Rush Hour (1998 film)

Rush Hour
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Brett Ratner
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by Ross LaManna
Starring
Music by Lalo Schifrin
Cinematography Adam Greenberg
Edited by Mark Helfrich
Production
company
Roger Birnbaum Productions
Distributed by New Line Cinema[1]
Release date
  • September 18, 1998 (1998-09-18)
Running time
 98 minutes
Country United States[2]
Language English
Budget $33 million[3]
Box office $244.4 million[3]

Rush Hour is a 1998 American 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 must rescue the Chinese consul's kidnapped daughter. Tom Wilkinson, Chris Penn, and Elizabeth Peña play supporting roles. Released on September 18, 1998, the film grossed over $244 million worldwide. The film's success led to two sequels: Rush Hour 2 (2001) and Rush Hour 3 (2007).

Plot

On the last day of British rule in Hong Kong late 1997, Detective Inspector Lee of the Hong Kong Police Force leads a raid at a shipping bar wharf, hoping to arrest the mysterious crime lord Juntao. He finds only Sang, Juntao's right-hand man, who manages to escape. However, Lee successfully recovers numerous Chinese cultural treasures stolen by Juntao, which he presents as a farewell victory to his departing superiors: Chinese Consul Solon Han and British Commander Thomas Griffin.

Shortly after Han arrives in the United States to take up his new diplomatic post in Los Angeles, his daughter, Soo Yung, is kidnapped by Sang while on her way to her first day of school. The FBI informs Consul Han about the incident. Han calls in Lee to assist in the case. The FBI, afraid that the injury or death of Lee would result in negative attention internationally, decides to pawn him off on the LAPD just to keep him out of their way. The selfish, stubborn, and maverick Detective James Carter is tricked into doing this but Carter makes a plan to solve the case himself when he finds out that he has been given a boring task as punishment for botching a sting operation.

Carter meets Lee at Los Angeles International Airport and proceeds to take him on a sightseeing tour of LA, simultaneously keeping Lee away from the embassy and contacting several of his underworld informants about the kidnapping. Lee finally escapes and makes his way to the Chinese Consulate, where a nervous Han and a group of FBI agents are awaiting news about his daughter. While arguing with Agent-in-charge Warren Russ, Carter accidentally involves himself in a phone conversation with Sang, where he arranges a ransom drop of $50 million in a couple of hours.

The FBI traces the call to a warehouse and sends in a team of agents only to have them killed by a bomb. Spotting Sang nearby, Lee and Carter give chase, but Sang escapes, dropping the detonator in the process. Carter's colleague, LAPD bomb expert Tania Johnson, helps them trace the detonator to Clive, a man previously arrested by Carter. Clive is guilt-tripped by Lee into revealing his business relationship with Juntao whom he met a restaurant in Chinatown and this earns Carter's trust in Lee. Carter goes to the restaurant alone where he sees a surveillance video of Juntao carrying Soo-Yung into a van. Lee arrives and saves Carter's life, but the two are taken off the case after the FBI blames them for ruining the ransom drop. Angered at the accusation, Carter tries to talk some sense into the agents by claiming that he and Lee suspected another trap from Juntao's syndicate and that Han was going to lose his daughter anyway if they had gone through with the ransom drop. The FBI agents remove him to face proper punishment from his captain in the LAPD, while Lee is being sent back to Hong Kong by Han. Despite this setback, Carter appeals to Johnson for assistance and sneaks onboard Lee's plane, persuading Lee to help finish the case and stop Juntao. Griffin later involves himself in the case, revealing more about the HKPF's past with Juntao's syndicate. When Agent Whitney asks Griffin why Juntao kidnapped Soo Yung, Consul Han mentions that the latter knew that would hurt him the hardest after Lee and the HKPF's successful raid and recovery of the priceless Chinese artifacts. Griffin implores Han to pay the money to avoid more blood shedding.

At the opening of a Chinese art exhibition at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which Han and Griffin are overseeing, the now $70 million ransom is being delivered. Carter, Lee and Johnson enter disguised as guests, where Carter distracts the guests into leaving for safety. This angers the FBI, but also blows Griffin's cover, as Lee catches him walking over to a bar and accepting a remote for the detonator from Sang. He and Johnson both conclude that Griffin is Juntao because Carter recognizes him from a surveillance tape in Chinatown. Griffin threatens to detonate a bomb vest attached to Soo Yung and demands the money be paid in full in compensation to the loss of the priceless Chinese artifacts he worked so hard to preserve. However, Carter manages to sneak out, locate her in the van, drives it into the building and brings her within range of Griffin, knowing that setting it off would kill him as well.

Johnson manages to get the vest off Soo Yung while Griffin heads toward the roof with the bag of money. Lee takes the vest and pursues Griffin while Carter shoots Sang dead in an intense gunfight. Lee eventually catches up to Griffin, resulting in a brief altercation that culminates in the two dangling from the rafters under the roof. Griffin, holding onto the vest, falls to his death when the vest breaks, but before Lee falls, Carter is able to place a large flag underneath and catch him safely.

Han and Soo Yung are reunited, and Han sends Carter and Lee on vacation together to Hong Kong as a reward for their actions. Before Carter leaves, Agents Russ and Whitney offer him a position in the FBI, which he mockingly refuses in revenge for how they treated him and Lee. Carter boards the airplane with Lee, who starts singing Edwin Starr's "War", annoying Carter.

Cast

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.[3][4]

Critical reception

The film holds a 60% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes; the average score is 6/10. The site's consensus reads: "A kick-ass addition to the cop-buddy film genre."[5] Metacritic rated it 60/100 based on 23 reviews.[6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[7]

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.[8] Joe Leydon of Variety called it "a frankly formulaic but raucously entertaining action comedy".[9]

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,[10] 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.[11] A fourth film in the series is in negotiations, and reportedly may be set in Moscow.[12]

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.

Awards

Home media

VHS

Release date
 Country
 Classification
 Publisher
Format
Language Subtitles Notes
 REF
15 June 1999 United States PG-13 New Line Home Video NTSC English None [14]
18 October 1999 United Kingdom 12 Eiv PAL English None [15]

DVD

Release date
 Country
 Classification
 Publisher
Format
Region
Language
 Sound
Subtitles
Notes
 REF
2 March 1999 United States PG-13 New Line Home Video NTSC 1 English Unknown English Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (16:9) [16]
1 October 1999 United Kingdom 12 Eiv PAL 2 English Unknown English Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1 (16:9) [17]

UMD

Release date
 Country
 Classification
 Publisher
Format
Region
Language
 Sound
Subtitles
Notes
 REF
1 September 2005 United Kingdom 12 Eiv PAL 2 English Unknown English [18]
3 January 2006 United States PG-13 New Line Home Entertainment NTSC 1 English Unknown English [19]

Blu-ray

Release date
 Country
 Classification
 Publisher
Format
Region
Language
 Sound
Subtitles
Notes
 REF
11 October 2010 United Kingdom 15 Warner Home Video PAL Free English Unknown English Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (16:9) [20]
7 December 2010 United States PG-13 New Line Home Video NTSC Free English Unknown English Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (16:9) [21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rush Hour". American Film Institute. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Rush Hour (1998)". British Film Institute. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Rush Hour". boxofficemojo.com. September 18, 1998. Retrieved 2006-06-25.
  4. ↑ Wolk, Josh (September 28, 1998). "Losers Take All". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  5. ↑ "Rush Hour (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-06-22.
  6. ↑ "Rush Hour, Movie Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  7. ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  8. ↑ Ebert, Roger (September 18, 1998). "Rush Hour". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2006-06-25.
  9. ↑ Leydon, Joe (September 21, 1998). "Review: 'Rush Hour'". Variety. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Chan Says Tucker Holding Up Rush Hour 3". The Associated Press. July 10, 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-25.
  11. ↑ Jackie Chan Admits He Is Not a Fan of 'Rush Hour' Films
  12. ↑ 'Rush Hour 4' is Set in Faubourg Marigny
  13. ↑ "1999 MTV Movie Awards". MTV. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  14. ↑ Rush Hour [VHS] (1998). Amazon.com. ISBN 0780623711.
  15. ↑ "Rush Hour [VHS] [1998]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  16. ↑ Rush Hour (New Line Platinum Series) (1998). amazon.com. ISBN 0780625145.
  17. ↑ "Rush Hour [DVD] [1998]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "Rush Hour [UMD Mini for PSP]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Rush Hour [UMD for PSP] (1998)". amazon.com. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  20. ↑ "Rush Hour [Blu-ray] [1998][Region Free]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  21. ↑ "Rush Hour [Blu-ray] (1998)". amazon.com. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
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