This is Jackie Chan's infamous Project A stunt,
where the iconic international performer fell three stories
off an oversized clock face onto solid Earth
with no protective padding.
Jackie Chan survived this stunt.
He also survived this stunt and this one, and unbelievably
this one.
However, today we're going to discuss the stunt that
almost killed Jackie Chan.
Born Chan Kong-Sang, the performer in question
has appeared in American blockbusters,
influential martial arts films, and even transcended
into the status of pop culture phenomenon.
And yet one aspect of Chan's filmography
that's not discussed nearly enough
is how close he's come to death in the pursuit of his art
and how that very close call might actually be
the reason why he's so famous.
Yes, we all know Jackie Chan performs many of his own stunts
and trained for decades to be able to accomplish
these superhuman feats.
His performances have an intrinsic kinetic athleticism
that wouldn't be possible without the dedication
to his craft.
But for the people outside of the industry,
there seems to be a gap in the understanding of just
how truly life threatening many of Chan's attempted feats
really are.
Jackie Chan first appeared in film at the age of eight
in a project titled Big and Little Wong Tin Bar.
Released in 1962, the film was a modest success.
However its key contribution was to spark a passion
in the young actor for filmmaking.
From this day forward, Chan devoted himself
to the twin passions of filmmaking and martial arts.
After toiling away for years, Jackie Chan eventually
crafted a journeyman career for himself
in the martial arts cinema of Hong Kong.
He appeared as both an extra and a stunt
double in the iconic Bruce Lee films, Fist Of Fury
and Enter The Dragon, among many other similar genre entries.
However his big break came in 1976
when he received a telegram from Hong Kong producer, Willie Chan
who after being impressed with his stunt choreography,
offered him a leading role in a feature film.
This eventually led to Jackie Chan
developing his trademark comedic martial arts stunt forward
style of filmmaking.
Which brings us to the crossroads.
We're going to be discussing today.
The time period when Jackie Chan was simultaneously
starring in Heart of the Dragon during the day
and directing and starring in Police Story at night.
Police Story represented a do or die moment in Chan's career.
He had cemented himself as a known commodity
in the martial arts world but that wasn't particularly known
outside of Asia.
Not being satisfied with that, Chan
said about learning English and partaking
in a much more creative role in the projects
he was involved in.
He knew a simple fact, if you wanted
to be known on a global scale, you
needed to be known in America.
He wanted to break into the Hollywood system.
At this point in time, Chinese action films
were not a major export so the only way
to really break through and gain a wide international following
was to go establish a following in the West.
Chan was just coming off of a disappointing experience
working with writer/director James Glickenhaus
on the film The Protector.
This had been Chan's second attempt
at breaching the Western film market having just starred
in a Chinese-American co-production The Big Brawl.
Both of these films had performed modestly
at the box office and were received well critically.
But neither had done what Chan needed,
given him a foot in the door to the Hollywood system.
They were admittedly experiments.
They were largely Chinese casts with Western production
companies and directors.
The goal being to re-dub the pictures into English
and hopefully gain a significant box office draw.
Hey.
Are you OK?
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No.
Regrettably, both The Protector and The Big Brawl
did not cross over and capture the hearts and minds
of American audiences.
They're both fine films but didn't
have a big enough spectacle to overcome the language
barrier for Western audiences.
Jackie Chan hoped that Police Story would be different.
He hoped that his ideas, passions, and energy
could make up for the failure of The Protector and The Big
Brawl.
Ostensibly, he was trying to just will the film into
being a success single handedly, and you
can feel that in every shot of the production.
Jackie Chan is giving everything he's got in every single shot.
Just look at his face here.
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And now back to the video.
The film centers on a Hong Kong Detective, Kevin Chan Ka-Kui
as he takes part in the largest undercover sting
in recent memory.
Police Story features wall to wall stunts,
adrenaline fueled action set pieces,
and a go for broke approach to filmmaking
that communicates the desperation and passion
that Jackie Chan was feeling during the creation
of the film.
From his perspective, this was his last shot
to really break into the American market
and that drive is inarguably manifested in the film's
most iconic stunt.
This now infamous sequence in Police Story
was filmed with 15 different cameras.
Each of them only had magazines capable of holding
15 feet of film, so when they started
rolling Jackie Chan knew he had a leap off of a seven story
mall banister, grab a metal pole,
and ride it down as quickly as possible.
Any hesitation or error would result in tens of thousands
of dollars film wasted, and potentially Jackie's death.
The sequence is so shocking they replay it three times
within the film from three different angles just
to communicate how impressive it truly is.
After Chan finished shooting the sequence,
he was quickly whisked off to the set of Heart Of The Dragon
to continue his commitments there.
On the drive over, he took a nap in the car physically
exhausted but satisfied he knew he
got the shot that he needed to act as the climax
to the fight sequence.
When he had woken up after arriving on set,
he reached out to open the car door but couldn't.
He realized that he had been functioning off
of pure adrenaline and didn't notice how badly he was hurt.
After being rushed to the hospital
and being quickly inspected by the medical staff there,
it wasn't covered that Chan had second degree
burns on his palms from the lights on the pole being
plugged directly into the building's electrical supply,
a broken 7 and 8 spinal vertebrae, a dislocated pelvis,
and severe bruising over his entire body.
Despite getting up and walking away from this massive stunt,
the effects followed him for years.
He went through surgery, physical therapy,
and a long recuperation period to heal from his stunt.
It's no understatement to say that this very literally is
the stunt that almost killed Jackie Chan.
You might be asking yourself, what
did Jackie Chan mess up that he got injured so badly?
Nothing.
He executed the stunt perfectly.
This is just the cost of jumping seven stories
and sliding down a pole laced with highly electrified lights.
Ultimately, Police Story would be a blockbuster
in both Asia and Europe.
It grossed close to $19 million, roughly the equivalent
of $47 million in today's currency.
It won Best Film at the 1986 Hong Kong film Awards
and is generally considered the film that broke Jackie Chan out
into the American markets in a meaningful way.
It wasn't necessarily the instant crossover
he was hoping for, but it cleared the path
for Supercop, Rumble In The Bronx.
And the other Hong Kong American co-productions
that cemented Chan as an international movie star.
Chan's dedication to his craft and willingness
to literally take his life in his own hands
is the exemplar of just how dedicated
he was to finding success in the film business.
There comes a moment in every artist's career
where they're presented with the question,
how far are you willing to go to get what you want?
And for Jackie Chan the answer came
in the form of throwing himself off of a seven story banister.
And that's all we have this week.
What do you think?
What's your favorite Jackie Chan stunt?
Let us in the comments below.
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