We've covered all the giants here on Reel Action. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, Seagal, Snipes, even Swayze. But somehow, we never got to one of the undisputed kings of the genre, Jackie Chan! While a legend in Hong Kong and much of Asia since the seventies, Chan only really broke out in North America after the release of Rumble in the Bronx. Made in Hong Kong by Golden Harvest, the film was picked up for North America distribution by New Line Cinema in 1996, who re-scored it, had Chan re-dub his dialogue, and put a multi-million dollar ad campaign behind it. The result was a sleeper box office hit that paved the way for Chan's eventual break-out in English language movies like Rush Hour.
The film, directed by Stanley Tong (Supercop), made over $30 million in North America, comparable to what guys like Van Damme and Seagal were raking in. So it's easy to see why, once this movie hit, New Line and Dimension Films started buying up all of his old films, as the cost of re-editing and distributing them still left extensive profit margins, allowing Chan to get a foothold in the West. Eventually, it would pay off with full-fledged movie stardom in North America and a whole slew of American movies, and Rumble was the one that started it all.
I have fond memories of seeing this one in theaters. However, years later, when I started to appreciate Hong Kong action films more, I began to prefer the original HK edits, particularly for some of the later releases, such as The Legend of the Drunken Master, which was a recut of the great Drunken Master 2. Yet, the editing/dubbing works pretty well here as it's done with taste, with Chan himself heavily involved. This movie was such a smash that director Tong wound up directing a big-budget Disney flick next, Mr. Magoo!
Do you think Rumble in the Bronx holds up? Let us know below!