Customer Reviews

Medallion [VHS]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I enjoyed this film. It was a classic jackie chan adventure full of comedy, action, and cute chicks. Although this wasn't his best by far it was still very entertaining. His comedic sidekick was great, only part i did not like was the end. I expected a better fight scene. Otherwise if you are a true jackie chan fan you will want to see this movie. Don't be warded off by bad reviews because if you love jackie chan, you already know a lot of his movies have bad story and acting, but it's jackie himself that electrifies the screen.

The movie is not that great which most people alredy knew. However, the extrme lack of efforts with this Blu-ray is shocking. Amazon has the wrong spec. about audio; the disc actually only has PCM stereo (2.0)!!!!! It's not even as good as the DVD which has multiple 5.1 language tracks. Buyers be aware.

'The Medallion' captures all of the qualities fans of Jakie Chan know and love, action, supspense, extreme humor, and a touch of mystisism, all the qualities I know and loved in the KID'S WB! 'Jakie Chan: Adventures' cartoon series. It has a great cast [Julian Sands as the dreaded Snakehead, Claire Forlani as the high kicking Interpol Agent Nicole, Lee Evens as the bumbling Agent Watson, and, of course, Jakie Chan as the Chinese Super-Man Eddie Yang] that help give the movie a great energy. The greatest thing about it was it wasn't afraid to make fun of itself! Great movie, I hope they make a sequel!

Jackie again does all his own stunts in this action comedy also starring Claire Forlani and Lee Evans.

I quite like this movie. Note that despite seeming like a Hollywood film it is actually a Hong Kong film shot in Hong Kong, Thailand and Ireland. I've been debating as to whether or not to give it 3 or 4 stars but I've chosen to go with 4 stars. The film itself has pretty average action and comedy, but the idea that this movie is really aiming to be something great appeals to me. The outtakes at the end of the film are also very funny.

The DVD has a very straight laced audio commentary- not that much fun but nonetheless informative. It also features a wide array of deleted scenes. I'm kinda glad the deleted scenes didn't make it into the film. Only one is worthwhile, and that involves Jackie Chan revealing that he is alive to Claire Forlani. It explores the history of the characters very well and it's a shame it was cut from the film. It also has Claire Forlani at her dramatic best (quite reminiscent of her role in "Meet Joe Black").

In summary, The Medallion is short and sweet. Check it out. You might like it.

I have always been a Jackie Chan fan and I own most of his movies but this one is probably one of his worst. In this movie he plays as a cop who dies and comes back to life because of the Medallions powers. He get lots of strength and can take bullets without being killed. This is one of his movies where he doesn't have lots of cool stunts and all the action. I like when he uses more of the items around him to defeat his enemies but he doesnt use any in this movie. I have only seen one movie where Jackie is killed and that is The Prisoner.

What you expect, Jackie is 50 years old this year but I think he could still do what he did in his older movies. All of his current time movies have something in them that gives him power and strength that a normal person wouldn't have. What happens in his older movies such as Rumble in the Bronx, and First Strike could happen at any time in real life which made them better. But in this movie you know that no one will be able to come back to life from a medallion.

I recommend some of his older movies such as Rumble in the Bronx, Legend of Drunken Master, Who Am I, and Gorgeous.

I saw this movie ten times. I just love it. It was a great movie just as I expected. A must see. The others who didnt like it, they dont have a life. they just give racist comments. They didnt see the movie. When i was wathcing the movie, everyone in the theatre were highly enjoying especially during the action scenes. me too. Jackie Chan has done it again. A must buy. A must see for die hard fans.

Jackie brings the fun and gorgeous Claire Forlani along for the ride on this film. Entertaining, funny and plenty of screen time for Forlani whom is possibly the most beautiful woman on film. She's drop dead gorgeous. And those eyes!
Plus she does a lot of her own stunts and is pretty good. Fun film for an evening in.

"Legend says every thousand years a child is chosen that can bind the two halves of the medallion together and restore life to the dead. Now you get that kid AND the medallion? You're a god." In THE MEDALLION Hong Kong detective Eddie Yang teams up with two Interpol agents (Claire Forlani, Lee Evans) to take down the British criminal mastermind Snakehead. Snakehead (Julian Sands) nurses definite world-conquering ambitions and he sets his eyes on obtaining a mystical medallion which bestows its owner with super-strength, immortality, and other extraordinary abilitiies. But the key lies in the mystical little Chinese boy who controls the medallion, and you'll just have to overlook the fact that even though this sacred kid inhabits a Buddhist temple deep in the sewers of Hong Kong, he speaks with an English accent. The boy falls under Eddie Yang's protection. Eddie's protection kinda sucks.

I like this movie mostly because Jackie Chan is in it, and because I love Claire Forlani and her marvelous eyes, and occasionally Lee Evans's oddball, fumbly comedy stylings ("Interpol, freeze!"). Jackie's physicality is as amazing as ever, and the best sequence here may well be his pursuit of a lanky, particularly agile henchman thru the streets of Dublin. When Jackie effortlessly scales that tall gated wall, whew... But THE MEDALLION demonstrates again that a Jackie Chan picture doesn't fare too well with CGI, and this is because Jackie by himself is a walking, breathing special effects. Jackie has performed his own death-defying stunts for so long that any outside embellishments just seems superfluous; it really feels like cheating. As far as his role in the film, I thought Eddie Yang was handling his business pretty well before he gained all these super powers... although, okay, he did end up drowning to death. The first half of the film is fantastic, action wise. Afterwards, the CG stuff takes over and it's a bit much. Jackie Chan by his natural self is a hard chap to kill. His having super powers, it just doesn't seem fair.

Claire Forlani and Jackie Chan achieve this sort of sweet relationship, although their romance is more lukewarm than anything. Chan has better chemistry with Lee Evans, even though Evans stabs him, experimentally, like a billion times in one scene. Some things to look forward to: Forlani (or maybe her double) shows off some martial arts skills and the wife of Lee Evans' character ends up surprising you. And, as ever, stay tuned for the blooper reel during the closing credits.

I mentioned that I occasionally enjoyed Lee Evans's humor, but a bit of him does go a long way. Mostly, the comedy in THE MEDALLION is pretty painful. Julian Sands as the villain fails to invoke that same sinister presence he brought to WARLOCK. I'm also not feeling his showdowns with Jackie. THE MEDALLION is worth a look because of Jackie being Jackie in the first half. Ironically, when Jackie sinks and drowns halfway thru and is then resurrected, it's really from that point that the movie itself really begins to capsize.

OK, let's face it. "The Medallion" which is basically a Hong Kong film (directed by Gordon Chan), is a disappointment to many fans in English-speaking countries. Yes, the plot about the big medal is silly at best. The jokes are corny (sure), and the CGI-enhanced actions are not clearly the best of Jackie Chan (who is 50 years old, but doesn't look like that). And as to his Hong Kong roots, Jackie made better films like "Who Am I?" "Project A" and several "Police Story"s.

But "The Medallion" is not as bad as other reviews suggest, as long as you are a die-hard Jackie Chan fan. You can sidestep the story (for which five names credited!) about the magical golden medallion, and the thug who wants it (Julian Sands), and the buddies who chase him (Chan and delightful Lee Evans). After a botched police raid in Hong Kong, we see Chan's character Eddie landed in Dublin (but why Dublin? DON'T THINK!). Eddie meets Nicole (Claire Forlani, so beautiful) in the office, and the latter slaps him in the face for no other reason than to show her 'I love you but you treat me bad' attitude. Don't say it's corny, just have fun (or pretend that you didn't see).

And the actions start. They are choreographed by legendary figure Sammo Hung Kam-Bo, who worked with Jackie many times before. The stunts are adequate, just good, but the use of wire is sometimes glaringly obvious while Jackie's movement itself is still agile. Still while watching it, I remembered his death-defying stunt in "Rumbles in Bronx" in which Jackie literally jumped from the top of the building to the terrace of the next one. It was a superhuman feat, and he said that he didn't use wire because it made the movements unnnatural. Sorry, but Jackie, the same thing is happening here now.

The supports are surprisingly good (I mean, compared with noisy Chris Tucker in the two "Rush Hour"s), and surely high-kicking Clair Forlani looks great. I don't say she is as great as Jennifer in the TV series "Alias," but still far better than another Jennifer in "The Tuxedo." And she is incredibly amiable and charming in the end credit outtakes.

Far from his best, and still not his worst, "The Medallion" is strictly for Jackie Chan's avid fans. Do not make this your starting point for watching the Jackie films, though.

The Medallion marks the return of Jackie Chan to his Hong Kong cinema roots and style..sort of..Veteran martial arts HK director Gordon Chan in his first international/English language film manages to add a lot of the action sequences that gave Hong Kong films the cult status enjoyed the world over: the brilliantly executed fights and stunts, with so much jumping and flying off walls (literarly) that will make Spiderman watch in envy.
And of course, Jackie Chan being Jackie Chan, he manages to add his unique comic style to almost every scene he is in.The universal appeal of Chan and his extraordinary abilities both as an actor and as a martial arts master, endears him to the viewers and makes his films highly enjoyable even if the script and direction are not great,(and indeed the script of Medallion is pretty lame, the usual good vs a psycho evil who wants to destroy/control the world, with added Chinese myths to the mould)
Helping Chan fight evil is the highly talented Brit stand up comedian Lee Evans, who is slowly making a name for himself in Hollywood after the success of There is Something About Mary, and Claire Forlani, who not only is one of the most beautiful women in the world, but she does a competent job as Chan's love interest and side kick.
Evil is portrayed by Julian Sands,who does an ok job. Although he is an excellent actor, his choice of some roles dod not help his career.(Remember he has Mercy and Boxing Helena to his name!!)
One refreshing aspect of the film was the choice of Dublin as the setting for the action,instead of London, Paris or Prague that international/American directors mainly choose for any European based plots.
So Medallion is not a film that will blow you away,but it has Jackie Chan doing very well what he does and knows best,it has the angelic Forlani, and action that will keep you entertained throughout its 84 minutes.Not Bad.