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by gene dolders
Wheels on Meals – (1984)
Director: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
Plot: Thomas (Jackie Chan) and David (Biao Yuen) who operate a food truck in Barcelona, Spain, use their martial arts expertise to help their private investigator friend (Sammo Hung) protect the pickpocket Sylvia (Lola Forner), who’s been targeted by a ruthless gang.
Trivia: During filming, Keith Vitali accidentally kicked Jackie Chan in the throat after numerous takes for a particular fight scene. When Keith hit Jackie, he realized the danger of the situation and broke character by concern for Jackie’s health. By doing this, Keith was yelled at by the entire crew as he was supposed to wait for the director to yell “Cut!”,
no matter what had happened in the scene.
Police Story – (1985)
Director: Jackie Chan
Plot: Chan Ka Kui (Jackie Chan) must clear his good name when a drug lord (Yuen Chor) he is after frames him for the murder of a dirty cop.
Trivia: At the beginning of the movie two stunt men fall off the top of a double decker bus. They where meant to land on a padded car parked in front of the bus. The bus stopped too soon and they missed the padded car, falling to the ground instead.
Mr. Vampire – 1985
Director: Ricky Lau
Plot: The planned reburial of a town elder goes awry as the corpse resurrects into a hopping, bloodthirsty vampire, targeting everyone responsible for digging the grave. A Taoist Priest and his two disciples attempt to stop the terror.
Trivia: At different points in the movie wires were used, so, the production staff had to make sure the wires were not visible on screen. To achieve that, they would spray the wires with the same colour as the set’s background. If the wires were shown, the staff would have to take the film overseas to fix, which was not popular at that time. It was notable that the scene where actor Siu-Ho Chin performed a back-flip up the door involved no wires.
Armour of God – (1986)
Director: Jackie Chan / Eric Tsang
Plot: Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan) is sent on a quest through Europe to find a mysterious treasure held by a shadowy organisation of monks.
Trivia: The car driven by Jackie Chan is a Mitsubishi Colt Targa Concept, which is a two-door, two-seater version of the Colt with its roof chopped off and shorter windshield and side windows. It is a special one-off model made by Mitsubishi for this movie.
City on Fire – (1987)
Director: Ringo Lam
Plot: ko Chow (Chow Yun Fat) infiltrates a gang of thieves who plan to rob a jewellery store.
Trivia: The scene which Ko Chow is running on Nathan Road to escape from police was filmed by placing a camera in a van, Chow Yun-Fat had to follow the van whilst driving along the road.
Police Story – (1988)
Director: Jackie Chan
Plot: Regan Chan Ka Kui (Jackie Chan) is back again. His new mission; find out who is setting off bombs around Hong Kong in an attempt to blackmail a corporation.
Trivia: Maggie Cheung, who plays Jackie Chan’s girlfriend in the movie did some of her own stunts. In one sequence she runs through a line of metal frames. As usual for a HK action movie, one of the takes went wrong and she got hit on the head by one of the metal frames as it was falling.
Tiger On The Beat – (1988)
Director: Chia-Liang Liu
Plot: Francis Li (Chow Yun Fat) works to solve the murder of a drug trafficker.
Trivia: The list of names that Francis reads out as he fills up the glass with raw eggs is a play-on-words of the Cantonese word “lung” (dragon). Every single person he listed out contains “Lung” somewhere within their professional name: Bruce Lee (Lei Siu-Lung), Jackie Chan (Sing Lung), Alain Delon (Ah Lan Daai Lung), Sylvester Stallone (Si Taai Lung) and Ti Lung.
Armour of God 2: Operation Condor – (1991)
Director: Jackie Chan
Plot: Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan) is hired to help the UN find Nazi gold hidden in Sahara.
Trivia: Jackie Chan broke his sternum when he lost balance and fell off a platform.
Supercop: Police Story 3 – (1992)
Director: Stanley Tong
Plot: Chan Ka Kui (Jackie Chan) teams up with mainland Chinese police officer Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh) to stop a Chinese drug czar.
Trivia: Ken Tsang was doubled by director Stanley Tong for the helicopter stunt towards the finale. As a result, Tong broke his shin and can be seen sporting crutches and a cast during the outtakes and credits.
Hard Boiled – (1992)
Director: John Woo
Plot: inspector Yuen (Chow Yun Fat) works with undercover cop Alan (Tony Leung) to bring down a crime syndicate in Hong Kong.
Trivia: The teahouse where the first sequence was filmed was demolished five days after John Woo was done. During filming, the neighbours called the police every night to complain about the gunfire, but the cops were fans of Woo, so they allowed him to complete shooting every night.
The Killer – (1992)
Director: john Woo
Plot: Ah Jong (Chow Yun Fat), a contract killer accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore the vision of a singer (Sally Yeh) he accidentally blinded.
Trivia: Jeff and Li’s “Mexican standoff” in Jennie’s apartment was inspired by Sam Peckinpah ‘s The Wild Bunch (1969) .
The Untold Story aka Bun Man – (1993)
Director: Danny Lee / Herman Yau
Plot: Macau cops begin to suspect Wong Chi-Hang (Anthony Wong), a man running a pork buns restaurant of murder, after tracing the origin of a case full of chopped up human remains that washed ashore.
Trivia: This story is based on a true case that happened in Macau.
Taxi Hunter – (1993)
Director: Herman Yau
Plot: Kin’s (Anthony Wong) life is shattered when his pregnant wife is run over by a busy taxi driver. This and another incident with a sleazy cab driver causes Wong to go on a mission to kill bad taxi drivers.
Trivia: The film’s action sequences were helmed by action director James Ha.
The God of Cookery– (1996)
Directors: Stephen Chow / Lik-Chi Lee
Plot: The most renowned and feared chef in the world played by Stephen Chow loses his title of God of Cookery because of his pompous attitude. Humbled, he sets out to reclaim his title.
Trivia: The film’s premise is a riff on the Chinese Kitchen God legend. Chow’s character, who was a cooking competition host, is revealed to be the reincarnation of the Stove God’ assistant, who was exiled from Heaven for giving culinary secrets to humans.
In The Mood For Love – (2000)
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Plot: Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) and Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
Trivia: The film’s original Chinese title, meaning “the age of blossoms” or “the flowery years”-a Chinese metaphor for the fleeting time of youth, beauty and love-derives from a song of the same name by Zhou Xuan from a 1946 film. The English title derives from the song “I’m in the Mood for Love.” Director Wong had planned to name the film Secrets until listening to the song late in post-production.
Kung Fu Hustle – (2004)
Director: Stephen Chow
Plot: Sing (Stephen Chow), a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious “Axe Gang” while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
Trivia: At one point the landlord and his wife are seen through their window Cha-cha dancing. This is a nod to Bruce Lee who won the 1958 Hong Kong National Cha-cha championship.
Dumplings – (2004)
Director: Fruit Chan
Plot: Mei (Bai Ling) provides a special service for those who can afford it. Her dumplings are sought after by the rich to help keep them looking young and beautiful. The contents of the dumplings though are the easiest to get.
Trivia: A shorter version of this movie exists within an anthology film called ‘Three…Extremes’.
Breaking News – (2004)
Director: Johnnie To
Plot: After a disastrous failure to stop a gang during a shoot out, the police attempt to redeem themselves through a series of publicity stunts and even more shoot outs.
Trivia: The opening scene consists of a seven minute continuous shot during a massive shoot out in the streets of Hong Kong.
Election – 2005
Director: Johnnie To
Plot: Lok (Simon Yam), Kun (Ka-Tung Lam) and other Triad members compete against each other to become the next Dragon Head, leader of the Triad Societies.
Trivia: The porcelain spoon eating scene was based on Suet Lam ‘s real life experience in triads.
Exiled – (2006)
Director: Johnnie To
Plot: A group of friends played by Nick, Sam Luet, Anthony Wong Cheung, Francis ng and Richie Jen band together to survive against Boss Fey (Simon Yam) in Macau.
Trivia: The hotel the characters return to numerous times, and where also the final showdown takes place, was in fact a completely roof-less set built on top of the Milkyway Image (the film’s production company) building. Scenes taking place in the hotel were then filmed at night, resulting in an impressive ambient lighting.
picture by unsplash/yun xu
