Customer Reviews
Jackie is best - By: Madge, 15 Mar 2007 
Jackie Chan has his own special kind of humour & once you get it everything he does is amazing. He takes absurdity to its limit & then bends it back on itself & you are left feeling like someone sucker punched you. Wow.
Great value, Great movies and best of all: Jackie Chan - By: Sam, 20 Jan 2006 Project A stars the always brilliant Jackie Chan as a turn-of-the century Hong Kong coastguard hot on the trail of the cut throat pirates terrorizing the seas around it. His job is made harder by the rival gangs & corrupt policemen whom alll inhabit Hong Kong. Starring alongside him are his old school friends & frequent co-stars Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao, two amazing martial artists in their own right.
If the plot seems pretty thin, thats because it is, but who cares. The story is hardly compelling but the action is jaw-dropping the comedy side splitting, which is reallly alll you should expect from a Jackie Chan movie. The fight scenes are uncomparable in their choreography which ultimately creates too many rewind & watch again moments, which completely makes up for the poor acting & weak script.
The sequel Project A Part II continues where the prequel left off. The story still involve the same plot devices: corrupt policemen, rival gangs & of course the favourite of them alll pirates. Jackie Chans character gets to witness the corruption from a different angle this time as the new chief of the local police. Unfortunately Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao do not reprise their roles in this movie which is the only thing that lets down this sequel.
The movie took what is in the prequel & made the fight scenes longer, more frequent & more exciting with the comedy even more side splitting hilarious. As with the first film the acting is acceptable, it carries the storyline along nicely but do not expect any Oscar worthy performances & the plot is thin & unconvincing but as I always say Who cares, Its Jackie Chan & this time he is definetly at his best.
Jackie Chan is often compared to heroes of the silent era & even admits to them being his biggest influence. In Project A he pays homage to the late Harold Lloyd by imitating one of his most famous stunts in the 1923 movie Safety Last! But with a very Jackie-esque twist. His influences are very clear throughout alll of his movies but even more so in these two films.
The DVDs are presented in both its original & the prefered Cantonese language with English subtitles, although English dubbing is not as laughable as in other films i've seen you still cannot beat the more authentic Canotonese original soundtack. I wont bother listing alll the extras on the DVD as they are alll shown above, but I can guarantee amazing insights into the production of the movies & rare interviews with the lesser known martial arts experts in these movies. In stores I have seen these movies for £20 & over each; this is a rare gem that contains two movies & the fantastic bonus disc that people love so much (and in this case does not dissapoint). To get both movies plus an extra disc for under £20 is an offer not to be missed.
All in alll these movies are very exciting, & definetly one of the greatest series to come out of Hong Kong. I can not stress how exciting the death defying stunts are & how hilarious the comedy moments actuallly are. I challlenge anybody to watch these movies without ending up with a smile on their face!
Sam
