Following their excellent run of restored classics on Blu-ray, Eureka Entertainment step into the world of Ultra High Definition with the stunning 4K release of Jackie Chan’s POLICE STORY TRILOGY Presented as part of the Eureka Classics range in their worldwide Ultra HD Blu-ray debuts from stunning 4K restorations.
Available from today, 26th September 2022, the Limited-Edition set (4000 copies only) will feature a Hardbound Slipcase & 100-page Collector’s Booklet. Also released as a standalone Blu-ray is Jackie Chan’s classic POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP, available in the UK for the first time since its VHS release!
Order your action-packed, kung-fu, triple-bill NOW, from Eureka Video or Amazon!
Trailer
Cast
Action superstar Jackie Chan plays “Inspector Chan Ka-Kui”, or “Kevin Chan” in some international versions. Maggie Cheung stars as Ka-Kui’s long-suffering girlfriend “May”. Cheung has appeared to great acclaim in the films “The Iceman Cometh“, “As Tears Go By”, “Dragon From Russia“, “Moon Warriors“, “New Dragon Gate Inn“, “In the Mood for Love”, “The Heroic Trio”, “Hero“ and many, many more.
Hong Kong movie fan favourite, actor Bill Tung stars as “Inspector/Uncle Bill Wong”, Ka-Kui’s boss. Famous as a horse racing commentator, Bill Tung appeared in numerous classic Hong Kong movies, frequently co-starring with Jackie Chan. As well as appearing in the first four Police Story films, he has had memorable roles in “Project A Part II“, “The Inspector Wears Skirts/Top Squad”, “Miracles“, “Drunken Master II” and “Rumble in the Bronx“.
One of Jackie Chan’s closest friends and a prolific member of the JC Stunt Team, Cheung Wing Fat, better known as Mars, plays Ka-Kui’s partner “Inspector ‘Big Mouth’ Kim” in the first two movies, but appears a member of the villain’s gang in the third instalment.
Also appearing in the first two instalments are Hong Kong character actors Lam Kwok-hung as “Superintendent Raymond Li”, and Kent Tong Chun-yip as “Inspector Francis Tak”. Playing the crime bosses that are the focus of Ka-Kui’s energy are Chor Yuen as “Chu Tao”, and Charlie Cho as “John Ko”.
Guest starring in the first movie is Brigitte Lin as “Selina Fong”, Chu Tao’s secretary. Lin has had a glittering Asian film career appearing in films such as “New Dragon Gate Inn“, “Swordsman II”, “Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain“, “Peking Opera Blues” and “Ashes of Time”, to name but a few. Playing tough henchman “Danny Chu Ko”, Fung Hak-on, has appeared or performed stunts in classic movies ranging from “The Boxer from Shantung”, and “Iron Fisted Monk“, through to “The Young Master“, “Magnificent Butcher” and “Kung Fu Hustle“.
Appearing in “Police Story 2” is regular JC Stunt Team member Benny Lai Keung Kuen as a super-kicking, deaf-mute villain!
“Police Story 3: Supercop” co-stars Michelle Yeoh (sometimes credited as Michelle Khan) as mainland Chinese Interpol Inspector “Jessica Hana Yang”. Yeoh had established herself as a very capable action actress in films such as “Police Assassins/Yes Madam“, “Royal Warriors” and “Magnificent Warriors”. She would achieve worldwide fame in acclaimed productions such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon“, and “Tomorrow Never Dies“, and more recently “Shang Chi and the Ten Rings” and the smash hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once“.
Jackie’s opera school brother Yuen Wah stars as the ruthless gangster “Panther”. Wah is famed for his agility and has either appeared in or been a stunt performer in over 180 productions. He famously doubled for Bruce Lee in “Enter the Dragon” and had significant roles as villains in “Eastern Condors“, “The Iceman Cometh” and “Dragons Forever“. He became internationally known for his role as the “Landlord” in the box office smash “Kung Fu Hustle”.
Veteran Hong Kong star and frequent John Woo collaborator Kenneth Tsang plays “Khun Chaibat”, the head of the drug cartel that Ka-Kui must infiltrate. Playing his wife “Chen Wen-Shi Chaibat” is acclaimed actress Josephine Koo. Lo Lieh (credited as Lit Law), famous for his roles in the Shaw Brothers classics “King Boxer/Five Fingers of Death” and “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin“, plays a corrupt Thai General. Also making appearances are regular Jackie Chan Stunt Team members Ken Lo and Sam Wong Ming-Sing.
Plot
Police Story (1985): The Royal Hong Kong Police Force is planning a major undercover sting to arrest the notorious crime lord Chu Tao.
In the process of carrying out the operation, Inspector Chan Ka-Kui and his team destroy a shanty town. After arresting Chu, Chan is assigned is to protect Chu Tao’s secretary, Selina Fong, who plans to testify in court about Chu Tao’s illegal activities.
The trial fails due to Selina’s tampering with evidence. Though Chu Tao is released on bail, he wants revenge against Ka-Kui, framing him for the murder of a fellow police officer.
Meanwhile, Selina, fearing her life is at risk from Chu, downloads incriminating data from Chu Tao’s computer. In a spectacular showdown, Chu Tao and his gang come face-to-face with Chan in a shopping mall, as they battle to intercept Selina and her evidence.
POLICE STORY Original 1985 Hong Kong Trailer
Police Story 2 (1988): Picking up where the first movie left off, Chan Ka-Kui has been demoted to a traffic cop for causing so much damage in his apprehension of Chu during the events of Police Story 1.
Chu has been released from prison on the pretence that he is terminally ill. His henchmen continue to taunt Chan and his girlfriend May, bringing Ka-Kui to boiling point.
Treading a thin line between upholding the law and breaking it, Chan is reinstated as a detective to investigate a gang of criminal bombers. All bets are off when the gang make things personal leading Chan to a truly explosive finale.
POLICE STORY 2 Original 1988 Hong Kong Trailer
Police Story 3: Supercop (1992): Hong Kong “supercop” Kevin Chan Ka-Kui is tasked with a secret mission to infiltrate drug lord Khun Chaibat’s ruthless gang.
With the cooperation of mainland Chinese police Inspector Jessica Hana Yang, Ka-Kui poses as the criminal Fu Sheng in prison to get close to Chaibat’s main henchman, Panther.
Ka-Kui earns Panther’s trust by helping him to escape from prison. Pretending she is Ka-Kui’s sister Chien Hua, Inspector Yang joins the escapees. They flee the mainland for Hong Kong and become embroiled in Chaibat’s heroin deal in Thailand.
Now a trusted part of Chaibat’s organisation, the gang travel to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to rescue his wife who is facing the death-penalty. She is the only one with the details of Chaibat’s Swiss bank account containing millions of dollars in drug money.
Unbeknown to Ka-Kui, his girlfriend May is also in Kuala Lumpur. Ka-Kui must use all his skills to keep Yang and May safe, and take down Chaibat’s gang in a thrilling, and death-defying finale.
POLICE STORY 3: SUPER COP Original 1992 English Trailer
Action
By the mid 1980’s, Jackie Chan had firmly established himself as the number one star in the Hong Kong movie business. His incredible, record-breaking successes at the Asian box office had inevitably drawn interest from Hollywood.
His first foray into the American film market was 1980’s “Battle Creek Brawl/The Big Brawl”. Disappointingly, the Western-style of filmmaking just didn’t quite gel with Jackie’s Eastern-style screen action, and the film flopped.
A second attempt was made in 1985 with “The Protector”, which suffered the same problems and fate, as well as woefully miscasting Jackie as a Dirty Harry-type cop. However, Jackie’s disappointment over “The Protector” did inspire him to make a cops-and-gangsters movie of his own, Hong Kong-style.
“Police Story” Features Unparalleled Fighting & Stunt Sequences
Wanting to move away from the traditional, kung fu movies he had built his career on, Jackie wanted to perform fighting and stunt sequences that could rival anything previously seen in the East or West.
From the opening minutes of “Police Story”, Jackie lays down a strong hand of his intentions.
Ka-Kui and his team of undercover cops are discovered in a shanty town by the criminal gang they are shadowing. A frantic shoot-out initiates an astonishing chase sequence of stunts.
Jackie jumps into a car that flies down the steep hillside, smashing and crashing through the shacks that make up the specially constructed shanty town set.
The Double Decker Stunt Scene Spotlights Jackie Chan’s Signature Style
Stuntmen perched on the rickety structures are thrown or jump clear at the very last second. It leads to Jackie pursuing his quarry onto a double-decker bus in what would become one of his most famous scenes.
Using a specially adapted umbrella, Jackie is dragged behind the speeding bus before making an incredible climb up the side, all the time missing the oncoming traffic by a matter of centimetres.
The sequence concludes with a well-documented stunt that went wrong. Members of Jackie’s stunt team were meant to crash out of the top deck of the bus to a relatively safe landing on a stationary car. However, the nature of the bus’s air brakes meant they fell short and landed on the concrete road instead. The stunt made the final cut of the film.
POLICE STORY “A once-in-three-lifetimes chance” 4K Clip
For the fighting action, the contemporary setting allowed Jackie to move away from traditional-looking kung fu techniques, to a faster, frenetic and more realistic street-fighting style.
Jackie frequently fights off several opponents at once. It’s all very carefully choreographed so that there is none of the old-fashioned “henchman waiting around in the background for his turn”.
A fight in and around two cars, or the stunning playground fight from the second film are the epitome of Jackie Chan’s incredible invention and use of his surroundings in an action sequence. His stunt team are pushed to their limits with every bone-crunching fall, or spectacular corkscrewing landing onto something solid and painful looking.
These are Jackie Chan films of course, and so there is always an element of humour. He has an hilarious sequence with his old friend Mars when they try to trick Brigitte Lin into thinking Ka-Kui’s partner is a masked kidnapper. The films are peppered throughout with neat little inventive moments, as Jackie skips over a high wall in his own unique way, or answers several telephones at once, requiring him to use his hands and feet.
Glass Story: The Iconic Shopping Mall Stunts
The final sequences of each film are unique. The first movie features the famous finale in the Wing On Plaza shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. The leaps and falls onto the metal escalators are still wince-inducing over three decades on.
There was so much glass broken in the final sequence that there was a running joke on set that the movie should be named “Glass Story”! It concludes with what Jackie considers one of his most daring stunts, a huge leap and slide onto a pole, that left Chan suffering second-degree burns, as well as a back injury and dislocation of his pelvis upon landing.
Jackie Chan – The Hero Story (Theme to “Police Story”)
The much more pyrotechnic “Police Story 2” features many memorable Jackie Chan moments. There is the classic playground fight, and a live-action version of the old “Frogger” computer game as Jackie runs across several lanes of traffic. During the filming of this scene, Jackie actually encouraged a van driver to brake late and hit him!
Frantic Restaurant Brawl Uses Everything and the Kitchen Sink!
The sequence is followed by a frantic brawl in a restaurant that utilises every bit of furniture, crockery and, of course, all the glass!
Jackie Chan always tries to make every scene innovative, and turns the simple act of sneaking across a street into an acrobatic gymnastics display on the roof of a bus! Jackie’s improvised diffusing of a bomb vest is particularly clever.
Chan also delivers a great onscreen fight with senior JC Stunt Team member Benny Lai. Lai’s kicking speed, timing and rhythm are easily the equal of Jackie’s, giving a real sense of peril for our hero.
The explosive final frames featured a record number of cameras to capture the incredible fireworks display of a finale, as the warehouse is destroyed.
POLICE STORY 2 “Bullying women” 4K Clip
Jackie Chan had already set the bar pretty high with the original Police Story films, and had a lot to live up to with the third one.
When Jackie gets to China he is given his undercover background as a factory worker and former martial arts champion, allowing him to show off a few of his old opera moves as he poses for some fake photographs.
Michelle Yeoh as a Communist police officer is very professional, but not without a sense of humour. She takes Jackie on a tour of the training facilities, where dozens of cadets are practicing kung fu forms, sparring and breaking bricks.
Yeoh sets up Jackie to spar with Wong Ming-Sing, AKA Sam Wong, the leader of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. After a cagey start, the fight bursts into an energetic mix of Wong’s solid traditional style versus Jackie’s lighter-footed kickboxing.
Jackie’s Buster Keaton-esque Action-Comedy
When Jackie and Yuen Wah make their break from a prison-run coal mine, there is a mix of fights and Jackie’s Buster Keaton-esque action-comedy involving a mining cart.
The scene culminates in a spectacular zip-line stunt over the Chinese countryside. Jackie, Yuen Wah and his gang meet up in a rural village, where Michelle Yeoh sensationally leaps into action. She split kicks two opponents and uses her northern wushu to help rescue Jackie and Yuen Wah. Fleeing to Hong Kong, the gang’s boat is intercepted by armed police, leading to a thrilling shoot-out and speedboat chase.
One of the film’s biggest set-pieces takes place in Thailand’s “Golden Triangle”, as Chaibat’s gang take on rival drug cartels and a corrupt Thai General’s soldiers. The resulting shoot-out is on an epic scale with plenty of impressive explosions and stunts.
Jackie Wreaks Havoc in Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka Square…
The film’s finale begins in Kuala Lumpur’s famous Merdeka Square, with Jackie jumping over a car at the last second so as not to be crushed by a runaway truck.
In a nod to Jackie’s stunt on the side of a bus in the first film, Michelle Yeoh clings desperately onto the side of a speeding van. After a rooftop battle with Yuen Wah, the action takes to the skies as Jackie leaps onto a rope-ladder trailing from Chaibat’s helicopter.
Michelle Yeoh Holds Her Own in the Stunt Department…
Dangling perilously from the ladder, Jackie swings around the skyline of Kuala Lumpur, bashing into various obstacles, before landing on a moving train.
Meanwhile, Michelle Yeoh makes her pursuit at street level on a motorcycle. She performs a very impressive stunt by jumping her motorbike onto the roof of the moving train. The train is the final setting for a fight with Jackie’s frequent co-star, Ken Lo, whilst Michelle Yeoh deals with Chaibat.
POLICE STORY 3 “Stop! That’s my car” Clip
The end credits of each movie feature some of the outtakes.
Jackie suffers several severe knocks, a series of serious cuts, stuntmen suffer broken bones, and even Maggie Cheung suffered a major head injury filming “Police Story 2” that required seventeen stitches and a week in hospital.
Jackie Chan & Michelle Yeoh Demonstrate Great Chemistry
Some clips are quite funny, and it is obvious in the third movie that Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh have a great chemistry together. Equally they demonstrate just how dangerous the stunts were, with Jackie injuring himself during the train sequence, and also nearly falling between the carriages.
Michelle Yeoh has a particularly painful accident as she falls off the bonnet of a moving car. The various clips reveal the astonishing lengths the stars and stunt team went to in order to entertain action fans.
Aside from the quality of the action, the extra features in this box set are very impressive. Just about every audio option you could wish for is available as well as various different cuts of each movie, and a selection of deleted and alternate scenes, some of which are debuting in the UK for the very first time.
Jonathan Ross: “The Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show”
The Jackie Chan Stunts Promo is a reminder of all the injuries he and his team suffer to bring us the best action entertainment in the world of cinema. There are interviews with Jackie himself about the making of Police Story, and Benny Lai not only talks about his film career, but also demonstrates his Praying Mantis skills with a performance of the famous Seven Star Breaking Step form.
For Jackie Chan fans there is one extra feature in particular. Many British fans’ first introduction to Jackie’s style of action was through a late night television documentary series that first aired on Channel 4 on 22nd September 1989. Presented by chat show host and cult movie fan Jonathan Ross, “The Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show”, ran a 40-minute feature on Jackie Chan.
Behind the Scenes of Jackie Chan’s Stunt Work, Fights and Editing
For British television audiences, it was a fascinating insight into his unique approach to movie making, with behind-the-scenes looks at his stunt work, fight choreography and editing.
Describing his rise to fame, Ross follows Jackie onto the set of his latest film “Miracles“. There are also clips from the 1988 film “Painted Faces” starring Sammo Hung, which tells the tale of Jackie’s childhood in a Peking Opera school.
In the editing suite, Jackie breaks down in gruesome detail his near fatal accident on the set of “Armour of God” and makes Ross feel the resulting hole in his head! Ross is obviously a genuine fanboy and he gets to attend Jackie’s 35th birthday party. This documentary is a real gem, even if you have seen it before.
POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP New & Exclusive Trailer
The Police Story 3 disc contains some brand new content, including interviews with Stunt Coordinator and Action Film Historian John Kreng and a pair of excellent new featurettes on the rarely seen Jackie Chan video games, “Kung Fu Master” and “Fists of Fire”, and also the filming locations of the Police Story films. There are archival interviews with Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, director Stanley Tong, and Jackie Chan’s long-time bodyguard and co-star Ken Lo. There is also an epic 50 minutes of Outtakes or NG (“No Good”) shots from the film.
Summary
Eureka Entertainment has already blessed us with a standard Blu-ray box set of the first two Police Story films. In my original review of Police Story 3, I stated it was absolutely crying out for a restoration and re-release. In fact, I still have my original VHS version so I can watch it uncut! Not only has my prayer been answered, it has been delivered in glorious, ultra-high definition 4K in this new box set!
These are three of Jackie Chan’s finest movies featuring some of the greatest onscreen fights, chases and stunts that he and his team ever committed to film.
Aside from the stunning picture and sound restoration on all three movies, the discs are packed with old and new interviews, outtakes, highly entertaining and informative commentaries from luminaries such as Frank Djeng, F.J. DeSanto, Mike Leeder, Arne Venema, Miles Wood and Jude Poyer, and some great new featurettes on Jackie Chan’s work.
With the various audio and different cut viewing options at hand, this really is the definitive release of all three films.
If you have the standard box set of the first two films, you may want to plump for the standalone release of the third film to compliment your collection. Even so, the UHD Trilogy box set is far superior if you have a 4K screen, and there are one or two extra features that aren’t on the 1080p releases.
If you don’t own these films, buying this set is an absolute no-brainer. It ranks as one of Eureka’s best releases to date and is a terrific debut in the world of UHD home entertainment.
Trivia
- Jackie Chan sustained burns on his hands during the pole slide scene in the mall. The Christmas tree lights were plugged into the wall instead of a low-voltage car battery.
- The climactic mall pole slide sequence was filmed in one take, without any rehearsals or use of wires.
- In the double decker bus scene, Jackie used a metal umbrella because a wooden one kept slipping when he tried to hang onto the bus.
- Between 1994 and 2004, the Hong Kong TV series Police Report adopted the Police Story theme song sung by Jackie Chan, as its own theme. Since 2009, the same song is re-adopted as the theme song of Police Report, but sung by Hacken Lee. Televised job advertisements for the Hong Kong Police also adopted segments of the song.
- In the dive from the roof of a bus in Police Story 2, Jackie smashed into the wrong glass pane, causing severe cuts to his wrist and head. This scene is actually used in the film and the outtakes show the pain.
- Stuntman, Mars appears in the first two Police Story films as Ka-Kui’s partner “Kim”. For Police Story 3: Supercop, he played one of the villain Panther’s gang.
- When Police Story 3 was distributed in the USA in 1996, it was re-titled “Supercop”, and dubbed into English with the participation of Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh. There were 10 minutes of cuts and a new score was added. Tom Jones sings a version of “Kung Fu Fighting” over the end credits, followed by a song specially written and performed for the film by the band Devo, entitled “Supercop”.
- Michelle Yeoh insisted on performing her own action scenes in Police Story 3.
- Kenneth Tsang was doubled by director Stanley Tong for a helicopter stunt. Tong broke his shin and can be seen with his leg in plaster and on crutches during the third film’s end credits.
- Police Story 3 was the first Jackie Chan film from Hong Kong to use sync sound, allowing all the actors’ voices to be recorded as they spoke in the scene, rather than dubbed over by different actors later.
- Michelle Yeoh reprised her role as “Inspector Jessica Hana Yang” in a 1993 spin-off called “Once a Cop” or “Project S”. Though it features cameo appearances by Jackie Chan (in drag!) and Bill Tung, this film is not a proper part of the Police Story series. Confusingly, some releases of this film were also entitled “Supercop” or “Supercop 2”. In most Asian territories it was called “Project S”.
Favourite Quotes
Police Story
- “If you let me go, all this is yours. A once-in-three-lifetimes chance, no one will ever find out.” – Chu Tao (trying to bribe Ka-Kui.)
- “Stay here any longer and I’d kick your ass! Nice parking though!” – A disgruntled driver (who has his parking space stolen in style by Ka-Kui!)
- “The law? The law takes care of those who don’t have money for a lawyer!” – Ka-Kui
Police Story 2
- “How do I explain this to the chief?” – Superintendent Raymond Li
- “You don’t have to. I quit.” – Ka-Kui
Police Story 3
- “So you’re the famous Super Cop from the Hong Kong Police?” -Interpol Agent
- “Actually, super cops are common in Hong Kong, they almost grow on trees” -Ka-Kui
Police Story Trilogy 4K UHD available Sept 26 – KUNG FU KINGDOM
