Conference bookie::movies

     I heard that this movie was a stinko.....lousy dubbing of the english 
    language and everything.  Anyone else hear this? 

RE: .-1 -<stinko?>-

It depends on your expectations walking in.  If you expect Oscar level
acting with a script that will have college literature professors talking
about the new Shakespeare, then you will certainly think it is "stinko".

But on the other hand, if you go in expecting to see a chop-socky film
with lots of humor and some astounding stunt work by Chan and others, then
you will enjoy this movie.  That is what my wife and I expected, and we
liked the film quite a bit.  We are now searching Blockbuster for other
Jackie Chan movies that we can see.

-- Ken Moreau

    I am a massive fan of Jackie Chan films, the least pretentious films
    you could possibly imagine. I would thoroughly recommend any of the
    Police Story trilogy, Armour of God, Project A, and for a really good
    laugh one of the really old films like, Snake In the Eagles Shadow,
    Drunken Master, Young Master, or Master with Cracked Fingers.
    
    I must admit to be really looking forward to seeing Rumble in the Bronx
    as soon as I can find somewhere that will be showing it in the UK.
    
    dickie.

> .....lousy dubbing of the english language and everything.

	I didn't realize that this was a non-English language film
	latter dubbed into English (the film title, ala "Bronx"
	seemed to imply the setting is supposed to be the US),
	is the above true?

jeff-who-usually-prefers-subtitles-on-non-English-language-films

    In my opinion the only time that dubbing works over subtitles is for
    this sort of film. The comedic aspect of these films is often lost in
    the use of subtitles, i.e. subtitles can't handle comic timing or the
    inflection of words where a good bit of over dubbing by an actor can.
    
    dickie.
    
    

    
    	I agree with .2 completely. Lots of fantastic stunts, some 
    	poor dubbing, but GREAT fun! It seems to have been made half
    	in english, with the rest dubbed over later. 

    I caught this a while ago....
    
    Actually, since script and plot weren't the strong points of this
    movie, the fairly poor dubbing/synchronization job made it all the more
    bearable to watch.  I mean, there are some seriously atrocious lines in
    this movie, and the poor dubbing makes it much easier to take.  As in
    very funny.  It was a great movie, for entertainment value and
    stuntwork.  Not even a good movie otherwise. :)  But one cancelled out
    the other and overall, it was rather fun.
    
    
    For the person who was wondering if "Bronx" in the title meant the
    movie was set in the U.S., well, sorta.  Vancouver doubles as the
    Bronx.  If you watch, you can see snow-covered mountains in the
    background at times.  Not exactly the sort of scenery you usually find
    in NYC.  :)
    
    This is indeed a Hong Kong film -- although there are some non-Chinese
    speaking actors (Canadians, I'd guess, and not the cream of the crop,
    to be sure.)
    
    *** out of **** for "fun" value. 
    
    
    kim
    

I went with friends to the Harvard Square cinema with three friends (all of us
in late 40s, early 50s and we were clearly the oldest and in the minority).  The
crowd was mainly young males from 18-30 and it was as much fun watching the 
movie as watching the audience react and get into the movie.

We loved it.  It was a real kick!  (Sorry, could not resist the pun)  The stunt
choreography was stunning; there was a lot of humor, and the plot was the 
typical simplistic moralistic line usually get with these movies but that did
not really matter; we were not there to burrow into deep existentialist
thinking.  

For those of you who have kids, I think it is okay for 12 year olds and up. What
I cannot remember is the language.  I rarely "hear" the bad language in films
anymore--it seems to have become a part of everyday life.

Be sure to stay to see all the credits--makes you appreciate the movie even
more.

Enjoy!
Ruth Ann

	FWIW, Siskel & Ebert both gave a thumbs up.  Thanks to the previous
	noter who answered that the film is supposed to take place in NYC
	(in the Bronx) but is filmed in Canada, as now I remember S&E did
	mention that.

	Those also mentioned, and I believe Jackie Chan confirmed when
	he was on Letterman, that he does all his own stunts, and in
	past films has been injured (such as a broken ankle) and yet
	continued shooting the scene and the movie.

    
    	Actually, I believe he broke his ankle during THIS film.
    

    
    	He did break it in this film, they show the scene during the
    	credits [they used the scene in the movie, too]. He appears
    	to have filmed the rest of the movie wearing a cast...

    I finally got to see this one!   I think it was one of the most amusing
    movies I've ever seen.  This is what I expected...poor dubbing, not
    much of a story, great choreographed fight scenes, and some good humor!
    Therefore I was not disappointed, as I said in another topic, Jackie
    Chan rules!
    
    If you're thinking in the back of your mind, "I don't wanna rent it
    cause it's dubbed!"  Give your head a shake, your missing a great,
    entertaining, fun flick!   I give 'er a 3.5 out a 4!
    
    	J

I saw this on the weekend too. Gee, I love Jackie Chan, but was
disappointed. Is it unfair to...expect too much?

I don't mind the dubbing, that's fun. The stunts are spectacular, of
course. 

But, most of the second half was swallowed up by the stupid hovercraft
stuff. Gad, what a waste. I guess once they got their hands on a
hovercraft they had to get their money's worth, and use it a lot.

Stuntwise, I prefer the fight choreography, which is breathtaking,
to the giant crashing vehicle-type stunts shown here. These generic 
"Speed" "Die Hard" etc style wrecks are notable only because Jackie
does them himself. But the real magic is in the kung-fu scenes.

Chan's "Drunken" kung-fu movies for example, are a lot more fun.

They spent so much time crashing around in the hovercraft that they
neglected to resolve even the simplest of plot points:

    
What happened to the diamonds? 
Could they use them to rebuild the store?
Did they rebuild the store?

Surely they could have edited some of the hovercraft baloney to find
time for a quick scene at the end, sipping tea back in the store with
the bikers or something.

Neil