Police Story 4: First Strike (traditional Chinese: ????IV?????), released in English-speaking markets as Jackie
Chan’s First Strike, is a 1996 action-adventure film made in the typical humorous style of Jackie Chan.
Jackie reprises his role as Chan Ka-Kui (also known in some versions as Jackie) yet again as a Hong Kong cop who works with Interpol to track down and arrest an illegal weapons dealer. Later Jackie realizes that things are not as simple as they appear and soon find himself a pawn of an organisation posing as Russian intelligence.
The movie was shot partially in Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, where the last half of the movie is based. Chinatown, Brisbane in Fortitude Valley and Underwater World on the Sunshine Coast were used. The movie was shot in the months between August and November 1996.
To advertise First Strike, Jackie recorded the song Zenmo Hui and also made music-video for it. As is typical with Chan’s pictures, the US version does not feature the theme song.
Plot
Whilst working for the CIA, Jackie Chan Ka-Kui (played by Jackie Chan) is kidnapped by the FSB and taken to Moscow where he discovers he’s been assigned to work with a Colonel Gregor (Yuri Petrov) to solve a case involving nuclear weapons being smuggled out of Ukraine. His task is to track Tsui (Jackson Lau), a Chinese American nuclear scientist with CIA links who is suspected of involvement. He’s taken by a Russian submarine to Brisbane, Australia, where Tsui’s attractive younger sister Annie Tsui (Annie Wu) works at an aquarium doing shark shows. Uncle 7 (Terry Woo), the Tsuis’ father and the local Triad boss, is seriously ill, and Chan suspects the criminal will show up soon. Unbeknown to Jackie, Tsui is hiding at the hospital, and has given a nuclear warhead to Annie, who hides it at the aquarium. Whilst following Annie, Jackie gets to meet the aquarium animals and is kidnapped by Tsui, who claims to have a deal with Colonel Gregor. Jackie decides to return home, but two toughs are sent to kill him, and he is framed for the murder of Uncle 7. He attempts to clear his name by going to see Annie at the memorial hall, but he is (unsurprisingly) unwelcome, and Tsui has to rescue him. Tsui explains that Gregor caught him on a CIA assignment three years before, and forced him to turn into a triple agent: a CIA agent ostensibly turned by the KGB/FSB, but in reality serving Gregor’s private criminal schemes. Annie, Jackie and Tsui decide to work together to fight Gregor. Uncle 7’s elaborate Chinatown funeral then becomes the scene for a complex showdown between the various parties. Annie and Jackie attempt to retrieve the stolen warhead from the shark pool (so that they can return it to the police), but Gregor and his toughs follow them, leading to a climactic confrontation underwater. While Gregor escapes with the weapon and Annie as hostage, Jackie comes up with an unusual plan that allows him to recover the weapon and return it to the proper authorities, while Annie makes her escape. Gregor and Tsui are apprehended by Australian police and turned over to Russian authorities. As is usual in Chan’s films, out-takes (generally accidents involving the star) are shown under the closing titles.
Awards and nominations
- 1997 Hong Kong Film Awards
- Won: Best Action Choreography (Stanley Tong)
- Nominated: Best Picture
- Nominated: Best Actor (Jackie Chan)
- Nominated: Best New Performer (Annie Wu)
- Nominated: Best Film Editing (Peter Cheung, Yau Chi-wai)
- 1996 Golden Horse Film Festival
- Won: Best Action Direction (Stanley Tong)
- 1997 MTV Movie Awards
- Nominated: Best Fight