing as a couple of henchmen fought by Jackie in the ladder fight.
#6. Wheels on Meals (1984)
Jackie Chan has stated that among the two incredible cinematic fights he has had with Benny Urquidez, he personally prefers the one from Dragons Forever. However, most Chan fans, including myself, would agree that their first on-screen match-up 4 years earlier is definitely more memorable. We're talking the one from Wheels on Meals (get it?) The title a humorous and almost arbitrary play on words only because Golden Harvest execs held the superstitious belief that movies starting with the letter M are doomed to be unsuccessful. And even more seemingly unrelated title of Spartan X was given to the Japanese release which would also be the title used for a loose game adaptation (though it takes greater inspiration from the Bruce Lee film Game of Death) that is widely credited as the first in the beat 'em up genre. But many of you would know the game by its international name Kung Fu Master. Wheels on Meals follows Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao as cousins running a meals-on-wheels business when they meet a young woman who is later kidnapped by a crime syndicate attempting to steal her inheritance. They soon team up with a private investigator played by Sammo Hung (also the film's writer and director) to rescue the young heir held hostage in an actual castle of all places (mostly to parody the Three Musketeers of course).
Gorgeous was a more fair and safe 1-on-1 with padded gloves. This final fight with Benny Urquidez is a brutal bare-knuckled brawl with what almost appear to be full contact hits that can be clearly observed during slow-mo shots. Bearing the nickname of "Jet" long before a certain Jet Li arrived on the martial arts scene, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez was a world kickboxing champion at the time having won 49 out of 53 fights with black belts in a multitude of martial arts including Taekwondo, Shotokan Karate, Kenpo, Judo, Jujutsu, Kajukenbo, and Kendo. Benny at first overwhelms Jackie with his blazing speed and technical skill pushing Jackie and a dinner table behind him across the room. His off-screen martial prowess is so legitimate that he actually blew out a line of candles with a spinning hook kick, a feat accomplished without any special effects or deceptive camerawork. Benny and Keith Vitali, who played one of the other henchmen, actually sparred with some of the local black belts during shooting of the film in Barcelona further raising the genuine combative realism brought into the movie.
In true Chan fashion, Jackie loosens up and decides to have a little fun and enjoy himself much like the second half of his fight in Gorgeous treating it like a "training session". As one of the catchiest soundtracks in martial arts cinema kicks in, the two exchange a fast flurry of punches and kicks resulting in Jackie getting punched in the nose for taunting his opponent and escaping a chokehold with an armpit tickle. Jackie Chan does try to rely on his usual tricks to gain the upper hand by using a chair but quickly realizes that his environment isn't going to save him this time making this by far the best example of a pure hand-to-hand fight scene choreographed by Chan. Wheels on Meals is one of several movies featuring all three Peking Opera "brothers" Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Sammo Hung. And this trio of action talent made way for what is often regarded as one of the best martial arts fight sequences of all time bringing together a balance of comedy and brutality.
#5. Police Story 2 (1988)
Police Story 2 sees Jackie Chan reprising his role as the Hong Kong cop from the first film having been demoted to highway patrol. But after the bombing of a mall, his status as an officer of the law is reinstated and is tasked with investigating the incident. Attempting to one-up the classic bus sequence from the original Police Story, Jackie suffered serious cuts to his body after a stunt mishap when he accidentally jumped off from a moving bus through the wrong glass window. As we all know however, stunt work alone is not what makes an excellent Jackie Chan film. There is always at least one standout fight scene that puts the icing on the cake.
Wheels on Meals is a testament to how Jackie can design a completely open-handed fight sequence with near perfection. But why leave Jackie with open hands when they can be filled with weapons and any object he can find in his immediate vicinity? That is what distinguishes Jackie's personal style of action comedy and that is exactly what earns the spot as the 5th best Jackie Chan fight scene on this list. It's basically several minutes of Jackie reliving his childhood (and us doing the same vicariously) turning an entire playground into a battle arena jumping into and around slides, monkey bars, and a swing set with stupendous grace and agility while also throwing in some standard fisticuffs and a bit of metal baton bashing. Chan is a master of utilizing an array of different objects as props but his other specialty is transforming an entire preexistent setting into one single massive prop. And his stunt team is equally praiseworthy breaking their backs and sometimes falling head first into the playground equipment in a very playful yet painful display of stunt mastery. The whole movie was not only choreographed by but also written and directed by Jackie leading the film to earn its trophy as yet another Hong Kong action choreography award winner.
#4. Who Am I? (1998)
1998's Who Am I? is only Jackie Chan's second film to feature an English script after Mr. Nice Guy released a year prior and was co-directed by Jackie and Benny Chan who would direct later Chan films like New Police Story. This would also be the final Jackie Chan movie to be produced by Golden Harvest's Leonard Ho before the two parted ways for their own cinematic projects. Jackie plays an amnesiac covert operative who gradually unravels a conspiracy involving his own superior officer and a stolen meteorite fragment. Once again bewildering audiences with his insanely daring stunts, Jackie slides and even briefly runs down the side of the multistory Willemswerf building. As is the case with Police Story 2, every crazy stunt must be paired up with a similarly crazy fight sequence.
Who Am I? doubles the threat by finishing off the film's final action sequence with a 2-on-1 fight where Jackie's opponents compete with one another to determine who can defeat him in the shortest amount of time. The first henchman played by Kwan Yung is an expert in a style of Kung Fu called Choy Li Fut who initially outmatches Chan with his wide circular hand strikes, elbows, and clinch knees until Jackie does what he does best skipping conventional combat by using Kwan Yung's own tie and jacket against him. Recognizing Chan's disrespect for clothes (a trademark characteristic of Chan in a countless number of his films), the onlooking fellow henchman played by Dutch martial artist Ron Smoorenburg removes several articles of clothing in preparation for his round of the fight. Jackie often faces off against a kicking specialist like in Gorgeous, Police Story 2, or even earlier on in The Young Master against Hwang In-Shik. Who Am I? continues that tradition with the long-legged Karate stylist Ron Smoorenburg keeping Jackie at bay with his incredible kicking ability with the two also engaging in the most intense shin-kicking contest ever seen on film. You may notice that Smoorenburg appears to shrink a couple feet in the beginning of their bout as Ron was temporarily doubled by the more seasoned kicking master Brad Allan (from the 8th best fight scene on the list in Gorgeous) because of it having been Smoorenburg's first cinematic fight especially with the high choreographic demands required for Jackie Chan's style of action.
The two henchmen finally decide to double team Jackie causing Chan to again resort to more of his expected unorthodox tactics tumbling in and around the metal beams almost falling off the side of the rooftop in one of the most vertigo-inducing shots ever. Some behind-the-scenes footage has actually shown that Ron Smoorenburg's kick at the 4:43 mark was performed with the aid of a fake leg held by a stuntman. Proof that Jackie's expectations and choreographic creativity can sometimes be so great that not even the most experienced stuntmen can execute the necessary movements. To avoid being knocked off the building, Chan parkours to a lower level which is just one of many moments in his filmography that has lead to him being called the grandfather of parkour and the free-running movement. Jackie then teaches Kwan Yung that jewelry is quite the liability in a fight and stuns Smoorenburg with a bag of cement. Combining fast and elaborate hand-to-hand combat with Jackie's signature use of his environment, Who Am I? became another movie winning Chan the Hong Kong film award for best action choreography much of which is also due to the consistent dedication of his stunt team also lead by assistant martial arts directors Nicky Chung Chi-Li and Sam Wong Ming-Sing.
#3. Drunken Master (1978)
The late 70s' saw Jackie Chan's perfection of the traditional Chinese opera style of kung fu like Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. But it was his turn as the most legendary Chinese martial arts master and folk hero Wong Fei-Hung in Drunken Master that exemplified his refinement of classic kung fu choreographic conventions and Chan's own developing form of action comedy. All of this builds up to a climactic fight with the movie's main antagonist Thunderleg played by Korean martial artist and classic kung fu film villain Hwang Jang Lee (also main antagonist in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow) a 9th dan master of Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do which he demonstrates with his fictional leg-based style called "The Devil's Kick". Adding another layer of viscerality to the fight is the fact that Hwang actually kicked out one of Jackie's teeth which sharper viewers can spot in one shot.
Once the classic Wong Fei Hung orchestral music starts chiming in Chan then shows off his Drunken Fist also known as Zuiquan, a style of kung fu that imitates the behavior of someone who is drunk. Drunken Fist is found in many kung fu styles much of which are derived from the Shaolin school. But Jackie's form is based around the Wudang system which references the Eight Daoist Immortals of Chinese mythology. Though the movements shown on-screen may simply be an amalgamation of other Chinese martial arts that incorporate Drunken Fist. In a connection to an earlier entry on this list, one of the Eight Daoist Immortals, Lu Dongbin the "drunkard with inner strength", is a fully developed character depicted by Chan in The Forbidden Kingdom. Although mostly traditional in its approach to the kung fu, Jackie Chan still shows off his unique sense of humor and athletic giftedness as a young and limber 20-something-year-old rolling around on his back and tumbling over and under the confused Hwang Jang Lee while frequently chugging down his jug of wine. Hwang eventually reveals his "Devil's Shadowless Hands" but the completely intoxicated Chan manages to defeat him with his own improvised version of the last and most effeminate of the drunken immortals.
Directing and choreographing the movie is the great Yuen Woo-Ping before the wire-fu era merging his own action style with the more off-kilter beat of Jackie Chan. The film also brought together other members of the Yuen clan with Woo-Ping's brothers Yuen Shun-Yi and Brandy Yuen Jan-Yeung as assistant martial arts directors and even their father Yuen Siu-Tin playing the legendary Beggar So, mentor to Jackie Chan's character. Sharing the family name but of no relation yet also a prestigious fight choreographer is Corey Yuen who also collaborated with Yuen Woo-Ping. Lastly is Hsu Hsia who not only helped craft the choreography but also shared some screen time with Jackie Chan as the Stick King. Drunken Master proved so popular that it would lead to other "drunksploitation" films birthing a short-lived subgenre of Drunken Kung Fu flicks which would not have been possible if it weren't for this crazy fun booze-filled final battle.
#2. Police Story (1985)
Starring, directed, and written by Jackie Chan, Police Story is considered by Chan himself as his magnum opus in terms of overall action design which won him and his stunt team not just the Hong Kong film award for best action choreography but also the award for best Hong Kong film in general. The multi-talented Chan even wrote and sang the now iconic theme song. As the title implies, this is a story of a Hong Kong police officer played by Jackie tracking down a ruthless crime lord in the first of a series of films, 2 of which we've covered earlier in the list. Along with Jackie's Drunken Master movies, this is the film role that inspired the character Lei Wulong from the Tekken series. Chan is arguably in his peak physical form at the age of 30 having the athletic capability and daring courage to pull off his famous bus-hanging stunt.
The film's extravaganza of stuntwork culminates in a final mall showdown where the crime lord's secretary tries stealing computer data that can help in his prosecution but soon finds herself pursued by the crime lord's men with Jackie following close behind. Due to the ridiculous number of sugar glass panes broken during the mall sequence, the film was nicknamed "Glass Story" by the stunt crew. Sugar glass is double the thickness of ordinary glass but ironically caused greater injuries during filming. And that injurious dedication really shows as Jackie's own face is smashed into glass, his whole body thrown through a glass railing resulting in Chan's actual hospitalization, and one stuntman being driven through multiple glass walls while pushed along the front of a motorcycle. Co-star Brigitte Lin also takes her fair share of glass-shattering falls proving that no one was safe from the dangerous stunts involved. Given the variety of props at his disposal, the shopping mall serves as a perfectly elaborate action set piece. Almost every major aspect of the mall is used for the sake of stunts including escalators that both literally and metaphorically escalate the action whether it be Jackie jumping onto them or throwing other henchmen onto them. Even something as innocuous as a clothing rack is repurposed into a rolling metallic weapon. All of this is interspersed throughout with the usual fast-paced undercranked melee combat as the crime lord's men are lead by second-in-command criminal played by the classic Hong Kong martial arts movie bad guy Fung Hark-on.
This frenetic chase leads up to what is hailed as one of the greatest stunts in movie history where Jackie slides down a pole laden with exploding Christmas light bulbs crashing onto the glass structure below putting to shame every firefighter in the world. A stunt few would be willing to do or could do (not even Tom Cruise). But if anyone can the Chan Man can. Jackie still bears the mark of this remarkably death-defying act through his second degree burns from the pole's heated metal as well as having dislocated his pelvis and enduring a lower spine injury. It is this stunt and the magnificently sequenced fights right before it that has affirmed Chan's legacy as one of the bravest stuntmen to grace the silver screen. A worthy successor to his own idol and stunt extraordinaire from a bygone age Buster Keaton in what is the gold standard of Hong Kong action cinema and certainly one of the best action movies of all time.
#1. Drunken Master 2 (1994)
(original version)
(Legend of Drunken Master Re-Sound version)
As we saw with Police Story, the 80s' and 90s' were marked by Jackie focusing on contemporary urban settings with more grounded fight scenes packed with props and terrifyingly exciting stunts. But Drunken Master 2 is a throwback to an older era of Chan Fu as an early 20th century period piece featuring traditional martial arts. Though Jackie does play Wong Fei-Hung again, Drunken Master 2 is only a spiritual sequel to the 1978 film without any plot continuity. In this indirect follow-up, Wong Fei-Hung must stop the smuggling of the Imperial Seal, an incredibly valuable Chinese artifact, from being snuck out of China by the British consulate. The film is one giant Kung Fu fight fest that includes a sword vs. spear duel with Lau Kar-Leung under a train and a 2-against-all with the Axe Gang (lead by Hsu Hsia who played the stick king in the original Drunken Master). Yet the best is saved for last when Wong Fei-Hung confronts the British consulate's agents at their own steel-mill factory battling several henchmen including one particularly tough fighter with chain-wrapped arms.
He finally reaches the top two enforcers. One played by Korean American actor, martial artist, and stunt coordinator Ho-Sung Pak who was the motion capture sprite model for Liu-Kang in the first two Mortal Kombat games and stunt doubled as Raphael in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action film. The second enforcer and the superior of the two is played by Ken Lo who was just a spectator in the Gorgeous fight scene from earlier but this time he is front and center as the main baddie. Ho Sung-Pak was in fact originally meant to be the main opponent but after multiple ankle strains during shooting, Ken Lo was brought in as a last-second stand-in requiring him to train for three months prior to the filming of the fight. Ken Lo's entire role was even offered to Donnie Yen who turned it down. One can only imagine the alternative version with Yen. A fight sequence of equal or even higher quality than the final product. Something like Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan's final fight in Shanghai Knights but ten times better and likely ten times longer. Alas, it was Ken Lo as third pick for the final boss that made the cut and he seriously did not disappoint. Ken Lo was Chan's bodyguard at the time and a former Taekwondo champion which is evident in his dizzying array of shaky one-legged kicking combinations. Ken Lo's part as the movie's necessary kicking specialist is a perfect counter to Jackie's mid-range style which he stated was in fact not Hung Ga as his character Wong Fei Hung is known for but instead Choy Li Fut. The same style used by Kwan Yung's character in Who Am I? We get a taste of Drunken Fist earlier in the film where Wong chugs down multiple multi-colored bottles, but this final fight is the true showcasing of the style. Wong Fei-Hung drinks industrial alcohol, a flammable liquid that would normally kill an ordinary man but instead grants booze-based superpowers to the red-faced kung fu master.
Drunken Master 2 was directed by and partly choreographed by the late and great Lau Kar-Leung before his departure from the film's choreographic department due to him and Chan's disagreements over action design. You may notice the original Drunken Master had longer takes with wide full-body sideview shots which is reportedly similar to how Lau Kar-Leung would've filmed it along with using more wirework. But once Jackie took full control, he intensified the action with somewhat quicker cuts keeping the camera a little closer, employing more varied angles, and a few over-the-shoulder viewpoints creating a much faster and frantically-paced feel. Though harkening back to the more traditional kung fu of Chan's younger years, it modifies the Chinese opera martial aesthetic with Chan's own comedic eccentricities channeling his own unique physical comedy and Charlie Chaplain style silent film era slapstick. As a result, plenty of unorthodox movements are thrown in as Jackie turns the worm into an actual fighting technique and throws Ken Lo behind his back, a finishing move he spared Brad Allan in Gorgeous. Undoubtedly the ultimate Jackie Chan fight scene, it contains all the extremely quick and complex hand-to-hand fighting mixed with all manner of pyrotechnic props. From high-speed mine carts to Jackie blowing fire from his mouth and actually crawling across real burning hot coals which he decided to attempt twice because the first take apparently didn't look convincing enough.
The result is an almost 10-minute long fight which required 4 months to film. Mainstream American audiences were only introduced to this martial arts madness when it was re-released in 2000 in the US as Legend of Drunken Master. An English dub with updated but more toned down sound effects akin to The Matrix trilogy which sometimes does not match the on-screen rhythm as well as the dialogue removing references to the Eight Drunken Immortals replacing them with either animal kung fu moves or completely made-up names. Regardless of whether you prefer the original dubbing or that of the new millennium, this finale fight is widely recognized as one of the best fight scenes ever put to film helping to win Drunken Master 2 the Hong Kong film award for best action choreography (to no surprise). After about 3 decades it still stands as one of the most influential kung fu flicks ever and a landmark in the history of martial arts cinema. And did I mention Jackie even sang the theme song for the film in both Cantonese and Mandarin? Quite the skilled vocalist isn't he?
Are you a fan of the Chan Man? If you're reading this article you probably are. So why waste time answering that rhetorical question when you can just subscribe to the website and be notified for the next article? Up next is another martial artist whose name starts with the letter "J". And by that I mean Jet Li.
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