The Police Story Trilogy 4K Ultra HD Limited Edition Box Set
Directed by Jackie Chan/Stanley Tong.
Starring Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Yuen Chor, Bill Tung, John Cheung, Charlie Cho, Shan Kwan, Wah Yuen, Ken Lo, Michelle Yeoh, Brigitte Lin, Kenneth Tsang.
SYNOPSIS:
Box set featuring the three original action spectaculars starring martial arts superstar Jackie Chan, all in glorious 4K UHD.
To some, Jackie Chan’s career took off with his 1995 Hollywood breakthrough Rumble in the Bronx and then with 1998s Rush Hour, both of which were popular and showed off Chan’s amazing martial arts skills and spot-on comic timing. However, like many an Asian action star who ventured to Hollywood, Chan’s US work was really just a watered down, mainstream audience-friendly version of what he had spent the previous two decades doing in Hong Kong, and to many a connoisseur his Police Story movies are Chan’s definitive and, possibly, best movies.
And thanks to Eureka Entertainment you can now enjoy the original trilogy (there are other related sequels and spin-offs but that’s a rabbit hole you may not wish to go down) that are the real showcase for Jackie Chan’s talents. Released in 1985, Police Story introduces Chan as Chan Ka-Kui, a police officer who is part of a team who puts major drug lord Chu Tao (Yuen Chor) behind bars.
As Ka-Kui did most of the work he is assigned to protect Selina (Brigitte Lin), Tao’s secretary and the chief witness for the prosecution, which obviously brings out legions of goons to try and get to Selina, but Tao is less intent on killing Ka-Kui and more intent on framing him for the murder of a corrupt cop in order to destroy his reputation and send him to jail.
Featuring all manner of crazy stunts – including a thrilling car chase through (literally through it) a shanty town – Police Story excels in showcasing what Chan can do as a physical presence on the screen, as he flips, kicks and punches his way through endless waves of henchmen, jumps around on top of moving vehicles and has an amusing incident with landline telephone cables.
It also helps that as an actor Chan has a similar charisma to his former colleague Bruce Lee (Chan was an extra in Enter the Dragon, where Lee actually hurt him during a fight scene – blink and you’ll miss him, but he is there) and is immensely likeable, his facial expressions more broadly comic and making him come across as less cocky than Lee, and his comic timing is bang on every time.
However, Police Story does suffer a little in that the plot is so straightforward it is more-or-less non-existent, with writer/director Chan filling in the gaps with adrenaline-fuelled action, which is really what you go to these types of movies for, but it does get to a point where some of the action feels like padding. Nevertheless, such is Chan’s mastery of his craft that it is the sort of padding that isn’t as painful to sit through as some other movies from a similar ilk.
Despite receiving mixed reviews at the time from western critics, Police Story did well in Hong Kong and so Police Story 2 was inevitable, coming along in 1988. Rather than come up with a totally new plot, Chan and his co-writers continued where the first movie left off, with drug kingpin Chu Tao being released from prison early due to health reasons and vowing to get revenge on Ka-Kui. At the same time a terrorist group are setting off bombs around the city and, after Chan is forced to resign from the police in shame, he foils the bombing of a shopping mall and gets reinstated, vowing to stop the gang of bombers.
The general rule of sequels is to go bigger and better, and Police Story 2 is certainly bigger, featuring more action, crazier stunts and a bit more going on in the plot department. But is it better? Depends on which cut you watch as there are a few to choose from in this set, but if you go for the extended cut, which runs at just over two hours and is the only cut featured here that is presented in 4K UHD, then Police Story 2 doesn’t quite hold the attention as well as the first movie or any of the two shorter cuts.
But that isn’t to say that Police Story 2 isn’t enjoyable, as with the extra plot comes Jackie Chan’s likeable screen persona as Ka-Kui and his long-suffering girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung) get a bit more screen time together, resulting in some fun story beats as he tries to balance his personal life with the two pressing situations he has at work. The action is more frenetic and comically charged, perhaps to its detriment as a full-on action piece, but that manic energy helps with the pacing, especially in the extended cut.
It was four years before Chan returned to the role of Ka-Kui, but when he did the rule of being bigger and better definitely applied, as Police Story 3: Super Cop takes a step up in every department and, overall, pulls it off admirably.
With a reputation as the ‘supercop’ of the Hong Kong police force, Ka-Kui is sent to mainland China where he teams up with Red Chinese police Interpol director, Inspector Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh) to take down drug lord Chaibat (Kenneth Tsang). Ka-Kui and Yang go undercover and infiltrate Chaibat’s gang, gaining their trust and getting to the heart of the organisation.
In order for Chaibat to access the money stored in his Swiss bank accounts he needs to bust his wife out of prison in Kuala Lumpur, and so he takes his two new recruits along, but Ka-Kui’s girlfriend May happens to be working nearby and things get complicated for the hero cop and his new partner.
If you need any convincing about how good Police Story 3: Super Cop is, then know that Quentin Tarantino ranks the movie as one of the greatest action epics of all time, and who could argue with praise like that? The plot has returned to a simpler, more direct style but, unlike the first movie, there is actually a plot here, and one that gives its two leads a chance to shine with their fighting skills and their acting.
The real selling point is the chemistry between Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh, something that was sorely lacking in her pairing with Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies, although you can see why EON Productions wanted her and what they were hoping for. When a sidekick is introduced to an established character the results are usually negative – again, EON tried it with Die Another Day and look how that went – but Inspector Yang is a well written character, stern at first but opens up after spending some time with Ka-Kui, and Yeoh sells it, giving Chan a good run for his money.
For his part, Chan ups his game as far as stunts go, pushing boundaries that he himself had previously set, and making Ka-Kui the supercop of the title, not quite in the realms of fantasy but pushing human endurance to the limit; just check out the bloopers reel over the closing credits to see him and Michelle Yeoh risking their lives in order to get a good shot.
As far as box sets go, this must be one of the most packed that Eureka have put out. Each disc comes loaded with extras, including audio commentaries from action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, plus Miles Wood and Jude Poyer for Police Story 2. Police Story is presented in the original Hong Kong theatrical cut in UHD and the shorter, alternate ‘Police Force’ export cut in 1080p, whilst Police Story 2 has the extended cut in UHD with the Hong Kong theatrical and export versions in 1080p, and Police Story 3: Super Cop has a UHD presentation of the Hong Kong theatrical cut in a brand new restoration and a 1080p print of the shorter US version.
All three movies benefit from their UHD upgrades, although it is the third movie that looks the cleanest and has the most vivid colour scheme, or vivid compared to the grittier and less colourful settings of the first two movies. As if all that wasn’t enough there are various cast and crew interviews, alternate and deleted scenes, documentaries on Jackie Chan’s early career, trailers and, most fun, each movie ends with a blooper reel of the stunts.
All of this action movie goodness comes housed in a rigid slipcase, complete with 100-page collector’s book featuring essays, archival photos and lots of other goodies, and each disc case comes with reversible artwork, making this not only one of the most comprehensive sets that Eureka have released but also one of the best looking.
Needless to say, this is an essential purchase for anyone looking to upgrade their Jackie Chan collection into 4K UHD, but for anyone else looking to discover what made Jackie Chan such a force in action cinema in the first place, or even just to see why hardcore fans grumble so much about how disappointing his American movies have been, then this is the best place to start because this limited edition box set provides hours of no-brainer action entertainment, with a few laughs along the way. Get it while you can.
Flickering Myth Rating – Police Story – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Flickering Myth Rating – Police Story 2 – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Flickering Myth Rating – Police Story 3: Super Cop – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
