Project A (1983)

There are certain cinema ideas that were just meant to work, no matter what the circumstances might be. Jackie Chan fighting pirates easily ranks up there as one of the slickest ideas ever composed. Thank goodness it delivered on the premise. Jackie Chan's Project A is a mesh of action, comedy, and homage to classic slapstick. Within the 100+ minutes you'll see some spectacular fights, even more spectacular physical stunts, hilarious physical humor, and of course, Chan at his best. Unlike the insurance-run Hollywood, the Jackie Chan Stunt Team wasn't afraid of taking risks or getting hurt at the sake of entertainment, and this beat-em-up' underrated classic overpowers any modern-day action film that Hollywood could muster. Project A is silly but viciously raw; and thanks to clever direction and choreography, its one of the better martial arts movies out there.

Project A is about (Yes guys, there is a plot) a group of sailors, Navy-like men trying to stop Chinese pirates from wreaking havoc in the coastline. However, because of corruption amongst the government and the police force, they are unable to receive enough funding to continue the fight and are forced to thwart the terrorism when it strikes on their home turf. Jackie Chan and co. must try to stop the rivalry against the Chinese police force and unravel the web of corruption that's entangling everyone involved and heightening the danger present. Jackie Chan not only starred and directed the flick, but he wrote the script too, and it's quite clever at times. Other times, it can be quite confusing—usually in those instances you are anticipating the next fight, which is never too far away.

In a martial arts movie, we watch for all about the fighting. While Enter the Dragon may have started the obsession and love towards the genre, Jackie Chan and his reliable crew perfected the art in the 80s. Project A is easily one of the best choreographed films of all-time in terms of the action; some of the fights are just flat-out unbelievable. Jackie Chan fights with a bicycle for crying out loud. While the punching and kicking combinations aren't as gruesome as his other films (Drunken Master, Meals on Wheels, Dragons Forever), the elaborate movements and avoidance of damage (example: Chan avoids a man swinging a sword at him for two minutes straight) more than make up for it. Not a single action fan should be disappointed. Plus, just like Chan's best comedic work, there has to be at least one humorous fight thrown in, and Project A delivers in this category as well.

Chan's direction does two things: allows for the action to remain intense, and showcases just how elaborate everyone's movements are. There is no trickery; you shall see elongated shots of hand-to-hand combat that's too precise to be filmed in the United States. While Chan doesn't have the ability to capture emotions like Spielberg or Scorsese he knows how to flesh out the energy and craft of a good fight. And that's why we are watching this, correct? Nobody's acting here is award-worthy, but it gets the job done and maintains its silly-but-serious tone. Sammo Hung gives the best performance of the film as the thief that thwarts Chan's quest for justice and at the same time helps him.

Bottom Line: While perfection or masterpiece isn't achieved here, Project A delivers everything you could possibly want in a martial arts film: amazing stunts, great fights, decent story, good acting, worthy adversary, explosive finale, and a tang

Fmovies: Okay, let's judge this film overall, and not just by the fighting, which is obviously the best thing about this film.

The sets are very good, and you can tell that this was a big-budget film for the time. You get the feel of being in colonial turn-of-the-century Hong Kong. The costumes add to this feel too, not to mention the fact that a lot of the buildings used actually ARE Hong Kong landmarks from all those years ago. On top of this, there's the fact that the film ages less because it is a period piece. Police Story might as well be called, "Eighties Story." Acting - well, although I watched this movie in Chinese with English subtitles, and with English dubbing, I cannot find anything wrong with the acting. It's all done pretty well, with the obvious quirks that make Hong Kong movie acting what it is: strained facial expressions, a lot of pointing, and a lot of laughing that is laughable itself.

Sound - not very good, but when you consider that all the sound had to be re-dubbed, it makes sense, and allow for more leniency.

The plot is not wafer-thin, as has happened in earlier Chan movies, but this isn't Pi. To be honest, it's about as complicated as a Jackie Chan movie is ever going to get, and if the only reason for watching a kung-fu movie is plot, you're an idiot, anyway.

Right, then - action - and boy oh boy, this film is full of incredible action. I have over sixty Jackie Chan films in my collection, so I know what I'm talking about when analysing his films. Project A ranks among the best of his films, when looking at the action. There are so many fights staged, and so many pay-offs. You get to see Jackie, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biu fighting each other, and the bad guys in such a fast, furious, and creative way that this is an action movie you'll never forget. Dick Wei is muscular and mean as the head of the pirates, and is a formidable foe, who forces the three brothers to come together to dispose of him.

As usual, the stunts would not have been allowed in Britain or America, but hey, this is Kong Kong, so let's blow these guys up, and watch them flip and fly across the set for our own satisfaction.

Overall, this is a top notch film, with wonderfully edited fights, excellent creativity, and superb Chanesque humour along the way. It's a showpiece of the efforts of the three special ones of Hong Kong cinema in the eighties, and any fan of Hong Kong cinema should only miss this at their peril.

Many people state that this film is dated by todays standards! I disagree.... The stunts are incredible and the fight scenes are breath-taking!

Anyone who loves films for sets & scenery will have a field day here!

Just one thing....Get the Hong Kong Legends UK 2 DVD pack with AAALLLLLLL those gorgeous extras, interviews, documentaries and everything else! Well worth the extra 5 squid! (sorry US residents....it isn't available over there!)

Project A fmovies. Project A combines a complex, twisting plot, a nice historical period setting, typical Chan humour, and of course, many breathtaking fight and stunt sequences. One scene: a bicycle chase though narrow alleys, has to be seen to be believed. The level of invention throughout is awesome, and will never be matched by Hollywood's output. Is this the best Jackie Chan movie? It is definitely a contender, but so many of his films are high quality that it becomes difficult to judge. See it, then make up your own mind.

Pirate Patrol is clearly one of the best and funniest of this film-series with Jackie Chan. It's exciting & funny at the same time and manages to combine this two elements in a successfully way. I remember I saw most of this movies back in the late 80's, and thought they was amusing as hell. The sequel of this one is also good.

(8 out of 10)

Project A, I feel, is one of Jackie Chan's best movies. It's one of the funniest, most action-packed, most entertaining movies I've ever seen. I'd give it a 10/10. I must have seen this one at least 20-30 times. If you haven't seen it, please do. Chan and his co-stars, Samo Hung and Yuen Biao are really fun to watch, and the stunts are excellent (the bicycle chase scene, the scene in the clock tower,...). Here in India it's available on video and VCD in a severely cut version- scenes are eliminated for no reason at all. This version runs only 90 minutes or so. See the complete version. I've heard Project A Part II is even better, but I haven't been able to see a good print of it. Along with this, Operation Condor: Armour of God II, I feel, are his best.