RUMBLE IN THE BRONX (1995)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Technovision)
Sound format: Dolby Digital

It's easy to see why Stanley Tong Gwai-lai's RUMBLE IN THE BRONX was chosen to spearhead Jackie Chan's defiant invasion of US theaters in the late 1990s. The most Americanized of Chan's output to date, "Rumble" relocates his unique brand of action-comedy to the mean streets of New York where he's forced to defend his uncle's (Bill Tung Bui) supermarket from two separate threats: Local bikers running a protection racket, and a bunch of professional diamond thieves whose latest haul somehow ends up in Chan's possession.

It's a surprisingly complicated affair, punctuated with beautifully choreographed explosions of action and conflict, timed to perfection and filmed with breathtaking cinematic excess, though tempered occasionally by levels of violence which may seem inappropriate to western viewers, given the otherwise upbeat tone. There are too many memorable set-pieces to mention, but the climactic hovercraft chase through the streets of New York (filmed in Canada!) is worth the price of admission alone, and seems to have been designed specifically to top the equally jaw-dropping climax of the previous Chan/Tong collaboration POLICE STORY III - SUPERCOP (1992) - anyone raised on Hollywood's comparatively feeble 'action highlights' may very well choke on their popcorn before THIS picture is over! The characters are negligible and the sudden introduction of the diamond thieves somewhere around the halfway mark is, perhaps, a little too abrupt, prompting the bikers to ditch their thuggish ways and join forces with Chan to repel their mutual enemy (yeah, right!), but you'll be too busy gaping at the incredible stuntwork to care. Forget the re-edited US version - for all its eccentricities, the multi-lingual HK print is the one to go for.