Police Story 4: First Strike (1996) [Film Review]

Police Story 4: First Strike; or, The Manhattan Project

     Killing me won't bring him back. Give me the bomb, and I'll give you the money. I promise. And then you'll never see me again.

Police Story 4: First Strike punched its way to the big screen on the 10th of February, 1996. It is the fourth entry in Jackie Chan’s successful Police Story franchise and also the second movie, after Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), directed by stuntman/filmmaker Stanley Tong. Interestingly, many online sources often omit First Strike together with a spin-off film, Project S (1993), from rundowns of the series. Even though First Strike may be a forgotten Police Story sequel, it is still part of the franchise and deserves to be discussed.
Release Info

Directed by: Stanley Tong Starring: Jackie Chan, Jackson Lou, Wu Chen-chun, Yuriy Petrov

Language: English, Cantonese, Russian Original Title: 警察故事4之簡單任務 Runtime: 110 min (U.S. cut: 80 min)

 

Synopsis

Officer Ka-kui (Jackie Chan) is sent by uncle Wong (Bill Tung) on a mission to follow a Ukrainian woman. It turns out that she serves as the middle man in a transaction between an elusive spy Tsui (Jackson Lou) and the Russian mobsters who want to buy nuclear warheads. Ka-kui interrupts the transaction, but he gets badly injured in the process. He is rescued by the FSB agency and the Russian authorities send him to Australia so that he can track down Tsui. Ka-kui’s only lead is Tsui’s younger sister, Annie (Wu Chen-chun).

Never Say Never Again

Police Story 4: First Strike is yet another 90s action-packed comedy filled with Jackie’s breathtaking stunts. The storyline must have been inspired by Bond movies, particularly GoldenEye (1995), due to espionage vibes and the nuclear weapons plot. However, as in many Jackie Chan’s movies, the screenplay serves only as an excuse to present a sequence of elaborate action set pieces.

 

In my opinion, First Strike lacks a bit in terms of action when compared to the previous three films. Indeed, there are some great scenes (for example, a ski chase, fight on parapets of a hotel, or a showdown at an aquarium), but none of these surpass Jackie’s mall jump in the first movie or train fight in Super Cop. Nevertheless, I appreciate beautiful locations shot in the city of Brisbane, Australia.

 

That is not to say that First Strike is not enjoyable. On the contrary, it is an entertaining action flick, but its main disadvantage is caused by the fact that there are two versions of the film available out there: The original uncut version (which runs at 110 minutes) and the American cut (with 80 minutes of runtime). First Strike is one of the rare Jackie’s productions that I prefer to watch in an altered form.

 

The uncut version has atrocious multi-national dialogue (caused by amateur actors playing foreigners), bad pacing, and the music score that is basically a looped tune. The American cut, on the other hand, has extended opening credits, brand new English dubbing, and catchy music score composed by J. Peter Robison. This cuts trims a bit the prologue sequence and the aquarium fight. The only scene which, I believe, was fully deleted features Jackie begging for money to make a phone call. In addition, the title was altered as well. Instead of being called a Police Story, the film was released in the U.S. as Jackie Chan’s First Strike.

 

Recommendations

Ironically, Police Story 4: First Strike serves as an example presenting that a movie can be either broken or improved in the editing room. Do I recommend it? Yes, but go for the American version. In consequence, you will not be disappointed. Interestingly, First Strike remains (to date!) Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong highest grossing picture. I wish that Jackie could keep making Police Story sequels throughout the 90s. Eventually, he did make New Police Story and Police Story 2013, but these were much more serious in tone.

Overall score: 6/10