Police Story 3

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Police Story 3: Supercop

Movie poster.
Directed by Stanley Tong
Produced by Jackie Chan
Leonard Ho
Written by Edward Tang
Ma Fibe
Yee Lee Wai
Starring Jackie Chan
Michelle Yeoh
Maggie Cheung
Music by Mac Chew
Jenny Chinn
Jonathan Lee
Joel McNeely
Cinematography Ardy Lam
Editing by Cheung Kar Fei
Peter Cheung
Distributed by Media Asia
Dimension Films
Release date(s) Hong Kong July 4, 1992
United States July 26, 1996
Running time 95 min.(Hong Kong)
91 min.(US)
Country Hong Kong
Language Cantonese/English
Preceded by Police Story 2
Followed by Police Story 4: First Strike
IMDb profile

Police Story 3: Supercop (警察故事３超級警察, Jing cha gu shi III: Chao ji jing cha, or Super Cop) is a 1992 Hong Kong action-comedy film starring Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung. It follows the story of a Hong Kong cop named "Kevin" Chan Ka Kui reprised by Jackie. It is the sequel to Police Story 2. It is notable as the last appearance of Maggie Cheung as Jackie's girlfriend May before she moved on to be a more serious actress.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Police Inspector Chan is asked to go to mainland China and make contact with a Chinese Interpol officer and work undercover with her to break up a drug-smuggling ring. The action moves from China to Kuala Lumpur, where Chan's girlfriend May is kidnapped.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Box office

Police Story 3 grossed HK $32,609,783 in its Hong Kong theatrical run. After the North American success of Rumble in the Bronx, Police Story 3 was released in North America on July 25, 1996 under the shorter title, Supercop. Opening at 1,406 theatres, it grossed US $5,503,176 ($3,914 per screen), on its way to a total gross of US $16,270,600.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Spinoff

Main article: Once a Cop

Michelle Yeoh went on to star in a 1993 spin-off called Once a Cop or Project S. Though it features a cameo appearance by Jackie Chan and Bill Tung reprises his role as Inspector Bill Tong, this film which cannot be considered a proper part of the Police Story series. Confusingly, some releases of this film were also entitled Supercop or Supercop 2. In most Asian territories it was called Project S, under which title the most comprehensive DVD was released by MIA.

[edit] DVD

The Japanese cut of Police Story 3 was 108 minutes. In 1998 Dimension released a 91 minute cut (though 6 minutes were credits) for Region 1 on DVD. The Region 1 release contained a dubbed audio version of the film only, and no Cantonese language track. In 2004 IVL released a superior version of this film contained within a Police Story trilogy DVD boxset (Region 0 NTSC -- playable in North America).

DVD cover for Hong Kong market

Police Story 3 DVD cover (for Japanese market)

DVD cover for American market

[edit] US Version

The Miramax version, which was distributed theatrically in North America in 1996, was retitled Supercop, and was dubbed into English with the participation of Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh.

The musical score was changed to hip hop sounds. Oddly, Tom Jones' rendition of 'Kung Fu Fightin' plays over the end credits, as does a Devo song.

In addition, there were about ten minutes of cuts, including:

  • Scenes of the police superiors getting a briefing about drug-related crimes.
  • The police superiors discussing a plan to send Jackie Chan's character on an undercover mission.
  • A scene where Yeoh tries to teach Chan about Mainland China.
  • A longer version of the meeting with Kenneth Tsang.

[edit] Critical reception

The Miramax version of the film was well-received by North American critics.

James Berardinelli of website ReelViews wrote:

"As is usual in a Chan film, the end credits (which show out-takes of failed stunts) are one of Supercop's highlights. There are more laughs in this hilarious three-minute sequence than in the whole of Kingpin. I can't think of a better reason to stay through the entire movie. Ultimately, the closing montage points out one of the chief differences between Chan's stylized, fast-paced films and those of his American counterparts: this is action with a smile, not a grimace."[1]

In the Washington Post, Richard Harrington said:

"Chan seems to have met his soul mate in Khan, Asia's top female action star. Like Chan, Khan does her own fighting and stunts. Unlike the Hollywood action contingent, Chan and Khan don't rely on cinematic trickery. Theirs are not special effects, just spectacular ones. Connoisseurs will find Chan's helicopter-train chase far riskier, more exciting and more believable than its mates in Mission Impossible and The Living Daylights."[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Police Story
Police Story | Police Story 2 | Police Story 3 | Police Story 4: First Strike | New Police Story
Spin-off | Project S


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