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User:FrostFairBlade/sandbox/High Risk (1995 film)

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Plot

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Cast

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Production

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Conception

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  • Chan publicly criticized City Hunter and its director, Wong Jing[1]
  • In his 1998 autobiography, he stated that City Hunter "is okay, but not one of my favorites."[2]: 393 
  • In response, Wong wrote, directed and produced High Risk, which satirized Chan as a womanizing drunkard[3]: 39 [4]
  • Chan admitted in a later memoir that he "was quite a nasty jerk" during his rise to fame, spending his fortune on "drinking, gambling and girls" and confessing that he had repeatedly engaged in drunk driving[5]
  • Richard Meyers reports an alternate version, where Wong made the film after Chan dropped out of co-starring in one of his movies with Jet Li[6]: 150 

Writing

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  • The film satirized American action movies, namely Die Hard (1988)[4]: 121 [7]
  • The film's Chinese title (Chinese: 鼠膽龍威; Cantonese Yale: syu2 daam2 lung4 wai1) is meant to be a reference to the Chinese name of the 1988 film Die Hard (Chinese: 虎膽龍威; Cantonese Yale: fu2 daam2 lung4 wai1)[8]
  • According to Richard Meyers, Wong incorporated the rumour that director Stanley Tong performed Rumble in the Bronx's jump between buildings into the film[6]: 150 

Development and pre-production

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Casting

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Filming

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Post-production

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Music

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Design

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Release

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Context

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Box office

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Reception

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Critical response

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  • Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: "Director Wong Jing does an impressive job of keeping the film's many moods in harmony."[9]
    • Noted that such a satirical film would never be made in America, due to how much of a scandal it would cause
    • Described the film's climax as "restrained and tasteful"
  • Stephen Hunter, The Baltimore Sun: Described the film as "an amusing parody of Jackie Chan that both mocks the form of the Hong Kong kung-fu action picture while also delivering one"[10]
    • Noted that the director "shunts between incredible farce and incredible spectacle"
  • Sean Axmaker, The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide: "Wong Jing [...] is a shamelessly slapstick-oriented director, but he knows how to stage an action scene- gunplay, explosions, terrific martial arts battles, and a spectacular helicopter stunt highlight this comic action picture."[11]: 334 
  • Walter Addiego, The San Francisco Examiner: "In all, the film offers 98 minutes of fast-paced silliness for those willing to overlook some lapses in taste and more than a few subtitle gaffes."[12]
    • Noted that the humour was "sometimes juvenile", but highlighted a scene where Li fights with a movie lighting track
  • Sean P. Means, The Salt Lake Tribune: Described it as a "bombastic piece of Hong Kong action that borrows heavily from Hollywood explode-a-thons"[13]
    • Surmised that English-language audiences would find the poorly-proofread subtitles funny
    • Noted the film uses plot elements from American action movies, such as the bomb defusal from Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
    • Noted that "Cheung has a field day lampooning Chan's slapstick mugging and superstar narcissism", Wong's propensity for "[adding] lots of in-jokes for maximum comedic effect"
  • Philippa Hawker, The Age: The film is "a sometimes funny jibe at a well-known action star"[14]
    • Noted the film borrows heavily from Die Hard

Awards and accolades

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Post-release

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  • In an 1998 interview with IGN, Chan dismissed the film, saying that he was pleased that the film did not perform well at the box office and that Wong "always [wanted] to make quick money"[15]
  • Chan and Li would eventually co-star together in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)[16]

Home media

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  • It was released in the United States as Meltdown[8]

Other media

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Themes

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Lewis, Nicole (2022-06-12). "Every Jackie Chan Movie The Actor Doesn't Actually Like". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  2. ^ Chan, Jackie; Yang, Jeff (1998). I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 9780345429131. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  3. ^ Bordwell, David (2000). Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674002142. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  4. ^ a b Parish, James Robert (2002). Jet Li: A Biography. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 9781560253761. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  5. ^ Westcott, Ben (2018-12-04). "Jackie Chan releases new English memoir: 'I really was quite a nasty jerk'". CNN. Archived from the original on 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  6. ^ a b Meyers, Richard (2001). Great Martial Arts Movies: From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan and More. New York: Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806520261. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  7. ^ Stefan, Hammond; Wilkins, Mike (2020-06-11). More Sex, Better Zen, Faster Bullets: The Encyclopedia of Hong Kong Film. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-1-909394-65-0.
  8. ^ a b "Wong Jing: I Change Vulgarity into Art". China Internet Information Center. Archived from the original on 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  9. ^ LaSalle, Mick (1995-12-15). "Hong Kong Icon Gets Chopped Up / `High Risk' spoofs Jackie Chan". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  10. ^ Hunter, Stephen (1996-03-17). "A kick in the pants at the Charles Movie review: "High Risk," a sendup of kung fu star Jackie Chan, flies over the top to open the theater's Hong Kong series". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  11. ^ Axmaker, Sean (2004). "Foreign Films". The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide. Sasquatch Books. ISBN 9781570614156. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
  12. ^ Addiego, Walter (1995-12-15). ""High Risk" hi-jinks kicks martial arts to low comedy: Hong Kong star shames Hollywood with action feature". San Francisco Examiner. pp. B3. Retrieved 2022-08-14 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ Means, Sean P. (1996-10-04). "Jet Li is an Original, but "High Risk" Steals from the Best". The Salt Lake Tribune. pp. E5. Retrieved 2022-08-14 – via ProQuest.
  14. ^ Hawker, Philippa (2004-09-08). "Director's huff dies hard". The Age. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-08-14 – via ProQuest.
  15. ^ D., Spence (2002-10-20) [Originally interviewed in 1998]. "Jackie Chan Flashback". IGN. Archived from the original on 2022-08-14. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  16. ^ Carroll, Larry (2008-04-17). "'Forbidden Kingdom' Brings Jackie Chan, Jet Li Together For An Epic Battle -- But Don't Try This At Home". MTV. Archived from the original on 2022-08-14. Retrieved 2022-08-14.