Thunderbolt (1995)

In order to release his kidnapped sister, sports car mechanic Chan Foh To (Jackie Chan) has to beat a supercriminal street racer.

Director:

Gordon Chan

Writers:

Gordon Chan, Hing-Ka Chan

Stars:

Jackie Chan, Anita Yuen, Michael Wong

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jackie Chan	...	Chan Foh To
Anita Yuen	...	Amy Yip
Michael Wong	...	Steve Cannon
Thorsten Nickel	...	Warner 'Cougar' Kaugman
Yuen Chor	...	Uncle Tung / Foh's father (Alfred's father in US version) (as Yun Chor)
Hoi-Yan Wu	...	Dai Mui (Daphne in US version) (as Daisy Wu Oi-Yan)
Chung-Han Man	...	Sai Mui / May (Sammi in US version) (as Man Chun-Han)
Yûzô Kayama	...	Coach Mirakami (as Kayama Yuzo)
Kenya Sawada	...	Saw (as Sawada Kenya)
Ken Lo	...	Kong (as Houi-Kang Low)
Chi Wah Wong	...	Mr. Lam (as Tze-Wah Wong)
Kar Lok Chin	...	Coach's Assistant (as Ka-Lok Chin)
Corey Yuen	...	The Doctor (as Cory Yuen)
Marie Eguro	...	Miss Kenya (as Eguro Mari)
Kam-Cheong Yung	...	Cheong, mechanic (as Peter Yung Kam-Cheong)

Storyline

Jackie plays Foh, an expert mechanic who has returned from Japan after a master course at Mitsubishi Motors. He runs a small business in Hong Kong along with his father and two sisters. In his spare time, he also helps the police out by checking cars that have been illegally upgraded. One night, psychotic street racing driver Warner Krugerman, aka Cougar, speeds past Foh and the cops. Foh gets into a car and stops Cougar heroically. Cougar lands in jail, but breaks out eventually. He gets revenge on Foh by trashing his business and kidnapping his sisters. The only way Foh can get his sisters back is by racing cougar in Japan. He now must retrain himself in race car driving so he can be at his best to race Cougar.

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Plot Keywords:

car | mechanic | jail | race car | hong kong | 

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Taglines:

Oddsen kan inte bli mycket högre än så här

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese English Japanese

Release Date:

5 August 1995 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Thunderbolt

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

HKD 2,000,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company,Paragon Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The theme song, which is in Cantonese at the beginning and in Mandarin at the end, is sung by Jackie Chan.

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Goofs

In the beginning of the race, Foh enters the pitlane. Krugman has already passed the pit entry. Foh gets a 30 second penalty, and has to stay in the pit for 1 minute 31 seconds. At 1 minute 15 or so, Krugman comes in, which means he did a very fast lap (q-time was 1:39). During his part of the race, Krugman laps Foh, but Foh is never seen relapping him, while winning the race.

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Alternate Versions

Two different openings were shot for the film. In the Japanese print, Jackie, while training at the Mitsubishi car plant in Japan, breaks company rules by test driving a prototype without permission. As a result, he has to return to Hong Kong. In the Hong Kong print, Jackie simply completes his training, has an amusing encounter with the boss's daughter, then leaves Japan of his own accord.

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Connections

Referenced in Rage (1995)

User Reviews

Delivers nothing new, but the action is brilliant

Jackie Chan goes back to his roots in this exciting, martial arts, car racing drama. I was kept interested by the film throughout and I rarely got bored due to the adrenaline pumping fight scenes and fairly captivating plot.

Jackie Foh's (Jackie Chan) sister's are kidnapped by a criminal racing driver and Jackie must beat him in a race to get them back. What the plot lacks is intelligence and justification of the ideas. Why did the racing driver kidnap the sister's in the first place? Why does he want to race Jackie? These are things that are never really developed and don't really make much sense. However, what the plot lacks in intricacies it makes up for in intensity and entices the audiences with 'Rocky-esque', uplifting scenes where we see Jackie train to become the best racer there is. It is done in a typical, feel-good way and gets the viewer behind Jackie throughout.

The acting is actually very good and Jackie Chan, Michael Wong and Kar Lok Chin are particularly impressive in their roles as Jackie Foh, Steve Cannon the attorney, and Jackie's racing trainer respectively. However, as usual in Hong Kong films, the Western actors are pretty poor, most notably Cougar (the kidnapper) played by Thorsten Nickel.

As far as the action goes, we see a familiar style reminiscent of Jackie's 'Police Story' days, with some of the best fight scenes you are ever likely to witness, especially a scene where Jackie uses a sledgehammer to fend off his adversaries. The action is presented in such a way where the viewer can actually 'see' what is happening, as a result of clever camera-work, so it is made that more exciting because we know it is real. This is where Chan films always excel; we feel the danger for the character, because we know the stunts are real and not computer generated effects; this adds so much to the exhilaration.

There is not much character development, plot depth or originality, but it achieves to entertain the audience and even at times 'move' them. Definitely a 'must-see' for all Jackie Chan fans and worth taking a look at for those even slightly interested.

A good, exciting, film.

7/10