City Hunter

1993 [CN]

Action / Comedy / Crime / Romance

65
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 50% · 8 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 61% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.3/10 10 13174 13.2K

martial arts terrorist hostage boat spoof terrorism

Plot summary

A self-indulgent private investigator winds up on a cruise ship full of rich patrons, gorgeous women, murderous terrorists, and scarce food.

Director

Jing Wong Photo
Jing Wong

Top cast

Jackie Chan Photo
Jackie Chan as Ryu Saeba
Bruce Lee Photo
Bruce Lee as Billy Lo
Ken Lo Photo
Ken Lo as Chen Ta-Wen
Leon Lai Photo
Leon Lai as Kôtetsu / Gundam
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
845.97 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 12
1.59 GB
1920*1040
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 31

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by I_Ailurophile 7 / 10

Outstanding stunts & action, mostly very fun - but cartoonish to the point of being overbearing

I don't know what else I should have expected, but for a live-action manga adaptation of the early 90s, and one starring Jackie Chan no less, this embraces abject cartoonishness far exceeding my wildest assumptions. Kids' movies of the same period have nothing on 'City hunter'; Chan is no stranger to action-comedies, yet this is a title that puts the comedy first, and in which no small amount of the stunts, effects, choreography, editing, and otherwise action is specifically geared toward building that comedy. This is to say nothing of the wild choices of costume design, acting and direction, the playful original music, cinematography, or the art direction. Every last trace of the film is as over the top as it could be, including characters, dialogue, and scene writing; only if the manga were realized as anime could the result have been more frivolous. Anyone who can't abide the most outrageous and ham-handed of fare is advised to just look away from the outset, because this operates on a level that makes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles look like ponderous drama.To be perfectly honest that often juvenile flippancy does become overbearing, and not least right about the time that the story aboard a cruise ship takes a break for a big musical and dance sequence - which, for the record, comes after only about one-third of the runtime has elapsed. That's far from the end of it though; a sequence in the last act recalls the worst buffoonery of 'Freddy's dead: The final nightmare' a couple years before, and frankly takes it even further. Would that the sheer overcooked boisterousness were the only issue, for there is also some ugly homophobia on hand, and the script and camera commonly treat women with a lasciviousness that's plainly off-putting rather than titillating. More generally, there are some points in the narrative that are just downright thin, and I can't imagine some beats or ideas ever coming off well even on paper. This is built solely to entertain, but some aspects here are emphatically not fun at all, and sometimes filmmaker Wong Jing simply went too far with some of the choices that were made; there are upper limits on the lasting entertainment value to be had here.Yet even as 'City hunter' takes every idea to major extremes, and some inclusions are dubious or altogether tawdry, more than not it remains solidly enjoyable. Not every decision made here is a good one, but in and of themselves I can't say that anyone contributing here didn't turn in great work. The filming locations are swell, and the sets really are outstanding. The costume design, hair, and makeup are lovely. The direction, cinematography, and editing are all marvelously sharp, and the cast unreservedly commit to all the silliness. Above all, all the stunts, effects, choreography, and action really are superb, and wouldn't look out of place in a more serious-minded feature. Even that sequence of song and dance is a minor joy, however absurd it is on the face of things. The outright nonsense becomes a step too far, yet if all you want out of Golden Harvest is tremendous action and stunt work, then this picture delivers in spades.In some measure it's definitely a mixed bag; with more restraint and a tad more mindful care the flick would surely enjoy a more significant legacy. It may have only wanted to have a good time, yet sometimes Too Much really is just Too Much. At the same time, 'City hunter' has no illusions of being anything other than a preposterous, irreverent joy ride, and even if some odds and ends share more in common with 'Looney tunes' than 'Die hard,' by and large this is a blast. Unless you're a huge fan of Chan or someone else involved, Golden Harvest, or the manga, there's surely no need to go out of your way for this. It bears repeating though, that the stunts and action are pretty much just brilliant, and by that measure alone 'City hunter' is worth checking out if you have the opportunity.
Reviewed by gerrytwo

Jackie Chan As A Comic-Strip Private Eye

Jackie Chan plays a womanizing private eye known as City Hunter in this Wong Jing directed movie. The movie is played for surreal laughs part of the time. But with Wong Jing at the helm of this comic strip of a movie, that is no surprise. When you watch this movie, you realize that Jackie Chan knows how to pick stories and direct himself better than anyone else.I saw this movie on the Media Arts DVD released in April, 1999. The Japanese manufactured DVD has subtitles in 8 languages, including English and Spanish. The aspect ratio is 2.35 and the image quality is very fine.
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