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Crime Story (1993 film)

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Not to be confused with New Police Story.

Crime Story
Film poster
Traditional Chinese重案組
Simplified Chinese重案组
Hanyu PinyinZhōng Àn Zǔ
JyutpingCung5 On3 Zo2
Directed by
Written by
  • Chun Tin Nam
  • Chan Man Keung
  • Chan Lai Lin
  • Cheung Chi Shing
  • Teddy Chan
Produced byChua Lam
Starring
Cinematography
  • Chan Kwong Hung
  • Ardy Lam
  • Andrew Lau
  • Hang-Sang Poon
  • Arthur Wong
Edited byCheung Yiu Chung
Music by
Distributed by
Release date
  • 24 June 1993 (1993-06-24)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeUS$9.32 million

Crime Story (Chinese: 重案組; also known as New Police Story; released in the Philippines as Police Dragon) is a 1993 Hong Kong action crime thriller film,[1] directed by Kirk Wong, and starring Jackie Chan, Kent Cheng, Law Kar-ying and Puishan Au-yeung. The film was released in Hong Kong on 24 June 1993.

Unlike most Jackie Chan films, which feature a combination of action and comedy, Crime Story is mostly a serious film. The film is based on actual events surrounding the 1990 kidnapping of Chinese businessman Teddy Wang.

Plot

Inspector Eddie Chan of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, who suffers from emotional stress after shooting several men in self-defense, is assigned to track down the kidnapped businessman Wong Yat-fei. The search takes him from Hong Kong to Taiwan, causing him to cross paths with some powerful mobsters. What complicates matters is that one of the kidnappers is operating within the police force, determined to stop Chan from succeeding. The relentlessly driven Chan finds himself fighting his personal demons at the same time he battles the seemingly unending wave of crime in the city.

Cast

  • Jackie Chan as Inspector Eddie Chan
  • Kent Cheng as Detective Hung Ting-bong
  • Law Kar-ying as Wong Yat-fei
  • Puishan Au-yeung as Wong Yat-fei's wife
  • Blackie Ko as Captain Ko
  • Pan Lingling as Psychiatrist
  • Christine Ng as Lara
  • Chung Fat as Ng Kwok-wah
  • Ken Lo as Ng Kwok-yan
  • Wan Fat as Simon Ting
  • William Tuan as Superintendent Cheung
  • Wan Seung-lam as Yen Chi-sheng
  • Mars as bank robber (uncredited)
  • Chan Tat-kwong as bank robber (uncredited)
  • Johnny Cheung as Black Dog
  • Wong Chi-wai as Black Dragon (uncredited)
  • James Ha as kidnapper / Ting-bong's henchman
  • Yu Kwok-lok as kidnapper
  • Wong Yiu as kidnapper
  • Rocky Lai as Taiwanese gangster / restaurant owner
  • Jameson Lam as policeman at construction site
  • Leung Gam-san as data centre manager

Production

According to the book I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, written by Jackie Chan, Chan's legs were crushed after getting caught between two cars while filming the opening action scene.[2]

The film is set and was filmed in Hong Kong and Taiwan in 42 days from 9 July to 20 August 1992. The climactic scene, in which a building is decimated by explosions, was filmed in the deserted Kowloon Walled City, which was scheduled for demolition shortly thereafter.

Jet Li was originally considered to play the role of Inspector Eddie Chan. Eventually, Jackie Chan was interested in the role of Inspector Eddie Chan, and he got it.

Release

Crime Story was released in Hong Kong on 24 June 1993.[3] In the Philippines, the film was released as Police Dragon by Moviestars Production on 19 January 1994.[4]

After the success of Rumble In The Bronx, Miramax wanted to release Crime Story next in theaters, until Jackie Chan advised against it, so Miramax released Police Story 3: Supercop (1992) instead. The version was released on video and DVD on 18 July 2000 in the United States by Miramax was dubbed in English, although unlike most releases, it contained the original musical score. Chan's character had the name "Eddie" replaced with "Jackie" in the dub.[5] There were four cuts made from the Miramax version:

  • The pre-credits sequence with the kidnappers was removed.
  • A scene where Wong is dumped overboard.
  • The last scene, Wong Yat-fei's wife tells him to thank Inspector Chan.
  • The last scene again where Chan burns Wong's wallet.

The Dragon Dynasty (DD) version has the original Cantonese track and also restored the cuts made in the Miramax version. It was released in 2007 and is about 107 minutes long. It also contains other deleted scenes not seen in either of the previous versions.

Dragon Dynasty released a DVD in the United States on 7 August 2007. On 15 January 2013, Shout! Factory released a DVD and Blu-ray as part of a double feature along with The Protector.[6]

Box office

In Hong Kong, the film grossed HK$27,439,331 (US$3,547,157) at the box office.[3] In Taiwan, it grossed NT$24,851,480[7] (US$941,994).[8] In Japan, it grossed ¥345 million (US$3,103,000) at the box office.[9] In South Korea, it grossed US$1,530,000.[10] In the United States, the film grossed $194,720.[11] This adds up to US$9,316,871 (equivalent to $20,000,000 in 2023) grossed in Asia.

Reception

The film holds a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews; the average rating is 6.6/10.[1] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film "as fast and furious as action pictures get" while praising Chan's dramatic performance.[12] Derek Elley of Variety said that it is stylish and fresh, but Chan "still needs more time with his drama coach".[13] Bill Gibron of Popmatters called it "one of [Chan's] most serious and solidly suspenseful" films. Gibron says the film makes up for its lack of signature acrobatics with "one amazing setpiece after another" during the climax.[14]

Stephen Hunter of The Baltimore Sun included it in 10th place at his year-end list of the best films.[15] At the 1993 Golden Horse Awards, the film won Best Actor (Jackie Chan). At the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards, it won Best Film Editing (Peter Cheung) and was nominated for Best Action Choreography (Jackie Chan), Best Actor (Jackie Chan), Best Director (Kirk Wong), Best Picture, and Best Supporting Actor (Kent Cheng).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Crime Story (Zhong an zu) (New Police Story) (Police Dragon) (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  2. ^ Jackie Chan. "Jackie's Aches and Pains: It Only Hurts When I'm Not Laughing". Random House. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Crime Story". Hong Kong Movie Database. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Grand Opening Today!". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. 19 January 1994. p. 21. Retrieved 23 February 2021. See How Hongkong And Taiwan Police Use The Latest Technology to Cruch [sic] One Of The Biggest Kidnap For Ransom Syndicates In History
  5. ^ "Crime Story". DVD Talk. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  6. ^ "SHOUT! FACTORY PRESENTS CRIME STORY/ THE PROTECTOR DOUBLE FEATURE DELUXE EDITION | Horrorphilia". Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  7. ^ "1993 Taiwan Box Office". National Chengchi University. 19 February 2001. Archived from the original on 19 February 2001. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  8. ^ "24,851,480 TWD to USD". fxtop. 1993. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  9. ^ "【ジャッキーチェン興行成績】 第12回：日本での興行収入". KungFu Tube (in Japanese). 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  10. ^ "【ジャッキーチェン興行成績】 第10回：韓国での興行収入". KungFu Tube (in Japanese). 5 September 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  11. ^ "«Криминальная история» (Jung on zo, 1993)". Kinopoisk (in Russian). Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  12. ^ "MOVIE REVIEW : An Action-Packed 'Crime Story' : Martial arts superstar Jackie Chan cuts the clowning when he sets out to rescue a kidnaped Hong Kong tycoon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  13. ^ "Crime Story". Variety. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  14. ^ "On DVD - Crime Story (1993)". Popmatters. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  15. ^ Hunter, Stephen (25 December 1994). "Films worthy of the title 'best' in short supply MOVIES". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
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