Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao ready to whoop some ass.
Project A is a 1983 Martial Arts Movie starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, and is often cited as Jackie Chan's finest works, due to the amounts of death-defying stunts and insane martial art scenes depicted throughout the film.
Dragon Ma (Jackie) is a hotshot officer of the Hong Kong navy in the late 19th century, patrolling the high seas and securing its safety with his buddy Fei "Fatty" (Sammo) and their superior, Inspector Hong (Yuen). The plot is straightforward, simply showcasing Dragon Ma stumbling into one set-piece after another, which all ends in him fighting, performing stunts, or kicking ass in general.
Multiple scenes pay homage to Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, with one notable scene paying homage to the most iconic image of Lloyd's Safety Last!, in which Ma drops from the face of a clock tower 60 feet above the ground, going through awnings through three floors all the way down. Apparently, even with Chan needing a week to build up the courage to do the stunt, he wasn't satisfied with how it turned out, so he demanded for the scene to be redone three times.
In the sequel, Project A Part II, Ma is back and so are the pirates, but now he must deal with a conspiracy of a possible mole in the ranks of the navy. The sequel notably made it into Steven Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, although fans largely prefer the first movie.
Not to be confused with Project A-Ko, which took its name from this film.
This film series provides examples of:
- Ambiguous Time Period: The setting of the film is not specified and plays loose with the history of British colonial Hong Kong. According to film historian Bey Logan, it is set somewhere in the late 19th and early 20th century due to the presence of certain buildings such as the Hong Kong Marine Police Headquarters, built in 1884. The sequel mentioned the presence of anti-Manchu revolutionaries, meaning that it took place before the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.
- Avenging the Villain: At the beginning of part 2, several pirates who are The Remnant of Lord Sam Po from the first movie have fallen on hard times, now that the pirates have disbanded, where they vow vengeance for their boss by killing Ma. Subverted that by the end of the second film, they didn't "actually" kill Ma while having the chance since they end up working with Ma in an Enemy Mine moment.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Ma, Fatty and Hong in the climax of the first movie against the Pirate Lord's mooks. Averted in the second movie when Ma is the sole returning main character.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: The clock tower fight scene ends with the henchman pursuing Ma pointing his pistol at Ma. A gunshot goes off, and the henchman suddenly dies with a bullet hole in his forehead. Cue Inspector Hong standing across the street holding a pistol pointed at the henchman.
- Bar Brawl: The opening of the first movie, between the Marines and the MP, respectively led by Ma and Hong. Both sides hilariously try to hold each other off by throwing stools at one another.
- Blatant Lies: In the second movie, the band of pirates stalking Ma tries to convince people that they're pen-pals meeting for the first time. It somehow works.
- By Wall That Is Holey: In yet another homage to Buster Keaton, in the sequel Ma stands under a collapsing ornamental stage and dodges the structure by standing under a weaker plastic opening. Subverted that he still gets pinned down by the structure, but on a part that is lighter and nowhere near the base which would likely kill or injure him.
- Carpet-Rolled Corpse: A variation, but the climatic finale of the first movie ends with the Pirate Lord Sam Po being trapped by Ma, Fatty and Hong in a carpet, and Fatty finishing him off by shoving a lit dynamite into the carpet turning Sam Po into Ludicrous Gibs.
- Chained Heat: Part of a lengthy chase scene in the second movie happens with Ma and Chun being handcuffed to each other. Hilarity Ensues, Looney-Tunes style, when they inevitably run in different directions.
- Chandelier Swing: Happens in both movies, when Ma tries to take a shortcut from a higher balcony to ground level.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: For some inexplicable reason, Ma's buddies from part 1, Jaws, Hong and Fatty, don't show up in Part 2 at all.
- Clock Tower: Part of the set piece of an intense chase scene in part 1, which ends with Ma and a Mook Lieutenant ending up in the control room of a clock tower. Ma ends up clinging to the hands of the clock tower in a scene which is a Shout-Out to Safety Last!
- Clothing Combat: Ma using his jacket while fighting thugs in both movies.
- Cool Sword: Pirate Lord Sam Po's preferred weapon is a curved sabre.
- Cover Identity Anomaly: Ma uses this method to convince the pirates he's their arms supplier during the infiltration. It works, until the "real" arms dealer suddenly shows up being escorted in by a whole different group of pirate guards…
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The oddest death in both movies probably belongs to the henchman who ends up in the bowels of a soy sauce-making machine while using it to mince Ma.
- Distracting Fake Fight: Dragon and Fats seemingly start to argue while being held at gunpoint by gangsters, and manage to disarm the Mauser-wielding goon.
- Disturbed Doves: A fight in the sequel takes place in a warehouse full of caged doves, and the subsequent fight between Ma and a henchman ends up releasing flocks of doves everywhere.
- The Door Slams You: During the first movie's bicycle chase, Ma is in a narrow alleyway with a thug pursuing him, both cycling at full speed. Someone opens a door behind Ma and unintentionally knocks out the thug.
- Elite Mook: Sometimes during the many fight scenes, henchmen will put up a deadlier fight than most of the low-tier thugs.
- Part 1 has a Pirate Lieutenant in a red shirt and matching red headband and another in a brown tunic (portrayed by Yuen Wah) who gives Jaws and Hong a rather hard time. They also outlast most of their colleagues and are among the last pirates to die besides Sam Po.
- Part 2 notably ends with Ma fighting a pair of Mook Lieutenant who takes him more than 10 minutes to beat down. And even though Ma eventually wins, both his enemies likely survive the movie.
- Engineered Heroics: Inspector Chun in the second movie bribes minions to stage a hold-up for him so that he can arrest them and claim the credit. When he starts firing on them for real, one of his minions tries spilling the beans only to end up being Killed to Uphold the Masquerade.
- Excuse Me, Coming Through!: Ma during the bicycle chase scene in part 1.
- Excuse Plot: Let's just admit it here, nobody is really watching these movies for the plot, but to watch Jackie Chan, still young and spry at the prime of his age, kick ass and hurt himself to create the most entertaining hour-and-a-half for audiences.
- Flat Character: Most of the villains, unfortunately, are just there to fulfill the role of having a Big Bad and Final Boss.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: Subverted in the bar fight in part 1. Bottles and mugs are broken, but nobody gets stabbed or cut during the fight. Although plenty on both sides does get bottles smashed on their heads nonfatally.
- Later on in the same film Winnie knocks out a thug using a bottle.
- Hero Stole My Bike: Ma does this in part 1, triggering a Chase Fight scene involving bicycles.
- High-Class Glass: Part of Ma's getup to infiltrate the Pirate Lord's hideout while disguised as their arms dealer, is a monocle over his right eye.
- Impersonation Gambit: Ma infiltrating the Pirate Lord's hideout by assuming himself to be the arms dealer working for the pirates. It surprisingly works, for a short while anyway. Fatty on the other hand uses a more direct Dressing as the Enemy by putting on a knocked-out pirate's attire but didn't even cover his face (considering he's chubbier than most of the pirates).
- Improbable Aiming Skills: During the clock tower scene in part one, Hong manages to save Ma's life by delivering a Boom, Headshot! to a henchman about to shoot Ma… despite the henchman being on top of a clock tower, Hong being a few streets apart, and Hong's firearm being a simple pistol (Not to mention the story being set in the late 19th Century – pistols in that time period does not have that kind of range).
- Improvised Weapon: This being a Jackie Chan film, obviously. Expect chairs, sofas, lampshades, coats, washing poles, life float rings, and other regular daily objects being used to pummel extras.
- Motorcycle Jousting: A variation in the first movie. Bicycle Jousting!
- Motor Mouth: Hong, while undercover as a pirate. When a pirate guard finds him suspicious and demands for a Trust Password, Hung utters a long, 100-word nonsense limerick in 20 seconds, baffling said pirate long enough for Hong to knock him out.
- Necktie Leash: Ma ends up in a pit where above him, a grinder machine with a heavy smashing device is being dropped on him, and as he tries to escape by jumping to grab the sides of the pit a henchman gleefully spills oil to make Ma slip back down the pit. In a moment of carelessness, Ma manages to grab the henchman's necktie, pulling said henchman down while climbing his way up and causing said henchman to be minced alive. (Cue Gory Discretion Shot)
- Nepotism: In the first movie, most of the Marine Police recruits suspect that Inspector Hong gets promoted to his position because of him being Captain Chi's nephew. Hong proves otherwise by kicking plenty of ass in the final battle.
- Outfit Decoy: A chase scene in the first movie had a bunch of thugs trying to abduct Winnie chasing after Ma who is carrying Winnie on his back. They made a lunge and managed to rip off the head of the mannequin Ma is carrying, disguised in Winnie's dress and in a wig.
- Rock Beats Laser: Pirate Lord Sam Po's minions manage to hijack and capture a foreign ship, whose guards are armed with rifles, despite the pirates using swords and crossbows. Of course, they have the element of surprise and the advantage of knowing the seas better.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: The villains and mooks of the first movie.
- Satellite Character: Jaws, Inspector Hong's partner, whose real name isn't even mentioned in the film and his scenes consists of interacting with the other main characters.
- Shower Scene: One happens in the first movie, where Ma, Hong, and several semi-naked Marines take their showers together. Hong ends up hogging the showers to himself first while the Marines stood in a row at the sidelines, completely butt naked save for their buckets covering their privates, in a scene that overlaps with Naked People Are Funny.
- "Shut Up!" Gunshot: How the Superintendent puts a stop to the bar fight at the start of part 1.
- Stock Clock Hand Hang: Jackie Chan pays homage to Harold Lloyd in the tower scene in part 1.
- Tablecloth Yank: Part of a gag in the sequel, where Ma pulls out the tablecloth on a table to trip a thug standing on it, but without disturbing the cutleries, vase and plates.
- Tattooed Crook: The Big Bad, Pirate Lord Sam Po from the first movie.
- Too Dumb to Live: One scene in the first movie's finale had Hong throwing a dynamite bundle at a group of pirates. The lead pirate responds by using his sword to chop the explosives in mid-air. One kaboom later the area is clear of pirates (live ones, at least).
- Zerg Rush: The pirates at the end of the first movie tries taking on Ma, Fatty and Hong using this method. But considering they have the advantage of rifles and explosives; the showdown quickly goes in favor of the good guys.
