Crime Story (film)

Crime Story (Chinese: 重案組), also known as New Police Story or 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.

For other uses, see Crime Story.

Crime Story
Film poster
Traditional重案組
Simplified重案组
MandarinZhōng Àn Zǔ
CantoneseCung5 On3 Zo2
Directed by
Produced by
Written by
  • Teddy Chan
  • Cheung Chi-sing
Starring
Music by
Cinematography
Edited byPeter Cheung
Distributed by
Release date
  • 24 June 1993 (1993-06-24)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeHK$27.5 million

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 of the 1990 kidnapping of a 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 destruction at that time.

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 grossed HK$27.5 million at the Hong Kong box office.

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.[3] 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.[4]

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.[5] Derek Elley of Variety said that it is stylish and fresh, but Chan "still needs more time with his drama coach".[6] 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.[7]

Stephen Hunter of The Baltimore Sun included it in 10th place at his year-end list of the best films.[8] 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. "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. "Crime Story". DVD Talk. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "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.
  6. "Crime Story". Variety. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  7. "On DVD - Crime Story (1993)". Popmatters. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  8. 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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