Although often thought of as a Jackie Chan film, this 1984 classic was the brainchild of director Sammo Hung.

Once again, Sammo decided to set the film in a modern setting – something he’d done previously on recent films like Carry on Pickpocket and Winners and Sinners. The success of this film was one of the many reasons for the decline in the traditional Kung Fu period piece. After so many years of Ming, Qing, Sung, Tang etc dynasty films, Sammo probably thought it was time to put a more modern spin on Hong Kong’s unique action style. Plus, the end of the road for the legendary Shaw Brothers studio was in sight, which probably also spurred him on to do something different.

Set in modern day (at the time) Barcelona, this plays more like a fairy-tale than an action film. You have the down-on-her-luck Princess (Lola Forna), a creepy old castle, an evil count, and a trio of would-be heroes (that would be Jackie, Sammo and Yuen Biao, obviously). Everyone, regardless of nationality, speaks perfect Cantonese and no one speaks Spanish. Ever.

The whole tone is upbeat and there’s an innocence to the characters that’s hard not to like. Even the somewhat seedy failed private eye Moby (Sammo) has a heart of gold (and a bad hairstyle).

The action scenes are superb, although they do keep you waiting for a while. However, unlike other films in the genre where there are periods where the comedy prevails over the fighting and stunts (the prime example being the Lucky Stars films), there is usually so much fun stuff happening in this film that you tend not to notice. I particularly enjoyed Richard Ng’s cameo, and his solution to Jackie and Yuen’s dilemma when they are faced with a flat tyre. Yuen Biao has a really painful-looking stunt in this one as well. It’s funny that Jackie is always thought of as the stuntman of the three, but Yuen Biao’s fall/jump from a first storey window on to his backside on the hard concrete below looks foolishly risky for such a cheap laugh. Still, it’s things like this that makes people like me such die-hard fans.

So, on to Jackie’s duel with Benny “the Jet” Urquidez. It’s fantastic. Honestly, I could watch this again and again every day for years and still not get bored by it.

It’s hard to fault this movie – mainly because it appears to have been so much fun to make. If I had to pick a fault though, I would have liked more of the castle scene. It really is an inspired setting and provides some great atmosphere.

And the older I get, the better Lola Forna looks.