DVD Synopsis: Presented by Jackie Chan himself, this fascinating dual documentary features a wealth of information on his life, his passions, and the incredible death-defying stunts that continue to wow movie goers across the globe. Enjoy tributes from Hollywood greats and go behind the scenes with exclusive footage from hit movies, including Rush Hour and Who Am I? Best of all, join Jackie in his 'stunt lab' as the star reveals the techniques behind his amazing action sequences. (72 / 97 Mins)

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Views: Initially released in the UK as a two-parter on the Hong Kong Classics (M.I.A.) VHS label, I decided to cover these documentaries as one project as I usually watch them back-to-back and as presented on this Hong Kong Legends DVD. Written by Bey Logan and green-lit by Chan himself, both films are a hell of a fun watch for any Jackie Chan fan, with Jackie Chan: My Story marred only by its dated and stupidly animated sequences with god-awful neon hand-written fonts and transitions. On top of that, there's some poor music choices, poor sound recordings on interviews, and the ridiculously cheesy (and often rushed) narration by actor and television personalty, David Wu, who starred in many classics such as Tiger Cage 2, Robotrix, In The Line Of Duty 5: Middle Man, and more. If either of these things doesn't put you off in the first 5 minutes, then you are in for a fun ride, packed with revealing interviews with Jackie himself and other stars, as well as many great clips that show some of his finest work and best moments from his career up to that point!

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Personally, I think Jackie Chan: My Story is a pretty basic production that's really only beefed up with film clips and a mix of interviews with the legend himself, Willie Chan, and Jackie's dad. Thankfully, Jackie Chan: My Stunts comes off a bit better! Although it just came out as the world of the internet was reaching more and more homes, and Jackie's own wonderful biography came out in hardback (I Am Jackie Chan), any real fan knows that there is so much more that could have fleshed this documentary out, to be more informative. For example, the Lo Wei years are pretty much just skipped over with a brief mention of his time spent with the director and no talk of the actual films themselves. The same can be said for what follows, skipping a number of Golden Harvest productions and stories from his time on the set to allow for more random cuts of interviews that sometimes – just don't fit in or make sense. Michelle Yeoh appears in the same interview clip that has been used in countless documentaries, which makes me think its the only interview she's ever done, and time is wasted on too many clips of US film producers and rappers having their say (and not even in an entertaining way), that takes away from fans getting more Chan time. It just comes across as a cheap and amateurish production at times...

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Thankfully, the follow-up documentary proves to be a much better ride with bigger production values and more focus. David Wu is gone as the fast talking narrator and replaced with Michael Brown (and Tsui Man in the Cantonese version), as are the tacky animations and childish fonts. It watses no time in getting straight to it as we find Jackie and his stunt team on a town set, practising a fight scene before filming a take. This proves to be a much more exciting experience as Jackie directs Mars and his guys through their moves while explaining to the audience why certain styles and camera angles are used. We also get to watch in awe as Jackie demonstrates the fan, staff, and sword, spray blood over the cameraman, and show off his jumping skills, all while he reveals some secrets to his choreography as shots from classic kung-fu movies cut in between. I especially loved the fall demonstrations from his team, introducing clips of similar falls and stunts used in all his movies. Jackie then takes a bus tour around town where he talks about his work on Police Story 1 & 2 – while re-enacting the stunt that saw him hang off the side of the double-decker while hanging onto an umbrella. The same tour also takes him to the steep hills where he ran down to meet the bus. This time, and knowing his limits due to age and injuries, Jackie rolls a ball down to let us see just how steep it really was before talking us through the infamous bus scene that landed a few of his stuntmen in hospital. He next moves to the Tsim Sha Tsui Shopping Centre to walk through his big finale from Police Story. My husband and I (but mostly me) had the pleasure of visiting the same place when we stayed in Hong Kong just before the Covid 19 pandemic hit at the end of 2019. Our stunning hotel (The Royal Garden) was just facing the very same location, and although it had changed dramatically since the production of the incredible film, I still made sure I walked every inch of the place and climbed every escalator just to fulfill that mega-fan geek in me – and it felt great!

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The doco soon moves to the set of Whoami? - where Jackie and hi steam are choreographing that great fight on the rooftop and Ron Smoorenberg pisses off the legend to no end as he messes up his moves over and over again. Eventually, he gets replaced by a number of the JC stunt team members including the great Andy Cheng and Brad Allen (who is half the size of Ron). It's a great behind the scenes look at the fun film which also includes a look at the car stunts in the city – which proved to be a lot of work for one scene in particular. But my favourite part of both Jackie Chan documentaries has to be the tour of his stunt lab where we get to see Jackie and his team play with wires, and give away more secrets. But its what is going on behind that catches my attention most, as walls are covered in original posters of JC movies, rare photographs, old props, cameras and more. Of course, its a fantastic insight to the workings of the team and it seems that Jackie is having a great time in the making. It all leads to an action-packed competition as the JC Stunt Team fight for the award of the Golden Elbow Pad, in a highly entertaining piece that packs in as many stunts, punches and kicks as they possibly can. Guns and pyrotechnics follow with Jackie re-enacting his explosive corridor run from City Hunter before we get a peek at his secret ideas wall – something I've taken on myself since becoming a director – and then a trip through the props department where he shows some fun examples of ideas worked into the choreography, showing off the creativity and fun the team must have when designing their fight scenes. A few fight scenes between team members follow, with each choreographed by Jackie and showing different takes after the scene to explain what works and what doesn't. It proves to be a great moment for Brad Allen to shine, who was one of the newest members of the team at the time of shooting after coming on board to work with Jackie on the brilliant, Mr. Nice Guy. It all wraps up on the set of Rush Hour, the box office smash that helped make the legend a household name all over the world, along with a personal word from Jackie as he signs off reminding people to be themselves and stay creative...

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Jackie Chan: My Stunts is a much tidier production overall and definitely my favourite of the two. Although they are over a decade old now and we have since learned so much more from biographies and the internet, these documentaries prove to be a worthy watch for any JC fan and offer a great insight to the workings of Hong Kong's greatest movie star and his movies!

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Overall: While My Story seems cheap and boring at times, My Stunts knocks things up a notch and proves to be a much more exciting and interesting watch!