Jackie Chan’s 10 Best Films

7. Who Am I? [1998]

Amnesia. An easy comedic concept, right? Well, leave it to our lead and collaborator Benny Chan (no relation) to take this idea and go crazy with it. The title refers to Chan’s post-trauma illness, as well as the name given to him by natives who come across his confused persona. Soon, everyone is referring to our hero by the oddball moniker while major league action set pieces fly by. While Chan is clearly capable of dealing with the demands of physical comedy and slapstick, this is one of the rare occasions when the laughs come from character, not just chaos.

6. Rumble in the Bronx [1995]

For many, this was the movie that broke Chan into the US mainstream. Sure, before then, he was a favorite of film fans with access to a video store stocking his foreign titles, but this is the effort that got the attention of Joe and Jane Six Pack. Naturally, as they did with almost all his films, New Line reconfigured it for a domestic audience, and found itself with a huge hit on its hands. Chan purists prefer the original cut, including the cast voices sans dubbing. It was thanks to Rumble that Chan would go on to have a lengthy run in Tinseltown, including those annoying Rush Hour films.

5. Project A [1983]

This one features Hung, Chan, and Biao, this time riffing on Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin in an action comedy set in the 1800s. You’d never guess by the generic title (demanded by the cast so as not to give too much of the movie’s plot away) that the film deals with pirates, the high seas, and our trio’s training to take on the bad guys. There’s also the typical Hong Kong mobsters to deal with as well (apparently, such criminals are timeless). Chan’s previous period pieces had not been that successful. With its inclusion of action and comedy, Project A was a huge success.

4. Supercop [1992]

Actually, this is the third film in the long-running Police Story franchise, and it’s the first not directed by Chan himself (Stanley Tong took over). Paired with Hong Kong superstar Michelle Yeoh as his character’s Interpol contact, we find ourselves in a globe-trotting epic with our hero fighting fiends everywhere and anywhere he can, including one scene involving a train, a helicopter, and Chan hanging onto an attached rope ladder for dear life. The work here was so impressive that Quentin Tarantino often refers to Supercop as one of his favorite films of all time, with the greatest stunt work ever.