Rumble in the Bronx (1996) + Mr. Nice Guy (1998) – DVDs

RUMBLE IN THE BRONX
***/**** Image A Sound A-
starring Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Francoise Yip, Bill Tung
screenplay by Edward Tang and Fibe Ma
directed by Stanley Tong

MR. NICE GUY
**/**** Image A Sound B+
starring Jackie Chan, Richard Norton, Miki Lee, Karen McLymont
screenplay by Fibe Ma and Edward Tang
directed by Sammo Hung Kam-Bo

by Bill Chambers Prior to his breakout stateside hit Rush Hour, Chinese box-office sensation Jackie Chan's Hollywood forays were the terrifically unsuccessful films The Cannonball Run I & II and The Big Brawl (which planted Jackie in Prohibition-era Chicago!). When American studios–namely, "mini-majors" New Line and Miramax–elected to give him a second chance, not by casting him in their movies but by importing, dubbing, and retitling his more recent Hong Kong hits and putting the full force of their niche-adept marketing machines behind them, the results were much different: Rumble in the Bronx made a small mint for New Line, which almost immediately signed him up for Rush Hour (review forthcoming), last year's sleeper hit. (Sadly, Chan's masterpiece, Drunken Master II, has yet to be distributed in North America by a North American company. Perhaps it's too, well, drunken.)

Released abroad in 1995 and in the U.S. in 1996, Rumble in the Bronx establishes a formula to which 1997's Mr. Nice Guy adheres closely. The former is the story of Keung, a visitor to New York temporarily in charge of a convenience store during his uncle's honeymoon. Keung makes fast enemies of a local motorcycle gang when he puts a stop to their game of chicken. Later, he will beat up most of them for shoplifting. When Keung befriends a sibling to one of the gang members, the disabled Danny (Morgan Lam), a truce is called; they subsequently join forces to take down big-time diamond thief White Tiger (Kris Lord).

Rumble in the Bronx is a laugh-a-minute action-comedy. The dialogue is a stew of ADR, as to be expected, but sometimes the English-speaking actors are dubbed for good measure. The kid in the wheelchair is frequently tossed about like a ragdoll. A live tiger performs at a dance club–a Bronx dance club, remember. The motorcycle gang is at first vicious enough to throw liquor bottles at Jackie's face but seems to self-censor any bad language that might reasonably come out of their mouths. When a hovercraft's tubing is torn, they patch it together with duct tape. (It is an absolute mystery to me why the MPAA rated this R.) Vancouver, BC stands in for the title location, not always convincingly, though Chan is on the joke of his New York being peculiarly scenic.

I love this movie. Yes, the tissue connecting the action segments in Rumble in the Bronx is thin (Mr. Nice Guy is in even more danger of derailing the audience's attention span irretrievably), but oh, what splendid fight scenes they are. Part Bruce Lee, part Hanna-Barbera (a guy getting hit on the head with a beer bottle sounds more like Wilma walloping Fred Flintstone with a frying pan), Chan and director Stanley Tong choreograph these skirmishes for maximum visceral impact–and, like Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire, Chan gracefully utilizes his environment: fridges, pinball machines, ski poles and the like become weapons as much as his speedy hands in a jaw-dropping clubhouse brawl. Few movie stars have actually existed in scenes like Chan does–that is, with an awareness of the props surrounding him.

In Mr. Nice Guy, Jackie plays an affable TV chef who inadvertently saves the life of a reporter (Karen McLymont) wanted by drug lords over an incriminating videotape. Again a child ignorantly holds the evidence. Again, Jackie must do battle with a dozen henchmen before finally demolishing the estate of the Head Villain, here called Giancarlo and played by HK action-movie stalwart Richard Norton. Both films have curiously abrupt endings–any denouement is replaced by entertaining outtakes. (Watch Jackie get injured for real again, and again, and again.) That Jackie Chan and Keith Richards are still alive ought to prove the existence of miracles. Incidentally, take any criticisms of the pacing and construction of these films with a grain of salt, as New Line removed 21 minutes from Rumble in the Bronx and 18 from Mr. Nice Guy. On the one hand, the success of these imports bolsters their decision to do so, but on the other, we'll never know how the uncut versions might have played with the same advertising considerations.

Mr. Nice Guy was made for an international market in Australia, where it takes place, and represents Chan's first English-language production since those early failed bids for stardom in the United States. The film was directed by rotund Sammo Hung, who defies the laws of physics every week as he swiftly punishes the criminal element on CBS's "Martial Law". Hung is not as good a director as Tong (is that damning him to cruel praise, considering that Tong went on to direct the much-maligned Mr. Magoo?); Hung relies too much on step-printing (which creates a sort of choppy slow-motion) and, Jackie aside, his actors are as stiff as the two-by-fours with which Jackie beats them. Hung himself has a cameo in the film as an infuriated cyclist. Also look out for Emil Chau, who plays a–the same?–dim-witted ice cream man in Rumble in the Bronx as well as Mr. Nice Guy.

Mr. Nice Guy nevertheless showcases some damn fine kung-fu fighting. I especially loved the construction-site duel, which begins as a door-slamming riff on bedroom farce. The corniness of these movies is an acquired taste, of course, though I personally find Jackie kicking and flailing his arms at some unsuspecting punk in these cheapies to be ten times the entertainment the $100 million Armageddon is. The two films discussed herein may not be created equal, but they both make for sufficient Jackie Chan primers (warm-ups to Drunken Master II) or rainy-afternoon time-killers.

THE DVDs
DVD would have been the perfect opportunity to restore these films for completists, but alas: the New Line discs contain only the American truncations. While purists may balk, the U.S. versions are definitely the way to go if pristine picture and sound count for everything. (China's video releases are notorious for looking about as good as a New York street vendor's pirated tapes.) The Rumble and Nice Guy discs each include (16×9-enhanced) letterboxed and (barely-watchable) pan-and-scan versions (to fully capture the fluidity of Chan's body language, the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio is crucial). These are spectacular video transfers, rich in colour with excellent shadow detail. (Rumble may suffer from a bit of strobing here and there.) The DVDs also sport 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks, with Rumble in the Bronx boasting the stronger, bassier, more directional mix (it got the comparatively royal treatment as the launching pad for Chan's second act), though neither would blow anybody away in a showroom.

A Jackie Chan biography on Rumble in the Bronx outlines his star beginnings but doesn't go into great detail. A similar bio can be found on Mr. Nice Guy, and that one provides links to trailers for Rumble in the Bronx, First Strike, and Rush Hour, as well as an extended clip from Police Story. (Which looks glorious and is even 16×9-enhanced, despite the fact that New Line has yet to add this film to their DVD slate.) Mr. Nice Guy's contents can be accessed via a funky animated menu, an unexpected and welcome flourish. I suspect if Rumble in the Bronx hadn't been one of New Line's earliest DVD titles, it would've had extras besides its own trailer, too.

• Rumble in the Bronx
  87 minutes; R; 2.35:1 (16×9-enhanced), 1.33:1; English DD 5.1, French Dolby Surround; CC; English, French, Spanish subtitles; DVD-9; Region One; New Line
• Mr. Nice Guy
  83 minutes; PG-13; 2.35:1 (16×9-enhanced); English DD 5.1, English Dolby Surround; CC; English subtitles; DVD-9; Region One; New Line