City Hunter (film)
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''City Hunter'' (; ''Sing si lip yan'') is a 1993 Hong Kong action comedy film written and directed by
Wong Jing Wong Jing ( born 3 May 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, producer, actor, presenter, and screenwriter. A prolific filmmaker with strong instincts for crowd-pleasing and publicity, Wong Jing played a prominent role in Hong Kong cinema duri ...
. The film stars
Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
,
Joey Wong use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...
,
Kumiko Goto is a Japanese former singer, actress and Japanese idol active in the 1980s. As an actress, she is known for starring in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' films and the Jackie Chan film ''City Hunter''. In 1995, she quit her artistic career and marr ...
,
Chingmy Yau Chingmy Yau Suk-zing (born 16 May 1968) is a retired Hong Kong actress. Background She entered the Hong Kong film industry after competing secondary school in the 1987 Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant. She was one of the leading actresses in the ...
,
Gary Daniels Gary Edward Daniels (born 9 May 1963) is an English actor, producer, martial artist, fight coordinator and former world light heavyweight kickboxing champion. Born and raised in London, England, Daniels started to take martial arts lessons at th ...
and
Leon Lai Leon Lai Ming SBS BBS MH (born 11 December 1966), is a Hong Kong actor, film director, businessman and Cantopop singer. He is one of the " Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. He uses his Chinese name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming", whi ...
. The film is based on the Japanese manga of the same name. The film was released in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
on 14 January 1993 along with Wong Jing's ''
Fight Back to School III ''Fight Back to School 3'' (逃學威龍3之龍過雞年) is a Hong Kong comedy film produced in 1993 starring Stephen Chow, Anita Mui and Anthony Wong Chau-sang. The film was written and directed by Wong Jing, who replaced Gordon Chan as the di ...
'' starring
Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (, born 22 June 1962), known professionally as Stephen Chow, is a Hong Kong filmmaker, former actor and comedian, known for ''Shaolin Soccer'' and ''Kung Fu Hustle''. Early life and education Stephen Chow was born in British ...
.


Plot

Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura are assigned to locate Shizuko Imamura, the runaway daughter of the
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of a prominent Japanese newspaper. Kaori leaves in the middle of the search, unhappy with the way Ryo ignores her romantic feelings for him and flirts with other women. Ryo finds Shizuko at a skateboarding park and a chase ensues, but she escapes in disguise. Shizuko boards a luxury
cruise liner Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "sho ...
, the ''Fuji Maru'', with the ticket she found in the suit she stole. Kaori also boards the ship with her lustful cousin while Ryo sneaks inside to follow her. A terrorist gang led by MacDonald have plans to hijack it and take the rich passengers hostage with Police Officer Saeko Nogami and her buxom sidekick in pursuit. Staying next door from each other, Shizuko overhears MacDonald's plan. MacDonald discovers her and sends one of his men to kill her, but she knocks him out and escapes. She then bumps into the ship's first officer, who takes her to the boiler room and reveals himself as a terrorist. When he attempts to silence Shizuko, Ryo, who had been staying there since his encounter with Kaori and her cousin at the swimming pool, saves her. When MacDonald's gang arrive, the officer is killed in the shootout while Ryo and Shizuko escape into the movie theater, where ''
Game of Death ''The Game of Death'' (Chinese: 死亡的遊戲) is an incomplete Hong Kong martial arts film, filmed between August and October 1972, directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee, in his final film project. Lee died during the making ...
'' is being shown. To beat two towering opponents, Ryo interprets
Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
's techniques from the film. At the ship's casino, a party hosted by the captain is interrupted when MacDonald kills the captain and terrorizes the partygoers, including Saeko and her sidekick. After robbing them of their valuables, he entices the rich patrons into a sadistic card game. A few opponents are quickly disposed of until Kao Ta, a skilled card gamer who uses his cards as shurikens, joins in. When MacDonald is distracted by seeing Ryo and Shizuko not far away, Ta and Saeko put an end to his game. MacDonald's henchman Kim kidnaps Kaori and takes her to his room. When Ryo bursts in, both men fight before MacDonald and his men interrupt, capturing Ryo in the process. Kaori escapes, bumping into Shizuko, Saeko, and the rest of the main characters. They take down a gay terrorist trying to seduce Kaori's cousin and prepare to save Ryo. The next day, Ryo is stood before a firing squad. Shizuko, Saeko, and her sidekick interrupt the planned execution, but are forced to separate by MacDonald's gang. Shizuko uses her gymnastic skills to defeat one henchman, Saeko saves Ta after he runs out of cards in a fight with several terrorists, and her sidekick falls off a ledge and is left unconscious. Ryo goes into the gaming parlor with his hands still tied, but is thrown into a ''
Street Fighter II is a fighting game developed by Capcom and originally released for arcades in 1991. It is the second installment in the ''Street Fighter'' series and the sequel to 1987's ''Street Fighter''. It is Capcom's fourteenth game to use the CP Syst ...
''
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
by Kim and suffers an
electric shock Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...
. This causes him to hallucinate and think Kim is
Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...
from the game. After a failed attempt to defeat him as
E. Honda , more commonly known as E. Honda, is a fictional character created by Capcom for the ''Street Fighter'' series of fighting games. Introduced in ''Street Fighter II'' as part of the starting lineup, he has appeared in ''Street Fighter Alpha 3'', ' ...
, Ryo defeats him as
Chun-Li is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' video game series. The first ever female playable character to appear in a fighting game to gain mainstream recognition, she first appeared in ''Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in 1 ...
. As a
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
ese counter terrorism unit, the "Thunderbolts Squad", arrives and take his men out, MacDonald blows up bombs he had set up all over the ship and takes Kaori hostage at the casino. When Ryo and Saeko arrive, he injures both women and starts a long fight with Ryo. However, MacDonald is thrown into the stage and dies when he accidentally steps on his remote, setting off the bombs behind the T.V. panels. Ryo and Kaori find Shizuko and return to her father. He speaks to Ryo privately, seeing him as a future husband to Shizuko. Listening to their conversation, Kaori leaves in anger, unaware that Ryo has declined the man's offer. However, Ryo finds her and tries to apologize with a rose, but then Saeko drives up and flirts with him. He gives her the rose instead and furious, Kaori smashes him through the air with a big hammer. Ryo wakes up in his recurring dream with beautiful women at the swimming pool.


Cast

*
Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
as
Ryo Saeba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991 and collected into 35 ''tankōbon'' volumes by its publisher Shueisha. The manga was adapted into ...
*
Joey Wong use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...
as Kaori Makimura **
Leila Tong Leila Kong ( ;born 5 December 1981) known professionally as Leila Tong / Tong Ning () is a Hong Kong actress. She was born into an Indonesian Cantonese family. Her birth name is used in her works during her childhood and adolescence. Career ...
as Kaori as a child *
Kumiko Goto is a Japanese former singer, actress and Japanese idol active in the 1980s. As an actress, she is known for starring in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' films and the Jackie Chan film ''City Hunter''. In 1995, she quit her artistic career and marr ...
as Shizuko Imamura *
Chingmy Yau Chingmy Yau Suk-zing (born 16 May 1968) is a retired Hong Kong actress. Background She entered the Hong Kong film industry after competing secondary school in the 1987 Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant. She was one of the leading actresses in the ...
as Saeko Nogami * Carol Wan as Saeko's friend *
Leon Lai Leon Lai Ming SBS BBS MH (born 11 December 1966), is a Hong Kong actor, film director, businessman and Cantopop singer. He is one of the " Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. He uses his Chinese name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming", whi ...
as Kao Ta the gambler (Kao Ta the Wanderer/Gao Da the Wanderer) *
Pal Sinn Pal Sinn Lap-man (born 17 March 1959) is a Hong Kong musician, singer and actor. Sinn is noted for his roles as Sai-Mun Hing in ''The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus'', for which he received Hong Kong Film Award nomination for Best New Performe ...
as Rocky Dung * Lo Wai-kwong as Chen Ta-wen *
Eric Kot Eric Kot Man-fai is a Hong Kong singer and actor who studied in California and is the second youngest of three brothers. He formed a comedic music duo with fellow DJ and comedian Jan Lamb called Softhard in the 1980s. He also runs a fashion s ...
as DJ Hard * Jan Lam as DJ Soft * Richard Norton as Col. Donald "Don Mac" MacDonald *
Gary Daniels Gary Edward Daniels (born 9 May 1963) is an English actor, producer, martial artist, fight coordinator and former world light heavyweight kickboxing champion. Born and raised in London, England, Daniels started to take martial arts lessons at th ...
as Kim / MacDonald's henchman * Yip San as Woman surprising Ryo * Josephine Lam as Woman surprising Ryo * Donna Chu as Woman surprising Ryo * Michael Wong as Hideyuki Makimura * Peter Lai as Man wearing white suit in store * William Tuan as Cruise passenger * Kenzo Hagiwara as Koji Imamura * Vincent Laporte as Vincent Vu * Mike Abbott as Mike Vu * Louis Roth as Cruise Purser *
Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
as Billy Lo (archive footage) *
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...
as Fighter on Film #2 in Ship's Theater (archive footage) * Lee Tat-chiu as Ship crew member


Production notes

* The name of the ''
Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' character was changed to "E. Honde" from "E. Honda". This was because Chan had a contract with the
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
car company, and
Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
is the name of a rival company. * There were time constraints on the preparation of the film to release it on time for its release on the Chinese New Year. Near the end of filming, shots of Chan's final fight scene with Richard Norton, had him doubled by stunt performer
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
to save time on reshoots. * According to his book ''I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action'', Chan dislocated his shoulder during production. * The gambling area filled with televisions and a dance floor was shot in the Shaw Brothers Studio.


Box office

In Hong Kong, the film grossed 30,843,062 (), making it the fourth top-grossing Hong Kong film of 1993. In Japan, the film grossed (). In Taiwan, where it released in January 1993, it was the ninth highest-grossing film of the year, with (US$1,824,328). In South Korea, the film sold 808,329 tickets and grossed . Combined, the film grossed a total of approximately in
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
.


Home media

On 23 April 2001, a DVD was released by
Hong Kong Legends Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007. Hong Kong Legends was initially part of Medusa Communications, who, along with Soulblade bought ...
in the United Kingdom in Region 2. Two years later, Fortune Star released a 3 disc set on 29 December 2003 with two other martial arts films: '' Story of Ricky'' and ''
The Dragon from Russia ''The Dragon from Russia'' is a 1990 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Clarence Fok and based on the Japanese manga ''Crying Freeman'' and written by Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami, and also produced by Dean Shek, and starrin ...
''. In the United States, the first DVD release was a port of the Mega Star Region 0 release repackaged by Tai Seng. Later on,
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...
released a region 1 DVD in 2004 utilizing the remastered Fortune Star transfer. It was released again in 2012 by
Shout Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
in a double feature single disc with ''
Battle Creek Brawl ''The Big Brawl'', () also known as ''Battle Creek Brawl'', is a 1980 martial arts action comedy film, which marked Jackie Chan's first attempt to break into the American movie Hollywood market. A joint American and Hong Kong action film produc ...
'' on both
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
. All currently available versions restore a scene that was removed from both the theatrical release as well as the
LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
versions of the film. The scene involves one of Kaori's suitors going on a rant about foreign tourists (to wit, Richard Norton's band of terrorists) and saying that he hopes they die of
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
in Chinese, only to discover that they understood him very well. The scene was removed because the film's distributors were concerned that foreign audiences might be offended by the homophobic nature of the scene.


Critical reception

The DVD release received mixed reviews in the early 2000s, with a 50% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. Critics praised the action sequences, but criticised the story and
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
style.
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
concluded that "it fails as an adaptation but succeeds as a fun Jackie Chan flick."


See also

*
Jackie Chan filmography Jackie Chan began his film career as an extra child actor in the 1962 film ''Big and Little Wong Tin Bar''. Ten years later, he was a stuntman opposite Bruce Lee in 1972's ''Fist of Fury'' and 1973's ''Enter the Dragon''. He then had starring r ...
*
List of Hong Kong films This is a list of films produced in Hong Kong ordered by decade and year of release in separate pages. For film set in Hong Kong and produced elsewhere see ''List of films set in Hong Kong''. 1909–1949 *List of Hong Kong films before 1950 ...


References


External links

* * *
City Hunter review at Trash City
{{DEFAULTSORT:City Hunter (Film) 1993 films 1993 martial arts films 1993 action comedy films 1990s martial arts comedy films 1990s Cantonese-language films City Hunter Films about murderers Films about ship hijackings Films directed by Wong Jing Films set in Hong Kong Golden Harvest films Hong Kong action comedy films Hong Kong martial arts comedy films Hong Kong slapstick comedy films Live-action films based on manga Films set on ships 1990s Hong Kong films