Rush Hour (1998 film)

Rush Hour (Chinese: 火拼時速) is a 1998 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and written by Jim Kouf and Ross LaManna from a story by LaManna. It stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as mismatched police officers who are assigned to rescue a Chinese diplomat's abducted daughter. Tzi Ma, Tom Wilkinson, Ken Leung, Mark Rolston, Elizabeth Peña, and Rex Linn play supporting roles. Released on September 18, 1998, the film grossed over $244 million worldwide. The film's box office success led to two sequels: "Rush Hour 2" (2001) and "Rush Hour 3" (2007).
Plot.
On the last day of British rule of Hong Kong in 1997, Detective Inspector Lee of the Hong Kong Police Force leads a raid at the wharf, hoping to arrest the unidentified, anonymous crime lord Juntao. He finds only Sang, his right-hand man, who escapes. Lee recovers numerous Chinese cultural treasures stolen by Juntao, which he presents as a farewell victory gift to his departing superiors, Chinese Consul Solon Han and British Commander Thomas Griffin.
Shortly after Han takes up his new diplomatic post in LA, his daughter Soo Yung is kidnapped by Sang. He calls Lee to assist in the case, but the FBI, afraid Lee's involvement could cause an international incident, pawns him off on the LAPD. Detective James Carter is tricked into babysitting’ Lee as punishment for botching a sting operation; when he finds out, he decides to solve the case.
Carter takes Lee on a sightseeing tour, keeping him away from the embassy while contacting informants about the kidnapping. Lee makes his own way to the Chinese Consulate, where Han and the FBI await news about his daughter. While arguing with Agent-in-charge Warren Russ, Carter unwittingly negotiates with Sang, arranging a $50 million ransom drop.
The FBI traces the call to a warehouse, where a team of agents are killed by plastic explosive. Spotting Sang, Lee and Carter give chase but he escapes, dropping the detonator. Carter's colleague, LAPD bomb expert Tania Johnson, traces it to Clive, a man previously arrested by Carter. Lee tricks Clive into revealing his business relationship with Juntao whom he met at a restaurant in Chinatown, earning Carter's trust. Carter goes to the restaurant alone and sees a surveillance video of Juntao carrying Soo Yung into a van. Lee arrives and saves Carter from Juntao's syndicate, but are taken off the case as the FBI blames them for the botched ransom drop, with Lee sent back to Hong Kong.
But Carter refuses to give up; he appeals to Johnson for assistance and sneaks on board Lee's plane, persuading him to help stop Juntao. Griffin later involves himself in the case, revealing more about the HKPF's past with Juntao's syndicate, and implores Han to pay the ransom to avoid further bloodshed.
At the opening of a Chinese art exhibition at the Los Angeles Convention Center, overseen by Han and Griffin, the now $70 million ransom is delivered and Carter, Lee, and Johnson enter disguised as guests. Carter orders the guests to evacuate for safety, angering the FBI, but Lee catches Griffin accepting a remote for the detonator from Sang. Lee and Johnson realise Griffin is Juntao when Carter recognizes him from the Chinatown surveillance tape. Griffin threatens to detonate a bomb vest attached to Soo Yung, and demands the ransom be paid in full, as compensation for the priceless Chinese artifacts he preserved from Lee's raid. Carter sneaks out, locates Soo Yung in the van, and drives it into the building within range of Griffin, preventing him from setting off the vest.
Johnson gets the vest off Soo Yung, while Griffin heads to the roof with the bag of money. Lee takes the vest and pursues Griffin, while Carter shoots Sang dead in a gunfight. Lee has a brief altercation with Griffin that culminates in their dangling from the rafters. Griffin, holding onto the vest, falls to his death when the vest is torn, but when Lee falls, Carter catches him with a large flag.
Han and Soo Yung are reunited, and Han sends Carter and Lee on vacation to Hong Kong as a reward. Before Carter leaves, Agents Russ and Whitney offer him a position in the FBI, which he mockingly refuses. Carter boards the plane with Lee, annoyingly singing Edwin Starr's "War" off-key.
Production.
"Rush Hour" began as a spec script written in 1995 by screenwriter Ross LaManna. The screenplay was sold by LaManna's William Morris agent Alan Gasmer to Hollywood Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Company, with Arthur Sarkissian attached as producer. After attaching director Ratner and developing the project for more than a year with producers including Sarkissian, Jonathan Glickman and Roger Birnbaum, Disney Studios Chief Joe Roth put the project into turnaround, citing concerns about the $34-million budget, and Chan's appeal to American audiences. At the time Martin Lawrence was attached to the project. Several studios were interested in acquiring the project. New Line Cinema was confident in Ratner, having done "Money Talks" with him, so they made a hard commitment to a budget and start date for "Rush Hour".
After the success of "Rumble in the Bronx", Brett Ratner wanted to put Jackie Chan in a buddy-cop movie, not as a co-star or sidekick but as on equal footing with an American star. Ratner flew to South Africa where Chan was filming and pitched the film. A few days later Chan agreed to star in the film and not long after flew to Los Angeles and met Chris Tucker.
Ratner credited Tucker with getting his first feature film "Money Talks" and thought Tucker and Chan would make a great team.
Reception.
Box office.
"Rush Hour" opened at No. 1 at the North American box office with a weekend gross of $33 million in September 1998. "Rush Hour" grossed over $140 million in the US and $103 million in the rest of the world, for a total worldwide gross over $244 million.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 60% based on 73 reviews and an average rating of 6/10. The website's "Critics Consensus" describes the film as "[A] kick-ass addition to the cop-buddy film genre." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 23 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert praised both Jackie Chan, for his entertaining action sequences without the use of stunt doubles, and Chris Tucker, for his comical acts in the film, and how they formed an effective comedic duo. Joe Leydon of "Variety" called it "a frankly formulaic but raucously entertaining action comedy". Leydon is critical of the editing: "the editing works against Chan by breaking up the flow of his frenzied physicality." Charles Taylor of Salon.com is critical of Hollywood misusing Jackie Chan: "Chan is a one-of-a-kind performer: Bruce Lee crossed with Donald O'Connor in the "Make 'em Laugh" number from "Singin' in the Rain." Hollywood needs to stop treating him as if he were one of those fondue sets given as wedding gifts in the '70s: a foreign novelty shoved in a closet due to absolute cluelessness about what to do with it."
Michael O'Sullivan of "The Washington Post" calls the film "A misbegotten marriage of sweet and sour" and "The problem is it can't make up its mind and, unlike Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, the sharply contrasting flavors of these ingredients only leave a bad taste in the customer's mouth." O'Sullivan says Tucker is miscast, the script "perfunctory and sloppy", and the direction "limp, lethargic". Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a grade "C-" and was critical of the buddy comedy saying "The two characters barely even have a relationship; they're a union of demographics—the "urban" market meets the slapstick-action market."
Chan has expressed dissatisfaction with the film: "I didn’t like the movie. I still don’t like the movie." Chan continued: "I don’t like the way I speak English, and I don’t know what Chris Tucker is saying". Although he respects the box-office success of "Rush Hour", Chan said he preferred the films he made in his native Hong Kong because they delivered more fight scenes: "If you see my Hong Kong movies, you know what happens: Bam bam bam, always Jackie Chan-style, me, 10 minutes of fighting."
Cultural influence.
"Rush Hour" was the catalyst for the creation of the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Senh Duong, the website's founder and a Jackie Chan fan, was inspired to create the website after collecting all the reviews of Chan's Hong Kong action films as they were being released in the United States. In anticipation for "Rush Hour", Chan's first major Hollywood crossover, he coded the website in two weeks and the site went live shortly before the film's release.
Sequels.
A sequel "Rush Hour 2", was released in 2001, which was primarily set in Hong Kong. A third film, "Rush Hour 3", was released on August 10, 2007, which was primarily set in Paris. Tucker earned $25 million for his role in the third film and Chan received the film's distribution rights in Asia.
In 2007, before the release of "Rush Hour 3", Ratner was optimistic about making a fourth film and potentially having it set in Moscow. In 2017 Chan agreed to a potential script for "Rush Hour 4" after years of turning down scripts.
Music.
Edwin Starr's "War" was used as the ending theme for the film.
The film's soundtrack features the hit single "Can I Get A..." by Jay-Z, Ja Rule and Amil, as well as tracks by Flesh-n-Bone, Wu-Tang Clan, Dru Hill, Charli Baltimore and Montell Jordan.
The official soundtrack album was also a success, certified platinum on January 21, 1999.