HK Cinema - 1984
After Chan’s big breakout films – Snake in the
Eagles Shadow and Drunken Master – he continued in the kung-fu genre with
Young Master and Dragon Lord, but the success of Winners and Sinners and
the obvious decline of the kung-fu genre pointed to the need of going in
a different direction. He did so with a classic film – Project A.
This was the first “modern” film that Jackie made.
Modern in the sense that it left the world of Shaw Brothers kung-fu type
films behind (to which he would return only one more time with Drunken
Master II in 1994) and jumped into more modern settings with modern sensibilities.
His films from this point on would just have a completely different feel
to them. Though martial arts would always be a major element of his films,
he brought in even more comedy and began to do his famous death defying
stunts.
Though they had worked together before – all
appearing in Winners and Sinners – this was the first film in which Jackie,
Sammo and Yuen would appear together in starring roles. The chemistry between
the three of them was magical. Not only in their action scenes, but also
in the personal interplay between themselves. They were to star in other
films together, but not nearly as many as their fans would have liked