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
Yuen Wah
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) Flag of Hong Kong July 4, 1992
Flag of 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 Once a Cop
Police Story 4: First Strike
All Movie Guide profile
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 and Michelle Yeoh. Jackie reprises his "Kevin" Chan Ka-Kui character, a Hong Kong cop from Police Story and Police Story 2. It is the first in the series not directed by Jackie, with Stanley Tong taking over the helm. It is also the last appearance in the series of Maggie Cheung as Jackie's girlfriend, May.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Police Inspector Chan Ka-Kui, the best officer on the Hong Kong Police Force, is assigned by his supervisor, "Uncle" Bill, to take part in an Interpol operation in mainland China. It's a dangerous assignment, and in order to keep his girlfriend May from worrying (and to protect the undercover nature of the mission), he tells her he is going for police training.

In China, Ka-Kui is introduced to the military police force's Interpol director, Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh), a high-ranking officer. Ka-Kui initially tries to sweet-talk and charm the female officer, but the no-nonsense Yang stays focused on the mission and tests Ka-Kui by having him memorize his cover identity and the character's back story. She then introduces Ka-Kui to her hundreds of police officers and cadets who are training in martial arts in a large gymnasium. Exaggerating Ka-Kui's skills and calling him Hong Kong's "super cop", she then compels Ka-Kui to spar with her best martial artist. Ka-Kui holds his own in the match until he is put into a cartwheel training rig that goes out of control and ends up in a tree.

The target of the mission is a drug lord named Chaibat. In order to infiltrate Chaibat's organization, the plan is to get close to Chaibat's henchman, Panther, who is being held in a Chinese prison labor camp. Ka-Kui, posing as a local petty criminal, is able to help Panther escape (with the aid of Chinese military police, who eliminate Panther's men in the prison). Panther then meets some of his other men, and Ka-Kui takes them to his "home", a village where most everyone is working for the military police and are able to help Ka-Kui in his cover story. Jessica Yang poses as Ka-Kui's "sister", and even "Uncle" Bill from Hong Kong is there, posing as Ka-Kui's "mother".

After a tangle with some provincial police, who have not been briefed on the military police mission, the able, high-kicking Yang joins Ka-Kui and Panther in their escape to Hong Kong. The military police are able to assist in this part of the mission, making it seem like Yang had killed a policeman. More police interference comes in the Pearl River Delta, where Panther's junk is intercepted by the Hong Kong coastal patrol. Panther then moves to a speedboat hidden inside the junk, and outruns the police forces and their machine guns, while also running over some of the police inflatable crafts.

In Hong Kong, Ka-Kui, Yang and Panther go to Chaibat's luxurious hide out. They find that Chaibat is a brutal man, and while they are there a disloyal henchman is drowned in the pool and a young woman is killed by heroin overdose and her body is to be used to smuggle the drug.

Jessica Yang and Ka-Kui in the gun battle at the jungle drug lab.
Jessica Yang and Ka-Kui in the gun battle at the jungle drug lab.

But Ka-Kui and Yang are able to win Chaibat's trust, and with Panther they are taken to Thailand, somewhere in the Golden Triangle, where a drug-smuggling Thai general has a fortified production lab. Chaibat, the General and other international drug lords are meeting to discuss their cut of the heroin production. Chaibat, trying to consolidate control, smashes a rival drug lord's face into a spikey durian fruit, setting off an attack on the General's compound by Panther and Chaibat's other men. The battle involves rocket-propelled grenades and high-powered machine guns. At the center of the attack is Jessica Yang, wearing what she was told was bulletproof vest but in fact appears to be packed with explosives. With Ka-Kui, she must use all her martial arts and acrobatic skills to escape while staying out of the path of bullets. When the attack ends, Ka-Kui is angry with Chaibat and yells at him for putting his "sister" at risk. Chaibat then points his pistol at Yang and fires, but the vest does not blow up - it really was a bulletproof vest. The explosive panel was only for a diversion and a signal to start the attack.

The action then shifts to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Chaibat's wife is being held in prison, and is facing the death penalty. However, Chaibat needs to keep her alive because she has the secret codes to his Swiss bank account, and she will not give them to anyone but her husband.

At a resort hotel, more difficulties arise for Ka-Kui's undercover mission because his girlfriend May is there, leading a tour group from Hong Kong. She confronts Ka-Kui and the situation turns into a misunderstanding with Panther believing that Ka-Kui was trying to proposition a prostitute. Later, Ka-Kui is able to corner May and explain the situation, and she calms down. But then, in the elevator, May is telling a co-worker about Ka-Kui and one of Panther's men overhears her. May is taken hostage, and Ka-Kui and Yang – their cover now blown – are forced to assist Chaibat in an elaborate scheme to help his wife escape from a prison transport van. Ka-Kui poses as the driver of a truck with failed brakes, blocking the prison van's route. Ka-Kui further makes the prison van guards believe that the truck is carrying poison gas and they must evacuate. Yang poses as a Malaysian Muslim woman, who blocks the reversing motorcade from behind. Ka-Kui and Yang then assist Chaibat's wife, and Ka-Kui refuses to bring her forward to Chaibat's helicopter where May is held, unless he first frees May. Chaibat responds by pushing May out of the helicopter, which is hovering low over the street. Chaibat's men then spirit his wife into a panel truck, and Yang chases it on foot, grabs a railing and gets on top of the truck. Ka-Kui makes sure that May is okay, then commandeers a small sportscar to chase the truck. Yang is eventually thrown off the top of the truck onto the windshield of Ka-Kui's following car.

Chaibat's men take his wife to a rooftop location where she will be loaded onto the helicopter. Ka-Kui and Yang intervene, fighting with Panther and another man. Panther is killed after being pushed from the roof by Ka-Kui. Chaibat's wife makes it onto the helicopter, but Ka-Kui is able to grab the dangling rope ladder as the aircraft takes off and flies high over the city. The helicopter pilot is ordered to try and brush Ka-Kui off the ladder, first by flying past the spire of a mosque and then by flying over a freight train. Ka Kui lets go and lands on a car full of spikey durian fruit, but receives only minor injuries. The rope ladder catches on to a railcar, forcing the helicopter to land on the train. Yang, meanwhile, catches up with a motorcycle, which she uses to jump on top of the moving train and assist Ka-Kui in his fight with Chaibat and the men from the helicopter. Ka-Kui narrowly misses being thrown into the spinning rotor of the helicopter. Yang has a chokehold on Chaibat and is trying to force his head into the spinning tail rotor, but his pulled off by Chaibat's wife. But then Chaibat's wife slips off the top of the railcar and Yang goes to save her. Chaibat is killed by the helicopter as it explodes on impact with an overhead trestle railing. Ka-Kui then saves both Yang and Chaibat's wife, and Chaibat's wife tells the police officers the code to the Swiss bank account.

Yang and Ka-Kui debate briefly which country should get the money. Ka-Kui says to let the Hong Kong government keep custody, because, he reasons, "after 1997, we'll all be Chinese anyway."

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Reception

[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] Critical reception

The North American release by Miramax was well-received.

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] Alternate 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.

Among the changes was a musical score of hip hop sounds. Tom Jones' rendition of "Kung Fu Fighting" plays over the end credits, followed by a song specially written and performed for the film by the band Devo, entitled "Supercop".

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In addition, there were about 10 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 Chaibat.
Spoilers end here.

[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] 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 "Uncle" Bill, this film is not 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] 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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