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After a couple of decades as a film star in Asia, Jackie Chan hit it big in the United States in 1995 with his import, Rumble in the Bronx. He then scored his first real Hollywood blockbuster alongside Chris Tucker in 1998’s Rush Hour. When they asked him what he wanted to do next, he proposed making a Western action/comedy, leading to 2000’s Shanghai Noon and its 2003 sequel, Shanghai Knights. The pair of films have just been rereleased as a Blu-ray two-pack.
Just as Rush Hour paired Chan with an established American co-star, Shanghai Noon plays the Western as a buddy movie by bringing in Owen Wilson to do the heavy lifting in dialogue and to provide a foil for Chan’s brand of kung-fu hijinks. Chan plays Chon Wang, an imperial guard in China who travels to the U.S. to pay a fortune in gold as ransom for the abducted princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu). Along the way, he runs into hapless outlaw Roy O’Bannon (Wilson), whose gang decides that they’d be better off without their accident-prone leader. After much squabbling, the two eventually fall in together to rescue the princess and recover the gold.
Shanghai Noon is a pretty straightforward Western, and a lot of the fun comes from playing familiar tropes through Chan’s unique blend of high-speed martial arts action and slapstick comedy. The pun in his character’s name (say it out loud) gives you a pretty good idea of the tone for the entire film. Chan works well with Wilson, and the latter’s goofy charm helps smooth over some of the more clichéd plot points. It doesn’t break any new ground in terms of action or comedy, but it’s all done well enough that you won’t notice that you’ve seen most of it before.
The film’s new Blu-ray release pairs Shanghai Noon with its sequel, Shanghai Knights, which reunites the stars and shifts the action to the United Kingdom. You can find a brief review of that film here.
Both films transfer well on the single Blu-ray disc, without any noticeable loss in video or audio quality. Each carries over the special features from previous home media releases while adding one or two new items. Shanghai Noon includes a commentary with Chan, Wilson, and director Tom Dey, while Shanghai Knights includes two commentaries: one with writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and a separate one with director David Dobkin. They’re all pretty standard, but they’re worth a listen if you’re a fan.
The better additions are the action featurettes included with both films. Chan choreographed most of his own stunts over the series—and his risky, old-school approach and insistence on doing his own stunts has earned him quite a reputation. Watching him develop action beats and stunts and, yes, screw them up as often as not just never gets old.
Neither of these films sits near the top of action or comedy best-of lists, but they’re both enjoyable and extremely well-made. Jackie Chan has naturally slowed down a bit as he’s gotten older, but Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights serve as a reminder of the days when his still-impressive physical prowess met Hollywood big-budget filmmaking. On their own, each film packs a solid punch. In an affordable double-feature Blu-ray package, they’re a knockout.
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