Supercop
Supercop | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Stanley Tong |
Written by | Edward Tang Ma Fibe Yee Lee Wai |
Produced by | Willie Chan Edward Tang Jackie Chan Leonard Ho |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Ardy Lam |
Edited by | Cheung Ka-Fai Peter Cheung |
Music by | Mac Chew Jenny Chinn Jonathan Lee Joel McNeely (U.S) |
Distributed by | Media Asia Golden Harvest Golden Way Films Co. Ltd. Dimension Films Miramax Films (U.S) Fortune Star Media Ltd. (current) Paramount Pictures (current US distribution) |
Release date |
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Running time | 95 minutes 91 minutes (U.S) |
Country | Hong Kong |
Languages | Cantonese Mandarin English Malay |
Budget | $900,000 |
Box office | Hong Kong: HK$32,609,783 United States: US$16,270,600[1] |
Supercop (Chinese: 警察故事3超級警察; Cantonese Yale: gíng chaat gu sih sāam: Chīu kāp gíng chaat), also known as Police Story 3: Super Cop, is a 1992 Hong Kong action film starring Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh. Jackie reprises his "Kevin" Chan Ka-Kui character, a Hong Kong cop from Police Story and Police Story 2. It is the first in the Police Story series not to be directed by Jackie, with Stanley Tong taking over the helm. It is also the last appearance in the series for Maggie Cheung as Jackie's girlfriend, May.[2]
Plot
Ka-Kui is the "supercop" of the Hong Kong police, with amazing martial arts skills. He is sent to Guangzhou, where the Chinese police force's Interpol director, Inspector Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh), briefs him on his next assignment. The target is Chaibat, a drug lord based in Hong Kong. To infiltrate Chaibat's organization, Ka-Kui is to get close to Chaibat's henchman Panther, who is in a Chinese prison. Ka-Kui, posing as a petty criminal prisoner, manages Panther's escape with the connivance of the guards. Grateful, Panther invites Ka-Kui to go with him to Hong Kong and join Chaibat's gang. Panther meets up with some of his other men, and vouches for Ka-Kui. The group heads for Hong Kong.
On the way, they pass through Ka-Kui's supposed home village, and Panther insists that Ka-Kui visit his family there. He does not actually know anyone in the village, but is pleasantly relieved to be greeted by undercover police posing as his family, with Yang as his sister. The local police pretend to arrest Ka-Kui in a restaurant, but Ka-Kui and Yang (also a martial-arts expert) escape after a big fight, which concludes with the faked killing of a policeman. This confirms Panther's trust in them.
In Hong Kong, Chaibat welcomes Ka-Kui and Yang to his luxurious hide-out. He takes them with him to a big opium grower's fortified compound in the Golden Triangle of Thailand, for a meeting of big-time heroin traffickers. During the meeting, Chaibat's gang attack from outside while Ka-Kui and Yang protect him inside. In a huge gun battle, Chaibat's gang kill the rival traffickers and their guards, and smash up the compound. The grower survives, but will now sell only to Chaibat at Chaibat's price.
The action then shifts to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Chaibat's wife, Chen Wen-Shi, is in prison, facing the death penalty for an unspecified crime. Chaibat needs to get her out of prison, because only she knows the secret codes to his Swiss bank account, and will not reveal them to him unless freed. Chaibat brings his gang, now including Ka-Kui and Yang, to Kuala Lumpur to stage a jailbreak.
A new difficulty arises when Ka-Kui sees his girlfriend May, a tour guide, in Kuala Lumpur leading a party of Hong Kong tourists. He has told her he's on assignment. Ka-Kui evades May at first, but she sees him at the luxurious hotel where Chaibat's gang are staying, with the beautiful Yang, and confronts him in a jealous rage. This nearly blows Ka-Kui's cover, but Panther is persuaded that May is angry because Ka-Kui tried to proposition her as a prostitute. Later, Ka-Kui gets May alone and explains the situation, and she finally calms down. At one point, May even manages to keep Ka-Kui from inadvertently blowing his own cover. But then, in an elevator, May tells a co-worker about Ka-Kui, and is overheard by one of Panther's men. Chaibat takes May hostage, and forces Ka-Kui and Yang – their cover now blown – to help free Chen.
Chaibat's scheme is successful and May is released, as per their agreement. However, the exchange turns sour when Chaibat pushes May from his helicopter, though she survives. Furious, Ka-Kui and Yang pursue Chaibat and his men over the roads, rooftops (where Ka-Kui and Yang defeat Panther and his partner), and skies of Kuala Lumpur. In the climax on top of a speeding train, Chaibat is killed after his helicopter collides with a bridge and lands on him. Yang and Ka-Kui also recapture Chen. Since her husband is dead, she decides to tell Yang and Ka-Kui the password to Chaibat's bank account. The two partners argue whether Hong Kong or China will get the money.
Cast
- Jackie Chan as RHKP Inspector "Kevin" Chan Ka-Kui / Chen Chia-Chu / Lin Fu Sheng (doubled by Stanley Tong)
- Michelle Yeoh (billed as "Michelle Khan") as Interpol Inspector "Jessica" Yang Chien-Hua / Hannah Lin
- Maggie Cheung as May, Kevin's girlfriend
- Bill Tung as "Uncle" Bill Wong, RHKP deputy commissioner and Kevin's boss
- Philip Chan as RHKP Commissioner Y.K. Chen
- Yuen Wah as Panther, Chaibat's top lieutenant
- Kenneth Tsang (as Ken Tsang) as Khun Chaibat, narcotics kingpin in Hong Kong
- Josephine Koo as Chen Wen-Shi, Chaibat's wife
- Lo Lieh (as Lit Law) as Thai General, warlord and Golden Triangle drug supplier
- Burt Kwouk provided the voice in the English version (uncredited)
- Kelvin Wong (as Wong Siu) as Peter / Pierre, Chaibat's henchman
- Ken Lo (as Lowei Kwong) as one of Chaibat's henchman (uncredited)
- Allen Sit as one of Chaibat's henchman (uncredited)
- Mars as Hsiung, one of Panther's henchman (uncredited)
- Wai Man Tam (as Wei-min Tan) as Scar Chiang, one of Panther's henchman
- Ming-Sing Wong as PRC Chief Coach Wang (uncredited)
- Wai Shum as Drug Lord #1 at Meeting (uncredited)
- Yi-Sheng Han (as Yee Sang Hon) as Drug Lord #2 at Meeting (uncredited)
- Kim Maree Penn as Blonde Gunwoman (uncredited)
Production
A significant aspect of this film is that it was the first Jackie Chan film from Hong Kong to use sync sound, allowing all the actors' voices to be recorded as they spoke on scene, rather than dubbed over by different actors later.
Exterior scenes were filmed in Hong Kong Island, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur. Interior scenes were shot in Kuala Lumpur.
According to his book I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, Chan dislocated his cheekbone during a stunt scene.[3]
Filming locations
- Victoria Harbour, Central and Western District, Hong Kong Island, British Hong Kong
- Nanjing Road and The Bund, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
- Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, Kuala Lumpur, Klang Valley, Peninsular Malaysia, Malaysia
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Reception
Box office
Supercop grossed HK$32,609,783 in its Hong Kong theatrical run.
After the North American success of Rumble in the Bronx, Supercop was released in North America on 25 July 1996. Opening at 1,406 theatres, it grossed US$5,503,176 ($3,914 per screen), on its way to a total gross of US$16,270,600.
Awards and nominations
- 1993 Hong Kong Film Awards
- Nominated: Best Actor (Jackie Chan)
- Nominated: Best Action Choreography (Stanley Tong, Tang Tak-wing, Ailen Sit, Chan Man-ching, Wong Ming-sing)
- 1992 Golden Horse Film Festival
- Won: Best Actor (Jackie Chan)
- Won: Best Editing (Peter Cheung, Cheung Ka-Fai)
Critical reception
The North American release by Dimension was well received. The U.S. version of the film holds a "Certified Fresh" rating of 96% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[4]
James Berardinelli of website ReelViews wrote: "As is usual in a Chan film, the end credits (which show out-takes of failed stunts) are one of Supercop's highlights. There are more laughs in this hilarious three-minute sequence than in the whole of Kingpin. I can't think of a better reason to stay through the entire movie. Ultimately, the closing montage points out one of the chief differences between Chan's stylized, fast-paced films and those of his American counterparts: this is action with a smile, not a grimace".[5]
In the Washington Post, Richard Harrington said: "Chan seems to have met his soul mate in Khan [Yeoh's credited name], Asia's top female action star. Like Chan, Khan does her own fighting and stunts. Unlike the Hollywood action contingent, Chan and Khan don't rely on cinematic trickery. Theirs are not special effects, just spectacular ones. Connoisseurs will find Chan's helicopter-train chase far riskier, more exciting and more believable than its mates in Mission: Impossible and The Living Daylights".[6]
Furthermore, in 2009, director Quentin Tarantino named Police Story III as one of his favorite films of the past seventeen years.[7] He said that Supercop features the "greatest stunts ever filmed in any movie ever".[8] In 2016 during a roundtable discussion, when asked which movie scene he would love to save for the last of humanity to see, he named the final scene of the movie as his choice.[9] In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films.[10] Supercop was listed at 75th place on this list.[11]
Dimension version
The Dimension Films version, which was distributed theatrically in North America in 1996, was dubbed into American English with the participation of Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh.
Among the changes was the addition of a new score composed and conducted by composer Joel McNeely. Tom Jones' rendition of "Kung Fu Fighting" plays over the end credits, followed by a song specially written and performed for the film by the band Devo, entitled "Supercop".
This release was cut by approximately 10 minutes. These cuts include:
- Scenes of the police superiors getting a briefing about drug-related crimes.
- The police superiors discussing a plan to send Jackie Chan's character on an undercover mission.
- A scene where Yeoh tries to teach Chan about Mainland China.
- A longer version of the meeting with Chaibat in which the sexy women lounging about his mansion are revealed as drug addicts.
DVD releases
- The film was given a theatrical and VHS release in the United Kingdom.
- In January 1998, Dimension Films released their Supercop version.
- In Hong Kong, the film was initially released by Megastar and later, Deltamac. In 2004, it was re-released by IVL. This version was contained within a Police Story trilogy DVD boxset (Region 0 NTSC). All Hong Kong DVDs contain the original cut.
- In January 2009, the film was re-released in the west by Dragon Dynasty and the Weinstein Company. Although it has the original Hong Kong Cantonese soundtrack, it is cut to fit the visuals of the included Dimension Supercop version. It does not contain any of the scenes specific to the Hong Kong version.
- Hong Kong based company Kam & Ronsom Enterprise released the first three Police Story films on Blu-ray Disc in June 2009.[12]
Spin-off
Michelle Yeoh went on to star in a 1993 spin-off called Supercop 2 or Project S. Though it features a cameo appearance by Jackie Chan and Bill Tung reprises his role as "Uncle" Bill, this film is not a proper part of the Police Story series.
Popular culture
The film inspired two missions in the 2004 videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, both of which were taken from the film's final scenes. The game's last mission, "End of The Line", where C.J must chase a firetruck with a red open-top car and catch Sean "Sweet" Johnson was taken from the scene where Jackie must chase a van using a red open-top car to catch Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh).
The mission "Wrong Side of The Tracks", where the player must follow a train from a dirt bike was taken from the scene where Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh) follows the train on a similar dirt bike.
Music
Two songs "I Have My Way" (我有我路向) sung by Jackie Chan and "I Just Want You to Understand" (我只想你懂) sung by Taiwanese musician Jonathan Lee, both lyricized by Hong Kong songwriter James Wong and composed by Lee,[13] are featured as theme songs for the Asian versions of the film.
A soundtrack containing alternative rock and hip hop song was released on 30 July 1996 by Interscope Records. It peaked at #133 on the Billboard 200.
See also
References
- ^ Supercop at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Thomas, Kevin (26 July 1996). "Supercop Gets Kicks From Footloose Style". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- ^ Jackie Chan. "Jackie's Aches and Pains: It Only Hurts When I'm Not Laughing". Random House. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ^ Supercop at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Berardinelli, James. "Supercop (aka Police Story 3): A Film Review by James Berardinelli". Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ "More Kicks From Jackie Chan". The Washington Post. 18 March 1997.
- ^ "Quentin Tarantino's Top 20 Films of the Past 17 Years". Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ "Quentin Tarantino's Top 20 Favorite Films". Retrieved 5 September 2009.
- ^ "TheHollywoodReporter Roundtable Interview With Directors". Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ "The 100 best action movies". Time Out. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ^ "The 100 best action movies: 80-71". Time Out. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ^ Bruce Lee hits Blu-ray Disc
- ^ Wang, Zhu (February 2016). 唱我逍遙調:黃霑的歌影江湖. Guizho Publishing (贵州人民出版社). ISBN 978-7-221-12800-3.
External links
- 1992 films
- Hong Kong films
- 1990s action films
- 1990s martial arts films
- Cantonese-language films
- Films set in Hong Kong
- Films set in Malaysia
- Films set in Guangzhou
- Golden Harvest films
- Hong Kong action films
- Hong Kong martial arts films
- Police detective films
- Gun fu films
- Police Story (film series)
- Films directed by Stanley Tong
- 1990s police procedural films