Rush Hour (franchise)

Rush Hour film series
Rush Hour Three DVD Trilogy
Directed by	Brett Ratner
Screenplay by	Jim Kouf Jeff Nathanson
Story by	Ray Dolby
Produced by	Roger Birnbaum Jonathan Glickman Arthur M. Sarkissian Jay Stern Robert Birnbaum Michael Poryes
Starring	Jackie Chan Chris Tucker
Edited by	Mark Helfrich Robert K. Lambert Mark Pussy Billy Weber Don Zimmerman
Music by	Lalo Schifrin Mark Mothersbaugh Ira Hearshen Nile Rodgers
Distributed by	New Line Cinema TriStar Pictures Columbia Pictures
Release date	1998–2006
Running time	279 minutes
Countries	Original Producer: United States Co-Producer: Canada (first film) Hong Kong (second film) France (third film)
Languages	English Mandarin Cantonese French Japanese
Budget	$263 million
Box office	$849,734,899

The Rush Hour film series is a martial arts/action-comedy film series, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, directed by Brett Ratner and distributed by TriStar Pictures, Columbia Pictures and New Line Cinema.

The series centers on a pair of police detectives—a Chinese police inspector and an American LAPD detective—as they go on a series of misadventures often involving corrupt crime figures. All three films received commercial success and incorporate elements of martial arts, and the buddy cop sub-genre.

Development

Production for Rush Hour

Rush Hour was released on September 18, 1998, grossing over $244 million worldwide. Martin Lawrence and Dave Chappelle were originally considered for the role of James Carter, but Chris Tucker was finally chosen for the part. Director Brett Ratner, a big fan of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong movies, felt that American audiences would not be familiar with the jokes in Jackie's other movies, and deliberately re-used some of his gags. For example, the scene where Inspector Lee accidentally grabs Johnson's breasts is a reference to Jackie Chan's film Mr. Nice Guy (1997).

During filming, Elizabeth Peña played a prank on Director Brett Ratner in which she appeared on the set wearing nothing but her character's bomb squad vest. According to Peña, she thought Ratner would laugh and howl; instead he was extremely nervous and embarrassed. Additionally, despite being released in 1998, Rush Hour is set in 1997. Britain handed over Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997, and the film takes place in the weeks following that event.

Production for Rush Hour 2

Rush Hour 2 was released on August 3, 2001. The film grossed $347,325,802 worldwide, making it the most successful film in the Rush Hour series. In an interview, director Brett Ratner admitted that the first part of the karaoke scene with Chris Tucker was not supposed to be filmed. Tucker refused to act like Michael Jackson with the cameras running. During takes, he went up as entertainment for everyone. Secretly, Ratner told the cameramen to film it but to not let Tucker notice them. On an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Tucker said that while he was filming this movie in Hong Kong, many locals mistook him for NBA star Kobe Bryant. In the film, while Tucker's character is running up the stairs, the old woman shouts, "Move out of the way, Kobe" to him. However, in the DVD audio commentary, Ratner states that main writer Jeff Nathanson came up with that line shortly before the filming of that scene. The mural on the wall of the Heaven on Earth Massage Parlor was copied from one in Scarface, which Harris Yulin and Ratner appeared in. The scene where Jackie Chan and Tucker are running down the street naked in Hong Kong was an actual take; production could not block the street off for the shoot. The scene where Chan and Tucker run around naked in the streets was inspired by a scene in The Accidental Spy (2001) which Chan made before this movie. Ratner saw the film and decided to include a similar scene in Rush Hour 2 (2001).

The girl-picking scene came from the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon (1973), which Chan appeared in. During the boat party that Ricky Tan holds, the song "Tian Mi Mi" can be heard playing in the background. The same song was used in Year of the Dragon (1985), a film which also co-starred John Lone. Seasickness helped Roselyn Sanchez feign a lack of enthusiasm for Tucker's advances in the yacht sequence. When Tucker is saying that Asians always panic and points out Godzilla films as a reference, he shouts "Hayaku! Hayaku!" This is actually Japanese, and it means "Quickly! Quickly!" The scene where Carter gets the kosher meal was originally scripted to have Carter ask if Lee "want some of my gefilte fish?" after the stewardess left. But Tucker couldn't pronounce "gefilte", so the scene never made the final cut (outtakes of this scene are in the end credits). Don Cheadle only agreed to appear in this movie under two circumstances: he gets to speak Chinese and pick a fight with Chan. In the scene where Chan and Tucker went inside the business suite, Ernie Reyes, Jr. appeared in a cameo as the worker who was chased by Chan and Tucker.

Jeremy Piven made a cameo appearance in Rush Hour 2 as an over-enthusiastic gay Versace salesman. Like Cheadle, he was from Family Man (2000), a movie that was also directed by Ratner. The Red Dragon Casino in Las Vegas owned by Ricky Tan (John Lone) and Steven Reign (Alan King) was actually the Desert Inn hotel and casino. There were red lights shined at the hotel to make it a scarlet color. Following the closure of the 50 year old Las Vegas Strip property in August 2000 by new owner Steve Wynn, the Rush Hour 2 production moved in and redesigned parts of the property as a Chinese themed casino/hotel for the movie. Shortly after the movie wrapped production in Las Vegas, the Desert Inn was demolished on October 23, 2001 make way for the new $2.7 billion dollar Wynn Las Vegas resort. Red Dragon is also the name of a movie that Ratner directed months after Rush Hour 2, as well as the name of a real casino in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, USA. The fake cash used in the movie said "In Dog We Trust". Even so, some of it "escaped" from the set and eventually ended up in a few casinos in Las Vegas. Chan's favorite number is 32. The gangster's car has a license plate of 32 and when Lee spits the grenade onto the roulette table it lands on 32 when it explodes.

Tucker ad-libbed many different versions of his short speech to Hu Li at the end of their fight. Ratner felt the speech was not working and told Tucker to call her a "bitch". Tucker refused to say the word and it took hours of convincing by Ratner before Tucker finally agreed. During the filming of the stunt where Lee and Carter jump from the top window of the Red Dragon hotel then slide down the wires of Chinese Lanterns, a real (i.e. not part of the movie) car chase took place on/through the set. Apparently, a carload of drunken tourists (the set was in Las Vegas) got into an altercation with a taxi driver, and the two cars began a chase that ran down the strip and onto the set, narrowly missing crew members, extras and an enormous crane which held a camera and crew. Fortunately no one was injured; the driver and passengers of the taxi were detained by police. On the DVD release of the film, a deleted scene featured Philip Baker Hall reprising his role of Captain Diel from the first film. Carter speaks with the Captain about his stay in Hong Kong and his involvement in the Triad case. Ratner states in the DVD audio commentary that while he would have loved to include the scene in the final cut (essentially giving Hall a cameo appearance), it did not advance the plot and was left out.

Zhang Ziyi only speaks three words of English in the film, two of which being her famous line "Some apple?" (however, she is seen mouthing "Here's your package. You're welcome." while Lee and Carter are spying on Molina through the windows from the neighboring tower) as she did not know the language at the time of filming. Chan served as her translator on the set. Zhang Ziyi's character name, "Hu Li", means "fox." Her character was originally written for a man. The first two films in the Rush Hour series begin in Hong Kong and end in a United States airport. The time gap between Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour could approximately be four days. At the end of the first film, Detective Carter and Inspector Lee board a 15-hour flight to Hong Kong for a holiday and at the beginning of Rush Hour 2, Carter states "I've been in Hong Kong for three days and all we've done is run your cases". However, Ratner had previously stated that the events of Rush Hour 2 were probably Carter and Lee's second or third trip to Hong Kong. In all three Rush Hour films, the main antagonist is killed by falling to his death. In the first film, Thomas falls to his death when the vest rigged with C4 rips and falls off. Because he was holding onto it he falls with it. In the second Ricky Tan is kicked out of a window and falls to his death on a taxi. In the third Kenji falls to his death from the Eiffel Tower when a safety rope snaps and Lee is forced to let go of him.

Production for Rush Hour 3

Rush Hour 3 was officially announced on May 7, 2006, and filming began on July 4, 2006. The film, set in Paris and Los Angeles, was first released on August 10, 2007, Academy Award-winning film director Roman Polanski co-stars as a French police official involved in Lee and Carter (Chan and Tucker's characters) case. Tzi Ma reprises his role as Ambassador Han, Lee's boss and friend who appeared in the first installment. This film has received a M rating by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia) and a PG-13 rating by the MPAA for "sequences of action violence, sexual content, and language." Additionally, the film was not screened in Chinese theaters in 2007 to make way for a larger variety of foreign films, according to a business representative. (The quota for imported films is 20 each year.)

Future

Because of the films' collective box-office success, director Brett Ratner and writer Jeff Nathanson are currently considering the production of a fourth installment. In the DVD audio commentary for Rush Hour 3, Brett Ratner joked that the fourth Rush Hour film could be released in 2012. Ratner and Nathanson are exploring many concepts, including the use of the motion capture technique for the possible sequel and various different film projects with Chan and Tucker. It has been reported that the fourth film may be set in Moscow.

Ratner stated in an interview in 2009 that he "has been in contact with a long list of stars including Danny DeVito and Jet Li for possible roles in a potential Rush Hour 4," but stressed "nothing's been okayed yet".

In a short interview with Vulture in 2011, Ratner stated that the cost of making a follow-up to X-Men: The Last Stand would have cost more than the recent reboot and that, "that’s why another Rush Hour 4 probably won’t get made, either: It’d be too much to pay me, Chris [Tucker], and Jackie [Chan] to come back."

In another interview in 2011, Tucker in an interview with the radio show The Breakfast Club stated in response to the question of a fourth by saying, "Rush Hour 4? Maybe you know, because that's a different kind of movie. You the action and the stuff like that, and they pay 20 million dollars too... I'm just joking! No, you know Jackie Chan, you know I love working with him and those type of movies you can redo them and it's different, we'll see but I don't know though. But we've got some new stuff coming, so we'll see what happens."

Storylines

Rush Hour

Main article: Rush Hour (1998 film)

On the last day of British rule in Hong Kong, Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) of the Hong Kong police leads a raid at the docks, hoping to arrest the mysterious crime lord Juntao. He finds only Sang (Ken Leung), Juntao's right hand man, who manages to escape. However, Lee successfully recovers numerous Chinese cultural treasures stolen by Juntao, which he presents as a farewell victory to his departing superiors: Chinese consul Han (Tzi Ma) and British Commander Thomas Griffin (Tom Wilkinson).

Shortly after arriving in the United States to take up his new diplomatic post in Los Angeles, Han's daughter, Soo-Yung, is kidnapped. Unwilling to trust the FBI, Han calls in Lee to assist in the case.

The FBI, knowing Lee's incompetence, or success, will generate international embarrassment for them, pawn him off on LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), a fast-talking and arrogant police officer with aspirations of joining the FBI. Carter has recently caused severe collateral damage arresting bomb-maker Clive Cobb (Chris Penn) and his superiors give him a choice: keep Lee away from the investigation or face two months suspension without pay. Carter agrees, secretly intending to solve the case himself.

Carter meets Lee at LAX and then proceeds to take him on a sightseeing tour of Los Angeles, simultaneously keeping Lee away from the embassy and contacting several of his underworld informants about the kidnapping. Lee finally escapes Carter and makes his way to the Chinese Consulate, where an anxious Han and a group of FBI agents are awaiting news about his daughter. Later, while being severely reprimanded by the FBI, Carter manages to accidentally involve himself in a phone conversation with the kidnappers, where he arranges a ransom drop.

After their arrival at the agreed drop point, Lee tries to warn the FBI that something is amiss, but is ignored until a bomb is detonated, killing several agents. Spotting Sang nearby, Lee and Carter give chase, but Sang escapes after dropping a rare type of detonator. After showing it to Carter's colleague, LAPD bomb expert Tania Johnson (Elizabeth Peña), then to Clive Cobb, the bomb-maker he arrested, they learn that Juntao was behind the kidnapping. Following a lead to a restaurant in Chinatown, Carter is captured after going in alone. He sees a surveillance video of Griffin evacuating Soo-Yung from the premises, but does not know who he is. Lee arrives and rescues Carter, and they are met outside by the FBI, led by Special Agent-in-charge Warren Russ (Mark Rolston), who blame them for ruining the ransom exchange. Sang phones the consul, angrily telling him that the ransom has been increased (the original ransom was $50 million) to $70 million, and begins threatening Soo-Yung's life. Disgraced and guilt-ridden, Lee and Carter are ordered off the investigation and Lee is sent back to Hong Kong. Finally realizing Soo-Yung's safety is more important than his career, Carter refuses to drop the case and confronts Lee on his plane to enlist his help. Carter tells Lee about the death of Carter's father, also a police officer, killed at a routine traffic stop because his partner didn't help him. Lee is surprised, as before then, Carter has seemed to care about no one but himself. They decide to save Soo-Yung together.

The final confrontation comes at the opening of a Chinese art exhibition at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which Han and Griffin are overseeing, while the ransom is being delivered. After Carter recognizes Griffin from Chinatown, he creates a scene by alerting the spectators about the threat of a bomb and tells them to evacuate. In the confusion, Lee sees Griffin talking to a waiter he recognises as Sang, and figures out Griffin's true identity as Juntao and confronts him. Griffin then threatens to explode a bomb attached to Soo-Yung if the delivery is interrupted. During the stand off, Carter and Johnson rescue Soo-Yung and bring the bomb within range to kill Griffin and his men, causing a gunfight to erupt. In a battle between Griffin's thugs on one side, and the FBI, Lee and Carter on the other, Carter shoots Sang dead in a stand off, Johnson defuses the bomb and rescues Soo-Yung, and Lee kills Griffin by causing him to fall from the center's roof and into a water fountain.

Han and Soo-Yung are reunited. Han sends Carter and Lee on vacation together to Hong Kong. Before leaving, the FBI investigators show up and offer Carter a position on the FBI. Carter refuses, rudely telling them where he thinks they can take the badge, and that he will always be loyal to the LAPD.

Rush Hour 2

Main article: Rush Hour 2

James Carter (Chris Tucker) is on vacation in Hong Kong, visiting his good friend Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan). Carter is interested in having a good time; however, soon after he arrives, a bomb explodes in the American Embassy. Inspector Lee is assigned to the case, which becomes personal when it is discovered that it somehow involves Ricky Tan (John Lone), his late police officer father's former partner. Tan, who was suspected, but never proven, of having a role in Lee's father's death, is now a leader of the Triads.

The United States Secret Service, led by Agent Sterling (Harris Yulin), and the Hong Kong Police Force soon get into a fight over the jurisdiction of the case. Sterling believes Ricky Tan is a minor player in a larger conspiracy and wants him left alone so he will lead them to the people in charge. Lee, believing Tan is actually the head of the operation, learns that Tan will be attending a dinner party on his yacht. Tan scolds his underling, Hu Li (Zhang Ziyi), who then leaves as Lee and Carter confront Tan. Tan claims that someone is trying to frame him. Hu Li suddenly appears and shoots Ricky Tan, and he falls off the boat. In the ensuing chaos, Hu Li escapes, and an angry Sterling holds Lee responsible for Tan's death, and orders him off the case. Carter is ordered to be flown back to Los Angeles for involving himself. However, Lee and Carter return to Los Angeles together, seemingly motivated by their desire to bring justice and meaning for their respective father's deaths in the line of duty.

On the plane, Carter tells Lee that every case has a rich white man behind it, and that the man is Steven Reign, a Los Angeles hotel billionaire. Carter says that he saw Reign on Tan's boat and that his calm demeanor during the shooting was suspicious. They set up camp outside the Reign Towers, pointing out a sexy Secret Service agent named Isabella Molina (Roselyn Sánchez), who Carter met and tried to woo on Ricky Tan's yacht. After Lee watches Molina undress, and a few misunderstandings, Molina tells the two men that she is undercover, looking into Reign's money laundering of US$ 100 million dollars in superbills (high grade counterfeit US$ 100 bills).

Lee and Carter pay a visit to Kenny (Don Cheadle), an ex-con known to Carter who runs an illegal gambling parlor frequented by Asian criminals in the back room of his Chinese restaurant. He tells them that a usually broke customer recently came in to his establishment with a suspicious amount of hundred-dollar bills. Carter checks them out and confirms that they are Reign's counterfeits. They trace the money back to a bank friendly to the Triads, who are waiting for them and knock the two cops unconscious, with Molina looking on. Then they depart for Las Vegas. Lee and Carter wake up inside one of the Triads' trucks and escape. After finding out where they are, they realize that Reign is laundering the $100 million through the new Red Dragon Casino.

At the Red Dragon, Lee and Carter split up. Carter makes a big commotion and distracts the security forces while Lee runs into Molina. After convincing Lee she didn't sell them out, he attempts to infiltrate the back area to find the engraving plates (which were used to make the counterfeit money). However, Hu Li captures Lee, places a small bomb in his mouth, and gags him. She then takes him up to the penthouse, where it is revealed that Ricky Tan faked his death and, as Lee suspected, is in charge of the operation. After a few words, he departs, leaving Hu Li to do whatever she wants.

Molina then takes out a gun, reveals herself as a Secret Service agent and attempts to arrest Hu Li. In the chaos that follows, Hu Li kicks Lee out of a window and he falls out onto the casino floor. Molina and Hu Li then fight, and Molina sweeps the trigger for Lee's bomb out onto the casino floor. Hu Li finally manages to gain the upper hand and shoots Molina in the arm before jumping out onto the casino floor. After a frantic search, Carter and Lee end up together. Carter starts pulling the tape off of Lee's mouth. Lee manages to spit the bomb out seconds before Hu Li finds the trigger and detonates it. Carter then fights Hu Li while Lee heads to the penthouse to prevent Tan from escaping with the plates.

In the penthouse, Reign opens the safe and takes the plates, running into Tan as he leaves. After Reign announces he is cutting their deal short and keeping the plates, Tan stabs him to death. Lee confronts Tan, taking a gun from Reign's body. Carter appears, having triumphantly (and accidentally) knocked Hu Li out. After a tense standoff, where Tan admits he killed Lee's father, Lee knocks the gun away in Carter's direction. As Tan manages to retrieve it, and before only seconds from shooting Carter, Lee kicks Tan out through the window, tumbling to his death. Hu Li then enters, holding a time bomb. Lee and Carter leap out of the window just as the bomb goes off, sliding on decoration wires with their jackets. The wires snap, and they swing into a sign for the casino. Their momentum swings them into the path of oncoming traffic. Through Lee's nimble skill and Carter's dumb luck, they narrowly escape being hit by three successive trucks.

Later, at the airport, Sterling thanks Lee for his work in the case. Molina says she would like to tell Lee something, and proceeds to kiss him for a short time, an event witnessed from afar by Carter. Lee and Carter plan to go their separate ways; Carter to Los Angeles and Lee to Hong Kong. After Isabella heads for her flight, Lee and Carter say one last goodbye. Lee then gives Carter, who at first graciously declines, his father's police badge, stating that he can finally "let it go." In return, Carter gives Lee $10,000 that he won from gambling at Caesars Palace. Lee is more critical in his refusal of the money, but Carter is able to persuade Lee to take the money. After, Lee reveals that he has always wanted to go to Madison Square Garden and watch a New York Knicks basketball game. Carter tells Lee he could go for one more vacation and the two of them decide to take another vacation in the Big Apple, dancing off to Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".

Rush Hour 3

Main article: Rush Hour 3

Three years after the events of Rush Hour 2, James Carter is no longer a detective, but a traffic cop on the streets of Los Angeles. Lee is now the bodyguard for his friend Ambassador (formerly Consul) Han. Lee and Carter are no longer on speaking terms after an incident in New York City when Carter accidentally — but not fatally — shot Lee's now ex-girlfriend Secret Service agent Isabella Molina (Roselyn Sanchez) in the neck.

During discussions in the World Criminal Court, as the Ambassador addresses the importance of fighting the Triad organization, he announces that he may know the whereabouts of Shy Shen. Suddenly, Han takes a bullet in the shoulder, disrupting the conference. Lee pursues the assassin and corners him, discovering that the assassin is his Japanese stepbrother Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada). When Lee hesitates to shoot Kenji, Carter, having heard of Han's incident on the police radio, shows up driving towards the two and accidentally nearly runs Lee over, allowing Kenji to escape.

In the hospital, Lee learns that Han will make a full recovery. Han's daughter, Soo-Yung (Zhang Jingchu), now grown up, arrives and makes Lee and Carter promise to capture the one behind the shooting. She then informs Lee and Carter that her father gave her an envelope which contains important information regarding the Triad, and that the envelope is in her locker at the martial arts studio where she works. Lee and Carter make their way to the martial arts studio, but find out that a gang of armed men have already arrived and emptied it. Lee and Carter are told by the Master of the studio that Soo-Yung and Han are in danger, and rush back to the hospital.

Once the two reach the hospital, a gang of assassins arrive to kill Soo-Yung and Han. Lee and Carter manage to defeat them, with the help of Soo-Yung, and interrogate the leader of the assassins. Much to Lee and Carter's surprise, the Asian assassin only speaks French. With the help of a resident nun, Sister Agnes (Dana Ivey), who translates, they find out that they are marked for death by the Triad along with Soo-Yung and Han. For her protection, they take her to the French Embassy and leave her under the care of Reynard (Max von Sydow), the French ambassador and the chairman of the World Criminal Court. When a car bomb detonates, nearly killing Reynard and Soo-Yung, Lee and Carter decide to go to Paris to investigate.

In Paris, (after getting a painful cavity search from a Parisian commissioner, played by Roman Polanski) Lee and Carter meet up with George, a taxi driver (Yvan Attal). George refuses to drive Carter, saying that Americans make him sick, as they are "the most violent people on Earth" — to which Carter replies by forcing George, at gunpoint, to drive to a Triad hideout disguised as a gentleman's club (and to sing the American Anthem). There, Lee fights off a Triad assassin named Jasmine (Youki Kudoh); meanwhile, Carter meets a beautiful woman whose name is not disclosed (Noémie Lenoir). However, Lee and Carter are both forced out of the club and are captured by the Triads. They manage to escape, but then have a falling out concerning Lee's relationship with Kenji. Shortly after Carter leaves, Reynard appears. Lee asks who Shy Shen is, but Reynard tells him that Shy Shen is not a man, but a list of the Triad leaders. Reynard reveals that Han's informant knows where Shy Shen is. The informant turns out to be Geneviève, the woman Carter met at the gentlemen's club and both Lee and Carter end up looking for her.

After the two have encountered Geneviève, they save her from an assassination attempt by the Triads and flee to their hotel room. However, they are attacked again by Jasmine who sneaks up behind Carter and Genevieve who are making love in bed. When Lee tries to fend her off with his pistol, Jasmine throws a knife in both directions of Carter/Genevieve and Lee. In an attempt to dodge the knife, Lee accidentally shoots Genevieve and becomes even with Carter. No longer safe at the hotel where the triads know their whereabouts, they decide to hide out with George, who now has fostered a great appreciation for the United States. Lee and Carter learn that Geneviève not only knows where the list is, but that she is the list. The names of the thirteen Triad leaders have been tattooed on the back of her head, as per tradition, and Genevièv;rlbm ';rlm r';lnm't2lnwre explains that she will be decapitated and buried if the Triads capture her. When Lee and Carter bring Geneviève to Reynard, he asks Geneviève to show him the list. Lee points out that they never told him that she had the list imprinted on her head. Reynard then reveals that he has been working with the Triads all along. Kenji calls and informs Lee that he has captured Soo-Yung and that he would like to exchange her for Geneviève.

Lee arrives at the exchange point, the Jules Verne Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, with Carter, disguised as Geneviève. Kenji challenges Lee to a sword fight, during which the two fall off the tower and get caught in a safety net. Lee's sword cuts the safety net open and it collapses, leaving both men hanging on for dear life. Lee then grabs Kenji's arm, intending to save his life, but placing his own at risk. Kenji willingly lets go of Lee and falls to his death, saving Lee's life. Meanwhile, Carter single-handedly defeats the rest of the Triad henchmen, celebrating by dancing to the beat of Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting". He then goes to save Soo-Yung. Jasmine arrives and attempts to kill Soo-Yung and Carter by unlatching the rope Soo-Yung is tied to. Carter grabs the rope before it can fall, thus saving Soo-Yung, who kicks Jasmine into one of the rotating cranks, which crushes her in half and kills her.

As Carter and Lee send Soo-Yung down the elevator, more Triads arrive. In order to escape, Lee and Carter grab and untie a large French flag hanging over the side of the tower and use it as a makeshift parachute and float to safety. Unfortunately, they are confronted by Reynard, who is holding Geneviève hostage and threatening to kill her and frame Lee and Carter for her murder. However, George, having followed Lee and Carter, shoots Reynard and declares "Case Closed." The police arrive, with the commissioner from earlier gloating and trying to get undeserved credit. After giving the commissioner a team punch to the face, Lee and Carter leave the scene dancing to Edwin Starr's "War".

Characters

Character	Film
	Rush Hour	Rush Hour 2	Rush Hour 3
Chief Inspector Lee	Jackie Chan
Detective James Carter	Chris Tucker
Consul/Ambassador Han	Tzi Ma		Tzi Ma
Soo Yung	Julia Hsu		Zhang Jingchu
Thomas Griffin/Juntao	Tom Wilkinson
Detective Tania Johnson	Elizabeth Peña
Sang	Ken Leung
FBI Agent Warren Russ	Mark Rolston
FBI Agent Dan Whitney	Rex Linn
Ricky Tan		John Lone
Isabella Molina		Roselyn Sánchez	Roselyn Sánchez (cut from film)
Hu Li		Zhang Ziyi
Steven Reign		Alan King
Kenji			Hiroyuki Sanada
Geneviève			Noemie Lenoir
George			Yvan Attal
Jasmine The Dragon Lady			Youki Kudoh
Varden Reynard			Max von Sydow
Captain William Diel	Philip Baker Hall	Philip Baker Hall (cut from film)	Philip Baker Hall (uncredited)

Reception

Box office

Film	Release date	Box office revenue			Box office ranking		Budget	Reference
		United States	Outside US	Worldwide	All time US	All time worldwide
Rush Hour	September 18, 1998	$141,186,864	$103,200,000	$244,386,864	#212		$33,000,000
Rush Hour 2	August 3, 2001	$226,164,286	$121,161,516	$347,325,802	#70		$90,000,000
Rush Hour 3	August 10, 2007	$140,125,968	$117,896,265	$258,022,233	#215		$140,000,000
Total		$507,477,118	$342,257,781	$849,734,899			$263,000,000

Critical reaction

Film	Rotten Tomatoes		Metacritic
	Overall	Cream of the Crop
Rush Hour	62% (65 reviews)	54% (13 reviews)	60% (23 reviews)
Rush Hour 2	52% (127 reviews)	53% (32 reviews)	48% (28 reviews)
Rush Hour 3	19% (155 reviews)	21% (28 reviews)	44% (32 reviews)

Soundtracks

Year	Title	Chart positions		Certifications (sales thresholds)
		U.S.	U.S. R&B
1998	Rush Hour Released: July 14, 1998 Label: 550 Music/Columbia/Epic	5	2	US: Platinum
2001	Rush Hour 2 Released: July 31, 2001 Label: Hollywood/Epic/Sony	11	11	US: Gold

External links

• Rush Hour at IMDb
• Rush Hour 2 at IMDb
• Rush Hour 3 at IMDb