Some argue that Jackie Chan's finest hour as an action star came in the 1985 classic Police Story. Now the movie is getting a 4K restoration along with its sequel. Both will play as a double feature this winter as they return to select theaters in a stunning new presentation that is a must-see for all Jackie Chan fans.
Considered a martial arts masterpiece, Police Story and Police Story 2, both directed by and starring Jackie Chan, will open at the Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown Brooklyn on February 1. The double feature will then move on to the NuArt in Los Angeles starting March 8.
Matt Soller Zeitz, who writes for RogerEbert.com calls it, "One of the great 1980s action films... Chan exists to impress us, and impress he does. He literally suffers for his art, and our amusement." Vulture's Bilge Ebiri says of Jackie Chan, "His physical talents and onscreen charm are undeniable, downright supernatural." And Ben Kenigsberg says of the martial arts master and action icon, "Mr. Chan is peerless."
The Alamo Drafthouse has released a brand-new trailer for the double feature. They have also released a cool new poster that any action fan would be proud to hang in their personal home theater. It features a young Jackie Chan bruised, bleeding and double fisted, ready to take on whatever hell life has to offer. The official synopsis for Police Story reads as such.
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.
And here is the new synopsis for Police Story 2.
Jackie Chan followed up the massive success of Police Story with an even bigger box-office hit. Having been demoted to a lowly traffic cop for his, ahem, unorthodox policing methods, Chan's go-it-alone officer Ka-Kui quits the force in protest. But it isn't long before he's back in action, racing the clock to stop a band of serial bombers and win back his much-put-upon girlfriend May (the phenomenal Maggie Cheung, reprising her star-making role). Boasting epic explosions, an awesomely 1980s electro soundtrack, and a show-stopping finale-which turns an abandoned warehouse into a life-size pinball machine of cascading oil drums, collapsing scaffolds, and shooting fireworks-Police Story 2 confirmed Chan's status as a performer of unparalleled grace and daring.
Both movies will be presented in 2.35:1 and are in Cantonese with English subtitles. Restored in 4k by Fortune Star at L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory. Janus Films will premiere the films February 1 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown Brooklyn, to be followed by a national roll-out.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/307564284
