'A' gai waak (1983)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Jackie Chan

Writers:

Jackie Chan (writer)
Edward Tang (writer)

Release Date:

22 December 1983 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

Nonstop Action On The High Seas!

Plot:

Fighting against pirates in "old Hong Kong". Chinese costume drama with plenty of over-the-top tongue in cheek action and music.

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Hong Kong | Fight | Chinese | Hand Grenade

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Dragon Mi Yong
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	...	Fei
Biao Yuen	...	Captain Tzu
Dick Wei	...	Lor Sam Pau
Mars	...	Jaws
Winnie Wong	...	Winnie
Po Tai	...	Tai (as Pa Tai)
Wu Long Cheung	...	VIP Club Bouncer
Hoi San Lee		(as Hai-Shung Lee)
Hoi-Shan Kwan	...	Captain Chi (as Hoi-San Kwan)
Wai Wong
Fat Wan	...	Thug (as Wan Tat)
Wing Man Kuen
Ho Kai Law
Hark-Sun Lau	...	Admiral (as Hak Suen Lau)

Also Known As:

'A' ji hua (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Jackie Chan's Project A (USA)
Mark of the Dragon (Philippines: English title)
Operazione pirati
Pirate Patrol
Project A (Hong Kong: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

English | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (DVD version) | Germany:12 (re-rating) (uncut) | Germany:16 (original rating) (cut) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Trivia:

One of the stunts, involving a fall from a tower, almost cost Jackie Chan his life.

Quotes:

Captain Chi: Who is laughing like that?
Jaws: Me, sir.
Captain Chi: Do you know what you're going to do?
Jaws: To laugh one thousand times?
Captain Chi: Police, shoot him dead!

Movie Connections:

References Bao chou (1970)

Fun and action-packed

Boy, that lead-in stinks of a rotting cliche, doesn't it? But I really do enjoy this movie. Every time it hits cable, I watch it.

Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung play wonderfully off of each other, even in the dubbed version. The story is realistic enough to be compelling, and the action sequences are superb. My personal favorite is the battle on the bicycles in the narrow back alleys.

The one thing that has made Mr. Chan my favorite martial arts actor is the way his movies infuse humor and slapstick into serious fight scenes, and Project A, in my opinion, does that better than any of his other films.

Highly recommended.