Wheels on Meals
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| Wheels on Meals | |
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| Directed by | Sammo Hung |
| Produced by | Raymond Chow |
| Written by | Edward Tang Johnny Lee Sammo Hung |
| Starring | Jackie Chan Sammo Hung Yuen Biao Lola Forner Benny Urquidez Herb Edelman Keith Vitali |
| Distributed by | Golden Harvest |
| Release date(s) | 1984 (Hong Kong) |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Language | Cantonese |
| IMDb profile | |
Wheels on Meals (快餐車, Mandarin: Kuàicān Chē, Cantonese: Fai2 Chan1 Tse1) is a 1984 Hong Kong action film directed by Sammo Hung, starring Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. In some releases, the film was released under alternative titles including Spartan X, Weapon X, Spanish Connection and Million Dollar Heiress. It was filmed in Barcelona, Spain.
The three action star brothers, Chan, Yuen and Hung, are longtime friends and had been Peking Opera School colleagues in their youth. The release of Wheels on Meals came in the midst of their most prolific period working together. The three men had acted together on Chan's Project A and the first of Hung's original Lucky Stars trilogy, Winners and Sinners in 1983. Wheels on Meals was released in 1984, and a year later they were reunited twice more for the Lucky Stars semi-sequels My Lucky Stars and Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars. This was something of a golden period for Hong Kong cinema-goers, as three of the nation's most loved action stars performed together on screen. Wheels on Meals also features cameo appearances from fellow Lucky Stars Richard Ng and John Shum as mental patients in the hospital attended by David's father.
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[edit] Plot
Thomas (Jackie Chan) and David (Yuen Biao) are cousins who run a fast food van in Barcelona. The food is delivered by Thomas, who rushes around the square on a skateboard. After fending off a biker gang, they meet the beautiful pickpocket Sylvia (Lola Forner), who asks them to hide her in their van to avoid the police. Thomas and David are enamoured by her, but after allowing her to stay in their apartment that night, they wake to find Sylvia and their money gone. The next day, they bump into Moby (Sammo Hung), a bumbling private investigator who is also tracking Sylvia. It is discovered that Sylvia is the heir to a sizeable inheritance that a criminal gang is trying to steal from her. When she is kidnapped, Thomas, David, and Moby team up to save her, infiltrating the villains' castle and defeating them in a martial arts battle.
[edit] Cast
- Jackie Chan - Thomas
- Sammo Hung - Moby
- Yuen Biao - David
- Lola Forner - Sylvia
- Benny Urquidez - (un-named thug)
- Keith Vitali - (un-named thug)
- Herb Edelman - Matt
- Pepe Sancho - Villain
- Susana Sentís - Gloria
- Paul Chang - David's father
- Richard Ng - Mental patient
- John Shum - Mental patient
- Wu Ma - Mental patient
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The film's name was actually supposed to be more sensibly titled Meals on Wheels. However, superstitious Golden Harvest executives demanded the name change because their two previous films with titles that began with the letter 'M' - Megaforce and Menage A Trois - were both box office flops.
- The video game Kung Fu Master was based on this film.
- This film was the first of two films which paired star Jackie Chan against former professional kickboxing champion Benny Urquidez (the other being Dragons Forever). Their fight in this film is typically regarded as one of the greatest on-screen martial arts fights ever performed.
- Co-star Lola Forner also appeared in the Jackie Chan film Armour of God.
- Unlike the majority of Chan's later films, the standard releases of Wheels on Meals does not contain the usual outtakes (bloopers and stunts gone wrong) over the final credits. However, a VHS release of the film did exist in the mid-1980s under the title Spartan X, which includes the outtakes intact.
- At one point in the final Chan/Urquidez battle, a spin-kick by Urquidez is so fast that the wind from it blows out a series of candles. This is shown onscreen, with no cuts or trick photography[citation needed].
- Japanese Pro Wrestler Mitsuharu Misawa used the theme song of the Japanese version of Wheels on Meals (named Spartan X) throughout his career wrestling under his real name.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 1985 Hong Kong Film Awards:
- Nominated: Best Action Choreography
[edit] Box office
Wheels on Meals grossed HK $21,465,013 in its Hong Kong theatrical run.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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