Jackie Chan Movies

When Japanese uber-gangster Akatura (Nakamura) absconds with a huge cache of explosives, a rebellious trio of police officers (the titular Gen-X Cops) must use their youthful instincts and street smarts to infiltrate his international crime syndicate. Racing against the clock and an army of highly trained global terrorists, the crime-fighting triumvirate must diffuse Akatura’s plans before he annihilates Hong Kong.

Starring	Nicholas Tse, Stephen Fung, Sam Lee, Grace Yip, Eric Tsang, Daniel Wu, Toru Nakamura, Jackie Chan, Jaymee Ong
Director	Benny Chan
Studio	PRISM LEISURE
Run time	DVD: 1 hr 48 mins
Certificate
Genres	Action/Adventure, Thriller, World Cinema

Synopsis

Jet fuel is stolen by weapons smugglers. The fuel is reacquired by the Hong Kong police but then once again stolen by a yakuza boss named Akatora who is trying to sell it with the help of Hong Kong thug Daniel. Three rebellious cops go undercover to find both the jet fuel and Akatora. They must use the criminal instincts that got them kicked out of the force to save Hong Kong from a devastating terrorist attack.

Characters

The Gen-x Cops

Jack (played by Nicholas Tse) Jack is the tough cool one of the group. He will do almost anything to win. He’s in the one of the group that always seems to be alone with one of the thugs. He is alone with Lok at one point then Daniel and faces off with Akatora.

Match (Played by Stephen Fung) Match is the play boy of the group, as he is always more concerned with the girl instead of the task at hand, though in the long run, it always seems to help as his ex-girlfriend is with Daniel and eventually leaves Daniel for Match allowing Jack to take her place and get more information.

Alien (Played by Sam Lee) As his name suggests, Alien is the goofy guy of the bunch. He doesn’t really like authority or doing much work but does his fair share in the group.

Y2K (Played by Grace Yip) Y2K is the girl of the group. She has skills in fighting and computers. She is mainly the group’s techie. She is also the sister of an undercover cop killed, as he is the reason Akatora lost his good to begin with.

The gangsters

Akatora (Played by Tôru Nakamura) The main villain of the movie. He is the mastermind behind the stealing and smuggling of the jet fuel explosives. He is driven by revenge. He believes that a man name Shimada is the reason his father was killed. And his goal is to eventually kill Shimada.

Daniel (Played by Daniel Wu) Daniel is Akatora’s man in China. He kills his own brother to show his loyalty. Once his Girlfriend leaves him for Match, he takes Jack with him and eventually is killed by Akatora for bringing a cop to his hideout.

Lok (Played by Francis Ng) Lok is a very good friend of Dinosaur. Once he hears about his friend’s death he comes to Hong Kong to find his killer.

Tooth (Played by Terence Yin) Tooth is the right hand man of Daniel. But betrays him when Lok puts up $10million for the identity of the killer of Dinosaur.

Haze (Played by Jaymee Ong) Haze is the current girlfriend of Daniel. But she had a fling with Match in Canada. For her it was much more serious. The only reason she came to china with Daniel was to find Match. She leaves Daniel for Match in the end.

Cast

• Jackie Chan - C.N. Chan
• Shu Qi - Bu
• Tony Leung Chiu-Wai - Albert
• Emil Chau (Wakin Chau) – Howie Lo
• Richie Ren - Long Yi
• Ken Lo - Howie’s bodyguard
• Chan Chung Yung - Bu’s father
• Elaine Jin - Bu’s mother
• Brad Allan - Alan
• Tats Lau - Betty
• Vincent Kok - man at pier
• Sandra Ng - thief
• Sam Lee - robber
• Law Kar-Ying - restauranter
• Stephen Chow - policeman
• Stephen Fung - photographer
• Daniel Wu - photographer’s assistant
• Carmen Soo - Gloria
• Jacqueline Li - Michelle

Background

Chan had long wanted to be involved in drama films, but had constantly been dissuaded by Leonard Ho, one of the founders of Golden Harvest and Chan’s godfather. Ho had argued that to ensure success in his films, Chan should play to his fanbase by only doing action movies and avoiding the love scenes that may alienate certain markets (notably Japan). Ho died on 16 February 1998 and Chan left Golden Harvest soon after, seeking a change and a new freedom to make the films he really wanted to. This coincided with his growing fame in the West, due to the international success of the film Rush Hour.

Gorgeous was originally conceived purely as a love story, with Chan as producer, but not as one of the film’s cast. In order to secure the actress Shu Qi, the script of the film was re-written and a role for Chan was created. This soon developed into a starring role, and elements of action crept in. However, Gorgeous remains primarily a romantic comedy and so it differs from his usual all-out action films. The action scenes are fewer and there is no real bad guy character – the fight with the nominal enemy (played by Brad Allan) is a pre-arranged bout and both fighters wear boxing gloves – competitive rather than motivated by revenge or the fight for survival.

The director had wanted to use Chan’s office as the set for C.N.’s apartment, but this proved impractical, particularly as that section of the office is on the third floor. However, many props from Chan’s office were used including his own training dummy. Chan said of his character C.N., that he was “60-70% Jackie Chan”. The clothing the character wears, the training routine he undergoes and healthy lifestyle he maintains, his general good nature and his environmental role are all traits and actions of Chan himself.

Chan summarised the difference between the films Rush Hour and Gorgeous, stating the former was a job, and the latter was his baby. In Rush Hour his role was restricted to actor andaction director. In Gorgeous, he was also the producer, editor and was involved in casting.

Although a romantic comedy, the only significant kissing scene was dropped from the main film for fear that it would alienate certain East Asian markets who may not want to see Chan in such a relationship. The underwater kiss scene was retained and appeared amongst the out-takes that accompany the film’s closing credits.

The film is notable for casting numerous, then, unknown actors who went on the achieve national and in some cases multi-national success. These include: Sam Lee, Daniel Wu, Richie Ren and Stephen Fung

Plot synopsis

Bu (Shu Qi) is a beautiful young girl from a small Taiwanese fishing village who discovers a romantic message in a bottle. She heads for Hong Kong to find its writer, only to learn that it was in fact written by Albert (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), a lonely gay man. She, however, meets the wealthy recycling company owner, C.N. (Jackie Chan) who falls in love with her; but the plot is soon thickened by rival businessmen, hired goons, and Bu’s confused would-be boyfriend.

King of Comedy

Cast

• Stephen Chow as Wan Tin-Sau
• Karen Mok as Sister Cuckoo
• Cecilia Cheung as Lau Piu-Piu
• Ng Man-Tat
• Jackie Chan (cameo)

Plot

Wan Tin-Sau (Chow) is an actor who cannot seem to catch a break, since his only professional jobs are limited to being a movie extra. As well as being an actor, he is also the head of his village’s community centre.

One day a group of club girls come to ask Wan to help them act like innocent schoolgirls so they can make more money. One of the girls, Lau Piu-Piu (Cecilia Cheung), although a little hardy at first, becomes a better actress through Wan’s instruction and falls in love with him. When both characters finally make love, Wan searches his home for enough money to pay Piu-piu for her “services”, since he thinks she slept with him for money (not knowing it was for love). After Piu-piu leaves him in anger, he goes back to the film studio where he always harasses crew members for a role, and finally hits the big time, receiving a part as Leading actor next to a legendary actress, Sister Cuckoo (Karen Mok). During this time, Wan reconciles with Piu-piu and he pledges to support her for the rest of his life.

Just as Wan is about to settle in the life of a movie star, his dreams of grandeur are crushed when his part is given to a highly sought after male lead because Sister Cuckoo was jealous of his relationship with Piu-piu. Luckily, he regains his confidence with the help of themisanthropic lunchman at the studio (Ng Man Tat), who is secretly a C.I.B. agent. Wan is used in an undercover operation, where he is disguised as a delivery boy and made to deliver a hidden gun and listening device inside Take-out food. Although the ruse is discovered and the C.I.B. undercover agent is shot, Wan takes up the gun and saves the day. The lunchman is rushed to the hospital and survives his wounds.

After a somewhat successful sting, Wan finally becomes famous through a performance of the “Thunder Storm”, a stage production based on the Bruce Lee movie Jing Wu Men. The actors include Piu-piu, Sister Cuckoo, and his wanna-be Triad students. The end of the film involves a blatant marketing plug for Pringles brand potato chips. The entire cast of the play stands backstage rehearsing their lines while literally stuffing their mouths full of Pringles, with the logos of all five cans clearly facing towards the camera. At one point, Wan and one of his triad students argues over who should play the role of Bruce Lee’s character, when another actor screams “don’t fight, eat chips!” When the closing credits role, a quick Pringles advertisement appears on the screen.