Crime Story (1993)
Crime Story (Chinese: 重案組; also known as New Police Story; released in the Philippines as Police Dragon) is a 1993 Hong Kong action crime thriller film, directed by Kirk Wong, and starring Jackie Chan, Kent Cheng, Law Kar-ying and Puishan Au-yeung. The film was released in Hong Kong on 24 June 1993. Unlike most Jackie Chan films, which feature a combination of action and comedy, Crime Story is mostly a serious film. The film is based on actual events surrounding the 1990 kidnapping of Chinese businessman Teddy Wang.
Plot.
Inspector Eddie Chan of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, who suffers from emotional stress after shooting several men in self-defense, is assigned to track down the kidnapped businessman Wong Yat-fei. The search takes him from Hong Kong to Taiwan, causing him to cross paths with some powerful mobsters. What complicates matters is that one of the kidnappers is operating within the police force, determined to stop Chan from succeeding. The relentlessly driven Chan finds himself fighting his personal demons at the same time he battles the seemingly unending wave of crime in the city.
Production.
According to the book I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, written by Jackie Chan, Chan’s legs were crushed after getting caught between two cars while filming the opening action scene. The film is set and was filmed in Hong Kong and Taiwan in 42 days from 9 July to 20 August 1992. The climactic scene, in which a building is decimated by explosions, was filmed in the deserted Kowloon Walled City, which was scheduled for destruction at that time. Jet Li was originally considered to play the role of Inspector Eddie Chan. Eventually, Jackie Chan was interested in the role of Inspector Eddie Chan, and he got it.RELATED:
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Release.
Crime Story was released in Hong Kong on 24 June 1993.[3] In the Philippines, the film was released as Police Dragon by Moviestars Production on 19 January 1994. After the success of Rumble In The Bronx, Miramax wanted to release Crime Story next in theaters, until Jackie Chan advised against it, so Miramax released Police Story 3: Supercop (1992) instead. The version was released on video and DVD on 18 July 2000 in the United States by Miramax was dubbed in English, although unlike most releases, it contained the original musical score. Chan’s character had the name “Eddie” replaced with “Jackie” in the dub. There were four cuts made from the Miramax version:
Box office.
In Hong Kong, the film grossed HK$27,439,331 (US$3,547,157) at the box office. In Taiwan, it grossed NT$24,851,480 (US$941,994). In Japan, it grossed ¥345 million (US$3,103,000) at the box office. In South Korea, it grossed US$1,530,000. In the United States, the film grossed $194,720. This adds up to US$9,316,871 (equivalent to $17,000,000 in 2021) grossed in Asia.