The Medallion (2003)

Director:

Gordon Chan

Writers:

Alfred Cheung (story)
Bennett Davlin (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 August 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Action | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

A Hong Kong detective suffers a fatal accident involving a mysterious medallion and is transformed into an immortal warrior with superhuman powers.

Plot Keywords:

Medallion | Warrior | Hong Kong | Interpol | Superhuman Speed

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Eddie Yang
Lee Evans	...	Arthur Watson
Claire Forlani	...	Nicole James
Julian Sands	...	Snakehead
John Rhys-Davies	...	Cmdr. Hammerstock-Smythe
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Lester (as Anthony Wong)
Christy Chung	...	Charlotte Watson
Johann Myers	...	Giscard
Alex Bao	...	Jai (as Alexander Bao)
Siu-Ming Lau	...	Antiquerium Dealer (as Lau Siu Ming)
Diana C. Weng	...	Undercover Woman (as Diana Weng)
Chow Pok Fu	...	High Priest
Tat-kwong Chan	...	Monk
Wai Cheung Mak	...	Monk (as Mak Wai Cheung)
Anthony Carpio	...	Guard Monk
Bruce Khan	...	Snakehead Thug
Nicholas Tse	...	Waiter
Edison Chen	...	Waiter
Scott Adkins	...	Henchman
Matt Routledge	...	Henchman (as Matthew James Routledge)
Reuben Langdon	...	Henchman (as Reuben Christopher Langdon)
Mark Strange	...	Henchman (as Michael Strange)
Hiro Hayama	...	Henchman (as Hiroyoshi Komuro)
Han Guan Hua	...	Henchman
Neilí Conroy	...	Interpol Receptionist
Billy Hill	...	Miles Watson
Tara Leniston	...	Jai's Nurse
Nicola Berwick	...	Kidnap Nurse (as Nikki Berwick)
Paul Andreovski	...	Kidnap Porter
Howard Gibbins	...	Professor of Archeology
Rick Nathanson	...	Physician
Alfred Cheung	...	Chinese Professor
Mona Lynn	...	Astrologer
Kirk Trutner	...	Hippie Scientist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ricardo Mamood-Vega	...	Interpol Agent Martin (uncredited)
Uri Schwarz	...	Interpol Agent (uncredited)
Matthew Sturgess	...	Interpol Agent Harrington (uncredited)
Chris Torres	...	Henchmen (uncredited)

Directed by
Gordon Chan

Writing credits
Alfred Cheung		(story and original characters)
Bennett Davlin		(written by) (as Bennett Joshua Davlin) &
Alfred Cheung		(written by) &
Gordon Chan		(written by) &
Paul Wheeler		(written by) and
Bey Logan		(written by)

Produced by
Bill Borden	....	co-executive producer
Jackie Chan	....	executive producer
Willie Chan	....	executive producer
Alfred Cheung	....	producer
Tim Kwok	....	co-producer
Candy Leung	....	co-producer
Rick Nathanson	....	line producer
Albert Yeung	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Adrian Lee

Cinematography by
Arthur Wong		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Don Brochu
Ki-hop Chan

Casting by
Leo Davis

Production Design by
Joseph C. Nemec III

Art Direction by
Alan Cassie
Lek Chaiyan Chunsuttiwat
Conor Dennison
Anna Rackard

Set Decoration by
Joanne Woollard

Costume Design by
Grania Preston

Makeup Department
Roisin O'Reilly	....	assistant makeup artist
Simon Rose	....	additional prosthetics technician

Production Management
Narimon Atibaed	....	production manager: Thailand
Veerapol Atibaed Billy	....	production supervisor
Howard Gibbins	....	production manager
Chris Lowenstein	....	production manager
Panyawadee Sangchai	....	production supervisor (as Panyawadee Navarut Na Ayudhya)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Douglas Aarniokoski	....	second unit director (as Doug Aarniokoski)
Susan Drennan	....	third assistant director
Sharon Lam	....	first assistant director: Ireland
Nick Laws	....	first assistant director
Lemon Liu	....	first assistant director: second unit
Sylvia Liu	....	first assistant director
Gary Mak	....	first assistant director
Tara McNamee	....	assistant director
Brian 'Joker' Mulvey	....	second second assistant director: Ireland
Suzanne Nicell	....	second assistant director
Ka-Wai Tong	....	second assistant director: Hong Kong and Thailand

Art Department
Ravi Bansal	....	concept illustrator
Graeme Bird	....	model maker
Tony Boston	....	props
Leslie Burns	....	third unit art director
Somm Suthinee Chantakarn	....	set coordinator
Sarawut Chincharoen	....	location
Tamara Conboy	....	graphic designer
Stephen Daly	....	storyboard artist
Cos Egan	....	set dresser
Eoin Egan	....	props
Tony Graysmark	....	construction manager
Anna Kirwan	....	assistant buyer
Kate McColgan	....	art department coordinator
Philip Murphy	....	props
Boontawee 'Tor' Taweepasas	....	construction buyer
Jil Turner	....	props buyer
Jason Whetzell	....	third unit assistant art director
Arthur Wicks	....	property master
Oliver Wong	....	art director: Hong Kong

Sound Department
John Chalfant	....	sound effects editor
David B. Cohn	....	supervising dialogue & adr editor
Paula Fairfield	....	sound effects editor
Vincent Guisetti	....	foley artist
Wayne Heitman	....	sound re-recording mixer
William Jacobs	....	sound editor
Pamela Kahn	....	foley artist
Larry Kemp	....	sound editor
Larry Mann	....	supervising sound editor
Carla Murray	....	sound editor
Kyle Rochlin	....	foley mixer
Colin Rogers	....	adr mixer
Jeff Sawyer	....	sound effects editor
Simon J. Willis	....	production sound mixer

Special Effects by
Kevin Byrne	....	special effects supervisor: Ireland
Gerry P. Farrell	....	special effects technician
Kevin Nolan	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Nicolas Aithadi	....	lead 3D animator: MPC
Henry Badgett	....	roto/prep artist: MPC
Angela Barson	....	compositing supervisor
Simon Brown	....	lead research and development
Gary Brozenich	....	sequence lead
Peter Connelly	....	digital compositor
Mark Curtis	....	digital compositor
Paddy Eason	....	visual effects supervisor
Paul Elman	....	visual effects editor
Chris Elson	....	digital compositor
Michael Elson	....	head of production: MPC
Matthew Gidney	....	lead technical director
Rachael Haupt	....	concept artist
Rachael Haupt	....	creature designer
Charley Henley	....	digital compositor
Rob Hill	....	digital camera operator
Robin Hollander	....	digital artist
Lorea Hoye	....	visual effects line producer: MPC
Merrin Jensen	....	visual effects producer
Lars Johansson	....	CG supervisor
Paddy Kelly	....	visual effects coordinator
Tom Kimberley	....	roto/prep artist
Ines Krüger	....	digital compositor
Ines Krüger	....	digital painter
Stuart Lashley	....	digital compositor
Sarah Lockwood	....	digital compositor
Dan Neal	....	3D artist
Catherine Nelson	....	digital compositor
Steve Pang	....	visual effects assistant editor
Simon Payne	....	animator: MPC
Olivier Poujaud	....	lead compositor
Richard Stammers	....	digital artist
Jelena Stojanovic	....	sequence supervisor
James D. Tittle	....	digital visual effects coordinator: Pacific Title
Malin Tvedt	....	digital compositor
John Van Hoey Smith	....	data operator
Sheila Wickens	....	digital compositor: MPC (as Sheila Gorman)
Christian Zeh	....	digital compositor
Howard Berry	....	rotoscope artist (uncredited)
Martyn Drake	....	systems: MPC (uncredited)
Richard Yeomans	....	visual effects runner: MPC (uncredited)

Stunts
Bradley James Allan	....	stunts
Paul Andreovski	....	stunts
Lan Hai Han	....	stunt coordinator
Yu Haoer	....	stunts
Jun He	....	stunts (as He Jun)
Te Hu Hsiao	....	stunts (as Siu Tak Fu)
Han Guan Hua	....	stunts
Tin Chiu Hung	....	stunts (as Sammy Hung)
Allen Keng	....	stunt performer (as Allan Keng)
Chi Kit Lee	....	stunts (as Lee Chi Kit)
In Seob Lee	....	stunts (as Lee In Seob)
Chung Chi Li	....	stunt coordinator (as Li Chung Chi)
Ke Ming Lin	....	stunt coordinator (as Lam Hark Ming)
Giedrius Nagys	....	stunts
Chang Dong Oh	....	stunts
Hyun Jin Park	....	stunts (as Park Hyun Jin)
Kim Woo Sang	....	stunts
Gang Wu	....	stunt performer (as Wu Gang)
Guo Yang	....	stunts
Philippe Zone	....	stunt coordinator
Scott Adkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ricardo Alexander	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nicola Berwick	....	stunts: knight 2 (uncredited)
Paul Burke	....	utility stunts: Ireland (uncredited)
Marky Lee Campbell	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Anthony Carpio	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jackie Chan	....	stunt actor (uncredited)
Tat-kwong Chan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Billy Ching Sau Yat	....	stunts (uncredited)
Brendan Condren	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Eigo	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dominick Hewitt	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Han Guan Hua	....	additional stunt double: Jackie Chan (uncredited)
David Ismalone	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bruce Khan	....	additional stunt double: Jackie Chan (uncredited)
Rocky Lai	....	stunts (uncredited)
Reuben Langdon	....	stunt double: Julian Sands (uncredited)
Reuben Langdon	....	stunts (uncredited)
In Seob Lee	....	additional stunt double: Jackie Chan (uncredited)
Bey Logan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jimmy Lui	....	assistant fight choreographer (uncredited)
Jimmy Lui	....	fight trainer (uncredited)
Wai Cheung Mak	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ricardo Mamood-Vega	....	stunts (scenes deleted) (uncredited)
Erik Markus Schuetz	....	stunts (uncredited)
Donal O'Farrell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Daniel Patrick O'Neill	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Hyun Jin Park	....	additional stunt double: Jackie Chan (uncredited)
Jude Poyer	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank Reilly	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Gary Robinson	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Mark Strange	....	stunts (uncredited)
Matthew Sturgess	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Don Thai Theerathada	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chris Torres	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Benny Urquidez	....	fight trainer (uncredited)
Kwok Fai Yung	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Barnard	....	director of photography: second unit
Darryl Byrne	....	assistant camera: time-lapse photography
Donal Caulfield	....	cinematographer: time-lapse unit
Hugh-Thomas Cavanagh	....	electrician: Dublin
John Conroy	....	focus puller: "b" camera
Tony Devlin	....	gaffer
Richie Egan	....	grip
Robert Hamilton	....	video assist operator
Patric Kickham	....	video assist operator
Seamus Lynch	....	electrician
Philip McKeon	....	first assistant camera
Anthony Meade	....	additional clapper loader
Philip Murphy	....	grip
Stephen Murphy	....	additional assistant camera
Matt Skinner	....	director of photography: second unit
Jimmy Wong	....	camera operator
Jimmy Wong	....	camera operator: "a" camera

Animation Department
Robert Hemmings	....	animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sue Wain	....	costume supervisor
Kar Yan Yip	....	assistant costume designer (as Karen Yip)

Editorial Department
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Alan Z. McCurdy	....	first assistant editor
Mark Wright	....	negative cutter (uncredited)

Music Department
Jay Duerr	....	music editor
Gary Lionelli	....	composer: additional music
Gary Lionelli	....	orchestrator
Steve Porcaro	....	composer: additional music
Steve Porcaro	....	orchestrator

Transportation Department
Eddie Cullen	....	transportation captain
Fiona Mulvey	....	assistant transportation captain

Other crew
Lark Bernini	....	production coordinator
Miriam Cahill	....	assistant to producers: Ireland
Sandra Campbell	....	shipping coordinator
Sasha Charuvastra	....	photo double
Catherine Geary	....	location assistant
Donal Geraghty	....	production accountant
Moira Houlihan	....	unit publicist
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	....	action director (as Sammo Hung)
David Jones	....	photo double
Bruce Khan	....	assistant fight choreographer: Sammo Hung
Matt Kosokoff	....	photo double: Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Thailand
Matt Kosokoff	....	stand-in: Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Thailand
Ashifa Lalani	....	first assistant accountant
Charles Mcdonald	....	unit publicist
John McKenna	....	senior armorer
Johnny Mulligan	....	location accountant
Elaine Nicell	....	assistant production coordinator
Anchittha Phongchub	....	production assistant
Sven Rittershaus	....	photo double
Edmund Sampson	....	assistant location manager
Steve Sandford	....	photo double
Vasit Suchitta	....	prosthetic effects
Clodagh Tierney	....	location manager
Kathleen Weir	....	script supervisor
Diana C. Weng	....	dialogue coach: Mr. Chan
Sabine Wührer	....	script timer

Production Companies

• Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG) (in association with)
• Golden Port Productions Ltd.
• Living Films
• Screen Gems (as Screen Gems)

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) (2003) (worldwide) (all media) (except Asia and France)
• TriStar Pictures (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Screen Gems (2003) (USA) (video)
• Buena Vista International (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Film Distributors (2003) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Film (2003) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films (2003-2004) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2003) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Italia (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar (2003) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Herald Film Company (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• SND (2003-2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003-2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Emperor Motion Pictures (2003) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• RTL Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing) (RTL5)

Special Effects

• Team Effects Ltd. (special effects)
• Moving Picture Company (MPC) (digital visual effects)

Other Companies

• AON/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services  insurances
• Bigdog Production Co. Ltd.  production services: Thailand
• Centro Digital Pictures Ltd.  video dailies
• Cine Art Laboratory  film processing: Hong Kong
• CineFinance Insurance Services  completion guaranty provided by
• Cutting Edge  negative cutting
• DeLuxe Laboratories  color timing
• Dexia Banque Internationale a Luxembourg  bank financing
• Kodak (Hong Kong) Ltd.  film stock supplied by
• Oriental Post Co. Ltd.  telecine transfer
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Roundabout Entertainment  adr stage
• Salon Films  camera and lighting equipment supplied by: Panavision cameras and lenses, Chapman dollies
• Sony Pictures Studios  sound re-recording
• Tai Fung (Tsu's) Co. Ltd.  film stock supplied by
• VS Service Ltd.  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

"Highbinders" - UK (imdb display title), USA (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence and some sexual humor

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Hong Kong | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39538) | Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Malaysia:U | Ireland:12 | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Dublin Castle, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company:

Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG)

Trivia:

According to tour guides at Dublin Castle in Ireland, Jackie Chan hopped onto the throne during filming of The Medallion (2003). This made him the first person to sit on the throne since King George V.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Nicole kisses Eddie in the morgue when he is dead, you can see Jackie's throat move.

Quotes:

Arthur Watson:[Addressing Hammerstock-Smythe and a group of officers, while Eddie is picking himself up after falling from a roof] See - I told you he wasn't dead!

Movie Connections:

References "Jackie Chan Adventures" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Twist and Shout

Fun fantasy, and not much else

It has taken Jackie Chan about 27 years, a good 60 movies or so, and a few near death experiences for him to decide that he can start making movies that don't regularly involve certain death, thanks to CGI. The results are not so good. In fact, I'll just say it: 'The Medallion' is a terrible action movie.

Jackie plays Eddie Yang, a Hong Kong detective chasing a villain named Snakehead (those villains and their crazy names). Snakehead, like all Hong Kong villains is actually English, so when he kidnaps a boy with the power to control The Medallion, Yang follows him to Ireland to reclaim the Medallion and find the child (who just goes to prove, that even if you live in a Buddhist temple in a sewer below Hong Kong, you can still learn to speak perfect English with an English accent).

Seems like 'The Golden Child'? Why yes, yes it does. Its a fun fantasy movie for kids, but anyone wanting to watch an action movie should watch this up until a short cameo appearance by Sammo Hung and then turn it off very quickly. Now I'm not a fan of CGI action, but I assumed that with Jackie Chan starring and Sammo Hung directing the action - two action masters - could still pull of some entertaining action scenes. Apparently not, as 'The Medallion' is only marginally better than, oh, say 'Charlie's Angels 2'.

Fun for kids, but action fans should avoid entirely. I'm being generous when I give this 5/10.