Staff Picks: Police Story (1985)
A virtuous Hong Kong Police Officer must clear his good name when the drug lord he is after frames him for the murder of a dirty cop. (PG-13, 100 min.)
Showtimes
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
7:00 PM
Staff Picks Series
Every month a member of the Moxie staff picks a film that impacted their lives and we put it up on the big screen. The Staff Picks series is Free for Members.
March’s pick was made by Cooper Bald.
"Police Story is just a totally kick ass film. The fight choreography is inventive and unique, the
humor is always on point, and with Jackie Chan doing all of his own stunts, it’s no wonder
why he’s the superstar that he is today. Anytime I get the opportunity to show others this
film, I take it. Not everyone has seen this film, and with it being as fun as it is, I think more
people should!"
Click here to read the full Q & A.
The jaw-dropping set pieces fly fast and furious in Jackie Chan’s breathtakingly inventive martial-arts comedy, a smash hit that made him a worldwide icon of daredevil action spectacle. The director/star/one-man stunt machine plays Ka-Kui, a Hong Kong police inspector who goes rogue to bring down a drug kingpin and protect the case’s star witness (Chinese cinema legend Brigitte Lin) from retribution. Packed wall-to-wall with charmingly goofball slapstick and astoundingly acrobatic fight choreography—including an epic shopping-mall melee of flying fists and shattered glass—Police Story set a new standard for rock-’em-sock-’em mayhem that would influence a generation of filmmakers from Hong Kong to Hollywood. [Criterion]
Starring: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin
Director: Director(s): Chi-Hwa Chen and Jackie Chan
Language: yue
Genre(s): Action, Thriller, Comedy, Crime
"Police Story is one of the great 1980s action films. It’s also one of the most 1980s action films."
— Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
"The likeable and graceful Chan directs, sings and performs jaw-dropping stunts. Few of his American or Austrian rivals attempt a fraction of that."
— Time Out
"It's the joy of watching Chan, a Buster Keaton of kickboxing, hurling himself into every stunt with total commitment, astounding athleticism and oddly unflappable, shaggy-haired grace."
— Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
"The film that made Jackie Chan an international star, Police Story fully embodies the martial artist’s spirit of entertainment – equal parts endearing, goofy and packed with eye-popping kung fu action."
— Christopher Machell, CineVue
"A brazen mix of head-through-the-glass violence and pie-in-the-face slapstick, with a dash of Capra-esque working-class comedy for good measure, Police Story is remarkably seamless in tone and execution."
— Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
"Like many of the most compelling martial-arts movies, the Police Story films more closely resembles a dance picture than any kind of action blockbuster, with meticulously choreographed fight sequences standing in for fan-baiting musical numbers."
— Calum Marsh, Slant Magazine
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