Ging chat goo si (1985)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jackie Chan

Writer:

Edward Tang (writer)

Release Date:

11 September 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

You may know the name, but the game has changed.

Plot:

Kevin Chan (aka Jackie) is a Hong-Kong cop, who scores his first big hit by virtually single-handedly capturing and arresting a big drug- lord...

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | Drug Lord | Bloopers During Credits | Criminal | Gangster

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Chan Ka Kui
Brigitte Lin	...	Selina Fong (as Brigette Lin)
Maggie Cheung	...	May
Kwok-Hung Lam	...	Supt. Raymond Li
Bill Tung	...	Inspector Bill Wong
Yuen Chor	...	Mr. Chu
Charlie Cho	...	John Ko
Chi-Wing Lau	...	Cheung, the Lawyer
Hark-On Fung	...	Danny Ko
Hing Ying Kam	...	Inspector Man
Mars	...	Kim
Po Tai	...	Lee
Ken Tong	...	Tom (as Kent Tong)
Fat Wan	...	Jacknife
Fung Woo	...	Shau Tau Kok Station Commander

Also Known As:

Jackie Chan's Police Force
Jackie Chan's Police Story
Jing cha gu shi (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Police Force
Police Story (Hong Kong: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, brief sexual humor and drug content. (2005 edited version)

Runtime:

101 min | Japan:106 min (extended print) | UK:99 min | USA:90 min | Spain:88 min (edited version)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 (re-rating) (uncut) | Germany:18 (original rating) (cut) | Finland:(Banned) (1987) | Finland:K-18 (1995) | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:18 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Golden Way Films Ltd.

Trivia:

This film project came about as a result of Jackie Chan's frustration and dissatisfaction with the film The Protector (1985).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kevin/Jackie is climbing onto the bus using the umbrella, as he reaches around the side of the bus we see the handle of the umbrella is clearly bent, but in the next shot, which looks back to him reaching round side of the bus the handle is back to normal.

Quotes:

Kevin Chan Ka Kui: [after being assigned to protect her from Koo's men, Kevin tries to persuade Selina to go home after she's been released from jail] Miss Fong, it's much too dangerous out here. Please go home.
Selina Fong: I'll do what I want.
Kevin Chan Ka Kui: Miss Fong, it's for your own safety.
Selina Fong: [annoyed] Look, I don't need your protection, so get lost! Leave me alone!
Kevin Chan Ka Kui: Are you sure? Do you know what happened to four other witnesses who said that?
Selina Fong: [sarcastically] What? Somebody shot em? Don't try to scare me. So go on... what happened?
Kevin Chan Ka Kui: Uh... nothing happened to them. They're all doing fine. But something could happen.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Tango & Cash (1989)

Soundtrack:

Hero Story

Possibly the most essential Jackie Chan movie

It is a great shame that Jackie Chan's eventual emergence as a fully -fledged Hollywood star did not happen much earlier when he was at his physical peak. Of course even now he is pretty amazing,but he IS around 50 now. The Jackie Chan of Police Story would have REALLY amazed the world.

Police Story may not be his best movie but it is possibly the one to watch to get an overview of his abilities and film-making style {one must not forget he directed many of his Hong Kong films}.It is a somewhat uneven but often exhilarating film which mixes cop drama,slapstick comedy and amazing action. The film features opening and ending action sequences which are amongst the best done EVER. The opening has a shoot-out in a shanty town,virtual destruction of the town by cars and Jackie hanging on to a bus with a walking stick. The climax features an incredible fight scene in a shopping mall which is a fantastic combination of martial arts,brawling and sheer destruction,and the final stunt-WOW!

In between the film concentrates more on comedy,some of which slows the pace a little but is simply delightful to watch,such as a scene where Jackie has to answer lots of telephones at the same time {cut from the slightly poor dubbed version which also has a far inferior score},a very funny courtroom scene and even the old pie-in-the-face routine! Some of the humour may annoy those wanting more action but it is as essential to an understanding of Jackie's art as his martial arts and stunts,and here he perhaps perfects his favoured 'everyman' hero,a normal guy who may have amazing martial arts skill but still has relationship problems and is as likely to lose a fight as to win it. Sadly female stars Maggie Chung and Brigite Lin simply exist to be knocked about!

By no means a perfect film,and possibly Project A,Drunken Master 2 or Dragon's Forever might be better films but if you want a sampling of Jackie doing everything he does best,than this is the film to see .It spawned 3 sequels,all of which add to and build on the first one.