Mr. Nice Guy (1997 film)

Mr. Nice Guy (一個好人, LSHK Jat1 go3 hou2 jan4) is a 1997 Hong Kong action film directed by Sammo Hung and starring Jackie Chan and Richard Norton. Hung cameos as an unfortunate cyclist. The film was released in Hong Kong on 31 January 1997.

Mr. Nice Guy
Film poster
Traditional一個好人
Simplified一个好人
MandarinYī Gè Hǎo Rén
CantoneseJat1 Go3 Hou2 Jan4
Directed bySamo Hung
Produced byLeonard Ho
Chua Lam
Written byEdward Tang
Ma Fibe
Starring
Music byClarence Hui
Peter Kam
J. Peter Robinson
CinematographyRaymond Lam
Edited byPeter Cheung
Distributed byGolden Harvest
Media Asia Group (Hong Kong)
New Line Cinema
Warner Bros. Pictures (Worldwide)
Release date
  • 31 January 1997 (1997-01-31)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageEnglish
Cantonese
Mandarin
Box officeHK$45,420,457 (Hong Kong)
US$12,716,953[1] (United States)

Mr. Nice Guy features a collaboration between Chan and Norton, reuniting them for the first time since 1993's City Hunter and also Chan and director Hung had worked in the 1985's Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars. Set in Melbourne, Australia, it is Chan's first film to be scripted and shot in English.

Plot

Television journalist Diana (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick) records footage of a cocaine deal gone wrong between the Italian mob and a street gang called "The Demons" with mob boss Giancarlo (Richard Norton) killing the Demons' leader. Diana's partner Richard is captured and she flees, bumping into TV chef Jackie (Jackie Chan), who helps her escape. During the chase, she accidentally switches the videotape of the drug trade with one of Jackie's cooking videos, which he later gives to his friend Romeo, a police officer.

Romeo's children watch the video, unaware of what it is, and that their father is investigating the mob. The mob, knowing the tape is still out there, tracks Diana down, but after realizing she has the wrong tape, Diana flees. The mob believes Jackie has the tape and follows him around. Jackie is forced to fend them off and run when they attack him at a benefit event he is hosting at the mall.

Jackie learns why the mob is chasing him after Diana sneaks into his house searching for the tape. She is attacked by Jackie's friend Lakeisha, who thinks her an intruder, but Jackie saves her. The Demons gang, also wanting the tape, blow up Jackie's home, killing Giancarlo's henchmen who were there. Jackie and the women escape.

Everyone decides to stay at Lakeisha's home for safety, but the Demons track them, kidnap Jackie's girlfriend Miki, and force Jackie to participate in a training event around the city. The police trace each call, but discover the Demons are aware of their presence, so they trace Jackie instead, hoping to capture the gang. However, the gang discovers this and leader Grank escapes with Miki. Jackie, angry at the cops' mishandling, refuses to work with them anymore, but ends up kidnapped by the Demons as well. Jackie fights off the gang and crashes their van. The police arrest all members inside and Grank says Miki is at a construction site.

Lakeisha, Diana, and Jackie go to the site, only to discover that Giancarlo has captured Miki and murdered the other Demon members except the only female, Sandy, who escapes. Lakeisha and Jackie are taken by Giancarlo while Diana is injured. Romeo discovers his son watching the tape, the proof he needs to arrest the mob, and visits the hospital where Diana and Sandy are being treated. The women inform him about what happened to Jackie and the others.

At Giancarlo's home, Jackie is forced into an unfair fight with Giancarlo. After taking a beating, Giancarlo orders his men to kill Jackie and the women, but they escape and destroy Giancarlo's home by driving through it in a 120-ton mining vehicle. The authorities arrive with Romeo, but decide to state that they did not witness anything and that it was just a gang battle, so that Jackie can go free while the mobsters are arrested for possession of cocaine.

Cast
  • Jackie Chan - Jackie
  • Richard Norton - Giancarlo
  • Miki Lee - Miki
  • Karen McLymont - Lakeisha
  • Gabrielle Fitzpatrick - Diana
  • Vince Poletto - Romeo
  • Barry Otto - Baggio
  • Sammo Hung - Cyclist
  • Emil Chau - Ice Cream Vendor
  • Joyce Godenzi - Cook Show Audience (as Mina Godenzi)
  • Peter Houghton - Richard
  • Peter Lindsay - Grank, "Demon" gang Leader
  • David No - Victor
  • Rachel Blakely - Sandy, "Demon" gang member
  • Aaron Notarfrancesco - Sonny
  • Jake Notarfrancesco - Nancy
  • Greg Jamieson - Priest
  • Matthew Dyktynski - Cooking show Floor Manager
  • Salik Silverstein - Cooking show director
  • Lynne Murphy - babysitter
  • Carla Bonner - cameo
  • Karl Ajami - Giancarlo's Man
  • Brad Allan - Giancarlo's Man (as Bradley Allan)
  • Paul Andreovski - Giancarlo's Man
  • Habby Heske - Giancarlo's Man
  • Cameron Douglas - Giancarlo's Man
  • Grant Page - Giancarlo's Man
  • Paul Douglas - Giancarlo's Man
  • David Baldwin - Giancarlo's Man
  • Brent Houghton - Giancarlo's Man
  • Ian Mall - Giancarlo's Man
  • Dennis Christensen - Giancarlo's Man
  • Michael John Noonan - Giancarlo's Man
  • Darko Tuskan - Giancarlo's Man
  • John Raaen - Giancarlo's Man
  • Gary Shambrooke - Giancarlo's Man
  • Andy Cheng - Giancarlo's Man at Construction Site (extra) (uncredited)
  • Mars (extra) (uncredited)
  • Frederick Miragliotta - Captain Morrison
  • Nai Su Rak - Female in Chinatown (extra) (uncredited)

Jackie Chan Stunt Team

Production

The film was originally going to be the fifth film in Jackie Chan's Police Story film series, with its setting in Sydney, Australia, but in a month's time it was revised to become a stand-alone action film set in Melbourne.[2] It is Chan's first film to be scripted and shot in English.[3]

According to his book I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, Chan hurt his neck when he messed up on a flip during a fight scene. He also broke his nose during filming.[4]

Box office

Mr. Nice Guy opened on Chinese New Year, 1997, against director Hung's own Once Upon a Time in China and America. Both were box office successes, but Mr. Nice Guy was the bigger of the two, making HK $45,420,457 in its Hong Kong run. In Taipei, Taiwan, Mr. Nice Guy grossed NT $43.1 million.[5]

In North America, Mr. Nice Guy was released by New Line Cinema on 20 March 1998 in 1,463 theatres. In its opening weekend, it grossed US $5,250,704 ($3,588 per screen) on its way to a total of US $12,716,953.

Accolades

New Line Cinema edit and DVD releases

For US $6 million,[3] New Line Cinema acquired from Golden Harvest the international distribution rights to the film outside of Asia. The film received a partial dub, a new score, and more than 13 minutes of cuts were made. Most of the cuts were bits of violence (violence against women in particular), and cuts for pacing. Many scenes were also rearranged. The most noticeable scene rearrangement are the opening scenes of Giancarlo killing Tina and Jackie's cooking show. The original version opens with Giancarlo killing Tina, then Jackie's cooking show, but New Line Cinema's edit opens the other way around, giving the movie a more "lighter" tone from the start.[6]

There are also differences between the Hong Kong and the Japanese versions of the film. The only scene cut from the Hong Kong version is the entirety of a dinner scene featuring Jackie, Romeo, Baggio, Lakiesha, Sonny, and Nancy (Romeo's children).[7] The Japanese version contains this scene in its entirety, whereas the New Line Cinema edit contains most of this scene, but with a few cuts.[6]

Various DVD versions of this film have been made. The Warner Brothers Japanese R2 version is the only version available with the original English dialog and the fully uncut version (the Japanese edit). However, the picture is non-anamorphic and has no English subtitles. The Taiwan Funny version has the New Line Cinema and Taiwanese versions, but the latter is dubbed in Mandarin. The HK version is similar to the Taiwanese, but dubbed in Cantonese. Both dubbed Asian versions refer to the Demons as the "Wolves," although in the end credits the actors are credited as "Demons."

In September 2019, Warner Archive Collection announced that it will release the film on Blu-ray, including the extended original cut and new uncut version in newly remastered HD sourced from the original 4K camera negative scans in addition to the original New Line cut. The Blu-ray will be released on October 29, 2019.[8]

References
  1. Mr. Nice Guy at Box Office Mojo
  2. Gentry, Clyde III (April 1997). Jackie Chan: Inside the Dragon. Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing Company. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-87833-970-9. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  3. Yau, Esther, ed. (2001). At Full Speed: Hong Kong Cinema in a Borderless World. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. p. 134–135. ISBN 0-8166-3234-0. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  4. Jackie Chan. "Jackie's Aches and Pains: It Only Hurts When I'm Not Laughing". Random House. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  5. Zhang, Yinjin (2004). Chinese National Cinema. Routledge. p. 306. ISBN 0-203-64583-9. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  6. Muck47. "Comparison: International Version / Original Version". Movie–Censorship. Movie–Censorship. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  7. Jason. "Comparison: HK Theatrical Version / Japanese Version". Movie–Censorship. Movie–Censorship. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  8. "Warner Archive Announces October Releases". Blu-ray.com. Blu-ray.com. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
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