Project A (1983)

Project A (1983)

7/10

Starring

Jackie Chan

Sammo Hung

Yuen Biao

Directed by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung

This movie is more serious and action oriented than other Chan movies and it is a fun movie to see. The fight scenes were amazing and the movie as a whole was something to be cherished.

Something has to be said of the writing of this movie, it is just amazing. When you think things are going one way, you learn that you are mistaking they are going another. The action choreography earned Chan an award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. He also got nominated for Best Actor for this film.

Set in the 19th century this movie plot is more about sea pirates. Dragon Ma (Jackie Chan) is a member of the Hong Kong Marine Police. They have been trying to stop pirates, who have been raiding ships for months. After a series of events led to Ma being told to leave the Marine Police and join the police force, he then goes after a gangster after being told not to do so.

He then leaves the police force, stating that the corruption in the force was too much for him to bear.

He meets up with his old friend Fei (Sammo Hung) who tells Ma that someone in the police force is selling riffles to the bad guys. Ma and Fei stop the sale, but then Ma suspect something is up and made it hard for Fei to retrieve the guns they got from stopping the sale.

Things take many turns from then on, as we learn Ma is not as up-to-date with the what is going on in the police force as he thought. Also, the pirates are still at work and he most find away to get on the right side of things and stop them.

Project A mixes things up a beat, as Jackie was not a stumbling comic, but just happened to be in comedic moments with the fights and the other characters.

The movie boast of fantastic stunts, and it replicate one done by Harold Lloyd from a clock tower, in the 1923 film Safety Last!. Only this time Chan decided to fall. He took a week to build up the courage to do the stunt, which was somewhere around a 60 feet high drop.

He was to do this with no ropes, just him dropping from such a height, tearing through canopies before hitting the ground head-first. The stunt severely injured Jackie's neck and broke his nose. Despite the injury, Jackie finishes the scene without medical assistance.

The film was both a box office and critical success which led to a sequel being done in 1987, Project A Part II.