Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

If you’ve heard of a movie called Rumble In Hong Kong this is the same one. It’s also known as Police Woman (the primary title according to I Am Jackie Chan). You’ll know this movie by the huge mole on Jackie’s face. Of the 30 or so Jackie Chan movies I own this is by far the worst. It can barely be considered a Chan movie at all. He has a small role as a bad guy, and not even the main bad guy! He doesn’t have much in the way of fighting, and what he does take part in sucks.

Nothing against him, mind you (I wouldn’t have gotten this movie in the first place if I didn’t think he was the greatest), all the fighting sucks. In fact, it really isn’t a Martial Arts movie at all - it’s a drama with a few fight scenes. Problem is, it’s not a good drama. The story is weak, the acting sucks, and the quality is horrible. I cringe when I hear some of the awful dialogue and laugh (it’s not a comedy, by the way) at the logic of thinking the cop sister is an imposter while the imposter is genuine. The lighting is so dark and the sound so distorted that it can be disorienting at times leaving you to wonder what exactly is going on.

Here’s a quick summary. A girl being chased by a gang dies in a cab but not before she hides her purse containing evidence of the gang’s crimes. The gang begins harassing the cab driver, who they figure has the purse, until the woman’s sister, a cop, steps in to bring them to justice. There is a little character development with some of the male hero’s fellow cab drivers realizing they should come together to help him. One guy in particular goes from not wanting to help to rallying the others together. The druggie girl, friend of the dead woman, fights her addictions to do the right thing which I thought was more interesting than the primary plot but gets only a small portion of the movie. We spend a lot of time getting to know the cab driver, but the police woman just kind of pops in with no development at all. We don’t even know if what she’s doing (stopping the gang) is out of revenge, pure justice, guilt, gratitude for the cab driver trying to help her sister, or what. There’s an interesting debate over whether contemporary entertainment is corrupting the minds of children and what can be done about it, but it seems out of place with the rest of the movie. There’s not enough strength in any of it (character development, social commentary, etc) to make the movie worth watching.

The movie is so bad that Jackie gives almost no information about it in his book. He obviously hated it, it bombed in the theatres, and its only merit is historical value for the Chan movie completist. By the way, it’s the same director and some of the same actors as Eagle Shadow Fist (or In Eagle Shadow Fist, read about it here http://www.epinions.com/content_153034591876), another awful old movie pushed as a Jackie Chan flick.

Content:
I would call this PG13 I guess. Mostly for drug content and a little language. The violence is by and large not bloody or graphic.

DVD:
This is a rare DVD because nobody wants it! I’m sure there are multiple versions since there are multiple titles, but I seriously doubt any will be high quality. My version is widescreen (probably 1.66 though it doesn’t actually say) with uncleaned sound and picture. The case is plastic which I prefer to cardboard and such. The cover art is actually a low quality reprint of the classic Jackie on a rope ladder shot from Supercop. There are 8 poorly placed chapters and no insert to list them. There is not so much as a menu much less DVD extras. Dubbed English is the only language option. Don’t expect more than that out of any version of it you may find.

I’m a Jackie Chan completist. I found this for about $2 and grabbed it just to be informed about Jackie’s obscure movies. Even if you are a big Chan fan I don’t recommend even a rental unless, like me, you just HAVE to see every movie he’s been in. A generous 1* for this thing.


Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older