Customer Reviews

Police Story 2 (Special Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Police Story 2 was made to be the sequel to Police Story 1. Jackie directs this (and PS 1) and keeps the same type of serious tone but adds in more humor. The story is not as tight or gripping as the first but most Jackie fans will enjoy this.

Unlike PS 1, this is sort of a mindless movie. It starts out with the bad guy who Jackie sends to jail at the end of PS 1 (famous Shaw Brothers director Yuen Chor) out for revenge now that he is out of jail. He hires a guy to constantly harass Jackie and get into fights with him. It gets more complex than that and there is a real plot but the movie drags along too much before the fantastic ending sequence finally comes.

It was cool to see old school star John Cheung ('Snake in the Monkey's Shadow' and 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story') in a major role as one of the bad guys. Ben Lam ('Legend of the Wolf') also has a major part. Even one of Jackie's very best stuntmen Benny Lai is given a big role as the deaf mute. Benny Lai is a little guy but his kicking abilities are spectacular. I think the movie could have been a lot better but Maggie Cheung is even more enjoyable than she was in part 1 and it is a very fun film. Michael Chow and Lau Ching Wan also have cameos as cops. Both being fairly new to the movie scene at this time. And of course it is always great to see Bill Tung playing Uncle Bill and Mars as one of Jackie's cop buddies. You have to love Uncle Bill.

Akin to Jackie Chan's other movies, expect the best of the best stuntwork from Jackie and his team. Very inventive as always. I can't even imagine how much it would hurt trying to lay down every night during the shooting of this. In PS 1, Jackie came up with his own type of action choreography. He went away from long matches where each opponent throws hundreds of punches and kicks with 1 person barely coming out alive at the end. Jackie tried to give the fights more realism since it is a modern day film. Combine the amazing stuntwork with the real type of fighting and it is just a pure joy to watch. I actually like Jackie's old school kung fu movies better, but the new style of action that he developed has been featured in his movies ever since PS 1 and he hasn't done too bad for himself. There is nothing like watching Jackie in action, and his skills are on full display in this classic.

Dragon Dynasty releases this in widescreen with almost perfect picture quality. It has 5.1 sound in Cantonese and English. It also has the original mono track which I prefer. They still can't figure out how to fit the subtitles into the black bar on the bottom of the screen, but this is minor and really the only fault of the DVD. The Japanese 122 minute cut is used which I have heard is inferior to the shorter Hong Kong cut. I always choose the uncut version no matter what but I suppose this could have been trimmed down a bit.

If you liked the special features for PS 1 then you will love this special edition. There is another full length audio commentary from Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan and 'Rush Hour' director Brett Ratner. I don't like rating commentaries but this was not quite as enjoyable as PS 1. There are a few good topics brought up.

Special features include a 34 minute tribute to Jackie Chan and his team's stuntwork on the movie. This is even better than the similar tribute on PS 1 and of course this is the best special feature. It has interviews with 6 stuntmen (and woman) including Mars and Benny Lai discussing their experiences on the set and the extreme amount of work that went into the making of this.

There is an alternate version of the closing credits which shows Maggie Cheung getting a HUGE gash on her head.

'Police Story 2 Location Guide' gives a look at all of the locations where the movie was shot with Bey Logan explaining the scenes and giving info on actors. 12 minutes long

'Celebrating the Sequel' is an 8 minute interview with Ratner and Logan. I didn't get this. What was the commentary for? Did they just need 8 more minutes to talk? So basically, there is 2 hours and 10 minutes of commentary. That is the only way I can try to explain this special feature.

As night follows day, box office smash hits will get their bigger-budgeted sequels. But while POLICE STORY 2 is bigger, it isn't necessarily better. It's actually a terrific film. I'm just saying it's not as good as the first. But it's definitely worth a look, especially if you haven't seen the 122 minute long version. If you've only seen the much edited international release, then you haven't seen the real thing. Either way, Jackie Chan is still singing that theme song.

For his reckless actions in the first POLICE STORY (demolishing a squatter village, wrecking a mall, holding the police superintendent hostage, etc.) Detective Chan Ka Kui (Jackie) of the Royal Hong Kong Police is demoted to traffic duty. But when the mob boss he had arrested (again from the first POLICE STORY) is released from prison - because apparently he only has three months left to live - Ka Kui and his girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung, getting more screen time) become targets of the mob boss's vengeance. But that's only one set of thugs. Ka Kui also ends up tangling with vicious bomb extortionists and taking on that tiny little formidable deaf-mute martial artist whose only mangled uttered words sound like "Abba, abba." Detective Chan Ka Kui persists in being a loose cannon, and I'm astonished that in the next sequel he isn't demoted to the permanent assignment of getting cats out of trees.

Jackie's trademark slapstick is toned down as his character maintains that incredible intensity for the most part. There are those running gags with the guy whose glasses kept getting cracked and also with Uncle Bill's toilet issues. Even more than the first movie - which to me sort of echoed the Dirty Harry flicks in tone - POLICE STORY 2 is immersed in the police procedural, to the extent that the middle third of the film tends to drag a bit. This is when Ka Kui joins the maverick Special Tactical Unit which specializes in undercover work. In the surveillance sequences, Jackie is relegated to a supervisory position. At times, he's not even in the heat of the action.

Seems to me that Jackie Chan has a misstep only when he wanders across the pond into Hollywood. Part of it is culture, part of it is that in Hollywood Jackie doesn't have as much say in the film-making process, and that's cost him. In the confines of Hong Kong, Jackie Chan is the absolute master of his domain, and he knows his public. In Hong Kong he gives the people what they want. Not as good as the first, POLICE STORY 2 still contains moments which blow the roof off.

Jackie Chan tried to top himself in this one. The first POLICE STORY was noted for the sheer amount of glass shattered. One of this sequel's calling cards is the number of explosions. For the final bang at the abandoned factory, Jackie, wanting it to be as memorable as he can get it, hired the best Hollywood pyrotechnics crew to stage the effects. At the time, for a Hong Kong flick, the result was impressive. The fight scenes are predictably awesome, and Jackie and the goons he takes on look convincing trading punches, and the full contact stuff looks like it hurts. If you go by the DVD's bonus segment featuring the stunt crew, it really did hurt. Maggie Cheung was injured in the head while running thru a series of falling steel frames, and if you notice, from then on, after that stunt, a body double plays May and you never do get another close-up shot of her. The best action sequence is the skirmish at the park playground, although the one in the restaurant isn't at all shabby. I also dig the sexy cop girl unit and the not exactly genteel method the girls apply in questioning the suspect.

The Dragon Dynasty's DVD release has the following special features: audio commentary by RUSH HOUR director Brett Ratner and Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan, a Brit who knows more Hong Kong action cinema trivia than perhaps any sane man should; "Celebrating the Sequel": a conversation with Brett Ratner and Bey Logan (00:08:25 minutes); rare alternative outtakes (00:03:15); POLICE STORY 2 Location Guide - Bey Logan walks us thru a tour of location scenes from the film (00:12:18); "Stunts Unlimited": members of Jackie Chan's famous stunt team talk about performing the crazy stunts for the film, and they manage to convey a sense of just how hard and dangerous their job is (00:33:32, with English sub-titles); and the Hong Kong theatrical trailer and the US promotional trailer.

Like most sequels, there is some lack of originality. Jackie is fighting mostly the same gang of criminals although they are a bit more comical than in the first movie. There are some very funny scenes with his super and his girlfriend, although if you don't appreciate bathroom humor you may not think it's all that funny. Of course, there are great fight scenes and stunts as we have come to expect from any Jackie Chan movie. As with the Dragon Dynasty release of the first movie, the second has an English sound track with generic American accents, which does seem a little weird. Fortunately, the dvd also has the original Chinese sound track with English subtitles.

Sequels in the 1980s and early 90s tended to be retellings of the original story. Sure, time had passed between the events of the first and second films and screenwriters would make a reasonable attempt to make obligatory mention of what happened the first time around, but largely sequels were designed to give us more of the same. The 80s/90s, if I have my chronology correct, were before the Lord of the Ringses and Pirates of the Carribeanses, movies that tried to string a single narrative through multiple films. The definition of a sequel and remake were dangerously close during this era of movie history. Ghostbusters 2 made the gang once again face an influx of supernatural activity in New York, leading to yet another climax where a giant creature walks the streets of the city; Predator 2 transplants the same plot into an urban location; Die Hard 2: Die Harder, apparently afraid the audience will not realize the similarities between the first and second movie, takes immense pleasure in having characters point out how much the movie's events have in common with the original film, as if to say, "Hey, remember that movie you really liked, Die Hard. Well, this is a lot like that."

Apparently Jackie Chan doesn't like to hit the reset button because Police Story 2 not only deals with the fallout from the first film, but makes these consequences an important, if not always central, part of the movie. In fact, the opening title is translated as Police Story, Part 2. I think the "part" subtitle tends to class up the place. It's a way for the filmmaker to tell you that he's not in it for the money. He just wants to finish the grand narrative he began with the first one. As if to remind the viewer of the eyeball searing awesomeness of the original, Police Story 2 begins with a montage of the greatest hits from the first film set to the rousing "Police Story Theme." We then pick up the story in what appears to be mere days after the events of the first film with Ka Kui Chan facing repercussions for going rogue. While Chan's superiors, Superintendent Li and "Uncle" Bill, chastise him for his violent, impulsive means, they still respect him as a police officer and the ends his unconventional actions result in. Both have convinced the higher ups that Chan should not be ejected from the force. Instead they demote Chan to traffic duty.

While directing traffic, Chan is confronted by the villains from the first film, Chu Tao and his lawyer John Ko. Because he has contracted a terminal illness that gives him less than three months to live, Tao was granted a compassionate release by the Hong Kong prison system. Ko proceeds to harassed Chan and his girlfriend May by rolling up to their apartment and issuing barely veiled threats. Later, he makes good on these threats when he unleashes a handful of henchmen conveniently proficient in Kung Fu on Chan and May in an empty park at night. In addition to worrying about enemies out of the past, Chan must also contend with blackmailers who are threatening to blow up buildings owned by some corporate conglomerate unless they cough up ten million dollars.

Police Story 2 improves on the original in at least one area: the character of May. In the first movie May served as the irrationally jealous girlfriend and occasional point of comic relief. Unfortunately, this meant the outrageous action was often sideswiped by dubious humor and stereotypes that were more than a little offensive. In the sequel, May is allowed to be a fuller character whose grievances are legitimate and feelings for Chan are reciprocated. May is introduced to the story when she thoughtfully brings Chan water while he is on duty directing traffic in the scorching heat. At times May becomes subject to a disproportionate amount of abuse, whether she has been capture by the film's villains or whether Chan's forgetfulness causes her to spend over ten hours in a jail cell (long story), but unlike in the first film, at least her affection for Chan is mutual, which provides the inevitable damsel in distress routine with actual dramatic weight.

As is the case for most Jackie Chan pictures, Police Story 2 boasts some mesmerizing action sequences, including Chan dodging billboards while surfing the roof of a bus and a phenomenal fight in a school playground. This is the second Jackie Chan film I've seen that makes use of a playground to stage action, and it's a fitting metaphor for the kind of mental and physical play required to choreograph Chan's brutal ballet. Just as children transform parts of a playground into whatever their imagination requires of it--a swing might be used belly down to simulate the flying feats of a superhero or a slide might be climbed in reverse to mimic ascending the Himalayas--Jackie Chan transforms everyday urban ephemera into elements of a coliseum arena. Just as much as his swift choreography, Jackie Chan's knack for incorporating every day objects into his set pieces have contributed to the success of his films.

While the action doesn't quite reach the delirious heights of the first film (very few films do), Police Story 2 improves on all of those areas in-between. The humor routinely hits the mark (even if there are a few wide swings), especially a bit where Chan gives a rousing speech where he wishes the villains would take his life instead of those of innocent civilians, which his bosses both immediately steal verbatim when facing the higher ups. As Chan and his investigators attempt to uncover who's behind the bombings, the movie relies more heavily on the genre of police procedural rather than the original's use of Dirty Harry's rogue cop archetype. Police Story 2 may lack some of the discipline of the first film--the dueling plots (semi-spoiler alert) never fully entwine at the end--but it nevertheless offers up vintage Jackie Chan at the height of his popularity as a Hong Kong action star.

This has to be one of Jackie's best movies to date. The plot is very good and the story carries on from where the first Police Story ended. Again the fight scenes are incredible, especialy the one in the play ground. The stunts are top notch. I recommend this to any one who enjoys Jackie's films.

If you liked Police Story 1 you'll like this one, too. I think the whole Police Story series gets better with each sequel. This one is more consistent than its predecestor--the comedy and drama blend much better. I don't think it is as humorous as 1, but the stunts and fighting are just as excellent. I thought the battle in and around the children's playground was as exciting as anything Chan has ever staged--but that was child's play compared to the final fight in the explosives warehouse! Buy this if you love Jackie Chan!

Jackie Chan does it again with another successful film Police Story 2. Jackie Chan fights a group of bombers attempting to extort $10 million from building owners. And if they don't get there money then they can say bye to there building and people. Later on in the movie Jackie Chan meets up with the same gang that were in the first film Police Story sent by there leader who Jackie put behind bars Mr. Chu, who is let out of prison. With incredible fight scenes, and stunts that will amaze you, makes this movie good.

In Police Story 2(1988), Officer Chan Ka Kui(Jackie Chan) is forced to work as a traffic officer after taking the law into his own hands. Tom Ku's employees from the first film are bothering him. The real bad guys in Police Story 2 are a bunch of money hungry terrorists who are setting bombs off in shopping malls! Jackie Chan was given a larger budget and he uses Hollywood style pyrotechnics to blow up shopping malls and buildings! Maggie Cheung is back as Chan's suffering girlfriend May. The Hong Kong version of the film is longer and it has a couple of vulgar gags! There's a lot of bone-crunching action in this movie. Bad guys fly out of windows and the camera follows them as they smash into the ground! Chan leaps onto a bus, flips over a sign, and flies through a window! Police Story 2 has its share of 1980's paraphernalia. Men and women wear neon colored clothes and puffy hair. The scene where guys on a playground try to beat up Chan was neat! Chan leaps onto the hood of a jeep in the nick of time before it crushes him into the wall! Chan once tried to reject the use of computer generated imagery in filmmaking, but after The Tuxedo(2002) and The Medallion(2003), he's jumped on the bandwagon. I love Police Story 2 and it's better than some of Chan recent movies.

I loved the first police story, but was a little let down with the second. Though the action was amped up, the story was toned down (presumably to allow for more action). Also, it was a little too similar to the first in terms of tone and presentation. There girlfriend who always does silly things, still did silly things, and is still constantly complaining about jackie. Jackie himself still played a nice guy, who has to save the day doing amazing stunts. The film even ends with the same song playing over outakes as was in the first. Overally, it was a entertaining flick, just not that unique. If you liked the first police story, you'll probably be happy. If not, there's nothing to change your mind this time around.

Jackie Chan is one of the best martial artist and stuntmaster. In this movie, i think he put everything he has to show how good he is and how well the stunts and the fight scenes are. Talking about fight scenes, they blow me away. They are execute with precision and power. I really like this movie and it's one of the best martial arts movie.