Wannabe writer/critic currently selling PCs - and my soul - at PC World. Spent a lot of time crashi...
Wannabe writer/critic currently selling PCs - and my soul - at PC World. Spent a lot of time crashing intellectual parties in Prague. Now being nice on Ciao! UK.
Member since:13.12.2000
Reviews:116
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'Rush Hour' is just one of those films I really wanted to hate. What's this? An action comedy featuring mismatched cops, and those mismatched cops are played by Jackie Chan and motor mouth Chris Tucker? Give it a rest!
Anyone, like me, expecting a pale rip off of either '48hrs' or 'Lethal Weapon' will be pleasantly disappointed. Once the plot is dealt with - something to do with a kidnapped kid, I think - and you latch on to the 'Rush Hour' vibe, it's almost impossible NOT to enjoy yourself. What's pleasing about this movie is that it never pretends to be a serious film. It's not concerned with being nominated for Academy Awards, or being compared to 'Citizen Kane'...it's sole purpose is to entertain it's audience. It might be rubbish, but if a film's intentions are as wholesome as that, who needs 'Citizen Kane'?
As I've hinted at earlier, plot doesn't matter. Jackie Chan plays some Hong Kong cop sent to L.A to track down a politician's missing daughter. Chris Tucker plays an FBI agent, also on the same case. He's prone to blowing things up, so while the 'real' detectives cover the case, he's assigned to babysit Jackie Chan and keep him out of trouble. Of course, both their dedication to duty - however bumbling or misguided - means they're soon unofficially back on the case. There's the usual culture clash animosity between the pair, but soon they realise that despite their racial differences (political message in 'Rush Hour'? No!) they actually work well together...
The whole movie is just an excuse for Tucker and Chan to play off each other. They sing and dance along to songs, wind each other up, get into comedy fight sequences. The action is quite intense and well choreographed, but seems very 'Jackie-Lite' to anyone who has seen Chan's Hong Kong offerings. Chan stumbles with his English, and Tucker is remarkably bearable, considering how unbearable he usually is! Tom Wilkinson crops up as one of the nominal bad guys, but no matter how much he scowls, he can't be taken seriously after 'The Full Monty'.
The DVD features your usual scene selection and out-takes. The forty minute 'Behind the Scenes' documentary is especially worthy of a viewing. 'Rush Hour' might seem to trivial a movie to warrant a behind the scenes documentary, but you'd be surprised. One benefit of this is it brings Brett Ratner, the director to the fore. You might expect a director of a straightforward action comedy to be just there to point the camera. But what comes across is Ratner's enthusiasm for his project, and seems a genuinely likeable guy.
Highpoint is Chan working out the details of the Chan-Tucker punch up in the Chinese Restaraunt. Here he works out all the moves, what would look great, and the motivations behind the actions. It's a fascinating opportunity to see an action legend at work. Only drawback is it doesn't show the finished product directly afterwards, so you have to flick back through the disc.
So surprisingly, 'Rush Hour' makes a decent purchase on DVD. It might not make the most of the medium's crystal clear picture and sound, but it provides enough extras to make it a worthy addition to the collection. Let's face it. When you're bored with a few mates, you're hardly likely to crank 'Citizen Kane' or 'Battleship Potemkin' into the disc drive, are you? A funny, action packed slice of entertainment.
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Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
The plot line may sound familiar: two mismatched cops are assigned as reluctant partners ... more
to solve a crime. Culturally they are complete opposites, and they quickly realise they can't stand each other. One (Jackie Chan) believes in doing things by the b...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
International superstar Jackie Chan is teamed up with funny man Chris Tucker in this ... more
explosive, thrill-a-minute adventure, jam-packed with Chan's trademark daring martial arts stunts.Two cops, from very different worlds, must learn to trust each other ...
The plot line may sound familiar: two mismatched cops are assigned as reluctant partners ... more
to solve a crime. Culturally they are complete opposites, and they quickly realise they can't stand each other. One (Jackie Chan) believes in doing things by the b...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
International superstar Jackie Chan is teamed up with funny man Chris Tucker in this ... more
explosive thrill-a-minute adventure jam-packed with Chan's trademark daring martial arts stunts. Two cops from very different worlds must learn to trust each othe...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Great acting from Chris Tucker and excellent stunts from Jackie Chan Disadvantages: Not enough stunts, not the greatest plot, vague conclusion
Loughran 10.11.2008 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of RushHour 3 (DVD)
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![Rush Hour [DVD] [1998]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/76772569.jpg "Rush Hour [DVD] [1998]")
Sep 8th, 2001
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