Jackie Chan finally conquered the American box office with Rumble in the Bronx in 1995. Over the next few years, his movies began to appear every few months at the local cineplex. Was he cranking out all these movies? No. Turns out Miramax had the rights to quite a few of Jackie Chan’s films from the early ’90s. Instead of releasing them in the US with their original English dub tracks, Miramax made new dubs, recut the films, created new soundtracks and came up with advertising campaigns that had nothing to do with what Jackie wore in the films. For those of us excited about Jackie Chan’s break through, the Miramax releases were a major disappointment. Police Story III: Supercop originally came out in Hong Kong in 1992. The Miramax version arrived in July, 1996 with the title Supercop. Most people in America didn’t know about the original Police Story movie. I had rented the VHS from Dave’s Videodrome in Carrboro, N.C. so I had a sense of Jackie’s character. But even with the knowledge, it didn’t feel like I was seeing the real Police Story III when Supercop came to the local theater. It felt like one of those clipped up 8mm versions of the film that you could buy at Kmart in the ’70s. Supercop didn’t feel like Police Story III: Supercop. What hurt was the Miramax version was the only one available in America for decade. But the real one has finally arrived. The complete Hong Kong cut of Police Story III: Supercop will have you not merely amazed at Jackie’s death defying stunts, but his chemistry with future Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh (billed as Michelle Khan in the film).
The drug problem in Hong Kong is getting out of control and the Royal Hong Kong Police have been charged with bringing down a major drug operation. They need a fearless cop that can handle the mission. RHKP Inspector “Kevin” Chan Ka-Kui (Chan) seems to be this necessary supercop since he’s already done two amazing cases in Police Story and Police Story II. This is a deep cover mission so he has to tell his girlfriend May (Heroic Trio‘s Maggie Cheung) goodbye for a month. His Communist China Interpol counterpart “Jessica” Yang Chien-Hua (In The Line of Duty‘s Michelle Yeoh) trains him for an extensive plan. They’re going after a narcotics operation run by Khun Chaibat (The Killer‘s Ken Tsang). To get on the inside, Kevin fakes being an inmate in a Chinese prison camp that’s a mining operation. He springs Chaibat’s main man The Panther (Shaolin Plot‘s Yuen Wah). The hope is the Panther will bond with Kevin that he’ll offer make him part of the smuggling operation. Jessica poses as Kevin’s sister and fakes killing a cop to impress Panther even more. This subterfuge works and the two undercover cops witness not only the inner workings of the international drug operation, but how Chaibat is taking out the competition. Things come to a head when Panther needs Kevin and Yang to help spring Chaibat’s wife from a Malaysian prison. The plan goes off the rails when Kevin encounters a familiar face that might blow his cover.
Police Story III: Supercop amps up the dangers and stunts from the previous two films. The last part of the film that deals with Chaibat’s wife getting sprung from the cops is intense. Jackie dangles from a rope ladder on a helicopter and finally drops on a moving train. There’s no CGI or green screen to make it easy on Jackie. Michelle Yeoh has plenty of stunts on that could have had her going splat. Fighting on top of a train with a helicopter blade near her head is rather risky. She’s truly the action “dance” partner for Jackie. There’s a lot more going between them in the Uncut Hong Kong version.
For those curious about the Supercop version, it’s here too. The US Version (90:42) from Dimension (Miramax’s genre label) has a whole different opening montage using various video effects and logos. It looks really cheesy. The title is just Supercop so you don’t wonder where’s the first two films. They redid the English dub which allowed Jackie and Michelle do their own voices, but mix sounds a touch off. The only reason this version must exist is the end credits when they have Welsh superstar Tom Jones singing “Kung Fu Fighting” with a techno edge. Ruby joins him although it doesn’t sound like a duet. The lyrics have been changed so Tom is singing about Jackie Chan instead of Billy Chin and little Sammy Chung. This is followed by Devo singing “Supercop.” The hot new soundtrack has songs from No Doubt, Dimebag Darrell, Rocket From the Crypt, No Doubt, Warren G and 2 Pac. Miramax was trying to make it sound like Jackie Chan had made a fresh movie for America.
Jackie Chan finally getting his films released in American cineplexes was great although knowing what Miramax did to them was frustrating. Now we can see the whole version of Police Story III: Supercop as director Stanley Tong and Jackie Chan intended it to be experienced. Getting the 4K UHD resolution upgrade will allow you to get absorbed into the action.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 4K (2160p) transfer really brings out the details of the action. Both versions of the film are on the 4K UHD disc and the Blu-ray disc. The Audio on the Hong Kong Cut includes Cantonese in Dolby Atmos, Cantonese DTS-HD MA 2.0 and Cantonese DTS-HD MA Mono. There is also the English DTS-HD MA Mono. The US Cut has English 5.1 DTS-HD MA & Cantonese DTS-MA Mono. Both versions have English Subtitles.
Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng has him once more giving great context. He points out this original version of Police Story III was shown in a few Chinatown theaters before Miramax recut and rescored the movie as Supercop. Golden Harvest brought in Stanley Tong because Jackie had been running over budget and production time on his recent films. He points out that since Supercop was shot in sync sound, this was the first time Jackie’s voice appeared in a Hong Kong film. He relates the film to the upcoming 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Great Britian to Communist China. He points out Stanley Tong’s cameo. It’s so worth rewatching the film with Frank giving a lot of details that most of us don’t know.
Flying High (19:21) is a Jackie Chan Interview. He talks about getting to make a third installment of the Police Story. He gets into giving Stanley Tong a chance to direct. He gets into his collaboration process with other directors. He talks about doing a commercial with Michelle Yeoh and introducing her to a future husband. It was after she divorced the guy that she got back into acting and made this film with Jackie. He talks about the helicopter stunt. This was extremely dangerous. When he jumped to grab the rope ladder, the didn’t factor in the downward wind force from the helicopter blades. He does talk about having the Communist China subplot. He had a lot of fans watching their outdoor shoots for hours. He gets into what Miramax’s edit and new soundtrack for Supercop.
Dancing with Death (23:12) is a vintage interview with Michelle Yeoh. She points out that her background is in ballet. Her martial arts skills are what you see on the screen. She talks about after being Miss Maylasia, she was invited to make a commercial with Jackie Chan in Hong Kong and she ended up getting lot of work there. She does get injured doing her stunts.
The Stuntmaster General (19:33) meets up with director Stanley Tong. He talks about his first day working with Jackie Chan. He talks about how they collaborated over five films. He views working with Jackie as both an honor and a challenge. He discusses working without CGI to even remove the wire for a stunt. He had to cover up the wire during Michelle Yeoh’s motorcycle jump onto the moving train.
The Fall Guy (21:45) gets Ken Lo to explain how he went from a bouncer at a nightclub to joining Jackie Chan’s stunt team. He thought it was a joke when the job offer came. But he’s been working with Jackie for 20 years (the interview was taped in 2008). He’s been busy as stunt man, stunt double, actor and sometimes bodyguard.
Stanley Tong Interview (17:16) was recorded in 2004. He gets into the prisoner escape sequence that ended in the train fight. The Malaysian traffic force was very cooperative in giving them the roads for four hours. He had a shot list of the action to make sure they got it all they needed in the precious time.
Outtakes and Behind the Scenes (51:33) is just a lot of takes. You get to see Michelle Yeoh’s dangling on the wires with the motorcycle as they back up the train.
Hong Kong Trailer (4:05) has the Golden Harvest logos.
English Trailer (2:10) opens with clips from Police Story I & II. Now Jackie Chan is back as a Super Cop looking for a drug lord.
US TV Spots (2:49) is 7 different cuts of the commercials to air on MTV. No Stunt Doubles is part of the hype.
US Theatrical Teaser (1:39) has an army of criminals taking over a country. Only Jackie Chan can stop them. It’s not quite the movie. This was Miramax/Dimension making Jackie Chan look like a Cannon star.
US Theatrical Trailer (1:38) is nearly the same as the first.
Japanese Teaser (0:41) was Jackie pulling up on the motorcycle shot.
US Video Screener Promo (1:37) hyped the film for when the VHS arrived. They had a hanging Jackie Chan display for your store. The tape came out in March, 1997.
Guy Laroche 1984 commercial (0:33) is what first brought Jackie Chan & Michelle Yeoh. They are constantly meeting and showing off their cool wristwatches.
88 Films present Police Story 3: Super Cop. Directed by Stanley Tong. Screenplay by Edward Tang, Ma Fibe & Yee Lee Wai. Starring Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, Ken Tsang, Yuen Wah, Bill Tung, Josephine Koo & Wong Siu. Running Time: 96:30. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: January 16, 2024.
