Rumble in the Bronx

223364
(rumbleinthebronx/rumbleinthebronx)

35 Welcome to TNT's Enhanced Television presentation of Rumble in the Bronx. 55 Rumble in the Bronx aka Hong faan kui was released in the U. S. and Canada on February 23, 1996. 75 Originally shot in Cantonese, the film was re-edited and dubbed into English for its American release. 95 This film introduced Jackie Chan's (Ah Jeung) original combination of masterful martial arts and goofy comedy to a widespread American audience. 115 In Hong Kong, the film earned $7.7 million during the Chinese New Year, and it became the highest-grossing movie of all time in China. 135 Rumble in the Bronx was director Stanley Tong's second Jackie Chan project and his first American film. 155 Previously Tong directed Chan in Supercop (1992), winning a Golden Horse Award, the Chinese version of the Academy Award®. That film was released in the U.S. four months after this one. 175 Tong also directed First Strike, another Jackie Chan film, released in the U.S. in January of 1997. 195 While set in New York City, a good bit of the film was made on Canadian locations, particularly Vancouver, British Columbia. 215 The Hong Kong version of the film opens with Jackie already in the airport. 235 Chan appeared as an uncredited extra in martial arts legend Bruce Lee's films The Chinese Connection (1972) and Enter the Dragon (1973). 255 Following Lee's death, Chan decided that rather than emulate Lee (and thus live forever in his shadow), he would develop his own style of filmmaking. 275 His directorial debut -- Shi di chu ma (1980), which he also co-wrote -- was a milestone in martial arts films, being the first to effectively combine comedy with action. This set the tone for many of his future films, which combined slapstick humor with high-energy martial arts action. 295 A self-professed fan of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, Chan performs all his own stunts, often at his own peril. 315 Chan has sustained a growing list of injuries during his productions and is understandably number one on the insurance blacklist. 335 Bill Tung (Uncle Bill) has played a character named Uncle Bill in several other films with Jackie Chan. 355 Chan's birth name is Kong-sang Chan. His nickname, "Sing Lung," means "Already a Dragon." 375 Chan was rigorously trained in music, dance and traditional martial arts. 395 Bill Tung was originally Hong Kong's best-known horseracing commentator. 415 In Security Unlimited (1981), one his earliest film roles, Tung plays a racetrack announcer. 435 In Devoted to You (1986), Tung is cast as a television racing commentator. 455 Anita Mui (Elaine) started her a career as a successful pop singer in Hong Kong before branching out into acting roles. 475 Mui was nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award as Best Actress for her work in this film. 495 Mui founded Orient Star restaurant, a copycat of Planet Hollywood. Jackie Chan is a partner in the enterprise. 515 Mui did her own dubbing for the Mandarin version of her movies earlier in her career. She speaks fluent Cantonese, Mandarin and English. 535 Chan usually dubs his own voice for the English releases of his Asian films. 555 Mui was romantically linked to Jackie Chan in the early '90s. 575 Chan once admitted that he did Cannonball Run II (1984) just to fulfill his contract with Warner Brothers. Chan's character in that film was Jackie Chan, Mitsubishi engineer. 595 Chan has developed a long lasting relationship with Mitsubishi Motors. The company has donated many of the automobiles used in his films. 615 Bill Tung's nickname in real life is "Uncle Bill." 635 By 1996, the year Rumble in the Bronx was released, Bill Tung had appeared in nine of Jackie Chan's films. 655 The tagline for this film is "No fear. No stuntman. No equal." 675 The film was shot in three different languages, English, Cantonese and French. 695 The American version of Rumble in the Bronx is shorter than the original Hong Kong version. 715 Francois Yip (Nancy) broke her leg while filming the scene where she rides a motorbike across the tops of parked cars. 735 Yip insisted on returning to the set after her leg was plastered at the hospital. 755 Yip was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, where some scenes for this film were shot. 775 Yip was nominated for two Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in this film. One award was for Best New Performer and the other for Best Supporting Actress. 795 Two stunt women also broke their legs during the filming of the motorcycle chase scene. 815 Apparently, all the other residents of this street are remarkably sound sleepers or have all decided to wait until morning to assess the damage to their vehicles. 835 The song Whitney (Carrie Cain Sparks) is singing is "You Are the One," written by Tim Dang and Nathan Wang. 855 The dialogue scene between Ah and Elaine at Uncle Bill's wedding is shortened in the U.S. version. 930 Carrie Cain Sparks (Whitney) also appeared in the television films A Kidnapping in the Family and Kidz in the Wood in 1996. 1299 Francois Yip stayed busy with work in five films, including this one, during 1996. 1389 The basic plot here is similar to the one employed in the Bruce Lee film Return of the Dragon (1972), in which Lee pays a visit to family members who own a restaurant in Italy. 1479 In Dragon local mobsters, who want the land the restaurant is built upon, harass the owners, forcing Lee to defend his family as only he can. In the film's finale, Lee battles a U.S. karate expert (played by Chuck Norris), in a Roman coliseum. 1569 Mui began her career as a pop singer after winning a singing contest in 1983. 1659 Chan does all his own stunts and is said to be a "lead-from-the-front kind of guy," requiring the actors and actresses in his movies to also do their own stunts. 1749 Another Jackie Chan tradition is his portrayal of the underdog hero. "My character has never been a superman," says Chan. "¿So at the beginning of Rumble, the audience sees that I know kung fu, but when we get to the scene in the alley, I want to show the audience that kung fu can't beat guns." 1839 Plastic bottles, "candy-glass" bottles and real bottles were used in the alley scene, but due to budget limitations only 40 of the exploding "candy-glass" variety were made, most of which got used up during the first day of shooting. As a result, some of the bottles exploding next to Chan's head were real. As director Stanley Tong pointed out, "Even if you get hit with one of the plastic bottles, you'll faint. Jackie actually caught one of the real bottles in his stomach." 1929 Francois Yip appears in the cast of the sci-fi action television series Flatland. 2019 Chan first worked in the burgeoning kung fu film industry as a stuntman, becoming a second-unit director before he had turned 20. 2338 Chan was to star in a film entitled Nosebleed, in which he would have played the part of a window-washer at the World Trade Center who must try to stop a terrorist plot, but the project was cancelled after the attack on September 11, 2001. 2432 After the film Shao Lin mu ren xiang (1976), Chan underwent plastic surgery to re-shape his eyelids in order to attain a more "Western" appearance. 2522 Chan has his own stuntman team, known as the Sing Ga Ban or the Jackie Chan Stuntman Association. Members of the team appear as extras in his films. 2597 Among the team are former tae kwon do champion Andy Kai Chung Cheng, Chung Chi Li (Nicky Li) and Bradley James Allan. Chung Chi Li is the only one of the three who appears in this film. 2672 Some parts of this chase scene can be viewed in the outtakes that are offered at the end of the film. Chan was actually injured as he jumped over the first partition into the cafe area. 2762 Whenever Chan sustains a serious injury while working on a film, he uses Andy Kai to double for him in stunts. 2852 Chan's stunt team is trained to perform the way he does. They must match him move for move, speed for speed and so on. 2912 The landing point for this jump was not visible from the point where the jump began, so tape was placed on the take-off point as a guide. Chan prepared and then completed the jump flawlessly on the first attempt, captured for the film by four cameras. 3276 Marc Akerstream (Tony) died of a head injury from flying debris while observing a rowboat explosion on the set of the television series Crow: The Stairway to Heaven (1998). The accident occurred on August 14, 1998, during filming at Minaty Bay, British Columbia. 3366 Garvin Cross appeared in Mask of Death also released in 1996. 3456 Two of mob chieftain White Tiger's (Kris Lord) henchmen, Richard Faraci and Mark Fielding, worked as stuntmen with Garvin Cross in a film titled White Tiger, also released in 1996. Marc Akerstream was stunt coordinator for the film. 3546 Ah's facial wounds have completely disappeared in barely 24 hours. 3914 Jackie Chan got the idea for Rumble in the Bronx when he first visited America to make The Big Brawl (1980). "I got the idea for doing a story where I'd come to America as a student and tangle with a local gang." 4004 When Chan went home to Hong Kong and tried to sell the idea to his boss, he was told, "You're never on schedule, you run over budget, and they won't let you do that in America." 4664 When he saw The Karate Kid (1984) a few years later, he thought "¿it was 70 percent of my idea." The experience taught him to trust his creative instincts. 4184 Like Chan, director Stanley Tong began his career as a stuntman and later a stunt coordinator. Their common background led to an unusually close working relationship in which Tong personally rehearsed all the major stunts his star would perform. 4274 Later in the production, Stanley Tong himself joined the injured list (along with Jackie Chan) when he sprained his ankle rehearsing the (upcoming) shot where Jackie climbs up the mast to jump down to the bridge. Tong had to complete the film on crutches. 4364 Chan was apprenticed to the China Drama Academy (or "opera school") by his parents at the age of 6. A visiting filmmaker offered Chan his first bit part as a stunt player, which led to the career in films. 4732 Some of the other outtakes included at the end of the film were taken from parts of the following scene, in which Jackie now confronts the street gang. 4822 This scene is filled with Chan's trademark use of such unusual props as chairs, ladders, lamps, tables, appliances -- or whatever else is available -- in his fight scenes. 4912 In his action scenes, Chan's punches and kicks actually connect with their targets. He has his actors wear special padding on their feet and body to prevent serious injury. 5002 The warehouse fight scene took 20 days to film, with Chan having to teach the local stunt players to fight "Hong Kong style." 5092 In addition to acting, Garvin Cross (Angelo) works steadily as both a stuntman and a stunt coordinator. 5182 Where Bruce Lee could be expected to punish these two thugs for their cruelty to Danny, Chan will resolve the scene with his trademark mixture of martial arts moves and humor. 5272 A Rumble Web site features a game in which the player is asked to match the correct injury involving Chan or other stunt people to the movie in which it occurred. 5317 According to Chan Rumble in the Bronx would have been impossible to make in Hong Kong. "It's hard to make a big movie in Hong Kong, because the government isn't so supportive of movies. That's why for years I've been making my movies in Morocco, Yugoslavia -- everywhere except Hong Kong." 5387 Elaine's shortcut under the ladder is something of an indicator of how her luck -- all bad --will continue. 5452 Constructed on the parking lot of the former Woodward's Department Store, the building that houses Elaine's market had to serve a dual purpose, as a practical set and as an apocalyptic special effect. 5542 Tong, as is his custom, was operating the camera closest to the carnage when the building was pulled down. To assure that the director escaped the demolition unscathed, the stunt coordinator positioned him on a trolley so that his team could pull him out as the elaborate set collapsed. 5602 "[Production Designer] Oliver Wong went to New York's Chinatown to see what supermarkets looked like," explained co-producer Barbie Tung. "Then special effects coordinators Al Benjamin and David Paller discussed in advance with the builder how they wanted the building to collapse when we were through with it." 5966 In addition to his role and the stunts that were involved, Chan was also the martial arts director and stunt director on the film. 6026 Stanley Tong formed his own company, Golden Gate, in 1989. 7520 For Golden Gate, he executive produced, wrote, directed and stunt coordinated Stone Age Warriors, the first commercial film ever to be granted permission to shoot among the aboriginal head-hunters in New Guinea. 6176 Stone Age Warriors caught the attention of Golden Harvest, who in 1992 commissioned Tong to direct and stunt direct Jackie Chan in Supercop. 6266 Tong got the idea for the runaway Hovercraft finale while visiting Australia at the invitation of the government to inspect local filmmaking facilities. Since Hong Kong doesn't have Hovercrafts, he filed the idea away until Rumble in the Bronx gave him the chance to use it. 6311 For this shot, when Chan jumped from the bridge onto the narrow rim of the Hovercraft, a combination of bad conditions and imperfect balance caused the star to break his right ankle. The shot and its real aftermath can be seen in the upcoming outtakes. 6356 After only one day off, Chan finished the film in a cast, working for 20 days till the end of shooting on the scenes (coming up) where the Hovercraft, with Chan dangling from its side, wreaks havoc through a busy metropolitan shopping district. 6401 A special pair of tennis shoes with smooth soles was used for the shots done in rough water to avoid churning up the water so it hit Chan's legs. "Jackie hates to do anything on the water," explained the director, who got the idea for the scene from a televised demonstration of barefoot water-skiing. "He gets seasick very easily!" 6491 Note the elevated front end of the bus about to be shown. Clearly visible underneath is an apparatus to facilitate the rotation sequence. 6581 According to Chan, scenes such as these could not have been made in the restrictive filmmaking climate of Hong Kong. Conversely, in Vancouver, British Columbia, the authorities were very supportive. Police would block off an entire street while the production was shooting. 6671 Hovercrafts are utilized from time to time in films, especially in spy-themed films involving chase scenes. Murderer's Row (1966), one of the Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin as a womanizing secret agent, featured the craft. 7016 More recently, a Hovercraft was used in the Bond film Die Another Day (2002), starring Pierce Brosnan. 6801 White Tiger is defeated! Now, stay tuned for outtakes from the film. 6866 While performing stunts, Chan has broken his nose three times, his ankle once, most of his fingers, both cheekbones and his skull. 6921 Another movie-making secret revealed: The old fake-tennis-shoe-slipped-on-over-the-foot-cast trick! 6986 Thank You for joining TNT's Enhanced Television presentation of Rumble in the Bronx