Very Cool!!!

Lack of good storyline.

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

I saw this in the late 80s in New talkies theatre (present globus cinema). It is funny, fast paced, and full of action and amazing stunts. It is an exceptional period film featuring some of the best action sequences caught on film. It has the awesome bicycle chase/fight on the narrow alleys which ended with Jacky's death defying fall from the clock tower. The masterful display of choreography and martial arts is impressive and outstanding. The stunts are so many and very challenging to perform but they are executed in a most precise and stylish way. This movie started a new genre for Jackie n put an end to ol skool kung fu. Its co directed n acted by Jackie Chan n Sammo Kam-Bo Hung. This film is an explosive fusion Of unparalleled martial artistry, death defying stunts & physical comedy. Featuring some of the most amazing fight & stunt sequences ever shot on film.

This piece period that is set at the turn the century contains numerous nice physical routines . In late 19th Century Hong Kong the British may govern the land , but the pirates rule the waters. There Dragon Ma , a honest coast guard officer ,Jackie Chan , fighting against pirates in "old Hong Kong". Reluctantly, the Coast Guard is assigned the mission to fight these pirates . Dragon Ma is helped by a rogue thief , Sammo Hung , both of whom take on nasty pirates who have many contacts on corrupt officials in the government and seek to thwart the Coast Guard's efforts to vanquish them . At the end takes place a comic Kung-Fu battle between Jackie , Sammo and the pirates in the rousing final. Chinese costume drama with plenty of over-the-top action , thrills , swashbuckling , ingenious stunts , tongue in cheek and amusing music . This exciting movie is packed with adventure , intrigue , unstopped action , overwhelming stunt-work and lots of fights but with humor . Jackie Chan is top notch as one army man fighting a group of heinous pirates and as always he makes his own stunts like is well showed . Awesome , incredible stunts and brief comic touches , as usual ; the picture is better constructed than Chan's predecessors films . The lighting-paced storyline slows down at times , but frantic action sequences make up for it . Spotlights movie include a spectacular brawl at a bar , Jackie jumping down a building , impressive and interminable fights with Chan dangling and downing , a breathtaking final struggle and other extraordinary action sequences in overwhelming style . This is an acceptable action movie distinguished by nicely cinematography of the spectacular sequences , and contains agreeable sense of humor such as previous entries . Chan pays overt homage to two of his greatest influences as Charles Chaplin and Harold Lloyd . Jackie Chan usually forms couple to notorious actress as Maggie Chung and Michelle Yeoh . However in this outing Jackie teams up again to prestigious Chinese actor Sammo Hung , a fine action star in their own right and also had an American career as successful ¨Martial Law¨ TV series . Both of them starred together several films as ¨Heart of Dragon (1985)¨ which was directed by Sammo . Third protagonist , Yuen Biao, also played some movies with the famous pair as ¨Dragon Forever¨. This is a passable action movie distinguished by ferocious sequences , and packs silly sense of humor as well as Jackie's subsequent entries . Furthermore , moving and thrilling original musical score fitting to action . It's followed by a sequel , part 2 (1987) in which Dragon is back with a new set of action and played by Maggie Chung , Carina Lau and again produced and directed by Jackie Chan. The picture achieved success in China and around the world . However , Jackie Chan's failed at Box-office in his American debut ,¨Battle creek brawl¨ . Chan is a hard-working actor and director throughout his long and varied career . He went on playing ¨Cannoball¨ , ¨The protector¨ and "Rumble in the Bronx", until getting all American success with ¨Shangai Knights¨ , ¨The tuxedo¨ , ¨Around the world in 80 days¨ and ¨Rush hour¨ trilogy , and the recent ¨Karate kid¨. Of course , his biggest hits were ¨The Police story¨ series that won the Golden Horse Award, a Chinese version of the Oscar , the first was titled ¨Police story(1985)¨ directed by the same Chan , it was a perfect action film for enthusiastic of the genre ; the following was ¨Police story 2(1988)¨also pretty violent and with abundant humor touches. It's followed by ¨Supercop¨ or ¨Police story 3¨ and finally, ¨Police story IV : Crime story. The picture is lavishly produced by the great Asian producers Raymond Chow and Golden Harvest production and compellingly directed by Jackie Chan . Rating : Acceptable and passable , the picture has its sensational moments here and there , but also with abundant humor touches mostly provided by its agile star , the super Jackie . It's a perfect action film for enthusiast of the genre though only for Jackie fans .

I had seen maybe one or two films from the Rush Hour star which he made in his younger days, but about halfway through this one I was really pleased I found it as I recognised certain moments, from star and director Jackie Chan. Basically Dragon Mi Yong (Chan) is a marine coast guard police officer in the 19th Century, his department have a big hatred for the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, both are raiding pirate ships. Dragon and his squad are forced to undergo hard training to be ready to join some ships or something, of course what is really going on is some big deal between gangsters to buy loads of rifles and stuff. What ensues is practically Dragon bungling his way, following the clues to get to the bottom of what is going on, including teaming up with Fei (Sammo Hung Kam-Bo) and meeting the daughter of the Admiral (Lau Hark Sun), Winnie (Isabella Wong). The villain of the film seems to be Mr. Lee Chow Kou (Lee Hoi San), but it is in fact the villain in hiding Pirate Chief Lor Sam Pau / San-Po (Dick Wei) that Sragon needs to find, and in the end gets killed by his own hand grenade. Also starring Biao Yuen as Captain Hung Tin Tzu. Chan is fantastically skilled in the action sequences, filled with great Kung Fu moves and surprising stunts, all real and the most memorable being the fall from the clock tower which you see his face after doing, I may not have understood the story, but for the fights and comedy, this was a fun martial arts adventure. Jackie Chan was number 41 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars. Good!

While Jackie Chan's previous film Dragon Lord (1982) did not have as much local success as Chan wanted his next film Project A would be an artistic and commercial success. It is the maturation point for Jackie as a filmmaker and would start a string of successes that would help establish Chan as an action auteur. He directed, starred, co-written and even hired two "brothers" in Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao (they had grown up together in the same opera troupe and performed as the Seven Little Fortunes amongst others; Sammo was already an established success at this time and certainly is a prodigious presence in this movie) in the first film where they all had decent acting time -- kudos to those who can name the first film they acted in together.Dragon Ma (Jackie Chan) is a sergeant in the Hong Kong Water Police where pirates are problematic on the coastline (they would remain an issue even past WWII), his department is poorly financed, there are interdepartmental squabbles with the landlubber police and their haughty commander Captain Chi (Kwan Hoi-San) and his nephew Inspector Hong Tin Chi (Yuen Biao: Knockabout) and they just had their remaining ships blown up real good (nice model sets in that scene). Project A is the codename to combat these buccaneers. However, it looks bad for the Water Police when they get merged back into the main police force and there is a plot to steal rifles and be sold to the pirates headed by Lo San Po (Dick Wei: The Five Venoms) who ultimately does not seem that bad to me. Later the pirates make the ultimate mistake in kidnapping a ship with a Rear Admiral aboard and take them hostage. This leads to Dragon Ma eventually teaming up with wayward thief and gambler Fei (Sammo Hung) and Inspector Hong to combat these irascible swashbucklers.There are several stunts in this movie that are truly amazing. Much has been stated about the clock tower fall inspired by Harold Lloyd in Safety Last and with good reason. It is a superlative stunt and still one of my favorites as well as Jackie too. Jackie hangs by a clock hand about 50 feet above the surface and lets go to crash through two cloth awnings until the rude smacking into the ground proving that gravity is indeed a harsh mistress. It would be the first "superstunt" Jackie would do in a film and which would soon be a reoccurring theme in his movies to risk his life to please the audience. All three takes of this life-threatening drop are available to see on the film: two are shown in the movie and one is shown in the outtakes at the end. Every take looks quite painful. Leading up to this situation is another quick stunt that was quite dangerous. He climbs a flag pole to the top while handcuffed so he can unwrap himself from that mast and escape his predicament. But you look at how high he is from the concrete floor below and realize that if he messes this stunt it could be much worse than the fall through the awnings.The comedic fighting in this film is also quite adroit and amazing in its action direction led by Jackie and Sammo. The first scene between the water and land police is a crazy mêlée of kung fu, throwing objects and spaghetti. It is quite reminiscent of an updated western bar fight. The Keatonesque bicycle chase and action sequence is a brilliant combination of the two. While the scene certainly had been influenced by such films as Sherlock Jr., especially in the bicycle camera view towards the end, Jackie gives it such a unique touch that makes it such an aesthetically pleasing and entertaining spectacle. Add in several other fight scenes and a fantastic finale with the three brothers and the antagonist and you have quite a satisfying film.Project A was a hit in Hong Kong (19M HK dollars box office) and found critical support there as well. Jackie Chan would be nominated for Best Actor for Hong Kong Film Award; however, this film would win Best Action Design (Jackie Chan's Stuntman Association was even nominated against itself that year in Wheels on Meals) an award it truly deserved. It is also an important film for Hong Kong cinema. It helped push action movies into modern day locales and away from the Qing era and before dominated themes (though this film is considered a period film since it takes place in early 20th century).While the film may not know what to do with female characters like Wong Man-Ying and the plot is not the most sublimely cohesive -- there is a grenade scene early in the film which seemed a bit excessive, not that funny and did not seem to fit -- this film is consistently fun and beautifully directed (cinematographer Cheung Yiu-Jo does not get enough credit for the work he has done with Jackie Chan). Action aficionados certainly talk about this film though it is somewhat overshadowed by Police Story (one of my favorite films) when they discuss the oeuvre of Jackie Chan. With the humor, the dangerous stunts with complete disregard for human life and the awesome action scenes it is easy to recommend this. I certainly love this film and find multiple viewings rewarding. There does remain one question that I will resolve soon: which film is better: this or the sequel?