Jackie Chan finally broke into the US market with the success of Rumble In the Bronx in the Spring of 1996. After decades of being a cult star whose films didn’t get too much mainstream attention, the action actor from Hong Kong became a movie star and a VHS sensation. Dozens of his early films found themselves in video rental stores and even sold at Suncoast Video at the mall. There were giant boxsets of his earliest work eager to take up a shelf in your family room. Jackie had his own section like Elvis Presley. I no longer had to drive 40 miles all the way to Dave’s Videodrome in Carrboro, NC to rent tapes. Jackie-mania was in full effect as people wanted to see the star that didn’t have a stuntman for the dangerous scenes. There were issues with a lot of these tapes. Many were taken off extremely inferior sources. They were pan and scanned so you’d miss half the action. They looked worse than a bootleg tape bought on the street in Manhattan. The tapes released by real studios featured versions of the films that had been heavily edited with soundtracks altered. You never felt like you were getting the real deal. Now many of Jackie Chan’s films are finally getting properly released on Blu-ray with proper masters and aspect ratios. The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 2 (1983 – 1993) has different cuts of films with the various language dubs so you can choose your version.
By the mid-80s, the market for Shaolin Temple inspired movies was drying up. Shaw Brothers Studio was getting out of the theatrical business to focus on television. Golden Harvest (the studio that launched Bruce Lee) was still going strong with Jackie Chan being a reliable box office sensation. Jackie’s movies were brought into the ’80s with the role where you could easily see his daredevil martial arts moves and his death-defying stunts could be expected: a Hong Kong cop. Four of the eight movies have him as law enforcement. Two have him as the finder of ancient relics. One puts him behind the wheel of a food truck. The final film has him as private investigator. Jackie plays a wide variety of characters who have a knack for getting into serious trouble and treacherous situations.
Winners and Sinners (1983 – 108 minutes) is the first of the Five Lucky Stars trilogy. Teapot (Sammo Hung), Curly (John Sham), Exhaust Pipe (Richard Ng), Vaseline (Charlie Chin), and Rookie (Stanley Fung) all meet up in jail and decide the need to work together to get their criminal enterprises done right. The form a cleaning crew with the idea of using it as a cover for burglary. Curly’s sister Shirley (Peking Opera Blues‘ Cherie Chung) is part of the crew and a few of them members want her to be their girlfriend including Teapot. Things get risky for the cleaning crew when they stumble upon a counterfeiting operation. Are they going to end up back in jail or the grave? Jackie Chan plays a cop who keeps bumping into the five. Yuen Biao has an extended cameo as a cop in a fight scene. While the second film My Lucky Stars isn’t included in the boxset, the third film in the trilogy is here.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars (1985 – 94 minutes) has the gang on the right side of the law and on assignment. They must protect an actress from assassins. There’s a lot of slapstick in the sand and sea for the reformed criminal characters. One tries to use black magic to get a female tourist to love him. There’s a great stunt when the assassins use a parasail to takeout a target that’s also parasailing. Jackie Chan is once more the guest star in the film. He does have a monster fight scene to make you feel like he’s in the movie the whole time. Along with the version that played Hong Kong, there’s an extended cut that runs 107 minutes.
Wheels on Meals (1984 – 107 minutes) takes Jackie, Sammo and Yuen to Barcelona, Spain. Jackie and Yuen are running a food truck. Jackie uses a skateboard to deliver the food to customers around a plaza. Trouble comes quick with a ruffian motorcycle gang terrorizing the tourists. Jackie and Yuen take them out and then have to go to visit a relative in a nearby mental institution. While there, Yuen runs into another woman visiting a relative (Armour of Gods‘ Lola Forner) and considers asking her out, but bails. Later the two do meet up and it turns into serious trouble. Sammo works of a private investigator and gets a case to track down a woman who was last seen as a small girl. This eventually has all three stars unite like the Three Musketeers to take on the bad guys in a castle. Jackie has an epic fight with Benny Urquidez in the finale.
The Protector (1985 – 95 minutes) was the second attempt to bust Jackie into the megaplexes of America. While The Big Brawl (found in Volume 1) didn’t lose money, it didn’t make Jackie in demand by Hollywood studios outside of his small role in The Cannonball Run films. Golden Harvest made a second attempt by hiring director James Glickenhaus. He was best known for The Exterminator with Robert Ginty. The film was Death Wish with a flamethrower. The Protector had Jackie playing a New York City cop whose partner gets killed during an end of shift drink. While working undercover at a fashion show with his new partner (Do The Right Thing‘s Danny Aiello), the daughter of a mobster is kidnapped. The duo fly to Hong Kong to find the girl who is being used as ransom on a drug operation gone wrong. The duo have to go deep into the underworld. There’s quite a few fantastic stunts including a boat chase around Manhattan island. The film was a box office disaster in America. Jackie recut the film in Hong Kong and his version is a bit more palatable to Glickenhaus’ cut. The recut film made money in Asia. The movie isn’t that bad and the Blu-ray has Jackie’s cut that runs 92 minutes.
Armour of God (1986 – 98 minutes) was Jackie Chan’s version of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but ends up being the blueprint to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Jackie plays Asian Hawk, a former pop band singer who has left music to find ancient relics. He finds himself dragged into a hostage situation. A religious cult has kidnapped an old bandmate’s girlfriend. Their demand is three pieces of the Armour of God. Jackie doesn’t have to go on too much of an adventure to locate them, but has to make a deal with a rich aristocrat. However their simple plan to grab the girlfriend and all the armor goes bad and Jackie has to battle the cult including four Amazon fighters. The film is noted for Jackie nearly dying during a simple stunt when he jumps onto a tree. You’ll see how bad things got during the final credits. The film was a massive hit so Jackie brought back Asian Hawk in Armour of God II: Operation Condor (1991 – 107 minutes). Jackie is hired to go deep into the Sahara Desert to find a rumored massive amount of gold hidden away by the Nazis at the end of World War II. It’s a fun thriller that has a fight in a wind turbine. The movie was bought by Miramax who let it sit in the vault until after Rumble in the Bronx when the studio butchered the movie down to 91 minutes and issued it as Operation Condor. The good news is you don’t get that Miramax monstrosity on the Blu-ray. Instead there’s an option to see the 117-minute extended cut.
Crime Story (1993 – 107 minutes) was a serious change in Jackie’s police movies. For the first time, his movie was based on an actual event. Chinese businessman Teddy Wang was kidnapped in 1990. This was big headlines since Wang’s abductors demanded $60 million. Jackie plays the cop in charge. What he doesn’t know is one of the masterminds is working on the police force. While there is a serious tone to the film, the stunts are still breathtaking. There’s just no comic reactions from Jackie or anyone else after the mayhem.
City Hunter (1993 – 100 minutes) is all comic reactions. Jackie stars in a movie that was adapted from a Japanese manga directed by Wong Jing (God of Gamblers). Jackie is hired to find the daughter of a rich newspaper publisher. He finds her fast, but she escapes onto a luxury liner. Jackie hops aboard not knowing that terrorists are planning to hijack the ship. Jackie has to now bring back the daughter, but save the rest of the passengers. This sounds straight forward, but the slapstick is in overdrive. During one fight, Jackie becomes part of a live action Street Fighter game. In the ship’s movie theater, Jackie gets to recreate Bruce Lee’s fight against Kareem Abdul Jabber from Game of Death except he has two tall men to fight. Jackie rolls with the goofy nature of the action.
The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 2 (1983 – 1993) is a fine collection of 8 films from the time right before Jackie finally became a household name in America. You get to see Jackie working with Sammo and Yuen. Jackie plays serious and cartoonish. Jackie pulls off being a cop and a relic hunter. No matter how big the role, Jackie provides even larger stunts that aren’t done with green screen. The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 2 (1983 – 1993) is perfect way to enjoy have your own Jackie Chan film festival at home.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic for Crime Story, Winners and Sinners, The Protector and City Hunter. The other 4 are 2.35:1 anamorphic. The transfers look fine so that you can truly appreciate Jackie and his crew putting their lives on the line for the stunts. The Audio varies from film to film so we’re listing it with the bonus features for each film. You should be able to find a version that suits your ears. All the movies are subtitled in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
WINNERS AND SINNERS
Audio commentary by David West, critic and author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film
Winning Formula (13:55) academic Dr. Luke White, author of Fighting without Fighting: Kung Fu Cinema’s Journey to the West goes into the history of the Hong Kong martial arts comedy and how it ties to Jackie Chan’s rise.
Archival interview with director/actor Sammo Hung (6:05) gets into how he came up with the basis of the film. How would such a diverse group of criminals meet up and team up?
Teapot Tango (13:29) is an interview with director/actor Sammo Hung. He gets deeper into the crew that came together for the big comedy caper. He gets into the Seven Little Fortunes and how it led to the Five Lucky Stars.
The Man Behind the Legend: Sammo Hung (19:59) includes Bobby Samuels talk about the time he went to Hong Kong and lived with Sammo to teach him English. Others talk about who great Sammo is as a pal.
Outtakes (4:59) includes the “invisible man” scenes. They show off Jackie’s roller skate wrecks including the flaming hoop jump going bad. This has narration and music as if it’s something they’d play in the movie theater to pump up the release. It ends with Sammo and Jackie dancing.
Alternate Japanese end credits (2:11) has the credits in Japanese with the stunt highlights and bloopers.
Original Hong Kong Teaser and Theatrical Trailer (4:55) promises plenty of comic moments involving the five criminals and Jackie as a cop.
English Trailer (2:41) goes into rushing into the arms of the law.
Japanese Trailer and TV Spot (2:49) goes straight to Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung’s big moments.
Still Gallery (1:52) has press photos and a poster.
AUDIO:
Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Mandarin 5.1 Dolby Digital
English Dub Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Alternate Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
TWINKLE, TWINKLE LUCKY STARS
Alternate extended Taiwanese version (1:47:01) is a 4K transfer from the original film elements
Audio commentary by David West, critic and author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film
A Life of Laughter (21:04) is an interview with actor Richard Ng. He talks about how part of his youth was spent in England. He began acting in London as a walk-on. His first film involved Marlon Bradon, Sophia Lauren and Charlie Chaplin. He returned to Hong Kong in 1970 and didn’t think of acting until 1977. He gets into how he ended up as a Lucky Star. Ng recently passed away on April 9.
Gentleman Warrior (32:50) sits down with actor Richard Norton. He talks about his martial arts education starting with Judo.
Outtakes (3:48) is an NG compilation showing the bloopers. Sammo and Richard Norton miss their marks.
Original Theatrical Trailer (4:24) brings the Lucky Stars to the beach.
English Trailer (2:30) has a bigger focus on the action than the comedy. Richard Norton gets major billing.
Japanese Trailer and TV Spot (2:26) has Jackie’s action for 1988.
Still Gallery (1:52) includes press photos and a poster.
AUDIO:
Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Mandarin Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Alternate Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
WHEELS ON MEALS
Audio Commentary with David West, critic and author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film.
Beak-Neck Brilliance: A New Era of Jackie Chan and Skeleton-Shattering Stunts (88:04) gets into how Jackie Chan became legendary for his action and stunts during the ’80s. People interviewed include Wang Yao, one of the original members of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, Emma Lee, former Manager of Talent for Golden Harvest, Chi-Hwa Chen, executive director of Police Story, Vincent Lyn, actor in Operation Condor, academic Dr Lin Feng, Frank Djeng of the NY Asian Film Festival. They talk about Jackie’s rise from stuntman to leading star.
Outtake footage (4:01) exposes how the motorcycle fight went wrong, a skateboard jump skidding out of control and the awning jump bloopers.
Original Theatrical Trailer (4:46) gets into the bringing together of Jackie, Sammo and Yuen.
Still Gallery (4:27) has press photos, behind the scenes pics and a two posters.
AUDIO:
Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Cantonese 5.1 Dolby Digital
Cantonese 2.0 with alternate soundtrack DTS-HD Master Audio
Original English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
English 5.1 (Classic Dub) Dolby Digital
English 5.1 (2006 Dub) Dolby Digital
ARMOUR OF GOD
International Cut (84:55)
Audio commentary from James Mudge, veteran Hong Kong film critic at easternKicks
Rise of the Phoenix (20:50) lets Radek Sienski explain Armour of God. He points out when Jackie almost died on the set. He goes into how this was at a time when Jackie was making 3 or 4 movies a year. They shot the film in Croatia. There’s a tale of how Jackie’s haircut happened.
Interview with Jackie Chan (4:06) has him talking about wanting to fight something special in this film. This was how he decided on the battle with the four Amazons. He talks about movie fighting versus competition fighting.
Interview with Willie Chan (3:40) has him talk about being in Yugoslavia at the time. He wasn’t on the location when Jackie nearly died. He rushed to the hospital.
Interview with editor Peter Cheung (4:42) explains how he got his start with Bruce Lee’s films. He was cutting Jackie films until 1997’s Who Am I? He talks about Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan’s visits to the ending room. He points out Jackie owned five editing systems (in the celluloid era).
Japanese release outtakes (4:29) opens with Jackie dangling on a hot air balloon. The end credits roll with the bloopers.
Original Theatrical Trailer (4:55) gets you ready for Jackie Chan looking for artifacts.
Japanese Theatrical Trailer (1:10) promises the latest sensation from Jackie: Thunder Arm! Jackie pledges his life in this film.
English Theatrical Trailer (2:07) gives us all the action and gunfire.
Still Gallery (1:52) includes two posters and press photos.
AUDIO:
Mandarin Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio (Original Theatrical Mix)
Cantonese Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
English Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
English 5.1 Dolby Digital
Japanese Theatrical Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
ARMOUR OF GOD II
Extended Cut (117:10)
Audio commentary from James Mudge, veteran Hong Kong film critic at easternKicks (Extended Cut)
Notes for a New Direction (13:54) lets composer Stephen Endelman discusses creating a new soundtrack for Miramax release of Jackie Chan’s sequel. He was not happy doing this, but he had a 10-picture deal with the company. He talks of his approach to the movie since he had a finished film and no director notes. His first score was loved by Jackie, but hated by Harvey Weinstein. He had to make a second score under a serious deadline. He never heard the original score. He only saw the version the Weinsteins butchered as Operation Condor. Endelman is now also a producer.
Original Theatrical Trailer (3:20) brings Jackie Chan to the desert.
Still Gallery (3:22) has a poster and press photos.
AUDIO:
Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Cantonese Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio
THE PROTECTOR
Alternate “Hong Kong Cut” of the film by Jackie Chan (92:09) in standard definition has quite a few scenes tightened up.
Audio commentary from author and critic Kim Newman, moderated by filmmaker Sean Hogan
From New York to Hong Kong (9:32) interviews director James Glickenhaus back in 2013. Glickenhaus had no intention to make a comedy. He wanted a raw action film like The Exterminator. Golden Harvest wanted to make Jackie an international star when they approached Glickenhaus.
Locations – Then and Now (4:20) shows the now from 2012. There’s a bit of change in the Big Apple. The bar is now part of the New York Law School.
Behind the Scenes Trailer (4:59) includes plenty of times when stunts go wrong during the shoot.
Original Trailer (4:35) promises the sort of mayhem that only Jackie Chan can provide.
Hong Kong Trailer (3:53) is full of bullets.
Japanese Teaser and Trailer (1:46) uses a lot of still shots for the teaser.
Still Gallery (1:57) includes press photos and two posters.
AUDIO:
English Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
English 5.1 Dolby Digital
Cantonese Mono (Alternate Cut)
Cantonese Home Video Stereo (Alternate Cut)
English/Cantonese Hybrid Mix (Alternate Cut)
CRIME STORY
Audio Commentary with James Mudge, veteran Hong Kong veteran Hong Kong film critic at easternKicks
Criminally Creative: The Story of a stylistic U-Turn (10:19) lets Andrew Heskins, film critic for easternKicks discusses how this film mixed up Jackie Chan’s formula for a police movie. Were audience members able to handle Jackie doing true crime. He does point out that there’s plenty of stunts without the usual comic edge. He gets into the big explosion scenes.
Archival interview with Bruce Law (57:03) opens on a parking lot full of old police vans. We’re take to Bruce Law’s stunts headquarters with the trucks rigged up for crew and cameras. He talked about getting his cinematic stunt career launched by working on Jackie Chan’s Police Story when the original motorcycle stuntmen didn’t work out. He talks about stunt safety and knowing his limits.
Archival interview with writer Teddy Chan (11:42) has his him discuss coming up with a way for Jackie in a movie based on. He deals with keeping the character a bit more raw and serious.
Archival interview with director Kirk Wong (10:31) gets into how he was an actor and worked with Jackie Chan on Twin Dragons. During lunch Jackie asked him what movie he’d want to do. He told Jackie a story and soon the two were at Golden Harvest putting together a deal. He discusses keeping things real in Crime Story and using the real locations.
Deleted Scenes (6:38) are from the Singapore version of the film.
Original Theatrical Trailer (4:13) gives testimonials of people who were ripped off as part of a crime. This is Jackie Chan’s first movie based on real events.
AUDIO:
Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Cantonese 5.1 Dolby Digital
English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
English 5.1 Dolby Digitial
CITY HUNTER
Audio Commentary with David West, critic and author of Chasing Dragons: The Introduction to the Martial Arts Film
Slapstick in the City: Jackie Chan enters the Nineties (12:40) has Andrew Heskins, film critic for easternKicks, gives a perspective City Hunter and Crime Story how they relate to Jackie Chan’s career. Here he was doing a silly and serious films back to back.
Archival interview with Jackie Chan (13:46) has him remember making the fun action film. He admits it is a cartoon film, but talks of the issues of doing live action based on the comic book.
Archival interview with director Wong Jing (7:14) goes into how Golden Harvest bought the rights to City Hunter for Jackie Chan. He was brought onto the project. He talks about working with Jackie Chan.
Archival interview with stuntman Rocky Lai (10:59) has him talk about getting into movies by working on construction at Jackie Chan’s car park. He eventually was asked to join the stunt team.
Archival interview with Richard Norton (15:17) has him talk about working on City Hunter. They were winging part of the film and he was willing to go along with Jackie’s lead. Their fight scene took 6 weeks to shoot.
Archival interview with Gary Daniels (29:53) has him recount how after seeing only a trailer for Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon inspired to get involved in martial arts. He later got into kickboxing.
Outtakes Music Video (2:37) appears to have run on Asian MTV. The montage shows off the visual gags and bloopers.
Outtake Montage (4:39) shows all the ways the stunts went wrong.
Japanese Ending Credits (3:37) has includes Jackie’s bloopers.
Original Theatrical Trailer (4:01) gives the comic book vibe to the action.
Still Gallery (1:57) includes press photos and two posters.
AUDIO:
Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Cantonese Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
Cantonese 5.1 Dolby Digital
English 5.1 Dolby Digital
Shout! Factory presents The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 2 (1983 – 1993). Directed by Jackie Chan & Sammo Hung. Starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao & Danny Aiello. Boxset Contents: 8 Movies on 8 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: April 25, 2023.
