Police Story (1985)
Sometimes I feel guilty watching Jackie Chan films. Not because of quality - most of his films are consistently a joy to watch - but because I realize that I am watching a movie that could have easily made the news for the all the wrong reasons. Early in his career Chan began doing most of his own stunts, and that has continued (though to a lesser degree) even though he is now in his 60s. Police Story is one of those films that almost became his last. One scene, where he dropped into a lighted display case in a department store, resulted in him being taken to the hospital after he briefly stopped breathing. As the universe usually has a sick sense of humor, it almost ended up being a split-second scene rather than one of his major set pieces that spelled the end for him. But, luckily, he came through, and eventually, after years of trying, broke in into the U.S. market. It was the U.S. cut of this movie I originally saw, dubbed in English and with a healthy number of the scenes